Andre Goes to the Needle, Flipper Left Out of Aussie Davis Cup
Posted on February 22, 2005
Agassi, Ferrero Post Opening Wins at ATP DubaiFormer No. 1s Andre Agassi (d. Stepanek) and (WC) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Mayer) started the party right Monday at the ATP stop in Dubai, advancing to the second round with straight-set wins.
"It was a good workout to say the least," said Agassi, who withstood 12 aces from the Czech. "It was a pretty good standard match. He is an awkward player because he knows the court really well."
Ferrero, who lost to Stepanek last week, set up a likely encounter with world No. 1 Roger Federer in the second round after dismissing the German Mayer.
"I think I played a solid match after losing to Stepanek (last week)," Ferrero said. "I feel very well playing here, I came here with a good feeling. I think I bring this feeling to the court."
No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo (d. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus in two tiebreaks) was also a winner, joined in the second round by un-seeds Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. (WC) Bahrouzyan), Spaniard Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (d. (Q) Voltchkov), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. Beck), and Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, who housed non-rockin' Moroccan Younes "From Tunis" El Aynaoui 6-0, 6-1.
The 33-year-old El Aynaoui played just five tournaments last year after suffering plantar fascitis in his right foot, and was making his 2005 debut.
On tap for Tuesday are Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, T.Johansson vs. (7) Youzhny, Kiefer vs. (2) Safin, Rusedski vs. (3) Henman in an all-Brit, Andreev vs. (Q) Chiudinelli, Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro vs. (6) Davydenko, and H.-T. Lee vs. Soderling.
Seeds Labadze, Burgsmuller Win at ATP Scottsdale
Not a lot of big-name joy on the Monday schedule at the Tennis Channel Open in Scottsdale, with seeds (6) Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze (d. (WC) Kuznetsov 6-1 in the third) and (8) Lars Burgsmuller (d. Lu 7-6 in the third) highlighting opening-day play.
"I was just trying to put the ball in the court," Labadze said of his deep tactical approach in beating the American wildcard. "You know, try to play spin. It looked to me like he didn't like very much when you play high spin to his backhand. I couldn't play any winner or nothing, because I wasn't feeling so good with my ball."
Joining the Euro-seeds in the second round were unseeded Americans Justin "Time" Gimelstob (d. Vliegen), Jeff Salzenstein (d. Bogomolov), and Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti (d. Moodie).
Jan-Mike Gambill and Serb Janko Tipsarevic were washed out by rain.
On Tuesday's schedule in Scottsdale is (4) Dent vs. Arthurs, (WC) Evans vs. (3) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Behrend vs. Philippoussis, (Q) Bobby Reynolds "Wrap" vs. (2) Spadea in an all-American, (1) Haas vs. (WC) "The" Donald Young, (7) Carlsen vs. Blake, (Q) Frank "You Can" Dancevic vs. Glenn "I.C." Weiner, (Q) Tecau vs. (5) K.Kim, (Q) Kohlmann vs. Sanguinetti, and Gambill vs. Tipsarevic.
Argentines Roll, Chela Upset at ATP Acapulco
No. 3 seed Guillermo Canas (d. Massa, who retired in the second with injury) led four members of the Argentine Army into the second round Monday at the ATP claycourt stop in Acapulco.
"My goal this year is to be in the Top 10," Canas said. "Last year I was close since I finished 11, but my goal is definitely to be in the Top 8 and play the ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai."
Other Gaucho winners were Agustin Calleri (d. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience), veteran Mariano Puerta (d. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez), and riser Juan "The Principality" Monaco (d. (4) Chela).
"Finally I manage to win one of these matches that are so important," Monaco said. "I knew Chela very well and did what I had to do to beat him."
Other winners on the day were (5) Jiri Novak (d. Marin), and Spaniards Santiago Ventura (d. Almagro in three in an all-Spanish) and Al Montanes (d. (WC) A.Hernandez).
On Tuesday's full schedule on the dirt is (1) Moya vs. (Q) N.Lapentti, (WC) Gallardo Valles vs. Mantilla, Mello vs. (7) Ferrer, (Q) Devilder vs. Acasuso, Calatrava vs. (8) Nadal in an all-ESP, D.Sanchez vs. O.Hernandez in an all-ESP, (6) Volandri vs. Zabaleta, A.Martin vs. Vanek, and Zib vs. (2) Gaudio.
Seeds Farina Elia, Suarez Uprooted Monday at WTA Doha
Francesca Schiavone ousted No. 7-seeded Italian countrywoman Silvia Farina Elia, and France's Marion Bartoli served No. 8 Paola Suarez the 1-and-1 breadsticks to kick off the upsets Monday at the WTA stop in Doha.
No. 6 seed Elena Bovina, returning from injury, was the only seeded player safely into the second round with an error-strewn 7-5, 7-6(6) win over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.
"It was a tough match first-up," Bovina said. "Shinobu kept coming at me and never gave up."
Other un-seeds into the second round were Serb wildcard Ana Ivanovic (d. Vento-Kabchi 1-and-0), and Croatian Jelena Kostanic (d. Camerin in three).
The final round of qualifying was also completed with the final four rounding out the main draw in Lucie Safarova (CZE), Maria Kirilenko (RUS), Na Li (CHN), and Roberta Vinci (ITA).
Bubbling up Tuesday at the Oil Open are Sfar vs. Pratt, Sugiyama vs. Stosur, Hantuchova vs. Maleeva, Li vs. Schnyder, Martinez vs. Vinci, Dulko vs. Medina Garrigues, and Kirilenko vs. Safarova.
Seeds Go Three-for-Four Monday at WTA Acapulco
Three of the four seeds in action advanced into the second round Monday at the WTA claycourt stop in Acapulco, with winners (3) Emilie Loit (d. Czink), (5) Dally Randriantefy (d. Haynes), and (7) Marta Domachowska (d. Lopez Herrera).
The lone loser was (6) Maria Sanchez Lorenzo, ousted in straight sets by Slovak Ludmilla Cervanova.
Former American college star Lilia Osterloh also advanced into the second round, defeating countrywoman Lindsay Lee-Waters.
Tuesday's schedule in Mexico is Diaz-Oliva vs. Salerni, Pisnik vs. Irvin, Kurhajcova vs. Perebiynis, Ant. Serra Zanetti vs. Llagostera Vives, Jidkova vs. Andres Rodriguez, Beltrame vs. Szavay, Krauth vs. Parra Santonja, and American Julie "P." Ditty vs. Castano.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Andre Agassi has promised fans he won't take the guarantee money and run this week in Dubai, with the tournament only one week before he makes his first Davis Cup appearance for the U.S. in five years: "There are a lot of stars and the fans here definitely need a great week of tennis. I will try and play my best here. I am feeling very good physically and mentally. The travelling has not affected me and I still feel I have the focus to go on." In addition to the generic public relations announcement, the former No. 1, who many are betting on to cash it in at this year's US Open, threw out a longevity teaser to fans and media: "I can (keep playing) only if I continue to win. I hope I can come here many times before the end of my career."..."Grinning" Greg Rusedski is enjoying playing mentor to Britain's rising crop of talent, staying on to defend the crown's Davis Cup post abandoned by Tim Henman: "They have to start winning and making a dent and breaking into the Top 100 or Top 50 by the time they are 19 or 20 years old. On the junior tour, you are like a big fish in a small pond. But once you get on the ATP Tour, you realize how different it is. The kids must have the hunger to win. I think we have all these young players who fall in this range. However, they have to know the difference between playing at the junior level and playing on the tour. There are a lot of guys out there with good techniques, but they lack the hunger: that has to be there. I love working with these kids and having been in the Top 10 for two years I know I can give them something by just being there." Just don't give them that broken chicken-wing backhand...Mahesh Bhupathi says for a country of one billion people, India's tennis effort is sucking eggs: "There is a concern for Indian tennis as a whole," Bhupathi told Gulf News. "Yes there is a pool of talent among the boys, but they are simply not breaking through. That's a concern. It is a bit of an unfortunate situation to be in. But hopefully, somebody will step in soon."...Whirlpool Fantasy Tennis, the first-ever fantasy game for women's pro tennis from the WTA began this week, with all three entrants competing against each other through Roland Garros...Mark Philippoussis has been left off the Aussie Davis Cup team for their upcoming tie against Austria on grass: "Fitzy (captain John Fitzgerald) spoke to Mark a couple of times last week," team coach Wally Masur said at the announcement in Sydney today. "He wants to be part of the Davis Cup but form and fitness are a concern and he just needs tennis. We will welcome him back into the team with open arms but at the moment it's a case of him working on his fitness and improving his ranking."...Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic on Croatia facing the U.S. in Davis Cup next week: "I'm really looking forward to that. They're a huge favorite, but Ivan (Ljubicic) and me have played really good the last couple of weeks, and there are always a lot of surprises in Davis Cup. I'm playing really good, and Ivan is especially playing good. He has made three finals in a row."...Canada's riser Frank "You Can" Dancevic has successfully risen through the qualifying ranks at his last three ATP events...SI.com's Jon Wertheim, a big supporter of the pointless "ATP Race" rankings, has now turned on the current-year-only rankings (which currently do not have Roger Federer at No. 1)...Tennis Channel CEO Steve Bellamy says a big subscriber announcement is just around the corner (hello Comcast?): "The people who cannot get The Tennis Channel will be in the absolute minority very shortly. Our distribution, capacity and ability for the standard fan to get The Tennis Channel is going to go up tremendously in the very near future. These deals are very large and very sensitive, but that should tell you a lot. And right now, believe it or not, The Tennis Channel is in some part of 19 of the top 20 markets in America. We're in 236 markets. We're in 2,900 communities. We're carried by 34 different cable and satellite companies."...Apparently Andy Roddick's and Mark Philippoussis' cell phones have been ringing off the hook after their numbers were posted on the internet after Paris Hilton's cell-phone address book was hacked...Andre Agassi is taking pain-killer injections for his hip problem this week in Doha, not an encouraging sign for next week's Davis Cup: "The hip felt real good. It's been such a sharp pain, so I took the injection for it straight to the nerve, and to not feel the pain when I'm returning serve and lunging is a great feeling."...The Fed Cup World Group tie between Thailand and Croatia in April has been moved from Bangkok to Phuket to help boost tourism following the tsunami disaster. Just say Phuket when it comes to tourism...Gael "Force" Monfils has received his first Davis Cup call-up for France, though the teen will likely ride the pines behind Sebastien Grosjean, Arnaud Clement and doubles star Michael Llodra...Marat Safin speaking to Sovsport on getting turned down by Nick Bolletieri's camp as a youngster: "Bolletieri knows nothing about tennis. When I was 12, I was hurting, but I soon understood what kind of a man he is -- a businessman and a very high-profile publicist. Besides the tennis academy, he owns academies for golf, football, baseball, riding...and it's all funded by his pupils' rich parents. You listen to Bolletieri, he raised Pete Sampras, (Andre) Agassi, (Jim) Courier, (Monica) Seles, (Boris) Becker, (Tommy) Haas...everyone in the world. How can you not to pay to such an outstanding coach? They go to him from all over the world and don't know that Bolletieri's a former commando who's never played tennis himself."...Xavier "X-Man" Malisse and Cyril Saulnier withdrew from Scottsdale with injuries.