Moya, Ferrero, Myskina Lose; Hewitt Says Pressure on Federer

Other un-seeds advancing to the second round were Frenchmen Michael Llodra (d. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse in three) and qualifier Arnaud Clement (d. Zib), and Russian Igor Andreev (d. A.Costa).

On tap for Wednesday in Sydney are Fish vs. Dent in an all-American, Minar vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, Pavel vs. Nieminen, Llodra vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, Hewitt vs. Clement, The Jackhammer vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, Andreev vs. Stepanek, and Arthurs vs. Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson.

Ferrero Continues Bad Streak, Nadal Retires at ATP Auckland

Juan Carlos Ferrero picked up right where he left off in 2004 on Tuesday at the ATP stop in Auckland, blowing a set lead against unheralded No. 83-ranked qualifier Jan Hernych to exit 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-3.

"I didn't play my best tennis," said Ferrero, who struggled to get any stick on his serve, and looked out-of-sorts in his court movement. "But he played good tennis, with my help sometimes."

The event lost another Spanish drawcard when Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal withdrew after losing the first set against No. 3 seed and defending champion Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, complaining of tightness in his chest.

"I was scared, I thought to stop was better," said Nadal, who says he has suffered chest pains once before.

Other upsets on the day were "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter ousting No. 2 Tommy Robredo in three sets, and Belgian Olivier "The Roach" Rochus easily dismissing No. 8 Luis "Me So" Horna.

Other seeded winners were (1) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria (d. Schalken with a bagel in the first), and (6) Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez).

Other un-seeds into the second round Tuesday were Spain's Al Martin (d. (Q) Kohlschreiber), American Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri (d. Calleri in three), and Brazil's Ricardo Mello "Yello" (d. Bjorkman).

On tap for Wednesday's match-ups are (1) Coria vs. Saulnier, (3) The Dominator vs. Acasuso, Baby Courier vs. (4) Spadea in an all-American, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. (Q) Sluiter, (5) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. Zabaleta, (Q) Luzzi vs. The Roach, (6) Chela vs. Mello "Yello," and A.Martin vs. (Q) Hernych.

Myskina Out, Home Favorite Molik Advances at WTA Sydney

The Australian heat, a swirling wind and a cut on her finger all combined to ferry No. 2 seed Anastasia Myskina out of the WTA Sydney event Tuesday with a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Chinese qualifier Shuai Peng.

"It was tough, really tough for me," said Myskina who struggled with the conditions and her English. "It's really hot and it's a little bit windy. But it's not excuse, it's just, I said, really tough for first match to here."

Also on the upset block was No. 8 seed Ai Sugiyama, outlasted in three sets by French riser Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin.

Other seeded winners were (1) Lindsay Davenport (d. Dechy), (5) Nadia Petrova (d. (Q) Cervanova in three), (6) Alicia Molik (d. Schiavone), and (7) Patty Schnyder (d. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, coming back from a set down).

Molik says the homecountry pressure is not getting to her in Sydney.

"I'm feeling great and the high-bouncing court is good for my serve," Molik said.

Aussie wildcard Sam Stosur was another fan-thriller Tuesday with a straight-set win over Jelena Kostanic, while unseeded Daniela Hantuchova (d. (Q) Talaja) also moved into the second round.

Scheduled for Wednesday are Petrova vs. Hantuchova, Dementieva vs. Daniilidou, Molik vs. Jankovic, Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga vs. Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, Maleeva vs. Schnyder, and Stosur vs. Golovin.

Four Seeds Ousted in Black Tuesday at WTA Hobart

On Monday it was top-seeded Amy "Down Goes" Frazier sent home early.

Tuesday four more seeds joined the exodus at the WTA stop in Hobart in (4) Shinobu Asagoe (l. to China's Jie Zheng), (5) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues (l. to Kveta Peschke 0-and-2), (6) Maria Elena Camerin (l. to Marta Domachowska in three), and (7) Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (l. to Nicole Vaidisova in three).

Also advancing Tuesday into the second round were (2) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko (d. Spears in three), (3) Iveta "Not Get Upset" Benesova (d. Strycova in three), (8) Klara "Kouky" Koukalova (d. Marrero), and another unseeded Chinese in Li Na (d. Della'Acqua, bagel in the second).

"I'm a little bit disappointed because I stuck with (Na) for the first set and I had set point but didn't pull it off," said Della'Acqua, the final Aussie punted from the draw. "I was a little bit nervous when I did get that set point (in the first set) because I was sort of amazed I was playing so well. Then I lost it and she picked up and got confident and hit some unbelievable shots."

Scheduled for Wednesday in Hobart are Zheng vs. Koukalova, Vaidisova vs. Benesova, Li vs. Domachowska, and Peschke vs. Dulko.

Pratt Ousted, Dominikovic Wins at WTA Canberra

Aussie hope and No. 6 seed Nicole Pratt was bundled away in first round action Tuesday at the WTA stop in Canberra, upset by the Ukraine's Yuliana Fedak.

Other seeds uprooted Down Under were (3) Meghann Shaughnessy (l. to Kapros), (7) Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (l. to Aussie (Q) Dominikovic), and (8) Tatiana Garbin (l. to Weingartner).

Seeds avoiding the upset shovel were (1) Silvia Farina Elia (d. Panova), (2) Anna Smashnova (d. Parra Santonja 0-and-0), and (4) Marion Bartoli (d. Foretz 2-and-0).

Unseeded German Anca Barna moved into the second round when opponent Claudine Schaul retired trailing in the second set with a groin strain.

Wednesday's schedule is Tanasugarn vs. Fedak, Farina Elia vs. Groenefeld, Bartoli vs. Krajicek, Ivanovic vs. Dominikovic, Czink vs. Smashnova, and Lee-Waters vs. Kapros.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Heineken announced it has renewed its sponsorship with the ATP Auckland event for another three years...Auckland Tournament Director and ATP Board member Graham Pearce on the big happenings in 2005 and on: "One of the key goals for this year is successfully replacing Mark Miles as our CEO, the decision will have a big impact on the management and future of the ATP and we need to get it right. Reviewing the governance of the ATP Board is another important issue, as is consolidating the good progress of ATP Properties in the year ahead. From an international region perspective, I'm excited by the continued emergence of Asia as a key tennis market and the focus on tennis in the region. Tennis Masters Cup is returning to Shanghai for at least the next three years and the next Olympics will also be in China."...Roger Federer on his new partnership with Tony Roche: "I thought about having a coach for a long time, but I really wanted to take my time. I had a good time with him in Sydney for two weeks and maybe I have improved already. I'm fine the way I'm playing right now and if he can just improve a few things in my game, that is good." Federer also responded to Lleyton Hewitt's inference that 2005 could be the Year of the Choke for the Swiss after an almost-impossible-to-follow 2004 year: "It might be (difficult), but I prefer to be playing well and coming into the Australian Open with a great season of 2004 and a good start to 2005."...Reports are that Mark Philippoussis will almost certainly pull from next week's Australian Open after his groin injury has not healed sufficiently...Tennis Australia has screwed Lleyton Hewitt's younger sister Jaslyn, passing her over for an Australian Open wildcard but allotting a wildcard to another Aussie player ranked lower than her. According to The Australian: "Jaslyn Hewitt was devastated on being told by national coach Peter McGraw the decision was based on rankings, results, matches played and attitude."...Roger Federer, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt are auctioning off racquets with the proceeds to benefit the Asian tsunami victims. Bids for the items can be placed on the ATP's website...TR.net is reporting that Jennifer Capriati will pull from the Aussie Open with her shoulder injury...From the New Zealand site Stuff on Juan Carlos Ferrero going through the crowd in Auckland collecting money for the tsunami victims: "Fenny Strickett wasn't going to miss her one chance to get up close. After depositing her $10, she reached out and shook Ferrero's hand, waving her arms in gleeful triumph as she returned to her place. (Autograph hunters had no such luck -- Ferrero didn't have time, he said, to accommodate them). "You don't often see the players in real life," Strickett said, smiling broadly. "I was only going to put money in if someone famous was carrying it."" Congrats Fenny, with 10 months of play left in 2005 you may already have the Loser Quote of the Year wrapped up..."Grinning" Greg Rusedski claims he is done hammering the ATP over last year's drug debacle: "I'd rather not have to talk about that any more because there's nothing I can do about the situation that I've gone through. Obviously, I wasn't happy, but I've got to put it behind me. If you're always living in the past, you're not going to go anywhere. I'm very pleased with what I achieved last year. I had to fight for everything and do it all myself. I was 166 in the world and had to get myself back into the Top 50. Now I have to try to win matches when I have the opportunities. It's only one or two points here and there, and that's what I've got to get against these top guys. I'm looking forward to the future and I'm excited about getting a full preparation going into the majors this year." We'll see how long that lasts, we'll give it until the French...At Sydney, Lleyton Hewitt auctioned off a racquet eventually going for $5,000 with the proceeds going to tsunami relief, then matched the sum out of his own pocket...Paul Bull, director of Rebound Ace manufacturer AV Syntech, speaking to The Advertiser about how pissed off Lleyton Hewitt is going to be when he finds out how slow the stadium court in Melbourne is going to be: "(The newly laid court) takes a couple of weeks to cure. It takes a little while to harden up. The court cures quicker if it's in the sun and has a lot of play on it. When Lleyton gets on the Melbourne Park courts, he'll notice the difference in speed to last year. Unfortunately, he'll probably be playing a lot on centre court and it's going to be a little bit fresh. They had to re-do it (the court) all, so it was only finished last week so it's going to be dead fresh. The players might notice a little bit difference in speed. The outside courts have been completed for four or five weeks. With centre court, there's only a small window of opportunity for us to work there because of other events, so it could be slower." As Homer would say, "Mmmmm...controversy."...The USTA says the U.S. Fed Cup team's quarterfinal against Belgium on April 23-24 will be played in Delray Beach, Florida.