Weakened Fields Begin at ATP Madrid, WTA Zurich

Myskina Proves Herself Top Russian with WTA Moscow Title

After some first-set nervousness in the all-Russian final at the WTA stop in Moscow Sunday, Anastasia Myskina crushed Elena Dementieva 7-5, 6-0 to capture her third title of the year.

"I am so happy to be able to defend my title," Myskina said. "The crowds this week have been fantastic, thanks also to President Boris Yeltsin for all his support this week."

Dementieva was up 3-1 and 5-3 in the first set but could not capitalize.

"I had a good chance at 5-3, but I played passively, and in the second set I hardly even put up a fight," Dementieva said.

Myskina said she was out to prove her staying power as the top-ranked Russian, winning her third title this year after Doha and the French Open.

"This time I wanted to prove that last year's victory wasn't a fluke and that I earned the rating points," Myskina said.

Myskina will move up to No. 3 on the WTA Rankings behind Amelie Mauresmo and new No. 1 Lindsay Davenport.

In the doubles final Myskina teamed with countrywoman Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva to win their first title of the year as a team, defeating top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Davydenko Beats Rusedski for Home ATP Moscow Title

Nikolay Davydenko outlasted Britain's Greg Rusedski 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 for his second title of the year Sunday at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Rusedski held three match points at 5-4 in the third, but failed to close and was broken in his next service game before Davydenko served out the match.

"One of my dreams was to win the Kremlin Cup and I just can't believe it now," Davydenko said. "To play here before this crowd is such a big pressure, that's why this win is so important. (Rusedski) is such a big server, today I had to keep my concentration and play good returns and passing shots."

Davydenko also saved a match point in his three-set semifinal victory over countryman Mikhail Youzhny.

"Obviously I had a great week and I have to look at the positives, but I had three match points," Rusedski said. "He hit one let cord ball in the semis that won the match and he did again today. I guess it was just his day."

It was the second ATP title of the year for Davydenko after Munich on clay in April.

In the doubles final Davydenko made it a sweep, teaming with countryman Igor Andreev to upset top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi/Jonas Bjorkman 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 for their first ATP doubles title.

Qualifier Haehnel Wins First Title at ATP Metz

Qualifier Jerome Haehnel, who has spent much of 2004 toiling on the Futures and Challengers circuits, Sunday won his first title at the ATP stop in Metz with a 7-6(9), 6-4 win over French countryman and wildcard entrant Richard Gasquet.

"I don't know what to say. I can't think at the moment," Haehnel said. "This is great and unbelievable. The best moment of the week was today's match point. It was never ending, I just went for it because I didn't want to regret anything or do an unforced error."

Gasquet failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities in the first set.

"Jerome played really well, I had my occasions but he was there all the time and I couldn't do anything," said Gasquet, who blew five set points in the first set tiebreak, and was also playing in his first career final. "I am happy about this week. It was my first indoor tournament this season and my first career final, I can't be disappointed."

In the doubles final, No. 2-seeded Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Nicolas Mahut turned back Croat Ivan Ljubicic and Italian Uros Vico 6-2, 7-6(8) for their first title this year as a team.

Spaniard F-Lo Lopez Wins First Career Title at ATP Vienna

Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez won his first career title Sunday at the ATP event in Vienna, outlasting Argentina's Guillermo Canas in a five-set marathon 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.

"I was dreaming my whole life to win a title," said the 23-year-old F-Lo. "It's a great win and I think this will give me confidence to go up in the rankings and be a great player."

Canas felt the pressure in the fifth set when he double faulted to hand F-Lo the break at 5-5. Lopez for his part double faulted on his first match point, but closed it out on his second.

"I didn't have my best day," said Canas, who was seeking his fourth title of the year. "I was up and down in my level, but he was serving well and he played very well."

In the doubles final, Czechs Martin Damm and Cyril Suk edged Argentines Gaston Etlis and Martin Rodriguez 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(4) for their third title of the year.

Lopez Takes Euro Series Lead After Vienna Title

Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez's first career title Sunday at the ATP stop in Vienna vaulted him to the top of the Euro Series standings, knocking former leader Robin Soderling to third, with Moscow winner Nikolay Davydenko leap-frogging to the No. 2 spot.

"I'm unbelievable happy," said F-Lo upon realizing he was the new leader of the Euro Series standings -- or after winning the Vienna title, one or the other. "To win my first ATP title is very important because it's always more difficult to win your first."

French rookie Jerome Haehnel, who qualified and won his first career title at Metz last week, leapt into a tie for fifth behind Metz runner-up Richard Gasquet.

"I don't know what to say. I can't think at the moment," said Haehnel, probably realizing his sudden shot at finishing in the year-end Euro Series money. "This is great and unbelievable."

"Yes, both great and unbelievable," said Tennis-X CEO Luke Johnson. "There is currently $8.00 (USD) additional in the Euro Series Fund due to the generous donations of tennis fans who want to see the Euro Series succeed. We're just happy to see youngsters like Jerome Haehnel have an opportunity to share in the jackpot."

Also into the Top 10 this week are Moscow runner-up Greg Rusedski tied with Haehnel and Canas at No. 5, Russian Moscow semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny at No. 8, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse at No. 9, and Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty coming in at No. 10.

The 2004 Tennis-X Euro Series is a historic achievement in men's tennis that links the nine men's European indoor tournaments after the US Open leading to the year-ending Masters Cup, creating a cohesive, five-week European indoor season. Players will be competing for bonus prize money to be awarded at the end of the Euro Series and more importantly, the honor that goes with being crowned the Euro Series champion.

Remaining events are the Masters Series-Madrid (Spain) this week, three events next week at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel, Switzerland), the if...Stockholm Open (Sweden), and the St. Petersburg Open (Russia), and the final week at the Masters Series-Paris (France), all leading to the season-ending Masters Cup in Houston.

To see the updated Euro Series standings, go to www.tennis-x.com.

Top Four Players Out of ATP Masters Madrid

Well documented last week were the withdrawals of world No. 1 Roger, No. 2 Andy Rodick, and No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt from the Masters Series-Madrid, which when coupled with the injured No. 4 Guillermo Coria means the ATP's top-level event is suffering.

Hewitt is reportedly on a walkabout vacation, with Roddick focusing on the Masters Cup and Davis Cup final, and Federer simply saying he needs a rest.

The withdrawals leave Brit Tim Henman as the top seed, followed by the next seven seeds in former No. 1s Andre Agassi and Marat Safin, David Nalbandian, Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu, former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson, and Tommy "The R." Robredo.

All 16 seeds receive byes in early-round-mojo-killing fashion, but exciting potential second round-meetings lie in wait in (1) Henman vs. former Roland Garros winner Al Costa (who has won their last two meetings, one on hardcourt), (13) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler vs. banger Ivan Ljubicic, (7) Pim-Pim vs. Vienna runner-up Guillermo Canas, (4) Nalbandian vs. the Robin Soderling-Florian "Oscar" Mayer winner, (11) Jiri Novak vs. Tommy Haas, (5) Massu vs. the Taylor Dent-Mikhail Youzhny winner, (9) Andrei Pavel vs. the Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic-Mardy Fish winner, (3) Safin vs. the "Dr." Ivo Karlovic-Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez winner, (8) Robredo vs. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, (14) Vince Spadea vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, and (2) Agassi vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi.

Potential quarterfinal match-ups are (1) Henman vs. (7) Pim-Pim, (4) Nalbandian vs. (5) Massu, (6) Ferrero vs. (3) Safin, and (10) The Dominator vs. (2) Agassi.

The MS-Madrid is in its third year, with former champs in the field Ferrero (2003) and Agassi (2002).

On court Monday are Soderling vs. Mayer, (Q) Rascon vs. Ginepri, (WC) Corretja vs. (WC) Ferrer in an all-Spanish, Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze vs. Costa, Ancic vs. Fish, Horna vs. Arazi, (Q) Koubek vs. Schalken, (WC) Sanchez vs. (Q) Mirnyi, and (Q) Dupuis vs. Calleri.

Mauresmo, Dementieva Head Weakened Zurich Field After Serena, Davenport Withdrawals

The WTA stop in Zurich this week is a "Tier I" event, the top level of play on the WTA calendar, but that doesn't seem to faze Top 10 players Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Serena Williams, world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, and Jennifer Capriati, who have chosen to sit this week out.

While no immediate information was available on the late Sunday pulls by Serena and Davenport, Serena, who was playing the rare same non-slam event as sister Venus, is likely still experiencing problems with her surgically-repaired knee.

Add to that the additional injury no-shows of Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters of the Top 10 (as of last week) on the WTA Rankings, and Zurich resembles a weakened Tier II event. Much like the ATP, whose "top-tier" Masters Series-Madrid event is missing world No. 1 Roger Federer, No. 2 Andy Roddick and No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt, the WTA continues to struggle to get all their top players to consistently come together for anything short of the grand slams.

On the positive side this week, Zurich boasts No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo and your typical slew of Russians, including cell phone mannequin and Wimbledon holder Maria Sharapova. Also among the seeds are French and US Open runner-up Elena Dementieva, Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, Nadia Petrova, and added seeds (after the Serena/Lindsay pulls) No. 9 Ai Sugiyama and No. 10 Patty Schnyder.

The top four seeds receive byes in typical WTA early-round-killing fashion, but there are a couple of first round and plenty of potential second round matches of interest in (10) Schnyder vs. Maggie Maleeva, (6) The Crying Game vs. Aussie riser Alicia Molik in a second-round possibility, (8) Petrova vs. (WC) Lisa Raymond, (7) Venus vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, (4) Sharapova vs. the Daniela Hantuchova-(WC) Vera Douchevina winner, (9) Sugiyama vs. qualifier Shinobu Asagoe in an all-Japanese, and (3) Dementieva vs. Elena "Lena" Bovina in a potential all-Russian second rounder.

Former champions in this year's field are Patty Schnyder (2002), Venus (1999), and Maleeva (1994-93).

Last year's finals were (2) Henin-Hardenne roasting Jelena Dokic 6-0, 6-4 in the singles, and (2) Kim Clijsters/Sugiyama upsetting (1) Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez 7-6(3), 6-2 in the doubles.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Goran Ivanisevic defeated Jim Courier 7-6(4), 7-6(7) in the final of the senior tour stop at Eindhoven. "It's great to play on the Delta Tour, these guys are so much fun," Ivanisevic said. "It's a relaxed atmosphere -- there is some serious tennis, some fun, they are all fit, and it's great tennis. It also feels good to win. I don't know when I last won four matches in a row...I'm going play much more next year. Me, Jim (Courier), Richard (Kracjicek) and Thomas (Muster) have had some great matches in the past and I think we are going to have some great matches in the future. It's so different -- win or lose you have a beer afterwards and have fun. I didn't know how it was going to be but I'm really happy that I came." Didn't hear Johnny Mac's name in there, you don't want to piss off the old guard...15-year-old Czech Nicole Vaidisova won her second WTA Tour title Sunday when she beat Virginie Razzano 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the Tashkent final. In the Tashkent doubles final, the Serra Zanetti sisters of Italy, Antonella and Adriana, beat Marion Bartoli/Mara Santangelo 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 for their first title as a team...Charlie "Brick" Bricker of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Andy Roddick is out of the Masters Series event in Madrid with soreness in his right knee. It's not serious and, unless he's in pristine condition, there's no compelling need to play any event until he's ready to prepare for the Masters Series Cup, Nov. 8-14, in Houston." Good thing he got all those exos in before pulling out of the ATP's top-level Masters Series-Madrid. Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer, way to also support your sport's top level of events. In the end it's true that money talks, and without a year-end bonus pool to subtract from if players skip top events, the ATP has little control over the participation of top players.