Nadal Puts Hammer Down on Ferrero; Monte Carlo On Despite Death of Rainier

"I think it's one of those matches where, if I'd executed my shots, the match would have been mine," Molik said after the straight-set defeat. "Virginie played really well but I had some chances and just didn't make the shots at critical times."

Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska also advanced with a three-set win over No. 1 doubles stand-out Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Other seeded winners were (2) Serena Williams (d. Randriantefy), (6) Vera Zvonareva (d. Peng 7-6 in the third), (7) Nadia Petrova (d. Maleeva, bagel in the second), (8) Patty Schnyder (d. Chladkova, bagel in the second), (9) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Dulko in three), (11) Jelena Jankovic (d. Martinez, winning the first 10 games), (12) Silvia Farina Elia (d. Medina Garrigues), (14) Mary Pierce (d. (WC) Daniilidou, bagel in the first), and (15) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Raymond).

"You have to change your mind-set when you play on clay," Serena said. "I've learned the hard way, if you hit the ball really hard, you'll go home early. You have to lift the ball more and try to get a lot of balls in play instead of going for so many winners. But I love the clay. I love sliding and moving on it."

Daniilidou's effort was more a Dannili-don't against Pierce, who ran out to a 6-0, 4-0 lead before the Greek got on the board.

"Daniilidou has a big forehand and big serve, but she just wasn't hitting her shots today and that was giving me some chances," Pierce said. "She had nothing to lose in the second set and started to play much better, so in the end it started to get much closer."

On court Thursday on the dirt are Davenport vs. Peschke, Domachowska vs. Venus, Pierce vs. Serena, Jankovic vs. Petrova, Myskina vs. Asagoe, Sugiyama vs. Razzano, Schnyder vs. Farina Elia, and Zvonareva vs. Likhovtseva in an all-Russian.

"I played (Mary) here last year and she gave me a tough time and then went on to have a great season, and a good Olympics," said Serena on facing Pierce. "I know Mary's no pushover and she always plays well against the big players."

Nadal Punishes Former French Open Champ Ferrero at ATP Valencia

If there was any question that former No. 1 and Roland Garros champ Juan Carlos Ferrero is back to form...try back again in a month.

Ferrero, who has yet to recover from a debilitating 2004 campaign filled with injury and illness, was ceremoniously thumped 6-2, 6-1 by No. 3 seed Rafael Nadal Wednesday at the ATP claycourt stop in Valencia.

"I think I played pretty much okay, but I was a bit surprised as Juan Carlos helped me in making more mistakes than usual," Nadal said. "That calmed me down early on. The draw wasn't kind to me putting me up against Ferrero on his home patch. But I think he was a bit nervous."

While Ferrero's troubles continue, his Spanish compatriot Nadal's star continues to rise after reaching the final on hardcourt at the Masters Series-Miami, where the teenager blew a two sets to love and 4-1 in the third lead in the best-of-five set final against world No. 1 Roger Federer.

"I felt uncomfortable out there throughout," Ferrero said. "I took too many risks and made too many mistakes."

Winners in second-round play through to the quarterfinals were Chilean (20) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Mantilla) and three Spaniards in former Roland Garros champ Al Costa (d. Koubek), (6) Fernando Verdasco (d. (Q) Luzzi, bagel in the second), and (Q)Ivan Navarro Pastor (d. Dupuis from a set down).

"I came to Valencia to win," Gonzalez said. "In these first two matches, I have been feeling really at home on clay."

Scheduled for Thursday in Valencia are (7) Andreev vs. "You Say" Potito Starace, Kuerten vs. A.Martin, Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez vs. (3) Nadal in an all-Spanish, and Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze vs. (5) Ferrer.

Cream of Tour Scrubs Advance at ATP Casablanca

All three seeds in action Wednesday at the ATP claycourt stop in Casablanca advanced in (2) Filippo Volandri (d. Nieminen from a set down), (7) Gilles Muller (d. Tipsarevic), and (8) Christophe Rochus (d. D.Sanchez in three).

"I think he played very great tennis, he fought very well, and it came down to a few points at the end," Volandri said in generic tour post-conference match-speak. "The most important is that I won and I am really happy to be in my third quarterfinal this year."

In the lone all-unseeded match, Czech Tomas Zib defeated unseeded Spanish defending champ Santiago Ventura in straight sets.

"Today was the first time I was playing against him, I knew Santiago is a strong candidate on clay," Zib said. "He won the title here last year. Defeating Rainer (Schuettler) in the first round gave me a lot of confidence and I went into the match thinking I was playing great tennis and I had nothing to lose."

On court Thursday in Casablanca are Juan "The Principality" Monaco vs. (5) Florian "Oscar" Mayer, (Q) Gicquel vs. the resurgent Clement in an all-French, (6) Puerta vs. Almagro, and Vanek vs. (Q) Simon.

DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning 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
Repeat Offender Productions is filming the Williams sisters this week at Amelia Island for their "reality show" for the ABC Family network, to air in July: "I don't know what to expect," Venus said. "I'm really a low-key, shy person. I guess what's happening in my career and my life doesn't really mirror who I am. We'll see what happens. Yikes." Yikes indeed -- what will be most interesting is to see how much "reality" comes out of that, and how much of it is the sisters' self-indulgent commentary on their fabulously busy lives. ABC says it will be a story of a "family driven to bring the sisters to the top of the game," which thankfully almost guarantees footage of crazy dad Richard spinning stories about the 43 companies he owns, how he was asked to run for president, how he has the ability to enter The Matrix, etc...A sample of some of the sweet reporting the Florida Times-Union interns are throwing up on their website this week in their coverage of Amelia Island: "She broke Brandi to begin the second set, but Brandi finally responded with a break of her own. Davenport broke Brandi at love again in the third game for a 2-1 lead. Davenport slammed a volley to conclude a nine-point rally that finished Brandi. Davenport had to wipe her hands off on the first changeover. She said after the match that she had forgotten to wipe her hand lotion off. She said the ball felt heavier on the cooler clay at night than it did during her day practices." Was that a blog entry? We've seen better tennis reporting on middle school newspaper websites. That should be the reality show filmed at Amelia this week, "Florida Times-Union Interns Cover Tennis" Tough times for the ultra-conservative Jacksonville newspaper, which last year was found guilty of copying neo-conservative magazine rants and passing them off, sometimes verbatim, as their own opinion pieces...Kim Clijsters on her website says she is no longer seeing her underwear-model boyfriend: "Luc and I have stopped seeing each other. We were still in the initial period of getting to know each other and it also turned out that combining my life of tournaments abroad and his engagements in Belgium was not that easy."...From the AP: "Monaco called off its French league soccer game out of respect for Prince Rainier III while the Monte Carlo Masters canceled festivities at next week's tennis tournament. The Monte Carlo Masters, the season's first major claycourt tournament, will proceed as planned Monday, but all accompanying social events are off because of the death Wednesday of the tiny principality's long-ruling monarch."...SFX has signed Justine Henin-Hardenne, who will work with super-agents Ken Meyerson and Colin Smeeton. SFX also currently represents Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Mardy Fish, the Bryan Brothers, Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan among others...Anna Kournikova's swimming stalker has been judged mentally incompetent to stand trial in Florida, and will be put in the can for six months in an attempt to get him fit to be judged...Sirius Satellite Radio has sealed a four-year deal to broadcast Wimbledon...Roger Federer on the death of H.S.H. Prince Rainier III of Monaco: "I want to express my deepest condolences to the royal family and the people of Monaco. I remember how much Prince Rainier III embraced the tournament. It will be difficult to play there at this time, but we will do so to honor the Prince, the royal family and the people of Monaco."