Monfils Advances in Milan; Hingis Returns in Thailand

Corretja Misery Continues on Clay at ATP Vina Del Mar

Twin seeds in action (3) Filippo Volandri (d. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia Lopez) and (5) Mariano Zabaleta (d. N.Lapentti) cruised into the second round Monday on the dirt at the ATP stop in Vina del Mar, Chile.

Un-seeds into the second round were Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. O.Hernandez), Brazil's Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta (d. (WC) Parada in three), and the unhearalded Nicolas Almagro, who sped the retirement of former No. 2 and wildcard Alex Corretja with an all-Spanish straight-set win.

The final round of qualifying was also completed with Al Portas (ESP), Pete Luczak (AUS), Federico Luzzi (ITA), and homecountry surprise Phillip Harboe (CHI) into the main draw.

On tap for Tuesday on the dirt are Montanes vs. Sanchez in an all-ESP, Mantilla vs. Garcia, (Q) Harboe vs. Ventura, (Q) Luczak vs. (2) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (8) "You Say" Potito Starace vs. Ramirez Hidalgo, (Q) Luzzi vs. Tipsarevic, Calatrava vs. (7) Calleri, (4) Ferrer vs. (Q) Al "The Dropshot Dragon" Portas, Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience vs. (6) Acasuso, and an all-Argentine battle in Juan "The Principality" Monaco vs. Puerta.

Spadea, X-Man, Mello Advance at ATP Delray Beach

Both of last year's finalists, surprise Brazilian winner (5) Ricardo Mello "Yello" (d. Zib) and runner-up (1) Vince Spadea (d. American countryman Armando) advanced Monday into the second round on the opening day of play at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, Florida.

Other seeds into round two were (3) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse (d. Jeff "Baby Krajicek" Morrison in three), (7) Kenneth Carlsen (d. (WC) Nunez), and (8) Kevin Kim (d. Canadian Frank "You Can" Dancevic).

"I played well at the end," Malisse said in barely surviving the net-crushing game of Baby Krajicek. "At five-all on the break point, I hit a good shot, and he couldn't make the volley. It just came down to a couple of points at the end."

Un-seeds into the second round were American (WC) Todd Widom (d. Olivier "Mucus" Mutis in three), German Philipp Kohlschreiber (d. (WC) Odesnik) continuing his run begun at the Australian Open, and Chinese qualifier Peng Sun (d. (Q) Boeker).

Scheduled for Tuesday in Delray are Delic vs. (2) Novak, Blake vs. (Q) Gabashvili, Gambill vs. (4) Saulnier, Salzenstein vs. Moodie, (Q) Vahaly vs. Kendrick in an all-American, Karanusic vs. Guzman, Peter "Nuclear" Wessels vs. van Scheppingen in an all-clogs match-up, and Glenn "I.C." Weiner vs. Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze.

Monfils Continues Rookie Conquests at ATP Milan

Only three main draw matches at the ATP stop in Milan Monday, with both seeds in action advancing in (2) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Enqvist) and (7) Karol Beck (d. Hanescu), and 18-year-old wildcard Gael "Force" Monfils defeating Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau in an all-French meeting.

The final round of qualifying was also completed, with four onto the big dance in the Ukraine's Sergiy "Stakhouse" Stakhovsky, and three Italians to the glee of homecountry fans in Giorgio Galimberti, Uros Vico, and Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali.

Scheduled for Tuesday in Milan are (3) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Ulihrach, (Q) Vico vs. (WC) Seppi in an all-Italian, (Q) Galimberti vs. Ivo "I Dated Hingis" Heuberger, (Q) Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali vs. (4) Stepanek, (6) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler vs. Sanguinetti, and Christophe "The Roach" Rochus vs. (Q) Stakhovsky.

Seeds Sugiyama, Jankovic Outed at WTA Tokyo

Two seeds were sent packing in first-round play at the WTA stop in Tokyo Tuesday, with Italy's Roberta Vinci ousting homecountry favorite and No. 5 Ai Sugiyama in three sets, and Czech Iveta "Not Lose" Benesova upsetting No. 7 Jelena Jankovic 6-1 in the third.

Two seeds successfully advanced in (6) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Santonja 0-and-0), and the resurgent (8) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Jidkova).

Unseeded winners Tuesday in Tokyo were Japan's Saori Obata (d. countrywoman Miho Saeki, bagel and breadstick), Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Peng), Swiss Marie-Gayanay Mikaelian (d. Pratt), Japan's Shinobu Asagoe (d. countrywoman Yoshida), and Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Osterloh).

The top four seeds in Tokyo are Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva.

On tap for Wednesday in Tokyo are Nakamura vs. Fuda, Morigami vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, Vento-Kabchi vs. Sharapova, Kuznetsova vs. Mikaelian, Craybas vs. Panova, and in doubles Davenport/Morariu vs. Okamoto/Yoshida.

Seeds Washington, Brandi Out at WTA Pattaya City

Two upsets Monday at the WTA stop in Pattaya City, Thailand, with Alyona Bondarenko ousting No. 4 Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and Mara Santangelo steamrolling No. 5 Kristina Brandi, both in straight sets.

Two seeds moved easily into the second round in (2) Marion "Roly Poly" Bartoli (d. (WC) Damayanti), and (7) Anna Lena Groenefeld (d. Hopkins).

Un-seeds into the second round were Russian Evgenia Linetskaya (d. Tanasugarn in three), former Top 10er Jelena Dokic (d. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer), and Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna (d. Melinda "The Fifth Element" Czink).

On tap for Tuesday in Pattaya City are Ruano Pascual vs. Obziler, Martinez vs. Uberoi, Weingartner vs. the former No. 1 Martina Hingis in a media frenzy, Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva vs. Salerni, Peer vs. Domachowska, An.Serra Zanetti vs. Amanmuradova, Bachmann vs. Talaja, Barna vs. Perebiynis, and Voskoboeva vs. Fedak.

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Serena Williams jumped from 7 to No. 2 on the WTA Tour Rankings this week, bumping Amelie Mauresmo to No. 3, while Aussie Alicia Molik made her Top 10 debut at No. 10. Her booty remains at No.1...Moving into the Top 20 after the Aussie Open on the men's side were Nikolay Davydenko and Dominik Hrbaty...Play did not start until today at the WTA stop in Tokyo...The Serving for Tsunami Relief was held in Houston Monday night with Andy Roddick, Tommy Haas, Anna Kournikova and John McEnroe among others, with the Grand Slam Jam on Wednesday and Thursday with additions Jim Courier, Taylor Dent, Donald Young and Lance Armstrong...According to the Houston Chronicle, with no ATP senior tour events in the U.S., Jim McIngvale is speaking to Jim Courier about having the Westside Tennis Club in Houston host an event in the fall...Martina Navratilova has taken a doubles wildcard into next week's WTA stop in Hyderabad (India), and may pair with rising local legend Sania Mirza...Not good for Mardy Fish in that he doesn't even seem to be in U.S. Davis Cup Patrick McEnroe's thoughts for the No. 2 spot this year: "Taylor Dent has had the best start to the year out of the potential second players. He had a win over (Lleyton) Hewitt in Adelaide and had a pretty good Australian Open. James Blake looked pretty good and is trying to get back into shape. Those guys looked good. There are a few tournaments over the next few weeks that could determine who that second guy would be if Andre (Agassi) can't make it."...Will Lindsay Davenport announce her retirement at Indian Wells?...Peng Sun, who won three matches to qualify at Delray Beach, is the first Chinese-born man to make the main draw of an ATP event held outside of Asia since 1990...Juan Ignacio Chela, Nicolas Massu and Luis "Me So" Horna pulled from Vina del Mar this week with injury...The potential comeback for the 31-year-old Monica Seles hit a snag when she was beaten 6-4, 6-4 in an exhibition by Martina Navratilova in New Zealand. Don't look for her return to the WTA anytime soon...John McEnroe writing for The Telegraph: "Let's put it this way, the women's game has definitely improved in the looks department since I was playing."...Anne Smith, a winner of 10 Grand Slam doubles titles between 1981-84, is playing the Rockford Challenger at age 45: "I just got the bug again," Smith, a licensed psychologist, told the Rockford Star. "I thought, 'If Martina can do it, I'm going to give it a go.'" Smith won five doubles titles with Navratilova, and Wimbledon with Kathy Jordan in 1980, ranking No. 12 in singles in 1982...John McEnroe on Lleyton Hewitt: "Listen, I'm the first to tell you how tough it is out there to keep your cool. As long as he doesn't start giving it the 'Come-ons' when an opponent double-faults or something, I see nothing wrong in it. At 5 ft. 11 in., on tiptoes, there is no way he can intimidate a guy who's 6 ft. 4 in. (Marat Safin), so he has to find other ways of being in his face, figuratively speaking. He's like a little pitbull terrier who won't let go and if the other players don't like it, too bad. It's just his way of trash-talking or sledging, as the Aussies call it. Hewitt is one of the most combative players tennis has seen for 10 or 20 years. It surprised me how quickly people dismissed him when his game tailed off a little a year or so ago. This is a guy who finished No. 1 in the world two years in a row. He was never going to go away that easily. I certainly think he's got a better chance of winning this final than he would have done had he been up against (Roger) Federer. He knows himself he hasn't matched up well against the Swiss in the past year, having lost to him in the Masters Cup final, the US Open final, a Wimbledon quarter-final and the fourth round here last year."