Agassi, Safin, Henman, Nalbandian Lead Masters Cup Chase
Posted on October 29, 2004
Safin Closes on Masters Cup Berth at ATP St. PetersburgTop-seeded Marat Safin moved into the quarterfinals Thursday at the ATP stop in St. Petersburg with a straight-set win over Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian, strengthening his chance of claiming one of the four remaining qualifying positions at the year-end Masters Cup in Houston.
"It helped a lot to get used to the surface that I played singles and doubles yesterday," Safin said. "I really enjoy having the crowd cheering for me. I am happy to see this many people coming to watch us play on a Thursday, it is late and they are doing a great job at supporting."
Joining the former No. 1 in the quarters were fellow Russian No. 7 Mikhail Youzhny (d. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi in three), No. 7 Michael Llodra (d. (Q) Kohlmann), and unseeded Croat "Dr." Ivo Karlovic (d. Corretja 7-6 in the third).
"My matches come down to tiebreaks most of the time, so I am used to these types of marathons," Dr. Evil said. "When I lost my serve in the third set, I didn't want to think about it because if I do, I can go crazy."
Friday's quarterfinal line-up in St. Pete is Saulnier vs. Beck (first meeting), (1) Safin vs. (7) Llodra (Safin leads 1-0), Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau vs. (4) Youzhny (first meeting), and in a serving throw-down, "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic (Brit leads 1-0).
Henman, Nalbandian Keep Masters Cup Hopes Alive at ATP Basel
Both No. 2 seed Tim Henman (d. (Q) Moodie in three) and No. 4 David Nalbandian (d. Spadea) strengthened their Masters Cup qualification hopes Thursday with second-round wins at the ATP stop in Basel.
"It was a long match," Henman said. "Physically it looked like I was in better shape than him. He looked like he was struggling."
Other seeds into the quarterfinals were No. 6 Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (d. (WC) Chiudinelli) and No. 7 Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu (d. Zabaleta), in addition to un-seeds Stefan "Tony" Koubek (d. (3) Gaudio in three), Croat Ivan Ljubicic (d. (Q) Haehnel in three), and Czech lucky loser Bohdan "I Didn't Do It" Ulihrach (d. (WC) Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger).
Friday's QF match-ups are Ljubicic vs. Koubek (career series tied 2-2), (LL) Ulihrach vs. (7) Massu (tied 1-1), Novak vs. (2) Henman (tied 2-2), and (4) Nalbandian vs. (6) Schuettler (Argentine leads 4-3).
Agassi, Johansson, Haas Into ATP Stockholm Quarterfinals
No. 1 Andre Agassi (d. Bjorkman) led the seeds into the quarterfinals Thursday at the ATP stop in Stockholm, joined by No. 2 seed Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson (d. Gambill), No. 4 seed Tommy Haas (d. Carlsen), and No. 8 Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (d. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter).
"I've got to be happy about the way I handled Jonas out there today," said Agassi, who also helped himself in his bid to qualify for the year-end Masters Cup in Houston. "You have to be at your best every day, you can't think about tomorrow. What's required every day is different, you have to be better than one player."
Tripped up in the second round was No. 5 seed Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, shocked by hence-unheard-of Swedish wildcard Michael Ryderstedt in three sets.
The quarters in Stockholm line up as Haas vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (1) Agassi vs. (8) Hot Sauce, (WC) Ryderstedt vs. (2) Pim-Pim, and Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson vs. (3) Pavel.
Zvonareva Hanging Tough in Year-End Party Bid
Russian Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, known for breaking into tears in the middle of big matches, is showing surprising resilience this week at the WTA stop in Linz in an effort to sneak into the eight-woman WTA Championship field.
On Thursday the No. 4-seeded Russian defeated veteran Nathalie Dechy in straight sets to gain the quarterfinals and a chance to gain on Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati, who are also seeking a year-end qualification.
Other seeds into the Linz quarterfinals Thursday were (1) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (LL) Domachowska), (6) Ai Sugiyama (d. Hantuchova), and un-seeds Jelena Jankovic (d. (WC) Barbara "Don't Give a" Schett) and American Meghann Shaughnessy (d. Schruff).
"I am pretty pleased with this -- my first match in two and a half weeks," Mauresmo said. "The leg felt good, just a little tight, but that's normal. I'm pleased to get through this one and the next match will also be a good test. That's what I need right now are matches."
Friday's quarterfinals line up as Zvonareva vs. Jankovic, Mauresmo vs. Sugiyama, Bovina vs. Jidkova in an all-Russian, and Shaughnessy vs. Petrova.
Suarez Suffers from Too Much Funky Cold Medina
Top-seeded Paola Suarez was outlasted in three sets Thursday at the WTA stop in Luxembourg by Spain's Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues.
"Some things just didn't work for me today," Suarez said. "My timing was off and I missed a lot of serves. Most importantly, she played really well."
Also into the quarters was hot-handed Aussie and No. 2 seed Alicia Molik (d. Sanchez Lorenzo in two tiebreaks), while No. 7 Eleni Daniilidou was upset by Czech (Q) Kveta Peschke, and un-seed Dinara "Little Sis" Safina defeated qualifier Emma Laine.
On court for the Friday quarterfinals are Safina vs. Randriantefy, Peschke vs. Farina Elia, Funky Cold vs. Ivanovic, and Golovin vs. Molik.
X-CORRECT
Kristof Vliegen is Belgian, not Finnish.
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