Davenport to Skip Euro Clay Events; Federer Begins Clay Campaign

Davenport has now appeared in 83 singles finals, winning 47 titles over 13 years. The American says this will be her farewell year on tour.

Farina Elia benefited from Serena Williams suffering a twisted ankle in their quarterfinal match.

"I really fought hard today," Farina Elia said. "I played really my best game. I did what I could today. I think Lindsay came up with unbelievable points in a very important game. All the time I had break points she came up with a serve, an ace."

The Italian is now 3-10 in career singles finals.

In the doubles final the Australian team of Bryanne Stewart and Samantha Stosur won their second title as a team this year, defeating Kveta Peschke and Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-2.

"I don't know if we really let them play the way they wanted to play today," Stosur said. "They weren't really moving that much on the net. We rallied quite well from the baseline."

Andreev Collects First Tour Title at ATP Valencia

Russian Igor Andreev took another step towards cementing his reputation as a heralded claycourter Sunday at the ATP stop in Valencia, coming from a set down to defeat Spaniard David Ferrer 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 for his career-first ATP title.

The 21-year-old, who reached dirt finals at Bucharest and Gstaad last year, defeated tour shooting star Rafael Nadal en route to the final.

"I can't believe it," Andreev said. "Tomorrow when I'm more relaxed I will think about it. There are so many matches to win my first title. From the first point it was a very tough match. I'm happy I kept my head cool and came out in the third set playing great tennis."

Ferrer, who reached the semifinals at the Masters Series-Miami on hardcourts a few weeks back and Saturday had to win two matches in the rain-backed-up schedule, appeared to tire in the second set when Andreev made his run.

"Andreev played at a really high level today and I was unable to impose my game," Ferrer said. "He was able to dictate play and all credit to him for winning the title. I'm sad I didn't win but at least one of my friends won."

In the doubles final, No. 3 seeds Fernando Gonzalez/Martin Rodriguez upset top-seeds Lucas Arnold/Mariano Hood 6-4, 6-4 for their first title as a team.

"This city has treated me very well again this year," Rodriguez said. "It's great to win this title two years in a row and it has been great to play with Fernando this week."

Veteran Puerta Spanks Young Monaco in All-Argentine Casablanca Final

Experience won out over youth Sunday in the ATP Casablanca claycourt final when No. 6 seed Mariano Puerta routed unseeded Juan Monaco 6-4, 6-1 for his first title of the year and third of his career.

"I am a little bit disappointed about today," Monaco said. "The conditions weren't easy, it was windy and the crowd really affected me unfortunately. I know it has been a great week for me, I gave everything I had in this final and Mariano played a great match, he was able to stay more concentrated than me."

Puerta said the key was getting his emotions under control early.

"I am so happy. It is unbelievable, such a great feeling," Puerta said. "I was really nervous at the beginning because I wanted to win this final so badly. The conditions weren't easy either, there was a lot of wind and the crowd affected us quite a bit. I think my experience made me deal with the situation better that Juan. He is young -- he was playing in his first final and he seemed to really lose his concentration with the crowd."

In the Saturday doubles final, No. 2 seeds Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl claimed their third title of 2005, defeating South Americans Luis Horna and Adrian Garcia 6-4, 6-3.

Federer Begins Clay Campaign at ATP Masters Series-Monte Carlo

World No. 1 Roger Federer shows he is serious in his quest for a first French Open title with his first appearance this week at the Masters Series-Monte Carlo since 2002.

In contrast are top Americans Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Mardy Fish and James Blake who are choosing to begin their claycourt campaign later in April, leaving countryman Vince Spadea as the lone U.S. representative in the field.

ATP players are "required" to play Masters Series events, a requirement that has come up lame without punishment due to the year-end bonus pool money drying up.

Other Top 10 members missing out on Monte are Lleyton Hewitt nursing the toe injury, and the as-yet-unannounced absence of Argentine David Nalbandian.

While some of the top guns have stayed home, many of the lower-ranked Spaniards and Argentines are elevated to superstar status with their move to the red dirt, and difficult first-round matches abound for the seeds in the principality, which retains a somber mood after last week's loss of Prince Rainier.

Here is the breakdown of the four quarters of the draw for the 2005 Masters Series-Monte Carlo:

Top Quarter
Seeds: (1) Roger Federer, (10) Nikolay Davydenko, (7) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, (13) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic
Floaters: "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, Gustavo Kuerten, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer

Not a bad draw for Club Fed, but he'll have to bypass a number of clay grinders to reach even the quarters. Rusedski will have to play the match of his life to even challenge Fed in his opener, with potential second- and third-round meetings with Spaniard Al Montanes then either Kuerten, Verdasco or Gonzalez. Fed's seeded third-round opponent would be Baby Goran, but the Croatian will have a hard time against the one-two punch in his openers against Guga, then either Gonzo or Hot Sauce. The Jackhammer will face dirt-tested qualifiers in both his first and second rounds, while (10) Davydenko will have an opening scrapper against Tuna Melzer. Don't be surprised to see unseeded former Roland Garros winner Al Costa sneak through to the quarterfinals against Fed or his conqueror.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (4) Gaston Gaudio, (8) Ivan Ljubicic, (11) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, (15) Radek Stepanek
Floaters: Rainer Schuettler, Nicolas Kiefer, Vince Spadea, (WC) Gael "Force" Monfils, Olivier "The Roach" Rochus

Who can stop (4) Gaudio and (11) Nadal from a blockbuster quarterfinal meeting? Gaudio opens against a qualifier before facing the winner of the all-German Schuettler-Kiefer conflict. Nadal will open with one of the tournament's highlights, an all-teen future-of-men's-tennis match-up against the wildcard Monfils, who will have his own army of supporters in Monaco. Big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic, almost anonymous in the midst of this clay-talented quarter, will have the chance to build some momentum with an opener against one of the Belgian Roach  brothers, then the winner of Luis Horna-Tomas Berdych before coming up against whoever comes out of the Nadal-Monfils-Chela-Malisse foursome.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (3) Tim Henman, (6) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria, (12) Thomas Johansson, (14) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty
Floaters: Paul-Henri Mathieu, Dave Ferrer, Mariano Zabaleta

This quarter of the draw could open up really quickly, with Coria facing a tough opener against the clay-due Mathieu, and Henman facing the Argentine veteran Zabaleta. Another seed looking at a first-round exit is (14) The Dominator against Ferrer, who in his last two events reached the semifinals at the MS-Miami and the final at Valencia. The No. 12-seeded T.Johansson could gain momentum with a soft draw until a third-round beating from the Coria-Mathieu winner.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2) Marat Safin, (5) "King" Carlos Moya, (9) Guillermo Canas, (16) Jiri Novak
Floaters: Mariano Puerta, Igor Andreev, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (WC) Juan Carlos Ferrero, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Hyung-Taik Lee

Argentine veteran Mariano Puerta has already beaten Carlos Moya twice on clay in 2005, which means bad news for the Spaniard in his opener. Safin, the top-seeded player in the quarter, could likely face problems depending on which personality of the Russian shows for his opening-round meeting against the streaky Korean Hyung-Taik Lee, who last year reached the third round at Roland Garros. Other oddities in the section include the struggling former Roland Garros champ Ferrero against the monster-serving Dr. Ivo, the Valencia winner Andreev against (9) Canas, and (16) Novak vs. the big-serving Beast. In a perfect world Safin would face off against Moya in the quarterfinals, but in this section of floaters, with each struggling of late, the punters will be on alert.

Potential quarterfinal match-ups in Monte later in the week are (1) Federer vs. (7) J.Johansson or Costa, (4) Gaudio vs. (11) Nadal, (6) Coria vs. (3) Henman, Zabaleta or Ferrer, and (5) Moya vs. (2) Safin or (WC) Ferrero.

In last year's final, (3) Coria spanked (4) Schuettler 6-2, 6-1, 6-3. Returning champions in this year's field are Coria (2004), Ferrero (2003-02), Kuerten (2001,'99), and Moya (1998).

On court Monday in M.C. are (WC) Ferrero vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, (6) Guillermo "El Fragile" Coria vs. (WC) Mathieu, (11) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (WC) Gael "Force" Monfils, H.-T. Lee vs. (2) Safin, Saulnier vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (4) Gaudio vs. (Q) Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, Zabaleta vs. (3) Henman, Soderling vs. Santoro, (Q) Ascione vs. Beck, (16) Novak vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (Q) Mantilla vs. (7) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, (Q) Gasquet vs. (Q) Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez, Schuettler vs. Kiefer in an all-German, Juan Ignacio "The Spitting Snake" Chela vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Spadea vs. (15) Stepanek, and (Q) Hanescu vs. Calleri.

Six of Top 10 Women This Week at WTA Charleston

Six of the Top 10 women on the WTA Rankings take to the clay this week at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, where Russian Elena Dementieva returns from the hip injury that forced her out of Amelia Island, and Serena Williams takes a week of recovery after turning her ankle in Amelia.

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, fresh off her Amelia title run, heads the field joined by Top 8 seeds Dementieva, current French Open holder Anastasia Myskina, Venus Williams, Aussie Alicia Molik, Russians Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova, and Swiss Miss Patty Schnyder.

In addition to Serena, other Top 10-ranked players taking a pass this week in Charleston are Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo, and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Unlike the ATP's Masters Series-Monte Carlo this week where first-round matches of interest abound, the WTA allots first-round byes to the Top 8 seeds, leaving fans to tune-in to the later rounds for things to heat up. Example: top-seeded Roger Federer faces Greg Rusedski in the opening round at Monte Carlo, wherein at Charleston the top-seeded Davenport receives a bye, then faces the winner of a qualifier and the No. 100+ ranked Jill Craybas. Tier I excitement -- catch it while you can.

Hard-core Charleston fans can look out for No. 10 seed Jelena Jankovic vs. former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne in the opening round, or No. 13 Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin vs. Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, wildcard Eleni Daniilidou vs. Meghann Shaughnessy in a former Top 15-ranked battle with the winner to face No. 14 Shinobu Asagoe, a potential second-rounder of teen sensation Nicole Vaidisova vs. the struggling No. 3 seed Myskina, and No. 15 Mary Pierce vs. American scrapper Mashona Washington in her opener.

Potential quarterfinal match-up are (1) Davenport vs. (6) Zvonareva, (4) Venus vs. (7) Petrova, (3) Myskina vs. (8) Schnyder, and (2) Dementieva vs. (3) Myskina.

Returning champions in the field at Charleston are Venus (2004), Henin-Hardenne (2003), Pierce (2000), and Conchita Martinez (1995-94).

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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