Federer, Serena Roll, Moya Ousted; Drug Allegations for Russian Players

Posted on January 18, 2005

Federer Cuts Magician in Half, Moya Ousted at Australian Open

World No. 1 Roger Federer gave a dominating display Monday on Rod Laver Arena, putting up with no silliness from the slicing and dicing Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro in routing the Frenchman 6-1, 6-1, 6-2.

"I think the start of the match was important for me, you know. That set the tone for the rest," said Federer who looked to stay out of prolonged rallies. "I never really gave him a chance to get back into the match. So best-of-five, an easy three-setter sometimes they look very, very easy, but I always had the feeling I still had to play some good points to win them, especially against him. He gets back a lot of balls."

In one of two upsets on the day, former Aussie Open runner-up Carlos Moya made his first opening-round exit since 1999, losing to Spanish countryman Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez. Moya had edged G-Lo 7-6 in the third set two weeks back in Chennai in the only previous tour meeting between the practice partners, with Moya looking in the mirror at an even-bigger forehand.
ADHERE
Belgian Olivier "The Roach" Rochus delivered the second upset, continuing his early-season hot start with a 6-3-in-the-third win over (21) Nicolas Kiefer.

Other seeded winners Monday were (4) Marat Safin (d. (Q) Djokovic, dropping only three games), (8) Andre Agassi (d. (Q) Kindlmann 6-0 in the third), (10) Gaston Gaudio (d. Justin "Time to Gag" Gimelstob), (11) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (d. Schalken), (13) Tommy "The R." Robredo (d. Draper in four), (16) Tommy Haas (d. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse), (20) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Soderling who retired in the third with injury), (24) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Baccanello), (22) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Luis "Me So" Horna), (27) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (d. "You Say" Potito Starace in four), (28) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. O.Hernandez), (29) Taylor "Make a" Dent (d. Serra), and former champ (30) Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson (d. Luczak 6-0 in the fifth).

"Today felt like a nightmare, I would say," Johansson said after the unique bagel-in-the-fifth win. "I was very, very nervous in the beginning, and I was very tight. Peter (Luczak), I think he's a solid baseline player. That's pretty much the worst you can play if you feel like you cannot hit the ball."

Andre Agassi, after fighting some initial stiffness in his hip, rolled his qualifier opponent to move into the second round.

"It held up all right," said Agassi of the hip injury he sustained last week at the Kooyong exhibition. "You know, today I woke up feeling the best-yet since it's happened. And with the assurance that I'm not going to sort of pull anything bad, I had the green light to push through anything I might be feeling. And that's what I did, I just pushed through a bit of stiffness, and then I felt like it loosened up nicely and I was okay."

Un-seeds into the second round were Americans Mardy "Silver" Fish (d. Juan "The Principality" Monaco 7-6 in the fifth) and Kevin Kim (d. H.-T. Lee 6-1 in the fifth), French wunderkind Gael "Force" Monfils (d. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri in four), Dutchman Peter Wessels (d. Y.H. Lu), Germans Bjorn Phau (d. former slam champ Al Costa) and Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (d. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience), Japan's (Q) Takao Suzuki (d. Gambill, setting up a match-up with Federer), Fin Jarkko Nieminen (d. Sanguinetti in four), Slovak Karol Beck (d. (WC) Reid, dropping only five games -- watch for more Aussie-tennis-in-the-crapper headlines), Cyprus' (Q) Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis (d. Luzzi in five), Armenian Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian (d. D.Sanchez in five), Czechs (Q) Tomas Zib (d. Wang), Michal Tabara (d. Enqvist in four) and Bohdan "The Settlement" Ulihrach (d. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic in four), Serb Janko Tipsarevic (d. (Q) Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali in four), and Argentine Agustin Calleri (d. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi in five).

For the former junior No. 1 Monfils it was his first main draw slam win in his first slam appearance.

Tuesday's schedule in Melbourne is (6) Coria vs. Tomas "I've Beaten Federer" Berdych, (2) Roddick vs. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, (3) Hewitt vs. Clement, Chris "Penthouse" Guccione vs. (12) Canas, Ferrer vs. (9) Nalbandian, (25) Chela vs. Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs, Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau vs. Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, (7) Henman vs. Saulnier, (23) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. Acasuso, Dupuis vs. (18) Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu, Bjorkman vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, Florian "Oscar" Mayer vs. Blake, Burgsmuller vs. Andreev, Calatrava vs. Ventura in an all-ESP(not N), (15) Youzhny vs. Haehnel, Kimmich vs. Zabaleta, Ricardo Mello "Yello" vs. Al Martin, Volandri vs. Hanescu, Reynolds vs. Almagro, Christophe "The Roach" Rochus vs. Al Montanes, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. Muller, Mathieu vs. Carraz in an all-French, (19) Spadea vs. Stepanek, Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta vs. Healey, Marach vs. Lisnard, Karanusic vs. (26) Davydenko, (14) Grosjean vs. Llodra in an all-French, Van Gemerden vs. (31) Ferrero, Olivier "Mucus" Mutis vs. (17) Pavel, (32) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Mantilla vs. Hernych, and Carlsen vs. Kohlschreiber.
 
Serena Makes Fashion Statement in Debut Australian Open Win

Seeking to put an injury-ridden 2004 behind her, Serena Williams made a fashionable 2005 debut with a convincing 6-1, 6-1 win over Frenchwoman Camille Pin Monday at the Australian Open.

"Physically I'm feeling very good," Serena said. "I don't like to talk about (injuries) because it's like I'm doing good and I don't want to jinx myself."

Serena sustained abdominal and shoulder injuries in November 2004 in a loss to Maria Sharapova at the WTA Championships, and returned from knee surgery early in the year.

In addition to enjoying her current play, Serena enjoyed debuting another day-glo outfit featuring a strangely-overly-billowy white skirt you won't likely see in tennis clothing outlets anytime soon.

"It's so flowy and it's very sheer, very see through," Serena said of the flowy skirt. "It's so flowy that any shorter wouldn't be appropriate, so we definitely went with a longer length. I love how it just pops up and down. It's so flirty and feminine for me. I love it."

Less-fashionable Top 10-seeded winners were (2) Amelie Mauresmo (d. the Aussie Stosur), (4) Maria Sharapova (d. teen sensation Sesil "The Mouth" Karatancheva, dropping only four games), (5) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Kirkland 1-and-1), and (9) Vera Zvonareva (d. Liu).

"I felt pretty good on the court out there today," said Mauresmo on winning the all-injury match-up with Stosur. The Frenchwoman had a heavily-taped left thigh, while Stosur was recovering from an ab injury. "I really felt my game, right from the beginning, was consistent and I didn't let her really get into her rhythm and finish the points pretty quickly, as she loves to do."

Other seeded winners were (11) Nadia Petrova (def. Razzano), (15) Silvia Farina Elia (d. Schruff), (17) Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. Selima "So Close" Sfar), (21) Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier (d. American countrywoman Irvin), (22) Magdalena "Call Me Maggie" Maleeva (d. Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna), (28) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Barna), and (29) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko (d. Brandi in three).

There were four seeded upsets on the day choreographed by Martina "Nurse I Need a" Sucha (d. (16) Sugiyama), Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (d. (24) Pierce), Petra Mandula (d. (30) Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta in three), and the hot-handed Ana Ivanovic (d. (32) Iveta "Start Practicing" Benesova 6-1 in the third).

Un-seeds into the second round were five also-ran Russians in Vera Douchevina (d. Craybas in three), Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. Zheng in three), Alina Jidkova (d. Ruano Pascual in three), Maria Kirilenko (d. Kapros, coming from a set down), and Evgenia Linetskaya (d. Kurhajcova), along with American Lindsay Lee-Waters (d. Gubacsi), Aussie Sophie Ferguson (d. Llagostera Vives, coming from a set down), India's Sania Mirza (d. Watson, bagel in the third), China's Na Li (d. Granville in three), Poland's Marta Domachowska (d. Li, bagel in the third), Madagascar's finest Dally Randriantefy (d. Ondraskova 1-and-1), Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva (d. Obata), Brit Elena Baltacha (d. Katarina "Robotnik" Srebotnik, coming from a set down), Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli (d. Schaul), German Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Beltrame), and Czech Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova (d. Talaja).

Russian women combined for a 9-0 win-loss record on Monday in Melbourne.
 
On court today in are (10) Molik vs. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, (1) Davenport vs. Martinez in a battle of slam champs, (3) Myskina vs. Peschke, Daniilidou vs. (8) Venus, Pratt vs. (23) Jankovic, (26) Hantuchova vs. Morigami, Bondarenko vs. (6) Dementieva, Adamczak vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, Cervanova vs. (20) Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, Vento-Kabchi vs. teen sensation Nicole Vaidisova, Rousseau vs. Perebiynis, Weingartner vs. Garbin, Haynes vs. Nakamura, Barbara "Do I Look Like I Give a" Schett vs. Welford, Strycova vs. Tanasugarn, Foretz vs. Michaella "Little Sis" Krajicek, Dell'Acqua vs. (31) Kostanic, Dominikovic vs. Santangelo, Tu vs. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Pastikova vs. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer, Ant. Serra Zanetti vs. Tatiana "The Pocket Baseliner" Panova, Chakvetadze vs. Parra Santonja, Shaughnessy vs. Spears in an all-American, (19) Dechy vs. Gagliardi, (18) Likhovtseva vs. Mamic, Loit vs. Obziler, Marrero vs. (14) Schiavone, (12) Schnyder vs. Fedak, Yakimova vs. (25) Raymond, Peng vs. Camerin, Castano vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and (27) Smashnova vs. Sanchez Lorenzo.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Pat Cash ripped Tennis Australia in Sunday's London Times for killing Aussie tennis in the pro ranks: "Lleyton Hewitt currently remains a contender for the grand slams, even though he like everybody else seems powerless to stop Roger Federer's domination. The line of succession comes to an alarming halt...There was not a single young Australian in the (US Open) draw. Earlier in the year, just two boys from South Australia contested both the French Open and Wimbledon juniors -- not a single youngster from previous tennis strongholds like Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. To my mind, that is frankly appalling although the apologists tried to point out that many players stayed home because domestic competitions were a better bet. Such narrow mindedness shouldn't be surprising. Tennis Australia continually plead poverty, which is rather hard to believe when you consider the Australian Open is the heaviest attended two-week sporting event south of the equator...Basically the success of Hewitt has camouflaged the weakness in Australian tennis for the last couple of years but the isolation of this country is a root cause. The game of tennis has evolved so much in recent years, technique has changed due to the advances in technology and new international powers have come to the fore. It's not that Australians are oblivious, they just seem determined to ignore with a head in the sand mentality. Harry Hopman was the father of tennis coaching and his methods produced all the great champions but now they are as obsolete as wooden racquets. Unfortunately, the mood in Australia remains 'if it worked in the 1950s, it should still hold good now'"...Was Serena's round-one opponent Camille Pin pregnant, or is it just time to get in shape? Pipe-cleaner arms and a gut, not a good look...An Australian man or woman hasn't won the Aussie Open since the 1970s...Greg Rusedski is not only happy to have his tasty ATP-sanctioned supplements, but happy with his pull in the supplement industry: "I know the people from Lucozade personally and I have got some products. They taste fine and I got a whole guarantee on them and how to use the products so I am pleased about that. I have got the scientists' number and I have got the Lucozade people's number to contact to answer any questions I have and they have taken the suggestions I had about maybe trying different products. I think we have taken a big step forward now it is just to get to the final hurdle. They also have to look at their financial numbers too, whether it is worth it for them to go into the mineral category, but at least it is the only company which has had the courage to give us those guarantees."...Phil Dent speaking to the LA Times on the progress of son Taylor: "He's doing very well. His game has taken awhile to mature and people are overanxious about him doing better, but he is one of the only guys in the world who plays that way (serve and volley). There's a few guys like [Max] Mirnyi and [Greg] Rusedski, but he is the last of an honorable breed. He has had to learn more difficult shots than most guys. For every 900,000 forehands, he has had to learn to hit half volleys, short angles and a lot more stuff. He has put a lot more into it and those things take awhile to learn."...Serena Williams on appearing as a guest on the TV show "All of Us," produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett: "I played two roles. It was fun. I never do comedy. They have been begging me to do a show a lot, but I never got the right script. Finally, I saw this amazing script. I was playing, I never play myself, but they wanted me to play myself and my assistant. My assistant was really kind of out there, she was really insane and very, very unprofessional. So it was really, really a hilarious script for me. I thought, 'Okay, I have to do this.' So it was a lot of fun. It was like playing two characters...I'm not sure if it came on already. I think it might have aired last week...Her assistant kind of wore this really loud blonde wig. It was really short. She was really eccentric, I should say."...Serena on appearing on Mr. Blackwell's "worst dressed" list: "I mean, come on, who was on that list? I mean, it was Lindsay Lohan. I'm sorry, she wears simple clothes and she always dresses nice. Jessica Simpson, I have never seen her dress bad myself. She wears some of the best clothes. I mean, it was just, come on now. It was like taking a shot at all of young Hollywood out there and me too. It was just like they took a shot at all of us. I'm like all these people most of the people on the list, I have no problem with Nicolette Sheridan, what she wears. To me, she always looks good. So I didn't understand that list. I think he was just, I don't know, upset that young Hollywood is doing so well and taking over."...Serena catching up on the U.S. Fed Cup schedule: "It's in Delray, are you serious? Oh, I'll really want to play. I'm going to play for sure. I really look forward to it. I really want to play for Zina (Garrison), I haven't been able to play with her yet. Oh, I'm so excited. That's perfect. It doesn't get better than that. There's no way...they did that on purpose."...Jumping into Maria Sharapova's office supply sponsor turf, the ATP has announced a partnership with Ricoh Europe B.V., with the "international office equipment leader" becoming an official provider of the ATP and a sponsor of a number of European tournaments. Under the three-year agreement Ricoh will become the "Official Office Solutions Provider of the ATP" and will brand the "Ricoh ATP MatchFacts" statistics (thanks sportbusiness.com)...Dear ESPN: Please describe how, when Marat Safin is stepping on court live at 5 a.m. (EST in the States), you are showing SportsCenter re-runs on the Mothership, and freaking fishing shows on ESPN2? And you are the host broadcaster or just the storage center for tape delays? Time to piss off the three fisherman watching at that hour and throw some early-morning live coverage on in the States, or better yet just hand the whole thing over to The Tennis Channel...The WTA Tour and three top players are up in arms over unsubstantiated doping allegations leaked to the media by the Belgian sports ministry. "These are unsubstantiated rumors and it would be irresponsible to comment any further," WTA chief executive Larry Scott said in a statement concerning allegations against Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Nathalie Dechy, all of who participated in an exhibition in Belgium. "I think definitely it's unfair," Kuznetsova said. "They don't know nothing for sure yet. They don't know what was the thing what player took, and they don't know who...I'm not worried. I am definitely not using nothing to push myself up in the game...I'm pretty sure about this." WTA Communications Director Darrell Fry was put on spin control: "This is not the way the tennis anti-doping program works," he told Reuters. "We don't release the fact there was a positive test until the entire process was completed but the Belgian government apparently sees things differently."...Elena Dementieva is still a 50-50 prospect to pull from the Aussie Open with heat-related illness...Lindsay Davenport on the Martina Hingis "comeback" as told to the AP: "I was surprised that someone quit that young who still, I thought, could have made a better comeback from all her surgeries if she'd given it more time. I told her that. I thought she would come back, I think she's a good enough player. Whether she'll be the dominant force, if she plays full-time, No. 1, or if she wants to see where she would be, I don't know."...Roger Federer told Jim Courier that he considers No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt his top rival right now over No. 2-ranked Andy Roddick...As predicted, "Grinning" Greg Rusedski is getting ready to bail on Great Britain's Davis Cup team now that Tim Henman has pulled the plug, telling the BBC he is "not yet ready to commit" to their lowly Euro-Africa Zone tie against Israel in March. Time to abandon that ship.