Ugly Event Gets Uglier with Seeded Exodus Monday at ATP Sopot

Posted on August 10, 2004

All four seeds in action were uprooted Monday at the ATP stop in Sopot, Poland, in (2)Nikolay Davydenko (l. to Garcia in three), (4)Igor Andreev (l. to (WC)Kubot, throwing the locals into a frenzy), (5)Al Martin (l. to Juan "The Tax Haven" Monaco in three), and (8)Paul-Henri Mathieu (l. to Koubek in three).

Other un-seeds into the second round were France's Olivier "Mucus" Mutis (d. Ramirez Hidalgo), Czech qualifier Jan Vacek (d. Ulihrach 7-6 in the third, saving nine (9) match points), and living-la-vida-loca Swiss Davis Cup captain Marc Rosset (d. (WC)Urban).

"I don't know why but I was unbelievably tired after just half an hour of the match," Rosset said. "I nearly finished with cramp. The court and balls are very slow and I couldn't hit any winners with my forehand. I'm not satisfied with my match but happy to get the win."

Rosset on coaching the Swiss team and playing tour events whenever the fancy strikes him: "Well, people always ask me why I carry on to play. You know, I don't think I'm killing anybody by still playing tennis. I just like the fight and a win is a win, at no matter what level you are playing. I still enjoy the feeling of playing and fighting. I'm not playing to get my name in the paper or anything, I just enjoy it."

On court Tuesday in Sopot are (6)Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Hanescu, (1)Safin vs. "Julio &" Galo Blanco, (WC)Przysiezny vs. Acasuso, (3)Ferrer vs. (Q)Garcia-Lopez, (7)Montanes vs. (Q)Mantilla in an all-Spanish, Calatrava vs. Di Pasquale, Flavio "Of the Day" Pennetta vs. (Q)Mamic, M.Lopez vs. O.Hernandez, Zib vs. (Q)Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari, and Al "The Dropshot Dragon" Portas vs. Vassallo Arguello.

As if you needed more incentive to tune in, from the Sopot website: "It will also be interesting to see two claycourt specialists Albert Montanes and Felix Mantilla go up against each other, and the match between Zib and Squillari will definitely not be boring."

WTA REVIEWS/PREVIEWS

No. 4 Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues was the lone seeded victim on a slow Day One at Sopot, easily dismissed in straight sets by Slovak Ludmila Cervanova.

Three other players moved into the second round Monday in (10)Marta Marrero (d. Castano in three), Czech Zuzana Ondraskova (d. Cohen-Aloro in three), and to the delight of locals, Polish wildcard Marta Domachowska (d. Martina "Nurse, I Need a" Sucha).

The final round of qualifying was also finished, with four advancing into the main draw in Eva Birnerova (CZE), Selima Sfar (TUN), Zsofia Gubacsi (HUN), and Sanda Mamic (CRO).

On tap for Tuesday are more "ova"s you can shake a stick at in Kiszczynska vs. Benesova, Birnerova vs. Jans, Safina vs. Pastikova, Kurhajcova vs. Canepa, Pennetta vs. Mamic, Llagostera Vives vs. Gubacsi, Talaja vs. Sfar, Douchevina vs. K.Bondarenko, Schwartz vs. Prusova, and Muller vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova.

The U.S. "C"-team cleaned up Monday at the Tier V stop in Vancouver, with (4)Laura Granville (d. countrywoman Reeves) and Jennifer Hopkins (d. Foretz) advancing.

Joining them in the second round were (2)Milagros Sequera (d. Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti), (6)Rita "Ain't It" Grande (d. Callens), and un-seed Galina Voskoboeva of Russia (d. Arvidsson).

The final round of qualifying was also completed, with four onto the big dance in Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva (BUL), Nicole Vaidisova (CZE), Seiko Okamoto (JPN), and Vanina Garcia Sokol (ARG).

On court Tuesday in the Great White North are Irvin vs. Tu, Garcia Sokol vs. Jidkova, Mattek vs. Drake, Yoshida vs. Karatantcheva, Bartoli vs. Ad.Serra Zanetti, Beltrame vs. Pin, Skavronskaia vs. Lee-Waters, Vaidisova vs. Spears, and Peng vs. Grandin.

COME CORRECT
Alicia Molik won the WTA Tour title in Stockholm on Sunday.

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