All-American Thursday as Roddick, Agassi, Spadea Through, Dent Ousts Nalbandian
Posted on February 11, 2005
Dent Put to Nalbandian Title Hopes at ATP MarseilleTaylor Dent put a stop to David Nalbandian's title hopes at the ATP stop in Marseille Thursday, serve and volleying the No. 2-seeded Argentine out of the event with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win.
Also into the quarterfinals were seeds (3) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson (d. (Q) Simon), (6) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic), and (8) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Andreev), all in straight sets.
"He's talented," said Johansson after dropping 22 aces on the French qualifier Simon. "He beat Thomas Johansson in the last round so I knew that he could play. He moves well and thinks a lot on the court. He's clever. There are no easy matches but I felt comfortable out there and always felt like I was in control of the match."
French qualifier Sebastien De Chaunac, coming off an upset of the top-seeded Guillermo Coria, had fortune smile on him when his second-round opponent "Grinning" Greg Rusedski withdrew from the event citing a rib and thigh injury, putting the lone remaining Frenchman into the quarterfinals.
Other un-seeds into the quarters were Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. Berdych), and Slovak Karol Beck (d. (WC) Clement).
Quarterfinal match-ups for Friday in Marseille are Schalken vs. (8) Ljubicic, (Q) De Chaunac vs. Baby Goran, Beck vs. (3) The Jackhammer, and (6) F-Lo vs. Dent.
Roddick, Agassi Into Quarterfinals at ATP San Jose
Top seeds (1) Andy Roddick (d. H.-T. Lee in three) and (2) Andre Agassi (d. Carlsen) advanced, albeit down somewhat different roads, into the quarterfinals Thursday at the ATP stop in San Jose.
Agassi pounded the backhand side to eventually wear down the left-handed Dane Carlsen 7-5, 6-1 after overcoming a slow start.
"That first game helped me to relax a little bit," Agassi said. "I just got off to a dodgy start. It's two unforced errors and a double fault. I felt like was possibly down three set points there, because he gets confidence, serves well and the set can be over in a hurry."
Carlsen won the first three points off Agassi's serve in the opening game but failed to break.
"I was running too much," Carlsen said. "I tried to use my slice to take pace off a little bit. He was good with patience. Sometimes it's just a couple points here or there. I'm not saying I should have won the first set. He probably had more chances than I did."
Roddick won a slugfest against Lee, dropping 17 aces on the Korean while struggling to dictate play. Roddick smashed a racquet in the second set in frustration as Lee continued to pick on the American's weak backhand wing.
"I was definitely struggling out there tonight," Roddick said. "It was everything or nothing...But I'm through and I'm going to keep battling. A lot of people are under the assumption that it's easy to play well every week and it's not."
Also into the quarters were (7) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer (d. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse), (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. K.Kim), and un-seeds Cyril Saulnier of France (d. (Q) Zib) and Swedish veteran Thomas Enqvist (d. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri), all straight-set wins.
Friday's quarterfinal match-ups are Saulnier vs. (4) Spadea (career meetings tied 1-1), (3) Haas vs. (8) The Beast (Haas leads 6-0), and in the night tip-offs (7) Tuna Melzer vs. (2) Agassi (tied 1-1), and (1) Roddick vs. Enqvist (tied 2-2).
"It's tough to stay with him, but it's also a lot of fun," said Enqvist on facing Roddick for the fifth time. "You have to be patient. Hopefully, I can take care of opportunities."
Moya, Gaudio, Nadal Lead Quarterfinalists at ATP Buenos Aires
Two Argentines in (2) Gaston Gaudio (d. Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta) and unseeded Jose Acasuso (d. (LL) Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez), and two Spaniards in (7) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal (d. "You Say" Potito Starace) and unseeded Nicolas Almagro (d. (8) Zabaleta in three) rounded out the quarterfinals Thursday at the claycourt ATP stop in Buenos Aires.
"I started off really strong, hitting the ball hard, and hitting lots of good forehands," said Nadal after his 1-and-3 win. "I was a break down in the second set but was able to come back and win in the end."
For Almagro, who came back from a set down against the No. 8 seed Zabaleta, it is a career-first ATP quarterfinal.
On tap for Friday on the dirt are Mantilla vs. A.Martin in an all-Spanish, (1) Moya vs. (WC) Puerta (Moya leads career meetings 2-0), Acasuso vs. Almagro, and the feature match in (7) Nadal vs. (2) Gaudio (Gaudio leads 2-0 without dropping a set).
Mauresmo Beats Down Pierce to Advance at WTA Paris
Mary Pierce may trump Amelie Mauresmo in the slam title category, but Mauresmo reminded the former Australian and French slam champion who is currently No. 1 in France Thursday with a 6-4, 6-3 win at the WTA stop in Paris.
"It's always difficult to play another French player because we spend so much time together on the circuit," said the 2001 winner Mauresmo. "But even if it was a bit up and down, my level improved."
Pierce choked in a double fault at 3-4 in the second to drop her serve before Mauresmo held for the victory.
Other seeded winners into the quarterfinals Thursday were (8) Maggie Maleeva (d. Jankovic, bagel in the second) Frenchwoman-child Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin (d. (LL) Mamic).
Unseeded players into the quarters Thursday were France's Marion Bartoli (d. (5) Dechy), and Russian Dinara "Little Sis" Safina (d. countrywoman (Q) Douchevina).
Friday's quarterfinal match-ups in Paris are Golovin vs. Farina Elia, Bartoli vs. Petrova, Serena vs. Safina (Serena leads meetings 2-0, needing three sets in their most recent), and Maleeva vs. Mauresmo (Mauresmo leads 5-1).
Mirza Lone Unseeded Semifinalist at WTA Hyderabad
Homecountry favorite Sania Mirza rode the wave of hometown support Thursday at the WTA stop in Hyderabad, coming from a set down to defeat Israel's Tzipora Obziler 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) to become the lone unseeded semifinalist at the Indian event.
"It always helps to have so many people cheering for you," said Mirza of the insanely loud, less-than-tennis-savvy crowds in Hyderabad. "Whenever I was in trouble I would look at my father or my friends. So I think this was a team effort."
No. 8-seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko ousted top-seeded Na Li in straight sets to gain the semis, with No. 2 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld defeating unseeded Tian Tian Sun to make it a clean sweep of the remaining Chinese at the event.
"Things didn't go my way, it just wasn't my day," Li said. "I missed out easy points, but Maria played a better game."
Rounding out the semis was No. 9 Alyona Bondarenko (d. Pelletier) of the Ukraine.
In doubles the No. 2-seeded Li/Sun advanced to the semifinals Thursday, as did the No. 4-seeded Kirilenko and partner Tamarine Tanasugarn, while the top-seeded Groenefeld and Martina Navratilova retired in the first set of their quarterfinal match when Groenefeld (punter alert for the Friday singles) retired with a knee sprain.
"It is disappointing and unfortunate," Navratilova said. "This is the first time that myself or my partner got hurt in a doubles match. I had a great time in such a packed stadium."
Friday's semifinals are Kirilenko vs. Mirza (first meeting), and Bondarenko vs. Groenefeld (Groenefeld leads career meetings 3-1).
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Former French star Mary Pierce on playing the current French No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo at the WTA stop in Paris: "I've got nothing to lose. She is a friend, we know each other very well, we train together, and we have dinners together."...Sania Mirza's parents could not make the trip with her to the Aussie Open because they were on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca...Miami officials announced that the Top 78 men (save for the injured Gustavo Kuerten) will fill the main draw (until the injury pull-fest begins) at the Masters Series-Miami, while Lindsay Davenport will skip the event on the women's side...Tim Henman says his back is fit for ATP Rotterdam next week...India's 18-year-old Sania Mirza on putting up with the insanity in Hyderabad this week: "I know when I am going on court there are a billion people in India who are looking out for me in the papers the next day. I do feel the pressure. It is just that the person who comes through with that pressure comes out a winner."...E! Entertainment Television has been filming at ATP Buenos Aires a "Behind the Scenes" show that will be aired all over South America in March...Now that the British Davis Cup team is a one-trick pony with "Grinning" Greg Rusedski and (fill in the blank with a struggling junior), the Brits are sweating it after Rusedski's pull from Marseille this week with a rib and thigh injury...Mary Pierce says she is "more motivated than ever" at 30 years old with only 2-3 more years left on tour...Want to do your part for tennis on the web and tell Sports Illustrated that it is bad timing to can their tennis website (merging it with "other sports") while tennis is on the upswing? Hit them up here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/about_us/news/2002/questions_requests/...Vince Spadea on Andre Agassi's return to the U.S. Davis Cup team: "It adds a lot more firepower to the team and legendary status. I was slightly surprised. It looks like Andre is ready to go on all cylinders this year. He's finalizing his demise by not leaving any stone unturned." Oh -- your -- God that's good stuff -- "finalizing his demise" paired with the cliche "not leaving any stone unturned"?!? Vincenzo is a machine, The Tennis Channel needs to speed up the process of getting Spadea on film with their potentially-in-the-making reality show, he is a gold mine (our favorite cliche)...Rogers Communications is the new title sponsor of the Masters Series-Canada, Tennis Canada will announce today at news conferences in Toronto and Montreal, according to the Globe and Mail.