Sharapova Among 100 Sexiest; Williams Write the Book on Self-EsteemPosted on March 24, 2005 Ferrero, Blake, Rusedski Lead Unseeded Winners at ATP MiamiThird-set tiebreaks were the order of the day Wednesday at the ATP stop in Miami as play kicked off with an all-unseeded line-up, with all 32 seeds receiving first-round byes. Advancing into the second round with breaker wins in the third were Spain's Al Martin (d. Calleri from a set down), Germany's Rainer Schuettler (d. Starace), Russian Igor Andreev (d. (Q) Almagro 14-12, saving two match points), and American Kevin Kim (d. Horna 0 in the breaker). Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero opened with a win against American wildcard Brendan Evans, looking to overcome the mental more than physical blocks that have kept him from rising up the rankings since his injury- and illness-filled 2004 season. "Physically, I felt really good since long time ago," Ferrero said. "I had a lot of problems last year, but was last year, not this year. So this year I am perfect physically. I am trying to go back again...I think I need a lot of matches to play to try to make this rhythm as before." Brit veteran Greg Rusedski overcame the changing weather Wednesday to come from a set down against Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi. "The conditions the first set were probably some of the most difficult I've ever played," Rusedski said. "Just the wind. I mean, the wind, there was no real direction on what the ball was doing. It's not coming straight. It's swirling, it's mixing all the time...It was a little frustrating to be honest. But I stuck with it. The weather changed. Got a break. Got inside. And then, you know, the wind stopped and I could play my aggressive tennis and be more positive with the ball." Other winners on the day were Spain's Dave Ferrer (d. Kohlschreiber) and Fernando Verdasco (d. Wessels, setting up a meeting with Andy Roddick), Americans Robby Ginepri (d. Volandri) and (WC) James Blake (d. (Q) Carlsen), Argentine Jose Acasuso (d. Melzer), Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee (d. Enqvist in three), Georgia's Irakli Labadze (d. El Aynaoui 6-1 in the third), French wildcard teen Gael Monfils (d. countryman Llodra in three), Swede Jonas Bjorkman (d. Mirnyi 6-1 in the third), and Fin Jarkko Nieminen (d. Saulnier). On tap for Thursday in another day of all-unseeded play is (Q) Zib vs. Mardy "Silver" Fish, (Q) Christophe "The Roach" Rochus vs. (WC) Mark "The Dud Scud" Philippoussis, (Q) N.Lapentti vs. Beck, (Q) Lisnard vs. (WC) "The" Donald Young, Koubek vs. (Q) Jeff "The Lizard King" Morrison, Juan "The Principality" Monaco vs. Schalken, Muller vs. Zabaleta, (Q) Clement vs. Tomas "I Beat Federer in '04" Berdych, Ricardo Mello "Yello" vs. Santiago "Jessie" Ventura, Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian vs. Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic getting out the bug spray vs. Olivier "The Other Roach" Rochus, Hernych vs. (Q) Sanguinetti, (Q) Phau vs. Calatrava, Dupuis vs. Hanescu, (Q) Burgsmuller vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer in an all-German, and Mathieu vs. Tabara. Daniilidou Earns Sharapova Meeting at WTA Miami Former Top 15-ranked Greek Eleni Daniilidou came from a set down Wednesday to defeat Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-1 in the third, earning a second-round meeting with the struggling Maria Sharapova at the WTA stop in Miami. In her last match Sharapova was at the receiving end of a 6-0, 6-0 blowout at the hands of world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport. "That's just part of our sport," said Sharapova on the double bagel. "You're not going to be at your best all the time. I didn't really find a way to fight out there. Usually I find a way to get a rhythm in the match, and I wasn't able to do that. It was good for me to take a few days off and forget about it." Two of the seven qualifiers in action Wednesday advanced into the second round in Colombian conqueror Catalina Castano (d. (Q) Foretz) and Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Domachowska in three). Other winners on the all-unseeded day of play were Czechs Kveta Peschke (d. (WC) Karatantcheva) and Denisa Chladkova (d. countrywoman Benesova who retired in the third with injury), Spaniards Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Weingartner who retired with injury) and Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. Lee-Waters, bagel in the second), Russians Vera Douchevina (d. Loit) and Alina Jidkova (d. (Q) A.Bondarenko, bagel in the second), Americans Marissa Irvin (d. (Q) Serna), Abigail Spears (d. Stosur 6-1 in the third), Meghann Shaughnessy (d. (Q) Fedak, bagel in the second), and Jill Craybas (d. Razzano in three), Puerto Rico's Kristina Brandi (d. (WC) J.Jackson), Aussie Nicole Pratt (d. Tanasugarn), and Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. countrywoman (Q) Schruff). With the win the American Spears advances for face former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne in her 2005 debut. On court Thursday in Miami on another day of all-unseeded play are (Q) Kloesel vs. the former No. 1 Clijsters, Randriantefy vs. (Q) Peterson, Srebotnik vs. Vaidisova, (WC) Jessica "Captain" Kirkland vs. Morigami, Mashona "Little Sis" Washington vs. Raymond in an all-American, (WC) Haynes vs. (Q) Diaz-Oliva, (WC) Uberoi vs. (Q) Voskoboeva, Ivanovic vs. (Q) Granville, Chakvetadze vs. Kirilenko in an all-Russian, (WC) Kutuzova vs. Ruano Pascual, Parra Santonja vs. the 15-year-old (WC) Tatishvili, Strycova vs. Mandula, Martina "Nurse, I Need a" Sucha vs. Linetskaya, Vento-Kabchi vs. Schaul, Perebiynis vs. Marrero, and India's new darling (WC) Mirza vs. Sanchez Lorenzo. DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER Read what tennis industry insiders read to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria says his shoulder and groin problems are things of the past, with the Argentine defending runner-up points at Miami: "Apart from the physical problems I had (retired in last year's final with back/kidney stone problems) I have good memories from the tournament, from what I did last year. That helped give my confidence later when I went to play matches in Europe...I feel 10 out of 10. I've been working very hard and I feel very good. This tournament helps me a lot because I like it very much. Everything is perfect."...From FOX Sports: "Irakl Labadze has shrugged off suggestions he was linked to match-fixing in Austria..."It was not upsetting, actually it was funny," Labadze said of his reaction on first hearing his name had been linked to a court investigation in Austria, in which a betting shop refused to pay $30,000 to Martin Fuehrer for a winning bet against Labadze. The firm claimed Fuehrer was a friend of the player and knew he was going to lose, but Fuehrer sued the company. Labadze indicated that Fuehrer is just a casual acquaintance. "All the players know him," said Labadze, adding that he first heard of the investigation when he was in the United States to play at Scottsdale, Arizona, last month. He said he would be happy to testify before a court in Austria if required. "I'm happy to go and answer questions," he said. "When I go back, if the court wants me to go there and ask me some questions, of course I'll go." But Labadze said his three-set loss to unheralded Austrian Julian Knowle at St. Poelten last year was, unfortunately, entirely in character. "I'm the kind of player, I can lose to anybody, I can beat anybody," he said. "I'm sorry I'm not consistent.""...Canada has a potential tour-impact player in the oven with 14-year-old Sharon Fichman, who won the singles and doubles at the Banana Bowl in Brazil...Dan Weil, who is more comfortable writing about golf courses, spreads some misinformation with FOXSports.com's "Ten key questions with Grand Slams looming": "Can Marat Safin challenge (Roger) Federer for No. 1? Not likely. Safin's results since his amazing Australian Open win in January have been disappointing. Whenever the 25-year-old Russian has raised expectations for greatness with big wins, like the 2000 US Open, he has quickly succumbed to the pressure. He's likely to fizzle not only at the Nasdaq but perhaps the final three slams of the year too." Huh? Wins the Australian, has a couple early losses and now he's done for the season? Time to go back to reviewing golf course architecture...Tennis players coming in on FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women" (behind No. 1 Angelina Jolie) were No. 19 Maria Sharapova and No. 62 Anna Kournikova...TR.net writer Ron Cioffi will be giving free pub to the WTA Tour's Fantasy Tennis league with ongoing commentary on his currently No. 317-ranked fantasy team, if you're looking for some apparently-shaky fantasy tips...Venus and Serena Williams have a new book out targeted to 9-12 year olds, "Venus and Serena: Serving From the Hip: 10 rules for Living, Loving and Winning." Serena says she is a great role model for girls seeking to lift their level of self-absorp...er, self-esteem: "It's a great book for teenage girls who deal with different issues. Growing up, I would have loved to have had such a positive role model to look up to and try to be like and try to emulate. We love having that opportunity to say, 'Look, you can be like us, you can be successful and at the same time have high morals and high self-esteem and be a very nice person at the end of the day." |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||