Venus Bakes Two Bagels, Gilbert Coaching Golovin

Argentina was likewise dominant against the Czech Republic, with Guillermo Coria (d. Novak) and Guillermo Canas (d. Berdych) through without the loss of a set. The Czechs also got the pride win in doubles when Berdych/Novak outlasted Gaston Gaudio and Juan Ignacio Chela 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-2.

Coria hammered the courts in Dusseldorf after the win.

"I like playing here and I hope it can help me on my way to winning in Paris," Coria said before dropping the 'however' card. "However, I was a bit unhappy about the surface today as it was quite dangerous. Behind the baseline it was uneven which made it very difficult at times."

The losses eliminated France and the Czech Republic from a shot at the final.

Scheduled for Wednesday is Germany in a must-win versus Sweden (Haas vs. J.Johansson, Kiefer vs. T.Johansson), and Spain's "B"-team in a virtual walkover versus the U.S. "C"-team (Robredo vs. Spadea, Ferrer vs. Morrison).

Four Seeds Uprooted Tuesday at ATP St. Poelten

Qualifier Michael Kohlmann scored one for circling-the-drain German tennis Tuesday at the ATP stop in St. Poelten, weathering six match points to slide into the second round 2-6, 7-6(7), 6-4 over No. 8-seeded Czech Tomas Zib.

Also orchestrating upsets were Belgian Christophe Rochus (d. the clay-challenged (2) Srichaphan), Spanish wildcard Felix Mantilla (d. (5) Puerta in three), and Spanish qualifier Dave Sanchez (d. (7) Starace).

"I was just not on the court today," Srichaphan said. "It's hard to explain now. We have to sit down and analyze this in detail."

Escaping the upset movement were (1) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Schalken) and homecountry favorite (4) Jurgen Melzer (d. Muller in three).

Melzer held a 6-2, 4-2 lead before almost letting it slip away in three sets.

"Being 5-3 down in the third, you don't win everyday and today, being in front of home crowd was definitely a very special moment for me," Tuna Melt said. "I think I have my chances and I really hope to go far in this tournament."

Other un-seeds into the second round were Romanian Victor Hanescu (d. Hernych from a set down) and Italian massage artist David Sanguinetti (d. Vanek).

Scheduled for Wednesday in St. Poelten are Acasuso vs. Almagro, Sanguinetti vs. Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, (6) Luis "Me So" Horna vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez, and Hanescu vs. (Q) Kohlmann.

Sugiyama, Sprem Swim Upstream at WTA Strasbourg

No. 5 seed Ai Sugiyama (d. (Q) Sromova) and No. 6 Karolina Sprem (d. Sucha in three) on Tuesday led the biggest of the small names competing this week at the WTA stop in Strasbourg.

Other seeds advancing were (7) Amy Frazier (d. Schaul) and (8) Paola Suarez (d. Razzano), while two seeds were bounced in (3) Silvia Farina Elia (l. to Randriantefy) and (4) Shinobu Asagoe (l. to Douchevina).

Other un-seeds into the second round were China's Jie Zheng (d. Rubin) and Shuai Peng (d. Tanasugarn, bagel in the second), Czech Iveta Benesova (d. (Q) Rao), Poland's Marta Domachowska (d. (Q) Gussoni in three), Frenchwomen Emilie Loit (d. Weingartner from a set down) and wildcard Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (d. (Q) Kachlikova), Ukrainian lucky loser Julia Vakulenko (d. Srebotnik), and Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Stosur).

Rubin made her return to the WTA Tour after missing more than seven months after left knee surgery.

On tap for Wednesday in Strasbourg are Sugiyama vs. Domachowska, Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem vs. Zheng, Peng vs. Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, Cohen-Aloro vs. Suarez, Dechy vs. Benesova, Vakulenko vs. Randriantefy, and Douchevina vs. Loit.

Venus Bakes Double-Bagel at WTA Istanbul

Top-seeded Venus Williams, looking to gain confidence this week before the French Open, kicked it up a notch Tuesday at the WTA stop in Istanbul with a 6-0, 6-0 opening win over Spain's Marta Marrero.

Venus' title drought has now stretched over a year, with the former No. 1 last raising a trophy at Warsaw in 2004.

Other seeded winners Tuesday were (3) Anna Smashnova (d. Castano in three) and (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Diaz-Oliva).

Qualifiers also had their day with three into the second round in Croat Ivana Abramovic (d. (WC) Ozgen, bagel in the second), Russian Elena Vesnina (d. (WC) Buyukakcay), and Bulgarian Tszvetana Pironkova (d. (6) Shaughnessy).

Other un-seeds advancing were Israel's Shahar Peer (d. (LL) K.Bondarenko) and Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi (d. (Q) Stanciute in three).

On tap Wednesday in Istanbul are Panova vs. Chakvetadze, Hopkins vs. Smashnova, Abramovic vs. Vaidisova, Groenefeld vs. Gagliardi, Morigami vs. Peer, Fedak vs. Pironkova, and Washington vs. Vesnina.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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