Nalbandian, Malisse Melt Down; Sharapova Wins
Posted on June 8, 2005
Hewitt Starts Slow at ATP Queen's ClubTop-seeded Lleyton Hewitt was tested from the start Tuesday in his debut match at the ATP stop at the Queen's Club, the Stella Artois Championships, coming from a set down to defeat former Wimbledon semifinalist Xavier Malisse 6-7(3), 7-5, 7-5, aided by a Malisse meltdown.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match going into it," Hewitt said. "Xavier played extremely well yesterday in the parts that I saw, and he's a lot better player when his mind's on the job than his ranking suggests."
Just coming off a suspension, Malisse will be up for review again after stunning television viewers with a string of obscenities at the chair umpire after what the Belgian perceived was a bad call, melting down and screaming (to paraphrase) "You guys are always right -- that's how the ATP goes, even when you get suspended, you've got nothing to say, you guys sit like a little bitch and just lick each others' ass."
Stay tuned for the size check Malisse will be writing to the ATP.
Other seeded winners Tuesday were (3) Tim Henman (d. Ginepri 6-1 in the third), (4) Radek Stepanek (d. (Q) Carraz in three), (7) Sebastien Grosjean (d Garcia-Lopez), (9) Taylor Dent (d. Behrend), (10) Richard Gasquet (d. Tipsarevic), and (15) Max Mirnyi (d. Berdych in three).
Unseeded players into the second round were (WC) Mark Philippoussis (d. Sluiter, bagel in the second, setting up a meeting with Andy Roddick), Brit (WC) Jamie Delgado (d. Monfils), Czechs Tomas Zib (d. Haehnel) and Jan Hernych (d. Clement in three), Luxembourg's Gilles Muller (d. Benneteau), Croat Ivo Karlovic (d. (Q) Mertinak in two tiebreaks), Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. Bjorkman), Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Baghdatis from a set down), and American wildcard James Blake (d. countryman (LL) Morrison in three).
"It was the first match back after a while," said Philippoussis, who had not competed since suffering an ankle injury in March, and a back injury since. "I think the key was just to come in there with just a positive mind and try and have a good start, keep on my toes. Obviously, I haven't played for a while, so I was just eager to be out there."
On tap for Wednesday at Queen's are (5) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Hernych, (WC) Philippoussis vs. (2) Roddick, (14) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. Tursunov, (9) Dent vs. (WC) Murray, Muller vs. (6) T.Johansson, (WC) Delgado vs. (10) Gasquet, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. (8) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, K.Kim vs. Zib, (16) Beck vs. Mathieu, (Q) Chris "Penthouse" Guccione vs. (13) Andreev, Sanguinetti vs. (15) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and Hanescu vs. (WC) Blake.
Federer Stumbles on Grass, Recovers at ATP Halle
World No. 1 Roger Federer, talking up his grasscourt prowess after another failed Roland Garros outing, almost paid for his hubris Tuesday at the ATP stop in Halle, forced to come from a set down to defeat unheralded Swede Robin Soderling 6-7(5), 7-6(6), 6-4 to move into the second round.
The victory extended the Swiss' grasscourt win streak to 25 matches, but Federer almost paid the price for failing to show up early in Halle to acclimate to the chilly weather and slick lawns.
"I'm relieved, it was tough," Federer said. "He was obviously a few points away from beating me, but he came up short. It's OK, I had tough matches like this at Dubai too -- then I went on to win the tournament."
Federer trailed by a set and 4-5, 15-30 in the second before extending it to another tiebreak, then in the third set out-nerving the 20-year-old, who double faulted on match point. There was also some rare controversy involving the Swiss when Federer, leading 3-2 in the third set, sat down on the court and called for the supervisor, appearing to protest Soderling making line calls before the line judges during points.
"I wasn?t happy with a decision after a long rally which should have been replayed," Federer said.
Federer was the only seed to advance Tuesday as (5) David Nalbandian was shocked by Germany's Rainer Schuettler who rode the homecountry crowd support to victory, and (6) Joachim Johansson, returning off a shoulder injury, straight-setted by another German in Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Schuettler was awarded two penalty games in the second set by the chair umpire after a Nalbandian racquet-smashing tantrum that included a time where the Argentine refused to play on.
"I have never seen something like this before," said Schuettler, who after the game penalties benefited from Nalbandian tanking the remainder of the match and walking off to the thunderous booing of the Halle fans. "That was a strange match."
Other un-seeds into the second round were wildcard and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. former Wimbledon semifinalist (Q) Voltchkov from a set down), France's Fabrice Santoro (d. Pavel), and three qualifiers in Yeu-Tzuoo Wang of Taipei (d. Llodra in three), Belgian Dick Norman (d. countryman C.Rochus 6-1 in the third), and Serb Nenad Zimonjic (d. Kiefer from a set down).
Scheduled for Wednesday in Halle is Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro vs. the knee-addled (2) Safin in a nemesis match-up (upset alert), newly-minted French Open champ (3) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. (WC) Waske, (Q) Wang vs. Kohlschreiber, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (7) Haas, and (8) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus.
Sharapova, Qualifiers Romp at WTA Birmingham
Top-seeded and No. 1-aspiring Russian Maria Sharapova began her long road to defending two grasscourt titles during the short lawn season Monday at the WTA stop in Birmingham, crushing Luxembourg's Anne Kremer 6-3, 6-0 to move into the third round after an opening-round bye.
"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning, you don't know what to expect in your first match, but as I started getting into it I got better and better," said Sharapova, who had her serve broken in the first set, and went on to explain the clay-to-grass transition in layman's terms for the media. "It's a big change from clay. The bounce is totally different, it's low and very fast. It's more of a reaction thing."
Other seeded winners on the day were (3) Jelena Jankovic (d. Mirza), (10) Nicole Vaidisova (d. (Q) Cohen-Aloro) and (15) Maria Kirilenko (d. Fedak), while (14) Lisa Raymond was ousted 6-1, 6-0 by Venezuelan qualifier Milagros Sequera.
Six qualifiers in all won on Tuesday, with South African Natalie Grandin (d. Cervanova), Aussie Evie Dominikovic (d. Shaughnessy), Japan's Rika Fujiwara (d. Jidkova in three), and Americans Jamea Jackson (d. Brandi, bagel in the third) and Meilen Tu (d. Weingartner) into round two.
Other un-seeds into the second round were American Laura Granville (d. (WC) Keothavong, bagel in the second), Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. (Q) Obata in three), Aussie wildcard Nicole Pratt (d. (LL) Castano), and Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Vinci).
Scheduled for Wednesday in Birmingham are Golovin vs. Grandin, Granville vs. Molik, Sequera vs. Baltacha, Hantuchova vs. Parra Santonja, Tu vs. Asagoe, Pratt vs. Sugiyama, Bartoli vs. Tanasugarn, Kirilenko vs. Jackson, Dominikovic vs. Stosur, Washington vs. Razzano, Morigami vs. Foretz, Vaidisova vs. Daniilidou, and Fujiwara vs. Vento-Kabchi.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
An ATP release concerning their 2006 calendar contained perhaps the first official acknowledgement of the US Open Series: "The calendar features the second edition of Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, the new $650,000, 48-draw men's tournament to be played in Connecticut alongside the Tier II Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event in the week before the US Open. The 2006 calendar also will feature the third year of the US Open Series, beginning with the RCA Championships in Indianapolis the week of July 17 and journeying to the Mercedes-Benz Cup in Los Angeles (July 24), the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington (July 31), the Rogers Masters (Canada) in Toronto (August 7), the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati (August 14) and Pilot Pen Tennis on the eve of the US Open."...The Liverpool International exhibition kicks off today, featuring Martina Navratilova, Ivan Ljubicic, Jan-Michael Gambill, Ilie Nastase, Henri Leconte, and Pat Cash among others...Maria Sharapova was 12-0 last year on grass. On Monday at Birmingham the No. 2-ranked Russian sported Rafael Nadal-style clamdigger pants in her opening-round doubles loss at Birmingham...Robby Ginepri at Queen's on eating English food and being on the Nando's tip: "I like (English food). I'm a big food guy anyway, so anything in front of me I usually scarf down pretty quick...I like Nando's. It's that chicken place. Went there last night. Good pre-match food, I guess." Mmmmm, Nando's..."Grinning" Greg Rusedski on possibly getting seeded at Wimbledon: "Well, it depends how I play (at Queen's). If I play well here, I'll have a chance to get in the 32, because I'm 38 right now. You sometimes get pullouts of some of the Spanish guys. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they're scared of the grass (smiling). So maybe I could sneak in. But if I don't, then you got to play well enough to win those matches. And, you know, you either hope for a fortunate draw; if you catch them, it's better to catch them earlier than later."...American Express has become the "Official Sponsor of the US Open Series"...Amelie Mauresmo, speaking to The Independent, says Roland Garros is over so now it's time to let others do the choking: "After Roland Garros, for me all the attention, all the pressure is off. I can understand how Tim Henman must feel a couple of weeks after Roland Garros when he gets special attention when he goes to Wimbledon. It's time then for me to have less pressure. It's great." And time to hammer some wine: "A year and a half ago, when I was injured, I went to the Bordeaux area for a few days, which was great," said Mauresmo of her 600-bottle collection, all but 50 of which are red. "I bought some wine there. I think my interest in wine will grow, because I want to learn so much more about it." Then start drinking sister, you can't learn by putting it on a shelf and looking at the label...Mark Philippoussis, who has switched his training base from California to Miami, says surfing is out and winning tennis matches is in: "I actually made a deal with myself. I put the boards away. If I have any chance of winning grand slams, winning big tournaments, I have to be in as strong a shape as possible. I can surf for the rest of my life. So I've got plenty of time to look forward to that. The time now is to play tennis and get on the court...I have peace of mind now to relax (without surfing). I'm happy off the court, whereas before I sort of needed that to help me. I don't need that anymore."...Look for Carlos Moya to announce his withdrawal from Wimbledon with his shoulder injury in the coming weeks...David Nalbandian, nice tank w/meltdown Tuesday versus Rainer Schuettler in Halle, putting on the flippers against a player you should beat left-handed on grass...Leander Paes is out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury.