Navratilova Loses 2005 Singles Debut; McEnroe Says Players Need to Get in Federer's Face
Posted on June 14, 2005
Robredo Leads Four Seeds Through at ATP 's-HertogenboschTop-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo showed an improved pruning technique Monday at the ATP stop in 's-Hertogenbosch, downing Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 6-1, 6-4 to lead the four seeds in action into the second round.
Other seeded winners were (2) Guillermo Coria (d. (LL) Uebel), (5) Robin Soderling (d. Haehnel), and (8) Paul-Henri Mathieu (d. Vanek).
"I took the opportunities I had and this gives me a lot of confidence," Coria said. "I went back to Argentina after Paris for some rest and than I started to prepare for the grasscourt season. I spent a lot of time on the courts back home and I really feel that I'm ready to go for a good swing and to get as many matches as possible here and at Wimbledon."
Other un-seeds advancing were Germans Lars Burgsmuller (d. Wawrinka from a set down) and Philipp Kohlschreiber (d. Lisnard), Frenchman Michael Llodra (d. (Q) Gremelmayr 7-6 in the third), Aussie Wayne Arthurs (d. Sluiter), and Czech Jan Hernych (d. (WC) Van Scheppingen).
Scheduled for Tuesday are Schalken vs. Phau, (WC) Philippoussis vs. (7) Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, Sanguinetti vs. Kucera, (Q) Logtens vs. (3) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez vs. (Q) Klein, (Q) Petzschner vs. Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau, and (6) Pavel vs. Bjorkman.
Dominator, Dent Lead Winners Monday at ATP Nottingham
No. 3 seed Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. Ginepri) and No. 5 Taylor Dent (d. Popp) advanced in straight sets Monday at the ATP grasscourt stop in Nottingham during the last week of warm-up events before Wimbledon.
Wildcard Jonathan Marray shouldered the British hopes for a late-round run Monday, defeating fellow Brit Alan MacKin in straight sets.
Other unseeded players into the second round were Slovak Karol Beck (d. Monfils in three), Denmark's Kenneth Carlsen (d. (Q) Mankad 7-6 in the third), Korean Hyung-Taik Lee (d. A.Martin), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. Ventura), and qualifiers Jan Vacek (d. Mello) and 21-year-old American Travis Rettenmaier (d. Tipsarevic 7-6 in the third) with his career-first ATP win.
On tap for Tuesday are Zib vs. (4) Gasquet, (LL) Tursunov vs. (2) T.Johansson, (6) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. (Q) Hilton, (1) Ljubicic vs. Hanescu, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. Andreev, Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian vs. (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, and K.Kim vs. (7) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus.
Seeds Zvonareva, Dechy Win Openers at WTA Eastbourne
Only two main draw matches were scheduled at the WTA stop in Eastbourne Monday, with No. 5 seed Vera Zvonareva trouncing Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova 6-3, 6-2, and No. 8 seed Nathalie Dechy giving Brit wildcard Amanda Janes a rude awakening with a 6-1, 6-1 grasscourt beating.
Janes is the daughter of 1961 Wimbledon finalist Christine Truman, and had trouble with the windy conditions, tossing in seven double faults.
The final round of qualifying was also completed, with Slovak Katarina Srebotnik, Russians Vera Douchevina and Anna Chakvetadze, and Italian Roberta Vinci onto the big dance.
On tap for Tuesday in Eastbourne are Sugiyama vs. Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, Clijsters vs. Jankovic, Martinez vs. Baltacha, Vento-Kabchi vs. Hantuchova, Razzano vs. Farina Elia, Bartoli vs. Likhovtseva, Vinci vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, Asagoe vs. Raymond, Srebotnik vs. Douchevina, and Chakvetadze vs. Maleeva.
Navratilova Starts Strong but Fades at WTA 's-Hertogenbosch
Wildcard entrant Martina Navratilova had the Dutch support but not the endurance Monday at the WTA stop in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, winning the first set but failing to hold on against Luxembourg's Claudine Schaul in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 loss in her first singles appearance of 2005.
Navratilova won the first set before eventually losing the match in two of her five singles appearances last year -- versus Milagros Sequera on clay at Amelia Island and against Gisela Dulko at Wimbledon. The 48-year-old former No. 1 posted a 2-5 win-loss record in 2004 in singles play.
"It was pretty ugly out there," said Navratilova, who will not play singles at Wimbledon. "I played a bit better in the third set, but she played better too. I have won about 12 singles matches in about 12 years, so that doesn't give me too much confidence...I have no plans (to play more singles). Probably not. I may play some in (World) Team Tennis but that's about it."
Seeded winners were (7) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Jidkova) and (8) Klara Koukalova (d. Domachowska in three), while un-seeds advancing into the second round were American Meghann Shaughnessy (d. Smashnova), Czech Denisa Chladkova (d. Rezai from a set down), and Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Dominikovic in three).
Scheduled for Tuesday are (1) Dementieva vs. Chladkova, (WC) Krajicek vs. Cervanova, (3) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Benesova, (6) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko vs. Randriantefy, Peer vs. (4) Dinara "Little Sis" Safina, (5) Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives vs. Safarova, Kirilenko vs. Hrdlickova, Diaz-Oliva vs. Kostanic, and Camerin vs. Stosur.
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