Federer Out With Muscle Tear, Paris Hilton Moves On to Roddick?
Posted on October 27, 2004
Dr. Evil Ousts The Dominator at ATP St. PetersburgBig-serving Croatian "Dr." Ivo Karlovic provided the biggest upset Tuesday at the ATP stop in St. Petersburg, outlasting No. 2 seed Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-4.
Also upset was No. 8-seeded Russian Igor Andreev (l. to Muller in three), while seeds into the second round were No. 4 Mikhail Youzhny (d. (Q) Ram 7-6 in the third) and No. 7 Michael Llodra (d. (WC) Elgin).
Other un-seeds into the second round were German qualifier Michael Kohlmann (d. Carraz in three), Slovak Karol Beck (d. (Q) Vanek), Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Ricardo Mello "Yello" in two breakers, dropping 14 aces), "Grinning" Greg Rusedski (d. (WC) Rosset, dropping 12 science-like aces), and veteran Spaniard Alex Corretja (d. Mathieu).
"I feel I am playing well and it is getting better with every match," Grinning Greg said. "I sense I am getting back to the level I was a few years back. The confidence is here, the tennis is coming and I am really looking forward to the next season."
Wednesday's match-ups in St. Pete are Stepanek vs. Grinning Greg, Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze vs. Sargsian, (1) Safin vs. (Q) Peya, Beck vs. (5) Davydenko, Muller vs. Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau, and (3) Fish vs. Saulnier.
Four-for-Five Seeds Advance at ATP Stockholm
Four seeds in action moved into the second round Tuesday at the ATP stop in Stockholm in (2) Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson (d. Garcia), (4) Tommy Haas (d. (Q) Sanguinetti), (5) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Jeff "Baby Krajicek" Morrison), and (6) Robin Soderling (d. Swedish countryman Enqvist), all in straight sets.
"I am satisfied with the win but most things in my game can improve," said the bigger-than-thou-serving Pim-Pim. "This tournament means a lot to me. I have dreamt about playing on Center Court since I was a small kid."
Un-seeds into the second round were qualifiers Janko Tipsarevic (d. (7) Berdych 6-1 in the third) and Michal Tabara (d. Kohlschreiber), and unseeded Belgian waffle Olivier "The Roach" Rochus (d. (Q) Settergren).
Scheduled for Thursday are "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. Schalken in an all-Dutch treat, (WC) Ryderstedt vs. O.Hernandez, Arthurs vs. Bjorkman in an all 30-plus, (1) Agassi vs. Vliegen, (6) Soderling vs. T.Johansson in an all-Swedish, The Roach vs. (Q) Tipsarevic, and (Q) Tabara vs. (3) Pavel.
Agassi has never won Stockholm in three previous appearances during his career.
Gaudio Wins, Federer Withdraws at ATP Basel
Both seeds in play advanced Tuesday at the ATP stop in Basel, but the real story was Roger Federer's year possibly coming to an end after he sustained an upper left thigh muscle tear during a practice session.
Federer could be back on tour in 10-14 days in time for the year-ending Masters Cup, but speculation is that his season is over, with the Swiss having already sewn up the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Seeds into the second round Tuesday were French Open winner (3) Gaston Gaudio (d. (Q) D.Norman) and (5) Tommy "The R." Robredo (d. (WC) Wawrinka in three).
Unseeded players into the second round were lucky loser Bohdan Ulihrach (d. Luis "Me So" Horna, who retired after the first set with a back injury), Argentine Mariano "I Was Once a New Ball" Zabaleta (d. Hanescu 7-6 in the third), (WC)Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger (d. Dent), Austrian Stefan "Tony" Koubek (d. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan in three), and Jiri Novak (d. Florian "Oscar" Mayer).
"I'm very pleased. For me there is Wimbledon, US Open and Basel," said the Swiss Heuberger after subduing the chunky-style Dent. "I served and returned well all match. These were the main reasons for the victory being pretty easy in the end."
On court Wednesday are (8) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (Q) Haehnel, Dupuis vs. (2) Henman, (4) Nalbandian vs. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (first meeting), (Q) Kratochvil vs. (7) Massu, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (6) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (first meeting), Montanes vs. (WC) Chiudinelli, Chela vs. Ljubicic, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. (Q) Moodie, and Volandri vs. Spadea.
Shaughnessy Closes Sprem Bank at WTA Linz
American Meghann Shaughnessy provided the only upset at the WTA stop in Linz Tuesday, outlasting (8) Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem 6-1 in the third to advance into the second round.
"I am happy because my game plan worked out," Shaughnessy said. "My service games worked well and so I am confident for the next round."
The only other seed in play, (6) Ai Sugiyama, double-bageled chunky Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi.
Un-seeds into the second round were qualifiers Julia Schruff (d. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova) and Alina Jidkova (d. fellow Russian (Q) Douchevina), Slovak Daniela Hantuchova (d. (LL) Lee-Waters in three), Polish lucky loser Marta Domachowska (d. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga in three), and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy (d. Benesova 6-1 in the third).
Wednesday's line-up in Linz is Jankovic vs. Patty "Handshake" Schnyder, Jidkova vs. Serena, Likhovtseva vs. Petrova in an all-Russian, Martina "Nurse, Hand Me a" Sucha vs. Barbara "I Don't Give a" Schett, and Bovina vs. Bartoli.
Fin Qualifier Laine Stuns Maleeva at WTA Luxembourg
Qualifier Emma Laine was first over the Finnish line Tuesday at the WTA stop in Luxembourg, upsetting (4) Maggie Maleeva 6-3 in the third in her career-first appearance in a WTA Tour event.
Seeds into the second round were (5) Mary Pierce (d. (WC) Gullickson, bagel in the first), (6) Tatiana Golovin (d. Groenefeld), (7) Eleni Daniilidou (d. Craybas), and (8) Shinobu Asagoe (d. (Q) Michaella "Little Sis" Krajicek, bagel in the first, 6-1 in the third).
Un-seeds into the second round were Germany's Marlene Weingartner (d. countrywoman Barna in three), Russian Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. (Q) Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti, bagel in the second), Slovak Tina Pisnik (d. Razzano 1-and-1), Spaniards Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (d. Garbin) and Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Ruano Pascual), and Czech qualifier Kveta Peschke (d. Schaul, bagel in the third). Lots of bagels being baked in Luxembourg.
On court Wednesday are four matches in Pisnik vs. Farina Elia, Golovin vs. Weingartner, Ivanovic vs. Asagoe, and Randriantefy vs. Pierce.
Safin Vaults to Top of Tennis-X Euro Series Standings
Russian Marat Safin vaulted to the top of the Tennis-X Euro Series standings Sunday with his Masters Series title at Madrid, beating Argentina's David Nalbandian who rose to the No. 2 spot.
"It's great," said Safin after the Madrid win, probably thinking about taking home the year-end prize for topping the Euro Series. "It's great for me to be able to get back to the Masters, find my game so I can be pretty confident for the next two weeks." And by "Masters" he probably meant "Euro Series events."
Safin is hoping to open a lead on the Euro Series Standings by playing this week in St. Petersburg, with Nalbandian looking to gain points in Basel.
After rising to the No. 2 spot, Nalbandian says he will fight to the end to try and wrestle the top spot from Safin.
"I'll still fight for it because I know I'm playing well again," said Nalbandian, here talking about the Masters Cup but obviously preoccupied with his Euro Series standing. "I don't know how the match is now, but I think I have to win the two next tournaments."
That's the spirit.
Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, who formerly held the top spot, comes in at No. 3, a mere four points ahead of No. 4 Swede Robin Soderling.
A grand prize of $25.00 (USD) awaits the Euro Series winner after the completion of regular-season play, along with 50 percent of the fan-supported Euro Series Prize Fund, which currently stands at an impressive $28.00, topping even the first place bounty.
"The cooperation from the tennis community with the Euro Series has been unprecedented," said Tennis-X CEO Luke Johnson. "Last week an X-fan mailed us a bowling trophy with a tennis racquet substituted for the bowling ball, that is the kind of innovation that drives a sport forward. That's a keeper. An artistic use of Super Glue."
The nine European indoor events between the US Open and the Masters Cup comprise the Tennis-X Euro Series, with four remaining in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors (Basel, Switzerland), the if...Stockholm Open (Sweden), the St. Petersburg Open (Russia), and the Masters Series-Paris (France), all leading to the season-ending Masters Cup in Houston.
To see the complete Euro Series Standings or for more information, go to: www.Tennis-X.com
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Roger Federer thinks his thigh injury is a micro-tear, and says he could be healed-up in time to play the MS-Paris next week...Mark Philippoussis says he and Delta Goodrem talked a couple weeks back about going their separate ways, and that he is now training with John McEnroe in New York...According to The Australian, Mark Philippoussis' father/coach Nick says the break-up with Delta is a good thing: "Things weren't working out well...What has he done? Did Mark kill anybody? Did he rape anybody? They were not married, they weren't even engaged. I'm trying to understand what's the problem? Mark made a decision. His tennis has been going down the gurgler for the past 10 months and he decided to change things. Mark decided, 'Let's go ahead with my tennis and make that the priority.' What's wrong with that? Mother Delta and Co. are trying to make him into someone who's done something wrong. And what is the problem with Mark if he goes out with anybody? He can go out with whoever he wants to. He's 27 years old, he doesn't have to get my permission or anyone else's." Nice rant dad, always good to throw out the 'He hasn't raped anyone' card to the media, that's always a p.r. winner. The Australian, which our Aussie friends tell us is not a tabloid but a respected publication, also dropped the bomb that Paris Hilton was seen "locking lips" last weekend with Andy Roddick, with Paris declining to discuss her current relationship status, only saying she was "Happy, so happy," and "tired of the Hollywood guys. I want a normal nice boy. I want someone, like, 30 (years old), not, like, 50. And I'm so happy I don't really care if people want to say rude things." That's, like, some, like, skank-a-liciousness, Paris climbing the ATP Rankings. The Paris and A-Rod coupling, which apparently happened in Las Vegas, was also reported by New York gossip-spotters PageSix. Meanwhile Flipper-ex Goodrem is in London this week to launch her new single, "Out of the Blue," a song inspired by her relationship with Philippossis. Ouch. Her next single, expected to be released next month, is titled "You Aussie Man-Skank, Hope You Catch a Sexually-Transmitted Disease."...Elena Dementieva on the WTA Championships in L.A. and the new eight-woman round-robin format: "I really like the location of the tournament. It's a very nice place to come and I love L.A. But I remember the first time we came there it was not enough people during the match and we were a little bit upset because it was the best players in the world and it was not a huge crowd, unfortunately. But for the next year we have a much better situation and I'm sure it's going to be large crowds for this year because everybody is going to be there and there's going to be some great tennis. I think (the new format is good) because you have a chance to be in the semis even if you lose your first round. And I think it's more professional to have a system like this."...Serena Williams was named in Ebony magazine's "50 Most Intriguing Blacks of 2004." Ebony says Serena is "still the biggest story in women's tennis and perhaps in all tennis...Whether she was walking the runway in one of her micro-mini designs or twitting the tennis world by warming up in boots or flirting with one of the anonymous young men in her circle, Serena Williams was again the bell of the tennis ball." Isn't it "belle," Ebony? Stone...The USTA challenger-level tournament in Ashburn, Va. is named the Singha Beer Open -- good to see the USTA moving in the right direction, that's a solid brew.