Pasta Does In Mathieu; Dementieva Slams Roddick

"Mainly during the rallies I was getting too excited," said Monfils after winning five games off Nadal. "My dropshots were not very good. However, I played good tennis. He played the important points better than I did. I was not far behind."

Well, seven games behind to be exact.

Coria says the defending French Open champ Gaudio and the rising star Nadal are the ones to watch this year at Roland Garros, not world No. 1 Roger Federer.

"Nadal and Gaudio have everything you need to be good on clay," Coria said. "Federer can be dangerous but he needs to be more patient. It could be a bit complicated for him."
Qualifiers led the unseeded winners into the second round in France's Thierry Ascione (d. Beck) and Richard Gasquet (d. (Q) Garcia-Lopez, bagel in the second), Spanish veteran Felix Mantilla (d. (7) J.Johansson from a set down), and Romanian Victor Hanescu (d. Calleri).

Other un-seeds into the second round were wildcard and former No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Karlovic), and Frenchman Cyril Saulnier (d. the clay-challenged Srichaphan).

Tim Henman's match was suspended due to rain with the No. 3 seed trailing Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta 4-6, 1-2, while three matches were postponed to Tuesday: No. 2 Marat Safin vs. Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee, Rainer Schuettler vs. Nicolas Kiefer, and Sweden's Robin Soderling vs. Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.

On Tuesday's loaded schedule on the dirt are Kuerten vs. (13) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, H.-T. Lee vs. (2) Safin, (1) Federer vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, (5) "King" Carlos Moya vs. Puerta, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. A.Martin, Zabaleta vs. (3) Henman (to finish), Soderling vs. Fabrice "The Original Wizard" Santoro, Llodra vs. Costa, (Q) Seppi vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, in doubles Frenchmen (WC)Gasquet/Monfils vs. Argentines Etlis/Rodriguez, Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. (8) Ljubicic, Volandri vs. Arthurs, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez in an all-forehand match-up, (WC) Lisnard vs. (12) T.Johansson, El Aynaoui vs. Montanes, Tomas "I Beat Federer in ?04" Berdych vs. Luis "Me So" Horna, (10) Davydenko vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, Andreev vs. (9) Canas, in doubles the golfing pair of Arnold/Palmer vs. waffles Malisse/Rochus, (Q) Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer, and (14) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Ferrer.

Henin Advances, Seeds Go 2-for-2 on Day One at WTA Charleston

Former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne continued her steady progress after a return from injury last month, on Monday ousting No. 10 seed Jelena Jankovic 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the opening round of the WTA stop in Chalreston.

"It was good when I was up 2-1, then 4-1 in the first set, but I lost my concentration and wasn't as aggressive," said the unseeded Henin-Hardenne. "She was playing better and learned where I was going to be."

Another seeded upset was orchestrated by Czech Klara Koukalova, who shocked No. 9 Elena Likhovtseva in straight sets.

Seeded winners on the day were No. 11 Ai Sugiyama (d. (Q) Fedak in three), and (16) Fabiola Zuluaga (d. (Q) Beltrame).

Two qualifiers also advanced into the second round in Canadian Marie-Eve Pelletier (d. (WC) Craybas from a set down) and Ukrainian teen Viktoriya Kutuzova (d. (Q) Brandi from a set down).

Other unseeded winners were Czechs Denisa Chladkova (d. Camerin in three), Nicole Vaidisova (d. (Q) Peer from a set down) and Iveta Benesova (d. (Q) Voskoboeva from a set down), China's Shuai Peng (d. Irvin), Japan's Akiko Morigami (d. Garbin), Russian Alina Jidkova (d. Randriantefy in three), Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. Sucha in three), and Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. (WC) Gullickson).

On tap for Tuesday on the dirt are Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier vs. Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, Pierce vs. Washington, Strycova vs. Martinez, Daniilidou vs. Shaughnessy, Jidkova vs. Dementieva, Morigami vs. Petrova, Razzano vs. Raymond, Farina Elia vs. Kostanic, Benesova vs. Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, Asagoe vs. Lee-Waters, Stosur vs. Ruano Pascual, Marrero vs. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, and Pratt vs. Srebotnik.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Shinobu Asagoe has replaced Ai Sugiyama as the No. 1-ranked Japanese player on the WTA Rankings...James Blake confirmed his No. 1 ranking in events that have no ATP points, last weekend winning his second River Oaks International exhibition in Houston. Blake has also won the title for the U.S. twice at the Hopman Cup exhibition...Peter Bodo on Serena being fat: "Meanwhile, though, let's get to the "bottom" of something else -- Serena Williams' heft. Granted, the poor girl has plenty of other problems to worry about -- she pulled out of Amelia Island with a sprained ankle last week, launching another round of speculation about her dedication and fighting spirit. No matter how you cut it, fitness is an issue for Serena and the message boards at Tennis Warehouse have been sizzling with commentary -- some of it hilarious, some of it cruel, much of it accurate -- on that subject, as well as the bogus player stats the WTA (and to a lesser extent, the ATP) have the nerve to publish in their media guides, or on the ATP and WTA websites."...Some entertainment from the ATP Monte Carlo website: "Pronostic Fan Contest -- The young French wonder Richard Gasquet was facing Austrian Peter Luczac -- here fans' contest bets were made. There were a lot of participants trying to prognosticate the outcome of this match's winner as well as other number of matches. The prognostic might be done on the closest result -- vying for one of the tournament sponsors' gifts. Congratulations to Jean Claude -- his prognostic, in favour of Gasquet, ten minutes before the end of the match, was awarded thanks to the day's partner -- Verrerie de Biot." Sounds like one of those websites where you click "translate"...Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu after losing to Guillermo Coria at Monte Carlo: "I started off bad. We didn't know when we were going to play. I ate my plate of pasta just before I went on the court -- it is not ideal. I had trouble finding my rhythm."...ESPN will show coverage of the WTA stop in Charleston on Thurs.-Sun...ESPN's Darren Rovell from the Maria Sharapova birthday party in New York: "Some reminded each other how Sharapova actually isn't 18 yet -- her real birthday is April 19. Others talked about rumors that the Russian tennis player is dating Andy Roddick, a notion that both camps have denied. A few minutes later, Sharapova walked up a set of stairs and sat at a table in the VIP area. Two guards with ear pieces took their positions at the bottom of the stairs, and that made sure she was protected. The room was draped in Motorola logos, and that made sure that the cellular brand that sponsors Sharapova owned the night to itself. Motorola's branding ranged from its presence on the Japanese balls hanging from the ceiling to the bottled waters being handed out at the bar. Given the attention focused on Sharapova on this night, it was amazing that the company didn't have her give live, on-the-spot commercials every hour on the hour."...Serena Williams will endorse the medicine for menstrual migraines she has been taking for the last six months: "You want to just crawl under your bed and stay there," Serena told the AP about the headaches she has suffered. "I know it doesn't look like it affected my tennis, but especially in the sun, playing with a migraine makes it worse. In Australia it's not that easy. I remember playing Martina Hingis in Sydney, and I was just out of it...I want to tell women my story, to let them know there is hope and they should seek help."...Goran Ivanisevic is possibly looking to take over as Croatian Davis Cup captain later this year: "The Croatian national team is doing well at the Davis Cup and I would like to be its captain one day," Ivanisevic told the Gulf Times. "There are a couple of talented players in that side and I would like to be with them. Let's see what happens."...Elena Dementieva on if improving her serve would give her a run at No. 1: "Just look at Andy Roddick. He has the biggest serve on the men's tour and he's not the No. 1 because other parts of his game are not so good. I think it's more important to have the desire and the other parts of your game." Ouch! No one asked if you were going to buy a Babolat and suddenly start crushing aces -- the question was more along the lines of if fewer second serves spun into the bottom of the net would make you more competitive among the chase-for-No. 1 girls. Geez, as if Andy didn't have enough problems, now he's getting hammered by WTA players.