Agassi Almost Netted by Fish, Schuettler Out at ATP MS-Cincinnati

Posted on August 3, 2004

No. 11 seed Andre Agassi dodged a bullet in the form of fellow American Mardy Fish Monday at the ATP Masters Series-Cincinnati, losing the first set but advancing after Fish retired with a back injury trailing 6-4, 6-7(3), 1-4. Fish won their previous encounter earlier in the year at San Jose.

"The way it ended was disappointing, but I was happy with the fact that I played better as the match went on," Agassi said. "That's always a good sign for me."

It was continued injury frustration for the Fish, who pulled out of last week's MS-Canada with the same injury.

In the biggest upset on the day, unseeded Tommy Haas got out from under the bitch-boy blanket of No. 8-seeded Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, getting his first win over his German countryman in five tries with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 victory.

"I finally got a win," Haas said. "It certainly wasn't a pretty match. In the end, it came down to a couple of points here and there...He's the type of player that likes to play against my game. He's a good counterpuncher."

No. 16 Andrei Pavel was the other seeded loser, falling to Aussie serving machine and qualifier Wayne Arthurs.

Seeded winners on the day were (4)Carlos "Gun Show" Moya (d. (Q)Parmar in three), (9)Gaston Gaudio (d. the hapless Gambill), (10)Lleyton Hewitt (d. Bogomolov, Jr.), (14)Marat Safin (d. Novak serving up a bagel), (15)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Ferrer in three), and (17)Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal 7-6 in the third).

"I went on court like a little bit afraid of that, you know," said Gaudio on facing Jan-Mike, not realizing he was up against the new no-confidence model of the former ab-king cover boy. "But he's not playing like he was playing before. The time that he beat me in Miami, he was playing unbelievable."

Un-seeds into the second round Monday were "Grinning" Greg Rusedski (d. Enqvist in three), Sjeng Schalken (d. D.Norman), Armenian Sargis Sargsian (d. Kratochvil in three), Chilean Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. Tursunov), former No. 1 Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (d. Lu in three), and Croats "Dr." Ivo Karlovic (d. Moodie in three breakers) and Ivan Ljubicic (d. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse 7-6 in the third).

On court Tuesday in Cincy are Dent vs. Robredo, (1)Federer vs. Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Clement vs. (7)Ferrero (for you on-line wagerers, put some bank on the Frenchman over the injured J.C.), Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. (2)Roddick, El Aynaoui vs. (5)Henman, Arazi vs. Spadea, Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson vs. Kiefer, Ginepri vs. Santoro, Soderling vs. (12)Grosjean, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (WC)Morrison, (SE)T.Johansson vs. (LL)Carraz, Llodra vs. Zabaleta, Luis "Me So" Horna vs. Verdasco, (LL)Reid vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, Youzhny vs. (13)Massu, and Bjorkman vs. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze.

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS
Five low-rent seeds in action Monday at the WTA stop in Montreal (with the Top 8 seeds receiving byes), and five low-rent seeds into the second round in (11)Francesca Schiavone (d. (WC)Pelletier), (12)Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. (WC)Drake), (13)Maggie Maleeva (d. Krasnoroutskaya in three), (16)Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. Sanchez Lorenzo), and (17)Mary Pierce (d. Weingartner).

"It's nice to come back to the city where I was born," Pierce said. "Unfortunately I left at a very young age so I don't remember anything." Way to reel 'em in Mary.

Un-seeds advancing into the second round Monday were French wunderchild Tatiana Golovin (d. Barna), Aussie veteran Nicole Pratt (d. Perry), Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Marrero), Japan's Shinobu Asagoe (d. 16-year-old (WC)Aleksandra "The Woz" Wozniak), Russia's Alina Jidkova (d. (Q)Ashley), and Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova (d. Loit, who retired with a wrist injury).

Tuesday's order of play in Montreal, with some of the big girls (literally) coming out to play is Pratt vs. Pierce, (5)Capriati vs. Jidkova, (7)Sugiyama vs. The Walking Stick, Tanasugarn vs. (2)Mauresmo, (Q)Matic vs. (15)Rubin, Dechy vs. Granville, (14)Bovina vs. Ruano Pascual, Asagoe vs. (12)The Spreminator, Strycova vs. (Q)Washington, Parra Santonja vs. (Q)Anne "Kosmo" Kremer, Likhovtseva vs. Vento-Kabchi, Morigami vs. (10)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva, (Q)Osterloh vs. Craybas in an all-American, Gisela "Sgt." Dulko vs. (LL)Lee-Waters, Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi vs. (LL)Rita "Ain't It" Grande, Obata vs. Jankovic, Martina "Nurse, I Need a" Sucha vs. (Q)Neffa-De Los Rios, and (Q)Widjaja vs. (Q)Mattek.

Results Newsflash!
Due to the WTA Tour's inept scheduling, running the Tier IV Stockholm event during the same week as an "elite" Tier I Montreal event, Tennis-X is voluntarily aiding the WTA this week by not running results from Stockholm. We hope this will help to elevate the Montreal results in the eyes of casual fans and avoid confusion, while at the same time shielding fans from the heinous field in Stockholm. Hey WTA, take a lesson from the ATP's Masters Series, which are the only events run during those weeks. We apologize for having to do the WTA's job in elevating the status of their Tier I events, and apologize to you diehard Tier IV fans. Rock on Tier I week.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer is the first player to win eight titles in a year since 1995 when Tommy Muster won 12...Some weirdness from Sydney IndyMedia, with the headline "Scandal at Gay Tennis School": "An elite Melbourne tennis school has been rocked by a scandal over risque pictures in a gay magazine. Photographs of semi-clad young men were shot on the grounds of Melbourne's Brown High Tennis School. The lurid 12-page spread, published in July's issue of DNA magazine, has outraged Victoria's oldest state secondary gay tennis school and drawn widespread condemnation. The Female impersonator's tennis school, which selects its all-male students on academic merit, courts merchant banking tycoon Michael Kroger, Opposition shadow treasurer Peter Costello and comedian Matt 'sloshed to the' Gill's (editor's note: nice nickname!) among its old boys. It is regarded as one of the finest gay tennis institutes in Australia...Three images shot on the sports ground -- with Melbourne Brown High clearly identifiable in the background -- show a male pulling down another's shorts to reveal his bare buttocks." You Aussies sort that out...Roger Federer on struggling in the quarterfinals and semifinals at the MS-Canada, then picking up his game in the final against Andy Roddick: "Well it is tough to, you know, push a button and say, okay, here is the final let me play well. It doesn't come automatic. You have to work at it. I think the reason why I played well today was because I was struggling throughout the week. I didn't play my best throughout the week but I still kept on winning. And I think when it came to the finals I knew that there is better left in me. So I really could actually turn up the up the gear and I had to because against Andy you have to, he is a great player. Sometimes I get the feeling that people think it is normal or that I almost have to excuse myself for losing a set against (Thomas) Johansson, you know, I think it is something very difficult to do, to keep all those streaks going, if I would have lost today a lot of streaks would have been broken. I wouldn't have had the chance to win the three surfaces, the 10 finals would have been broken and the winning streak would have been over. So I am very glad to have one this match especially against the second best player in the world. So I knew what this match was all about."...Former Mark Philippoussis/Monica Seles coach Gavin Hopper faces jail after he was found guilty of child sex charges. A court jury found Hopper guilty of nine counts stemming from a sexual relationship with a teenage girl in the mid-1980s. Each of the counts of indecent assault carries a maximum sentence of five years jail, while gross indecency has a maximum of three years...In response to The Age's story "Federer Merits Comparison with Borg" -- chill out. Winning consecutive titles on grass, clay and hardcourt is not easy, but it's not exactly winning the French and Wimbledon in the same year. While everyone is frothing at the mouth over Roger Federer, let's keep things in perspective...Former US Open winners and former No. 1s Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Marat Safin are all double-digit seeds this week at the MS-Cincy...It has been more than 15 months since Andre Agassi has won a title...Notable pulls this week at the MS-Cincy include Todd Martin, Mark Philippoussis, James Blake, and David Nalbandian with injury...Serena Williams has pulled from the Canadian Open the last three years...How pumped did Lindsay Davenport look on Sunday to win an Acura? That will go right next to the BMWs and Mercedes...Serena Williams is on the cover of the latest Black Men magazine in a bikini looking all glammed-out with her mouth seductively open. On newsstands now...Andy Roddick, nice role-modeling Sunday at the net dropping the f-bomb with Roger Federer, you had to know the TV cameras would be in tight. Now you're no longer squeaky-clean, you're edgy!...Roger Federer has won his last 23 matches, with Andy Roddick winning 21 of his last 23, both losses coming to Club Fed...Should Roger Federer overcome Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty today, he will become the first player since Pete Sampras in 1999 to win 24 consecutive matches, which is the fifth-longest streak on the ATP circuit since 1990...Today is Younes "From Tunis" El Aynaoui's first match since the Australian Open in January when he was sidelined by plantar fascitis in his right foot.