Johansson Ousts Seeded Lopez at ATP Bangkok

Seeded Verdasco Leads Winners at ATP Palermo

No. 3-seeded Spaniard Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (d. (WC) Aldi in three) led the winners Monday at the ATP stop in Palermo, joined by France's Olivier "Mucus" Mutis (d. countryman Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience), and Argentine Jose Acasuso (d. Falla).

"(Verdasco) played very fast and his shots were heavy," said Aldi, the local wildcard from Palermo. "I did not move my feet as well as I should have. I wasn't as nervous as last year when I played in the main draw here, I was happy with the way I handled it this time but I should have played better."

The four qualifiers were also determined Monday in Spain's Galo Blanco (who won two qualifying matches Monday), former top 20-ranked Argentine Mariano "Pee in the Cup" Puerta, Spain's Nicolas Almagro, and Italy's Alessio Di Mauro.

No. 2 seed Florian "Oscar" Mayer of Germany pulled out of the event with a right forearm injury.

On court Tuesday on the red dirt are (Q) Blanco vs. (Q) Di Mauro, (Q) Almagro vs. (6) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in an all-Spanish, Montanes vs. (5) Volandri, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. Gasquet, Juan "The Principality" Monaco vs. Kohlschreiber, (WC) Seppi vs. Di Pasquale, Hanescu vs. (4) Davydenko, Elsner vs. Calatrava, M.Lopez vs. (LL) Gimeno-Traver in an all-ESP, (7) Ferrer vs. A.Martin in an all-ESP, and Vliegen vs. (Q) Puerta.

Seeded Canas Wins Through at ATP Shanghai

No. 3 Guillermo Canas, the only seeded player in action Monday at the ATP stop in Shanghai, advanced to the second round with a straight-set win over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

"I was very nervous in the beginning and he played very well," Canas said. "I had just one chance to break back and I took it. Second set I played very well and I am very happy. I started serving better. After this match I think I try to play better and better." Good plan.

Also into the second round were un-seeds Davide Sanguinetti of Italy (d. Ulihrach), Luxembourg's Gilles Muller (d. Lisnard in three), and Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen (d. Hernych).

The singles qualifying was also completed, with four into the main draw in Van Gemerden (NED), Klec (GER), Roger-Vasselin (FRA), and Phau (GER).

Scheduled for Tuesday are (WC) Zeng vs. Burgsmuller, Zib vs. (WC) Zhu in a zinger, Vacek vs. (Q) Van Gemerden (NED) to determine a victor, defending champ (4) Philippoussis vs. Glenn "I.C." Weiner, (8) Gambill vs. (Q) Klec, Pless vs. C.Rochus, and (Q) Roger-Vasselin vs. (LL) Healey.

Russian Bovina Leads Winners at WTA Hasselt

No. 3-seeded Russian Elena "Lena" Bovina (d. (WC) Maes) led the winners Monday at the WTA stop in Hasselt, Belgium, joined by un-seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain (d. (9) Kostanic in three) and Czech Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova (d. Parra Santonja).

The singles qualifying was also completed, with four additions to the main draw in Angelika Bachmann (GER), Eva Birnerova (CZE), Lindsay Lee-Waters (USA), and Vanessa Henke (GER).

Kim Clijsters will make her return on Wednesday.

"I am very eager to finally play again in competition, especially in my own country," Clijsters wrote on her website. "I don't manage to control the backhand completely because it is a bit stiff still. The wrist itself is even less flexible, even after an extended warm-up...My service and forehand are OK."

Sounds...not so promising.

On court Tuesday are Schiavone vs. Santangelo, Perebiynis vs. Farina Elia, Maleeva vs. Lee-Waters, Henke vs. Flipkens, Callens vs. Birnerova, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Schaul, Benesova vs. Bachmann, Rousseau vs. Camerin, and Pastikova vs. Garbin.

Stosur Survives, Seeds Weingartner, Washington Out at WTA Seoul

No. 8 Sam Stosur was the only seed to survive on opening day at the WTA stop in Seoul Monday, defeating homecountry favorite Yoon Jeong Cho to advance into the second round.

The two other seeds in action were outed in No. 3-seeded German Marlene Weingartner (l. to Domachowska) and No. 4-seeded American Mashona "Little Sis" Washington (l. to Castano in three).

Un-seeds into the second round were Russian Galina Voskoboeva (d. Sequera 7-6 in the third), Croatians Sanda Mamic (d. (WC) J.-H. Kim) and Silvija Talaja (d. Adr. Serra Zanetti), and American Abigail "Oops I Did It Again" Spears (d. Skavronskaia).

The final round of qualifying was also completed with Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE), Seiko Okamoto (JPN), Shahar Peer (ISR), and Sunitha Rao (USA) into the big dance.

On court Tuesday are Okamoto vs. Asagoe, Sharapova vs. Gagliardi, Czink vs. S.-J. Kim, Srebotnik vs. An.Serra Zanetti, Kremer vs. Kurhajcova, Obata vs. Yoshida, Chuang vs. Bohmova, Nemeckova vs. Peer, and Nagyova vs. Rao.

Koukalova On Stage in WTA Guangzhou Win

Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova was the top seeded attraction Monday at the WTA stop in Guangzhou, with the No. 8 seed advancing into the second round with an uneven 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Chinese favorite Tian Tian Sun.

Other winners Monday were Chinese wildcard Ting Li (d. Kapros), and Czech Barbora Strycova (d. countrywoman Kleinova).

The final round of qualifying was also completed on Monday, with Nan-Nan Liu (CHN), Na Li (CHN), Natalie Grandin (RSA), and Nina Bratchikova (RUS) into the main draw.

Scheduled for Tuesday are Pennetta vs. Yan, N.Li vs. Douchevina, Hopkins vs. Bartoli, Bratchikova vs. Panova, Craybas vs. Tanasugarn, Sucha vs. Jidkova, Pratt vs. Morigami, and Peng vs. Grandin.

X-CORRECT
Serena would not be speaking in the third person when referring to "me," thanks to our kind readers for the gentle correction.

TENNIS DISCUSSIONS
See what all the chatter is about, the talk, the walk, don't balk on the latest issues in pro tennis at http://www.tennis-x.com/discussions.php

FREE DAILY TENNIS-X NEWSLETTER
Our free gift to you. Make it a gift to yourself. Go to www.Tennis-X.com. Sign up today and we'll attach the Anna Kournikova virus, free of charge.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Beginning in 2005, Wilson will be producing an "official Davis Cup tennis racquet."...Chile's appearance in the Davis Cup World Group in 2005 will end a 20-year absence...On Thursday the 2005 Davis Cup World Group Draw will be released by the ITF...The U.S. moved from 6 to No. 5 in the Davis Cup Rankings after beating Belarus, while Spain jumped from 3 to No. 1...Props to the ITF's Davis Cup website for their live scoring throughout the weekend, that is nice stuff...The release of the WTA Rankings was delayed Monday due to Hurricane "Mean" Jeanne slamming into the WTA Headquarters in Florida...Spain is in its third Davis Cup final in the past five years...Wayne Ferreira was honored for his services to South African tennis at a ceremony prior to the start of the Davis Cup tie against Greece at the Groenkloof Tennis Stadium last Friday. On Friday morning Ian Smith, chief executive officer of the SA Tennis Association presented Ferreira with a decanter and four crystal glasses with one of Africa's "Big Five" animals engraved into each item. "The presentation was in appreciation of Wayne's wonderful career as a player and for what he did for South African tennis," said Smith. Ferreira said it had been special for him to play in an intimate arena like Groenkloof and have his parents, sister and brother all watching him. "I think that is the first time that has ever happened." Ferreira played his final tournament at the US Open, the event marking his record 56th consecutive Grand Slam appearance. Ferreira won 15 titles from 23 finals during his career, most recently in Los Angeles last year. Ferreira won two ATP Masters Series singles titles -- Toronto ('96) and Stuttgart ('00) and was a two-time Australian Open semifinalist ('92 and '03)...With Roger Federer's total points in 2004 he could currently qualify in the first and sixth position for the year-end Masters Cup...Former No. 2 Alex Corretja lost in the first round of the Szczecin Challenger last week, while Justin "Time" Gimelstob won the Beijing Challenger...U.S. Davis cup coach Patrick McEnroe says Andre Agassi remains in the back of his mind for the Davis Cup final on red clay in December versus the high-powered Spaniards: "There's a lot of options. I'm never going to say never about anything. If Andre called me, I'd take his call and go from there. But whether I'm expecting that to happen or whether I'm going to call him myself is something I'll think about. He's certainly capable of playing great claycourt tennis. And saying that, we all know where he stood on Davis Cup in the last few years, and we've missed him. If he's interested and available, he knows my number. And I know his number." The former French Open champion Agassi is 1-0 versus Carlos Moya on clay, and 0-1 career versus Juan Carlos Ferrero...Mark Philippoussis takes a four-match losing streak onto the court today at Shanghai...SI.com's Jon Wertheim: "As many of you have inferred, we generally hold Serena in high regard. But could someone please impress upon her how tiresome (and insufferably arrogant) her "I played poorly" routine has become? After saving multiple match points Sunday to beat the hottest player on Tour (Svetlana Kuznetsova), Serena remarked: "I just played crazy...It's kind of encouraging that I was able to win when I wasn't playing my best today." New rule (nod to Bill Maher): Either play your best for once, or stop pouring salt on your opponents' wounds by beating them and ungraciously noting how lousily you performed. Enough already." Word that...Aussie Todd Reid, who lost a dead rubber match in Australia's Davis Cup qualifying win to a No. 400+ ranked Moroccan: "The guys never really made me feel like I am in the team yet and that's the way it is because I am basically a fill-in and I haven't played that many Davis Cup matches and I really have to earn the respect of the players."...Andres Fazio, president of the Chilean Tennis Federation, is planning to construct a new stadium/national tennis center in the resort of Vina del Mar, inferring they might need it if Chile makes the Davis Cup final in 2005...The Davis Cup final between Spain and the U.S. will take place in Seville, the Spanish Tennis Federation announced, at the Olympic stadium of La Cartuja.