Fish Fried, Gaudio Dusted at Thursday US Open

Posted on September 3, 2004

No. 26 seed Mardy "Silver" Fish contributed to speculation that his run at the Athens Olympics was so much a lucky parting of the seas with a five-set second round loss Thursday to unheralded blank-Czech Michal Tabara.

No. 9 seed and reigning French Open champ Gaston Gaudio has the highest-seeded casualty on the day, ousted in the four sets by Swedish veteran Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson in four sets.

Seeded winners on the day were (3)Carlos Moya (d. Delic in four), (5)Tim Henman (d. Golmard in four), (6)Andre Agassi (d. Florian "Oscar" Mayer, who retired in the fourth set with a quad pull), (15)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Goldstein), (16)Andrei Pavel (d. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco), (19)Nicolas Kiefer (d. Saulnier), (22)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Kucera in five), (25)Jiri Novak silently taking advantage of a good draw (d. Calatrava), and (31)Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro (d. Tursunov).

Seeded upsets were No. 10 seed Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu ousted in five sets by Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian, and No. 21 Taylor Dent beaten by Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu in four.

Winners in all-unseeded encounters were Olivier "The Roach" Rochus (d. "You Say" Potito Starace in five), and Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee (d. A.Martin).

On tap for Friday on the men's side are Arazi vs. (4)Hewitt, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (2)Andy "Splotch-wear" Roddick, Haas vs. (12)Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean, (8)Nalbandian vs. Youzhny, (7)Ferrero vs. Koubek, Gambill vs. (28)Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, Enqvist vs. Alexander "I'll Make You" Peya, Soderling vs. Davydenko, Llodra vs. Seppi, Beck vs. Pless, (30)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Kohlschreiber, (29)Canas vs. Volandri, Clement vs. Tommy "The R." Robredo, Ricardo Mello "Yellow" vs. D.Sanchez, (23)Vincent "Vincenzo Rollin' in the Benzo" Spadea vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and Ketola vs. Berdych.

Myskina Dumped, Henin-Hardenne Struggles Through at US Open

Not only are half the top players Russian, but now they are getting knocked off by...more Russians.

No. 4 seed Anastasia Myskina made a surprising exit from the US Open Thursday, dumped out in straight sets by 17-year-old Russian qualifier Anna Chakvetadze.

"That was a pretty bad match for me," said Myskina, who like men's counterparts Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, tank on the big stage when the motivation is not there. "I had nothing today, I didn't want to run, didn't want to fight, I didn't want to do anything. But that's life."

A little more interested in winning Thursday was world No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, who fought through windy conditions and erratic play to subdue 31-year-old former Israeli soldier Tzipora Obziler in three sets.

H-H dropped her serve seven times and made 47 unforced errors, and was broken twice in the third set but prevailed 6-2.

"I was worried at the end of the second set, I was in a hurry to finish it," said Henin-Hardenne, displaying the same tentative choking style she first displayed against Anastasia Myskina at the Athens Olympics. "She was running all over the court and I had to work very hard."

Other seeded winners on the day were (5)Lindsay Davenport (d. Parra Satonja), (7)Maria "Shriek-o-licious" Sharapova in three), (9)Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Pratt), (11)Venus (d. Uberoi), (13)Paola Suarez (d. Randriantefy), (14)Nadia Petrova (d. "Slammin'" Sammy Stosur), (19)Silvia Farina Elia (d. Katarina "Robotnik" Srebotnik), (20)Chanda Rubin (d. Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti), (21)Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi), (26)Elena "Lina" Bovina (d. Camerin), (27)Mary Pierce (d. Ruano Pascual), and (29)Eleni Daniilidou (d. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues in three).

Winners in all-unseeded match-ups were Japan's Shinobu Asagoe (d. Craybas), and American Lisa Raymond (d. Kirilenko in three).

Friday's schedule on the women's side at the US Open is (2)Mauresmo vs. (31)Vento-Kabchi, (8)Capriati vs. Douchevina, (30)Tatiana Golovin vs. (3)Serena, (15)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder vs. Hantuchova, (16)Schiavone vs. Haynes, Kostanic vs. (12)Sugiyama, (6)Dementieva vs. (28)Dechy, and (23)Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga vs. (10)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva.

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ATP CEO Mark Miles did release a statement upon the retirement of Marcelo Rios.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Andre Agassi says no chance of him retiring after the US Open. That's of note...Notice how the USTA is playing all the doubles matches early in the tournament? Time to get rid of the doubles players, get rid of that per diem/hotel costs, get rid of Leos Friedl and crew.

TENNIS-X GETTING ITS BLOG ON AT THE US OPEN
Check this space Friday through Monday when our intrepid reporter, media credentialed and on-site as the US Open, will "live" blog throughout the day at the bottom of the Daily Dish. X at the Open.

9:19am
Stella Artois is tasty, but deadly. Need to rally the troops, get to the site. Sleep looking good, may elect to cover the Open from the hotel bed today, interview the guy who drops off room service.

11:15am
Lots of JC Ferrero girlfriend-hugging while arriving on site, nice, looks happy...Mauresmo vs. Vento-Kabchi on Ashe Stadium, that's a tough sell. Can't do it...Beautiful sunny day at the Open, good day for tennis...Still haven't had the coffee, fingers not working.

11:37am
No nice way to put this -- Maria Vento-Kabchi is fat. Like, your-mother-in-a-swimsuit fat. Not sure if she has a chin. And she is horrible. They should just give Mauresmo a bye here.

1:34pm
Standard at the Open, media get hooked with the tennis fan's dream, a media cubicle with a TV that has stations covering almost every court and the interview rooms. Hard to leave the cube farm sometimes...Good to see former ATP communications guru Joe" The Reaper" Lynch here working freelance, nicknamed The Reaper here because everyone he escorts for the post-match interviews (Todd Martin, Wayne Ferreira) retires...Awesome fashion statement spectacle on Ashe, with Hicham Arazi, wearing black shorts, black socks and black and red shoes, against Lleyton Hewitt, wearing an orange shirt and black shorts, this match gives you a headache if you watch too long.

2:32pm
Nathalie Dechy has pulled from her match with Elena Dementieva with a thigh strain, as you will soon learn...Olympic gold medal winners The Golden Child/Gonzo down a set to Knowle/Zimonjic out on Court 6, the Olympic curse.

3:54pm
Golden Child/Gonzo grinding out a three-setter against Knowles/Zimonjic, 5-5 in the third, people four deep behind the bleachers on Court 6, lots of "Chi chi chi, le le le" chanting with the Chilean fans cheering double faults by the opponents...Lleyton Hewitt in his post-match says racquet technology is not an issue, since the players always adjust...Tommy Haas, not a lot of patience during the post-match with the American questions, in real need of a humor transplant...Ferrero up a break in the fifth on Koubek at 2-0, lots of struggling thus far for the Spaniard against the "poor man's Tommy Muster."

4:53pm
Saturday's schedule just out, featuring Federer vs. Santoro and Agassi vs. Novak on Ashe, and in the evening session Davenport vs. Bovina, Venus vs. Rubin, and the Bryans vs. Frenchmen Benneteau/Mahut...How about that choke by Hantuchova against Schnyder? Ouch.