Davenport Says She Will Play On in 2005, Model Uproar at Madrid
Posted on October 19, 2004
Spanish Veterans Corretja, Costa Advance at ATP Masters MadridSpain's unseeded armada were on stage Monday on the opening day of the ATP Masters Series-Madrid, but only two survived into the second round in former No. 2 and wildcard Alex Corretja (d. (WC) countryman Ferrer) and former Roland Garros champ Albert Costa (d. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze in three).
"It was important to win this first match because I was coming in with five first-round losses," said Costa, who will next face the top-seeded Tim Henman. "This tournament motivates me a lot, it is in Madrid, and I really want to play well here. The court was pretty fast."
Costa for his part had no problem with the models-as-ball-girls stunt at Madrid.
"I think they did a good job, just like the ball boys," Costa said. "When you are on court, you don't concentrate on ball girls or ball boys. You just take the balls and you serve and be professional. But I think it's a fun initiative."
Two other Spaniards fell short in qualifier Juan Luis Tati Rascon (l. to Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri), and wildcard David Sanchez (l. to qualifier Max "The Beast" Mirnyi).
Other un-seeds into the second round were Swede Robin Soderling (d. Florian "Oscar" Mayer), Peru's Luis "Me So" Horna (d. Arazi), Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek (d. the pseudo-injured Schalken), French qualifier Anthony Dupuis (d. Calleri), and American Mardy "Silver" Fish (d. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic after losing the first set 0-6).
"I don't really like playing first matches because I'm always tired in the mornings," said the night-owl Soderling after besting the German comer Mayer. "I think I played really well today and he did too, especially in the beginning so it was a good match. I'm playing very good on indoor courts. I went to Moscow and was quite tired but now I'm feeling good again."
On court Tuesday the seeds come out at Madrid in Haas vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Bjorkman vs. Verdasco, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Sanguinetti, (Q) The Beast vs. (2) Agassi, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, Dent vs. Youzhny, a doubles highlight in (WC)Ram/Safin vs. (2)Bryan/Bryan, (Q) Berdych vs. Ljubicic, (Q) Vliegen vs. Canas, (4) Nalbandian vs. Soderling, (12) Chela vs. (Q) Dupuis, and the Silver Fish vs. (9) Pavel.
Hantuchova Wins, Pierce Out at WTA Zurich
The WTA's top-tier event at Zurich began with a whimper Monday with no seeds in play, but a couple veterans looking to find their form on court.
Former Top 10 resident Daniela Hantuchova (d. (WC) Douchevina) advanced to an all-leggy second-round encounter with No. 4 seed Maria "Cell Phone Mannequin" Sharapova, while former slam winner Mary Pierce's campaign was cut short in straight sets by Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga.
Other winners on the day were French veteran Nathalie Dechy (d. (WC) Bacsinszky), and Aussie riser Alicia Molik (d. Farina Elia).
The seeds come out Tuesday in Zurich with scheduled matches Sugiyama vs. Asagoe, Suarez vs. Kostanic, Raymond vs. Petrova, Venus vs. Sprem, Maleeva vs. Schnyder, and Pennetta vs. Mikaelian.
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The ATP San Jose (California) event, held in February, 2005, has announced it already has commitments from Andre Agassi, Mark Philippoussis, Tommy Haas, and U.S. Davis Cup members Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, Robby Ginepri and James Blake...After her win at Moscow last week, Anastasia Myskina admitted she is still haunted by her tearful Olympic collapse when she led eventual gold medalist Justine Henin-Hardenne 5-1 in the final set in the semis: "It was a nightmare. I couldn't sleep, waking up in the middle of the night for several days just thinking about that match...The Olympics mean more to me that even the grand slams...Yes, my form definitely suffered after Athens, but more than anything it was my mental state as I was still coming to terms with my Olympic failure. But time heals any wounds, so I think eventually I'll be able to recover, although now I still have those nightmares from time to time."...Maria Sharapova, competing this week in Zurich, shoots to No. 1 on the Yahoo! Buzz search poll, the most-searched person, place or thing (see: noun; see too: Schoolhouse Rock) on the internet...The WTA Tour announced a five-year deal with TOM Group Limited that will increase the exposure of women's professional tennis in Asia. In addition, TOM Group obtains from the Tour exclusive regional broadcast and internet rights. As part of the broadcast package, TOM Group has exclusive television rights in China for the tour's 26 Tier I and II tournaments and the season-ending WTA Tour Championships...Lindsay Davenport withdrew from Zurich this week after contracting the flu last week in Moscow. Apparently Davenport has also put the retirement talk behind her and will make a go of it in 2005: "I play for the opportunity to win grand slams and I felt this year I had two good chances at Wimbledon and the US Open. I wasn't able to do it but I'm looking forward to going to Australia and trying to win again. If I can keep playing well and training hard, I'd like to give myself another opportunity to try and do well."...Tennisreporters.net: Right for taking Andre Agassi to task for not representing the U.S. in the Davis Cup final on red clay when the U.S. has no claycourt players, but wrong for defending the WTA Tour for running crappy Tier IV and V events during the same weeks as their Tier I events. Take a note from the ATP, who don't distract fans during the weeks of their Masters Series events. Run the crap tournaments during the crap weeks, not Tier I weeks. Tampa Bay Devil Ray analogies? You totally missed the point. Again, look at the ATP, which makes everyone else play Challengers during the week of a Masters Series event, so the top players alone are on the big stage. Those Tier IV-V are essentially Challengers anyway. People complain about the men's and women's calendars being cluttered, and TR.net is supporting more clutter? Go ahead and follow your logic and give the grand slams a call, maybe you can convince them they should let the WTA begin Tier V events during the same Monday as Wimbledon and the US Open begin...Some of the top players were "too exhausted" to play the ATP's top-level Masters Series-Madrid tournament this week -- is it valid to feel sorry for these players for playing exhibitions and smaller tournaments (see: Bangkok) where they receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in guarantees (at tournaments and exos they don't have to play), then pull out of the big events, making the top tier of ATP events a sham? Or do you not blame them for going where the money is?...Organizers decided Monday to postpone the Superset Tennis exhibition that was scheduled for Nov. 27 at American Airlines Center in Dallas featuring Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish among others due to a conflict with the Americans preparing for the Davis Cup final in Spain...Maria Sharapova is looking forward to debuting her own perfume: "I'll have my perfume next year, and I'm excited because it is so different to what I've done in the past. It's going to be my own design and something I love to smell. The company that I'm working with, we always keep in touch by e-mail because I travel so much. You tell them the smells you like, if you want it to be sweet, things like that. And then the bottle, the colors, the shape. It's a very interesting process. I haven`t had a sniffing test yet, but I will." Smells like money...While the "ball models" in Madrid have made a media splash, Alex Corretja says for the players it is just another day at the office: "I don't care, it's up to the organizers to decide what they think is for the best. None of the players have mentioned it in the dressing room. When you are out on court, you look at the ball, apart from that, all you look at is your coach. As long as they throw the balls as they should, there will be no problems." The ball-hotties are seemingly only working the televised night matches in Madrid, not all courts...Madrid's ball-girl stunt gets some air-time on CNN in the U.S. Tuesday, that's good pub no matter how you slice it. Outside The Tennis Channel, which much of the U.S. is still waiting for (Hey Comcast -- sign the contract already), Madrid normally doesn't get a mention in the U.S. In the end, unless between now and the end of the event a ball-model trips and takes out a player (or rather bounces off a player, since they look to weight about 100 pounds), or hands a towel with wet nail polish on it to a player, who then stumbled about the court covering his face screaming "My eyes! My eyes! Damn our appearance-centered society, damn them all!", otherwise we say "Well done, Madrid." Madrid politician Ines Sabanes said the stunt was sexist and frivolous, but Madrid organizers countered, saying they would do the same with male models at their women's event.