Reid Drops Like a Rock, Spadea Bakes Bagels, Krajicek Shines

Posted on January 11, 2005

Lopez Stops Aussie Upstart Reid at ATP Sydney

Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez put a halt to Aussie wildcard Todd Reid's hopes in the opening round at the ATP stop in Sydney Monday with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

Last year Reid thrilled the homecountry fans with consecutive quarterfinals at Adelaide and Sydney before reaching the third round at the Australian Open. This year Reid's ranking-plunging Aussie swing has included a first-round loss at Adelaide (l. to (Q) Delic) and now another opening-round disappointment in Sydney.

Also into the second round on the seeded side was former Australian Open champ Thomas Johansson with a straight-set win over Germany's Florian "Oscar" Mayer.

Un-seeds advancing into the second round Monday were Aussie wildcard Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs (d. Volandri in three), American Mardy "Silver" Fish (d. Soderling), Spain's Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (d. Berdych in three), Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Ferrer), and lucky loser (benefiting for the withdrawal of Mark Philippoussis) Jarko Nieminen (d. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer).
ADHERE
"I've played here probably three or four years now and I haven't had a win here," said Arthurs, who began the match with three straight aces. "I've had a couple of close matches. I had a very close match with Lleyton [Hewitt] I think probably two or three years ago. To get a win under the belt early in the season, it's always good for your confidence."

On tap for Tuesday in Sydney are (1) Hewitt vs. Beck, Stepanek vs. (2) Moya, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. Llodra, (3) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, (Q) Clement vs. Zib, Costa vs. Andreev, (Q) Bourgeois vs. (4) Pavel, (6) Davydenko vs. (Q) Minar, and (Q) Ventura vs. (8) Dent.

Spadea Bakes Double Bagel at ATP Auckland

No. 4 seed Vince Spadea turned in a flawless score Monday at the ATP stop in Auckland, recording a rare double bagel with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Spaniard David Sanchez.

"The first two breaks were not easy," Spadea said. "I won the big points and just kept dictating."

No. 5 seed Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. (WC) Blake) was also a winner on the day, joined by un-seeds "You Say" Potito Starace (d. (WC) Nielsen), Argentines Jose Acasuso (d. Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau in three) and Mariano Zabaleta (d. (WC) G.D. Jones), and Frenchman Cyril Saulnier (d. Muller).

The final round of qualifying was also completed, with Hernych (CZE), Kohlschreiber (GER), Luzzi (ITA), and "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter (NED) added to the main draw.

Tuesday's schedule includes Calleri vs. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, (1) Guilermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. Schalken, (3) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in a repeat of last year's final, (Q) Hernych vs. (7) Ferrero, (Q) "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. (2) Robredo, Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. (8) Luis "Me So" Horna, Ricardo Mello "Yello" vs. Bjorkman, (Q) Kohlschreiber vs. A.Martin, (Q) Luzzi vs. Juan "The Principality" Monaco, and (6) Chela vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez.

Martinez One and Done at WTA Sydney

Former Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez failed to convert a wildcard entry to her advantage Monday at the WTA stop in Sydney, losing in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Greece's Eleni Daniilidou.

Other winners in all-unseeded first-round play on Monday were Jelena Jankovic (d. Likhovtseva in three), Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. (LL) Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova), (Q) Shuai Peng (d. (Q) Washington), and Maggie Maleeva (d. (WC) Ferguson in three).

On court Tuesday are Molik vs. Schiavone, Peng vs. Myskina, Davenport vs. Martinez, Hantuchova vs. Talaja, Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem vs. Patty "Handshake" Schnyder, Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin vs. Sugiyama, Petrova vs. Cervanova, and Kostanic vs. Stosur.

Frazier Goes Down at WTA Hobart

Two weeks in a row as the top seed was too much for Amy "Down Goes" Frazier, with the American ousted in her opener Monday at the WTA stop in Hobart 7-5, 7-5 by China's Na Li.

The other five seeds in action all advanced in (2) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko (d. (Q) Liu), (4) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Santangelo), (6) Maria Elena Camerin (d. (Q) Muller), (7) Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. Granville), and (8) Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. (Q) Black in three).

Un-seeds into the second round were Aussie wildcard Casey Dell'Acqua (d. Jidkova), China's Jie Zheng (d. Diaz-Oliva in three), and Czechs Barbora Strycova (d. (Q) Hopkins) and teen Nicole Vaidisova (d. Perebiynis in three).

"It's extremely exciting for me, she's the highest-ranked player I've ever beaten," Dell'Acqua said. "I just went out there and believed in myself and knew I could do it."

In action Tuesday are Strycova vs. Benesova, Spears vs. Dulko, N.Li vs. Dell'Acqua, Asagoe vs. Zheng, Safina vs. Vaidisova in a battle of future stars, Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Peschke, Domachowska vs. Camerin, and Marrero vs. Kouky.

Krajicek Rolls to First-Round Win at WTA Canberra

16-year-old Michaella Krajicek moved into the second round at the WTA stop in Canberra Monday with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of Aussie wildcard Lauren Breakmore.

Rain eventually halted the schedule for the day, but a number of winners advanced into the second round in Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. (WC) Adamczak, bagel in the second), (LL) Melinda Czink (d. Randriantefy 7-6 in the third), Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Douchevina) and Anca Barna (d. (Q) Bychkova), and Serb qualifier Ana Ivanovic (d. (Q) Nemeckova).

On court Tuesday in Canberra are Kapros vs. Shaughnessy, Parra Santonja vs. Smashnova, Farina Elia vs. Panova, Fedak vs. Pratt, Dominikovic vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, Bartoli vs. Foretz, Schaul vs. Barna, and Garbin vs. Weingartner.

X-NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
India's Stephen Amritraj has given up on pro tennis, and is currently at Duke University majoring in political science...At Auckland Tuesday players will walk among the spectators seeking donations for tsunami relief before the Guillermo Coria-Sjeng Schalken match...Just like you shouldn't give yourself a nickname, another of life's unspoken faux paux is blurting out something that your aren't -- because it usually means you are. Case in point, Lleyton Hewitt on Monday in Sydney telling the media that he is not a choker, responding to his poor performances in front of the big crowds each year at the Australian Open: "I've played enough big matches in Australia that the pressure of playing in Australia doesn't bother me at all," said Hewitt, who says Roger Federer will be the one under pressure in 2005. "He's going to have a lot more pressure on him as well this year to try and back up what an incredible year he had last year. That's not going to be an easy thing for him to do, but he started all right in the first week of the year."...18-year-old Gael "Force" Monfils will receive his first Australian Open main draw wildcard this year...Tommy Haas' camp say he is still on for the Aussie Open, currently recovering from a groin pull...Sebastien Grosjean is reportedly enjoying his new relationship with former Jim Courier coach Brad Stine...Now that Mardy Fish dumped Kelly Jones, the former doubles specialist has picked up coaching duties with Xavier "X-Man" Malisse...Jim Courier, Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna and Earl Buchholz Jr. are expected to be announced today for election to the Tennis Hall of Fame...Lleyton Hewitt says his new physique will aid his game later this year: "If you're very strong through your mid-section, then you're going to be out there, especially on a claycourt surface. That's where you have to slide and hit the ball. That's only going to help in the future."...From The Guardian: "Since Serena Williams signed with Nike she has not won a major tournament, which must be a source of some concern to the marketing executives in Portland who have signed her for the next 10 years. In some senses, perhaps, the branding people have only themselves to blame for this fact. The image-makers at Nike and Reebok who are constructing Venus's and Serena's 'personality' are keen to stress that they are not simply tennis players. They want their icons to be multi-dimensional, to suggest that their ambition and desire would make them winners in any walk of life, and that therefore by buying their logo you too can borrow some of that attitude. The first Nike ads for Serena showed her playing volleyball. McDonald's ran a campaign showing Serena on a film set, reflecting her desire to become a movie star, and Venus in a design studio, talking about her interior-design business."...Russian Elena Bovina has suffered a foot fracture in practice that may keep her out of action until the summer season.