Safin Shocked, Monfils Surprises, Roddick Pulls From Masters Madrid?

Petrova Out, Kuznetsova Advances at WTA Moscow

Russians were winners in four of five matches played Wednesday at the ATP stop in Moscow, with the only upset caused by Italian Francesca Schiavone knocking out No. 8 seed Nadia Petrova after losing the first set 0-6.

"In the second set she began to play much tougher," Petrova said. "Running down the baseline for every ball."

Other winners on the day were Russians (4) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (Q) Pastikova), (6) Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva (d. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem in three), Elena "Lena" Bovina (d. (LL) Schaul), and (WC) Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. (Q) Chakvetadze in three).

"It was rather difficult to play my first match on this surface, as it's very slow and I didn't have the right feeling of the ball at the beginning," Kuznetsova said. "I feel responsibility but not pressure when I'm playing in Russia. I would like to perform at my best here and win."


Safina will next face Lindsay Davenport, while Kuznetsova will potentially face Myskina in a battle of 2004 slam champions.

On court Thursday are (WC) Safina vs. (2) Davenport, Likhovtseva vs. (3) Myskina in an all-Russian, (WC) Douchevina vs. (7) Venus, and (Q) Mamic vs. (5) Dementieva.

Davenport will become No. 1 again on the WTA Rankings today with a win over Safina.

WTA Tashkent Update: Due to the WTA Tour's misguided policy of running Tier IV and V events during the same week as their top-level Tier I events, thereby confusing fans and media, Tennis-X is boycotting the results this week from the Tier IV Tashkent event while the Tier I Moscow event is being contested. Like the ATP, who run their Masters Series events uncontested, we hope the WTA will eventually make a calendar change to highlight their top-level events. We apologize for any inconvenience. Results from Tashkent can be found at www.wtatour.com.

Top-seeded Safin Upset at ATP Moscow

Marat Safin just can't find any love in Moscow. At least from his opponents.

Attempting to win the title for the first time in eight tries, Safin was beaten Wednesday in second round play in three sets by unheralded Czech Radek Stepanek, bringing the Russian back down to Earth after his recent maiden title of the year at Beijing.

"I was tired, not so much from a physical point of view but mentally, after all the pressure and the three-set matches lately," Safin said. "Despite this being a bad loss, I still think I have good chances to make it to the Masters (Cup)."

No. 4 seed Vince Spadea was also upset by unseeded Russian Igor Andreev in three sets, while three other seeds advanced in (2) Joachim Johansson (d. Saulnier), (7) Filippo Volandri (d. Soderling 7-6 in the third), and (8) Nikolay Davydenko (d. last year's runner-up Sargsian).

"It was always nice to come back here and play in front of the Russian crowd. It's great that I could win and
show very good tennis," said Andreev after taking out Spadea, adding that he is handling the pressure of playing in Russia. "Pressure but also I like to play and the Russian people can see me and give me extra energy. I like to play here, run to every ball and show great shots. For me it is a pleasure to play here."

In the two all-unseeded contests, Sweden's ageless Jonas Bjorkman edged Spaniard Dave Sanchez in three sets, and wildcard Igor Kunitsyn defeated Karol Beck.

In doubles, Safin and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi upset the American Bryan brothers in three sets.

On court Wednesday are Andreev vs. Carlsen, Bjorkman vs. (5) Youzhny, (Q) Voltchkov vs. (3) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, and (7) Volandri vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski.

Schuettler, Srichapahn Survive at ATP Vienna

No surprises Wednesday at the ATP stop in Vienna, with (3) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer in three) and (5) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. Costa) through to the second round.

"It was hard to play here," Schuettler said. "I had a great start, but then Melzer was pushed by the crowd and played great tennis. However, I made it to the next round."

Un-seeds moving on were American Taylor Dent (d. (WC) Gruber), Czech Bohdan Ulihrach (d. Enqvist in three), and wildcard Alexander Peya (d. Weiner in three).

"The first round is always tricky, so survival is the main target," Dent said. "It's good I got this nice win, because Canas is tough, but this gives me confidence, I am able to win against him, too," Dent said, looking ahead to his second round tie against No. 6 Guillermo Canas.

On tap for Wednesday in Vienna are Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri vs. (5) The Thai Fighter, (Q) De Voest vs. (2) Massu, Florian "Oscar" Mayer vs. Haas in an all-German, (1) Nalbandian vs. Koubek, (WC) Peya vs. Sanguinetti, (8) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Ulihrach, Dent vs. (6) Canas, and Luis "Me So" Horna vs. (3) Schuettler.

Ljubicic, Wildcard Monfils Win at WTA Metz

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic squeaked by Wednesday at the ATP stop in Metz, France, coming back from a set down to beat "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter 7-6 in the third.

"The court is slow, the balls are heavy and he started off really well," Ljubicic said. "I was very consistent with my serve and I waited for my opportunities that came in the second set. In the third, he miss one or two shots in the tiebreak that decided on the match."

But the biggest surprise for the homecountry fans was 18-year-old wildcard Gael Monfils, defeating No. 2 seed Xavier "X-Man" Malisse with the Belgian retiring with an elbow injury after the two split sets.

"I am very pleased to be in the next round obviously," Monfils said of an ATP win in his debut. "However this is not as if I had won the match. Xavier retired and I think if he had kept he still had good chances of defeating me."

Monfils is one of only four players to have won three slams in a year, and the first since Stefan Edberg in 1983.

Other winners on the day were all French in Gregory Carraz (d. Arthurs 7-6 in the third, saving a match point), qualifier Jerome Haehnel (d. (Q) Gicquel), wildcard Richard Gasquet (d. Dupuis in three, saving a match point), and Arnaud Clement (d. countryman Olivier "Mucus" Mutis).

On court Thursday are Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience vs. (WC) Monfils in an all-French, Carraz vs. Corretja, Mathieu vs. (Q) Serra in an all-French, and (6) Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau vs. Jeff "Baby Krajicek" Morrison.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Postscript that the exhibitions Andy Roddick (and Andre Agassi) have played this week were for charities (the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Andre Agassi Foundation) and not personal ATM events -- our bad, hold off on the slamboni. But read on, dear readers, the best is yet to come...Speaking of exos, local fans and media turned out to see Roddick and Agassi in North Dakota, an unusual sight, at the Ralph Engelstad Arena (or "The Ralph" as the homies call it), with the local Grand Forks Herald newspaper running a picture of Roddick serving with the caption: "Andy Roddick returns a volley from Andre Agassi in the Engelstad Open"...Look for an absence of stars on the WTA Tour during the week of Jan. 5-8 as Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, and Svetlana Kuznetsova among others rake in the cash at the Champions Women's Challenge exhibition in Hong Kong. The only charity there will be 'Send Top 10 players on Shopping Sprees Foundation'...Svetlana Kuznetsova has pulled from next week's WTA event in Linz, Austria, to get some rest before the WTA Championships. Should players be able to pull from tournaments they have entered just because they are tired, without fines? Good for Kuznetsova to get some rest, but bad for Linz -- time to throw out all those pre-printed programs with the Russian on the cover...Goran Ivanisevic on playing the senior tour event in Eindhoven starting today: "It's going to be great. I'm going to see some old friends of mine, guys that I like, that I admire a lot and who I had great matches with. It will be fun for me because there is no pressure any more. We still want to win, but it's not like before when we HAD to win. I'm looking forward to it...All these guys say they are not practicing and yet they are all playing unbelievable tennis. John (McEnroe) surprised me. I know he's a genius, but for him to play that close against Mario (Ancic, at the Superset exhibition) who is playing great tennis, was something unbelievable. He was so pumped, he wanted to win so badly." Matches Thursday in Eindhoven in round robin play are Thomas Muster vs. Jan Siemerink, Jim Courier vs. Pat Cash, Goran Ivanisevic vs. Mats Wilander, and Richard Krajicek vs. Emilio Sanchez...According to the ATP Masters Series-Madrid website: "(Andre) Agassi was due to have his first hit at the Rockodromo arena later in the day, hours after arriving. The American's presence will help attendance at the penultimate Masters Series of the season, with doubts now surfacing about the availability of world number 2 Andy Roddick." Speculation is that Roddick, who is coming off playing multiple exhibitions this week, may skip some European indoor events to rest his arm (after playing exos?) and practice for the Davis Cup final in December on red clay. We can see A-Rod skipping Madrid and other events, but not the Masters Cup and the Mattress Mac Experience. "The most important thing is the Davis Cup final. I want to be ready for that," Roddick said earlier this month. "I need to be 100 percent physically -- all of my decisions will be based upon that goal." Here's a great way to practice for the Davis Cup final Andy -- pick up the phone and ask Andre to give it one last shot. You and The Fish without Andre are a 100-1 shot to beat the Spaniards, at least, that is a big hill to climb...Carlos Moya will skip the MS-Madrid with a shoulder injury...The Spanish newspaper Marca runs a poll that determines who of the eligible Spanish players outside the main draw at the MS-Madrid receives a wildcard -- last year Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal was voted the wildcard, this year the voting is in a dead heat between Alex Corretja and Dave Ferrer...Here's a little more spice from the ATP's own MS-Madrid website: "With the Americans facing Spain in the Davis Cup, some reports indicate that the former world number 1 (Andy Roddick) may not travel to Europe for the indoor campaign, preferring to focus on the final in Seville December 3-5. But while his problem may keep him off the ATP, it hasn't apparently been bad enough to prevent exhibition matches." Zing! Oh behave Madrid! Apparently Andy has pseudo-officially pulled from Madrid since the event has disappeared from his tournament list on his personal website...David Nalbandian took a 152-meter bungee jump yesterday at Vienna: "Incredible, it was really incredible. It was so nice. It goes so quick, you don't feel that much during the jump, but before, you are so scared. It's high, you are jumping from 150 meters."...From a letter to the editor published in the Moscow Times: "(Maria) Sharapova embarked upon a humiliating losing streak after her freakish win at Wimbledon, making early departure after early departure from various tournaments, and finally resorting to playing in obscure tournaments with anonymous opponents to eke out a win. She has only beaten a top-five ranked player once in her whole career to date, and has been summarily destroyed by several of her more Russian compatriots. And as you report, she has now declined to play in Russia's showpiece tournament, the Kremlin Cup, where all the other leading Russian women will appear. I guess the critics will be quick to put forth yet more excuses, motivated probably by having stars in their eyes over Sharapova's good looks."...From the Charleston Post & Courier: "News of (Andy) Roddick's elbow injury last Sunday while losing to Roger Federer in the final of a tournament in Bangkok came only nine days after Roddick's blistering 155 mph serve during the Davis Cup semifinal at Family Circle Tennis Center. It also might be worth mentioning that in a meaningless dead rubber match on Sunday of the Davis Cup, Roddick lost control of his racket on a serve, then shook his right hand as if in pain." Don't worry, coach Brad Gilbert has predicted Andy will eventually hit a 160 mph serve -- maybe then you'll see his whole arm fly off. Easy Brad, the kid has limits, as you're seeing...Some of the notables forced to play the qualifying this weekend at the MS-Madrid: Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson, Robin Soderling, Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, Thomas "Tommy the E." Enqvist, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, Arnaud Clement, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Ricardo Mello "Yello," and Jarkko Nieminen...Lleyton Hewitt has bailed out of the Hopman Cup exhibition next January, choosing instead to play the ATP event in Adelaide -- he will be replaced in the exo by Mark Philippoussis.