Ferrero, Nalbandian Bounced at US Open

Posted on September 4, 2004

Four seeds were bounced from the men's draw at the US Open Friday, including last year's runner-up.

Headed home is 2003 runner-up and No. 7 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero, whose dismal year continued with a five-set injury-riddled loss to Austrian Stefan "The Poor Man's Tommy Muster" Koubek.

"This year is going to finish soon, you know," said Ferrero, who will drop out of the Top 10 to No. 15 or 16. "I want to forget this year."

Also ejected were last year's semifinalist (8) David Nalbandian (l. to Youzhny in five), (12) Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean (l. to Haas in four), and (23) Vince "Vincenzo" Spadea (l. to Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer in five).

Nalbandian had to be consoled after his five-set loss to Youzhny after a disagreement between the players over the courtesy of holding up new balls that resulted in Nalbandian repeatedly smashing his racquet on court, then a few more in the hallway inside the stadium.

Seeded winners on the day were (2) Andy Roddick (d. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in three), (4) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Arazi), (18) Tommy "The R." Robredo (d. Clement in four),(28) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (d. Gambill), (29) Guillermo Canas (d. Volandri), and (30) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Kohlschreiber in five, almost blowing a 2-0 set lead).

"He's got a crafty kind of game," Hewitt said of Arazi. "With the left-handed serve, it's always going to be a little bit more difficult."

Winners in all-unseeded match-ups were Olympic Federer-killer Tomas Berdych (d. Ketola), Brazil's Richardo Mello "Yellow" (d. D.Sanchez), Russian Nikolay Davydenko (d. Soderling in four), Slovak Karol Beck (d. Pless), Alexander Peya (d. Enqvist in four), and Frenchman Michael Llodra (d. Seppi in four).

On court Saturday at the US Open for the men are (1) Federer vs. (31) Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, (6) Agassi vs. (25) Novak, (3) Moya vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (5) Henman vs. Tabara, (19) Nicolas Kiefer vs. Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson, Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian vs. Paul-Henri Mathieu, (16) Andrei Pavel vs. H.-T. Lee, and (15) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. (22) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.

Mauresmo, Serena Lead Winners Friday at US Open

No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo and No. 3 Serena Williams led the seeds on Friday at the US Open, each winning in straight sets to move into the fourth round.

Mauresmo pounded the decidedly pudgy No. 31 seed Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-0, while Serena filled her dominatrix role by dishing out some punishment to bad, bad girl Tatiana Golovin, edging the No. 30 seed 7-5, 6-4.

"I was feeling better and my confidence was growing during the match," Mauresmo said. "It was reassuring to win the way I did."

While Serena won the on-court battle, the fashion winner went undetermined with Serena in a black studded dominatrix top and skirt, and Golovin sporting yellow mini-shorts pulled down so low on her waist that the match approached an "R" rating.

Serena, horror of horrors, was sans earrings in the encounter.

"Oh, I had an earring malfunction," said Serena on her lack of earrings. "One of them died, yeah. So I decided not to wear just one, so I have to go get some more."

Other seeded winners on the day were (6) Elena Dementieva (d. (28) Dechy by walkover, with the Frenchwoman suffering a muscle pull), (8) Jennifer Capriati (d. Douchevina in three), (10) Vera "Warren" Zvonareva (d. (23) Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga), (12) Ai Sugiyama (d. Kostanic), (15) Patty Schnyder (d. Hantuchova 7-6 in the third), and (16) Francesca Schiavone (d. Haynes).

On court Saturday on the women's side at the US Open are (1) Henin-Hardenne vs. Raymond, (7) Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova vs. (27) Pierce, (5) Davenport vs. (26) Elena "Lina" Bovina, (11) Venus vs. (20) Rubin in an all-American, (9) Kuznetsova vs. (21) Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, (14) Petrova vs. (19) Farina Elia, in doubles highlights (5) Navratilova/Raymond vs. Czechs Benesova/Birnerova, and (1) Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Hantuchova/Safina, (13) Suarez vs. Asagoe, and (29) Daniilidou vs. Chakvetadze.

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