Federer Wins 30th Straight on Grass; Brit Women Bail at Wimbledon
Posted on June 21, 2005
Federer, Hewitt, Safin Roll in Openers at WimbledonFavorites Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and Marat Safin all romped to straight-set victories to open play at Wimbledon Monday, putting the first-round jitters behind them on a day where only two claycourter seeds made early exits.
"I definitely got more pressure off my back now," said Federer who ousted Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu. "Definitely feel sort of relieved, you know, after this start. Looking forward to the rest. Now it's sort of getting interesting."
Hewitt took advantage of the ever-slowing Wimbledon grasscourts, pressing his baseline assault against the speedy Belgian Christophe Rochus.
"First round of any Grand Slam's tough," said the No. 3-seeded Hewitt. "It's a match you just really want to get under your belt, go out there and get through it as quickly as possible. You know, today was no different."
The No. 5 seed Safin, suddenly a convert to the lawns after testing Federer two weeks ago in the final at Halle, took another step forward in easily handling the grass-adept Thai Paradorn Srichaphan.
"I felt really comfortable, actually, and really confident," Safin said. "I wish I could play this level of tennis every day. I'm trying."
Other seeded winners Monday were (8) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Draper), (10) Mario Ancic (d. Summerer), (11) Joachim Johansson (d. Montanes), (21) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Mackin), (22) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Saulnier), (23) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Delgado), (24) Taylor Dent (d. D.Norman 6-1 in the fifth), (25) Nicolas Kiefer (d. Benneteau in five), (26) Feliciano Lopez (d. Phau in five), (29) Nicolas Massu (d. Sargsian), and (31) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Baghdatis in four).
Draper, a former Queen's winner, doubtlessly lost many a punter a Euro (or 50) after conceding Davydenko his career-first "W" on grass.
Seeds ousted were claycourt veterans (13) Tommy Robredo, defeated in straights by Spanish countryman Fernando Verdasco, and French Open runner-up (16) Mariano Puerta, winning only six games off German Lars Burgsmuller.
"Grass is very different, it's faster," clarified Puerta after the loss.
Unseeds into the second round were four cash-money Czechs in Ivo Minar (d. Tabara), Tomas Zib (d. Acasuso), Tomas Berdych (d. Dupuis in four) and Jan Hernych (d. Blake in four), two Brits in Greg Rusedski (d. A.Martin in four) and David Sherwood (d. Mello), two Americans in Justin Gimelstob (d. Garcia) and Kevin Kim (d. Bogdanovic in four), Aussie Mark Philippoussis (d. Beck, setting up a meeting with Safin), Frenchmen Gael Monfils (d. Okun in four) and Jean-Rene Lisnard (d. O.Hernandez who retired in the second set with injury), Italian Alessio Di Mauro (d. Goodall), Swede Jonas Bjorkman (d. Morrison in five), German Florian Mayer (d. Ventura), and Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee (d. Enqvist in four).
Thai Danai Udomchoke was tied with Austria's Stefan Koubek 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 3-3 when the match was suspended due to darkness.
Scheduled for Tuesday are (6) Henman vs. Nieminen, Spadea vs. (4) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, Vanek vs. (2) Roddick, Llodra vs. (9) Grosjean in an all-French, Murray vs. Bastl, (27) Gasquet vs. Kohlschreiber, (15) Coria vs. Behrend, (19) Haas vs. Tipsarevic, Wawrinka vs. Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro, (33) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. Goldstein, (14) Stepanek vs. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, Pavel vs. Karanusic, Sanguinetti vs. Seppi in an all-Italian, Lu vs. Clement, Calatrava vs. Ketola, Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp vs. Haehnel, Peter "Nuclear" Wessels vs. (28) Novak, (17) Ferrer vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez in an all-Spanish, (30) Soderling vs. Andreev, Elseneer vs. "You Say" Potito Starace, Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Ulihrach vs. (12) T.Johansson, Hanescu vs. Carlsen, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. (18) Nalbandian, Almagro vs. Tursunov, Mantilla vs. Muller, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. (20) Ljubicic, Arthurs vs. (32) Volandri, Marray vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, Juan "The Principality" Monaco vs. Djokovic, Udomchoke vs. Koubek (to finish), and Kucera vs. Luis "Me So" Horna.
Davenport, Kuznetsova Serve Bagels on Day One at Wimbledon
World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport (d. Jidkova, bagel in the first set) and No. 5 Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Llewellyn 0-and-1) started the bagel brigade on the opening day at Wimbledon, advancing into the second round in impressive baker's mode.
"Not having played a match on grass and coming in here at Wimbledon and Centre Court, you always want to start off really well," said Davenport who skipped the grasscourt warm-up events. "You know, I played great. I'm really happy with the way I played. Hard to read too much into it either way."
Other seeded winners Monday were (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Czink), (6) Elena Dementieva (d. Benesova), (9) Anastasia Myskina (d. Bohmova from a set down), (13) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Smashnova), (15) Kim Clijsters (d. O'Brien), (17) Jelena Jankovic (d. Chakvetadze), (22) Silvia Farina Elia (d. Sucha), (27) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Kostanic in three), and (30) Dinara Safina (d. Mamic).
"I was down a set and 4-1, whatever, and then 3-love in the third," said Myskina who raised her win-loss record on the year to 10-11. "I'm happy that I went -- that I got through the match like this. And I think maybe if I play more matches like this, then it's easier for me to come back and play my best tennis."
Vaidisova, the Maria Sharapova clone in looks and game, hopes to also eventually follow in the Russian's Wimbledon champion footsteps.
"I'm not a player who waits for mistakes," Vaidisova said after her three-set win over Kostanic. "I try to hit a lot of winners. I know I have to work on volleying. Since I was small I've always concentrated on just hitting the ball from the back. I've never really gone to the net...I think my game's suited to grass. I have a good serve and I hit the ball pretty hard. It's a surface I enjoy playing on."
Hit hard, go for winners, can't volley -- like Sharapova, on the Wimbledon women's winning track.
Five players were upset-minded on the day in Italy's Antonella Serra Zanetti (d. (10) Schnyder in three) and Roberta Vinci (d. (23) Sugiyama in three), Bulgaria's Maggie Maleeva (d. (24) Asagoe), Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn (d. Sprem), and American Mashona Washington (d. countrywoman (28) Amy "Down Goes" Frazier in three).
It was Schnyder's fifth first-round exit at Wimbledon in 10 appearances, with the Swiss skipping the two weeks of grasscourt warm-ups.
Other un-seeds into the second round was the pride of Luxembourg Anne Kremer (d. Spears in three), Americans Shenay Perry (d. Borwell), Meghann Shaughnessy (d. Schruff in three), Jamea Jackson (d. Marrero), and Marissa Irvin (d. Obata), Czechs Barb Strycova (d. Osterloh) and Michaela Pastikova (d. Stosur), Japan's Aiko Nakamura (d. Dominikovic from a set down), Swede Sofia Arvidsson (d. Perebiynis), Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Callens), Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Sequera in three), Tunisia's Selima Sfar (d. Loit 9-7 in the third), Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Domachowska in three), Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva (d. Keothavong), German Sabine Klaschka (d. Baltacha), and India's darling Sania Mirza who defeated Akiko Morigami 8-6 in the third.
"I'm happy about the way I played. Maybe a bit patchy sometimes but, you know, she played a great match and it could have gone any way till the end," Mirza said. "I guess whoever is mentally stronger and physically stronger at that point of time came through, and I guess today I was."
Scheduled for Tuesday at the All-England Club are Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives vs. (2) Maria "Grunt-o-meter" Sharapova, (7) Henin-Hardenne vs. Daniilidou, (14) Venus vs. Birnerova, Haynes vs. (4) Serena Williams in an all-American, (29) Bartoli vs. Fujiwara, (8) Petrova vs. Ruano Pascual, O'Donoghue vs. Groenefeld, the former champ Martinez vs. Bondarenko, Vakulenko vs. Garbin, Cho vs. Parra Santonja, Gagliardi vs. (26) Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta, Ondraskova vs. Black, Santangelo vs. Tatiana "Poke-Check" Poutchek, Schaul vs. Beltrame, Panova vs. Raymond, Gisela "Sgt." Dulko vs. Fedak, (31) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Srebotnik, Chladkova vs. Foretz, Janes vs. Sesil "The Mouth" Karatancheva, Safarova vs. (12) Pierce, Weingartner vs. (11) Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva, (21) Schiavone vs. Brandi, Tu vs. Peer, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. Granville, Castano vs. (32) Razzano, the former junior champ Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad vs. Craybas in an all-American, Linetskaya vs. (20) Hantuchova, (16) Dechy vs. Camerin, Peschke vs. Randriantefy, Pratt vs. Cervanova, A.Bondarenko vs. Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, and (19) Ivanovic vs. Douchevina.
DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer upped his win streak to 30 on grass after his victory over Paul-Henri Mathieu...Lleyton Hewitt served an impressive 19 aces in his win over Christophe "The Roach" Rochus...Ted Watts, infamous for his screw-up in the Venus Williams-Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem match last year, was back in the chair during Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez's win over Bjorn Phau...Nicolas Kiefer must have felt deja vu as the German was up two sets in his first round and then went down a break in the fifth but recovered. Last year, Kiefer was also up two sets in the first round but lost to Thomas Johansson...All the top five women are playing in a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2003 Wimbledon event...Weather: Less humid Tuesday with clearing, chance of bagels on the women's side 99 percent...The last time Justine Henin-Hardenne played a grasscourt match was here in the semifinals in 2003...Max "The Beast" Mirnyi has lost in the first round at 12 of his 14 Grand Slams, and seven straight. Way to produce at the bigs...Chanda Rubin says she is focusing on July for a return from her knee injury...Those wacky British -- while taking in Wimbledon this week, also check out the 9th annual World Nettle Eating Championship in southwest England. The competition gives contestants one hour to pluck and eat leaves from the feathery, stinging plants. The winner will be determined by measuring the combined length of discarded plant stems. "The art is to fold the top of the leaf inwards, get it past the lips, crunch it and then get it down the neck. You can't let your mouth get dry or you will get stung," said Shane Pym, landlord at Bottle Inn, where the championship is held. Competitors, who cannot wear gloves, can guzzle beer -- but mouth-numbing drugs are strictly forbidden. Said Pym, "It can sometimes get a little bit contentious." Thanks Wired News. The competition is the middle weekend of Wimbledon, so looks like Tim and Greg might make it...Do we really want to diverge from the ATP Rankings for a seeding system that takes into account a player's grasscourt results from three years ago and the current status of a girlfriend's pregnancy?...Mary Carillo on the demise of the Williams sisters and the Wimbledon favorites: "I have no sense how much (the Williams sisters) miss being great. I really hope they miss it a lot because it's hard watching them under-perform. If they can turn it around anywhere, they can do it here...I've got it in my mind that Justine's (Henin-Hardenne) the player to beat, but Maria (Sharapova) likes it at Wimbledon and is a good grasscourt player, so you have to take her seriously."...Andy Roddick is a combined 2-14 career against Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt. "He's had a shaky year, for him," says U.S. Davis Cup captain and uber Roddick supporter Patrick McEnroe, talking to USA Today on the former No. 1. "If I were him, I'd start to be real worried if I had a shaky summer." Translation: 'If I were him, I'd dump my coach like a Brad Gilbert-phone-in if I didn't win a slam this year.'...Marat Safin on Andy Roddick's mental state: "It's not like Roddick is the most amazing player in the world and there is no one close to him and whenever he plays his best tennis nobody can beat him. But sometimes you lose because you have no confidence or something is bothering you. I think it's mental." Marat talking about the mental game? -- hey pot, kettle on Line 1 for you...John McEnroe on commentating Wimbledon with nemesis Jimmy Connors for the BBC, speaking to The Independent: "Connors won 34 out of the first 35 seniors tournaments he played, or something like that. Then I joined, and some even younger guys, and he stopped winning. He feels that something has been taken from him, that he's been screwed, and I understand that. It will be interesting to see where his head's at..." McEnroe on the super-racquets ruining tennis: "These rackets nowadays were meant for the average Joe who goes out there once a while and thinks, 'Hey, I gotta little bit of power'. But at the highest level, such advances have been made since I played (Bjorn) Borg...players are taller, stronger, work harder off the court, eat better. So why give them a racket, in addition to all that, that gives them 30 to 50 percent more power than we had? It doesn't make sense. Take a look at baseball. As kids and all through college, they use graphite or aluminium bats. But when they get to major league level they go back to wood. The New York Yankees hit with wooden bats. Why? Because it's harder. I would advocate the same in tennis."...From the X-Discussion Board nuts on ESPN's Monday Wimbledon coverage: "This from Chris Fowler a few minutes ago: "Watch out for Thomas Berdych. He's a really dangerous player." I did some fact checking. Berdych is 10-18 for the year, 1-3 lifetime on grass and lost in straight sets in the first round of Wimbledon last year. Good call, Chris. At what point does the statute of limitations run out on Berdych's upset of (Roger Federer) at the Olympics last year."..."Grinning" Greg Rusedski on being relegated to Court 2 on Monday: "Well, I know from now on in, I don't think I'll be playing on Court 2. I'll probably be inside because I'm playing Joachim Johansson. It gets tougher with the draws. It's good because the fans actually get to see some of the British player and usually not playing on the show courts. It's not bad because I think -- you know, you had (Anastasia) Myskina, who is a former French Open champion, who was out there on Court 2. (Pete) Sampras played his last ever match on Court 2. There's been a lot of exciting matches." Myskina and Pete in the same sentence, ouch. Greg is thinking 'Hope Pete read that.'...Taylor "Acci-" Dent on who is coaching, or not coaching, him at the moment: "Who's coaching, well, you know, I pretty much -- even when Francisco (Montana) was around, I was kind of doing my own thing. And, you know, I felt awkward kind of taking his time when he could be helping somebody else because I was just doing my own thing and he was just, you know, helping me out here and there. So, you know, I feel like over the last, you know, year, year and a half, I've kind of been, you know -- I've got my mind set on what needs to happen. So, you know, I'm seeing if that works. And I still believe I know what's happening, what should be happening out there. So, you know, that's where I'm at right now." So, you know, there you go...Even with some rain Monday morning, with the players saying the courts are still playing slow, are they mixing red clay into the lawns? "Today it was pretty slow, very slow," Lleyton Hewitt said. "It felt very soft out there today. I've got no doubt, though, it's going to quicken up over the next two weeks, you know, the more play it gets on it, I think because the show courts just don't have any play at all. So, you know, today they're very green out there." You'd think the Brits were trying to cater to Hewitt's game rather than Tim Henman's or Greg Rusedski's...Jiri Vanek has lost in the first round of his last 10 Grand Slam tournaments...Tim Henman has only once failed to make the quarterfinals in the past nine years at Wimbledon...18 men in the draw have at least one grasscourt title to their credit. Name them off the top of your head and win -- a pink slip from your boss -- get back to work...Wimbledon referee Alan Mills, who is retiring after this year, on the female grunting at Wimbledon, speaking to The Sunday Times: "I don't like it at all. Today there is probably more grunting than there has ever been. If I was playing an opponent making so much noise, I think I'd just laugh. But it's what young players are being coached to do. Many of the non-grunting players are unhappy about the noise pollution and a kind of counter-grunt culture has emerged in recent years whereby offended parties ape their opponent's noises...Officials can only act if the player is shown to be making the noise on purpose, which is virtually impossible to do. As far as I am concerned it is certainly a specific matter that the rule makers should address." Hello Maria?...What a better test for Britain's Andy Murray than George Bastl, the guy who in his last Wimbledon appearance beat Pete Sampras...Wow, you know ESPN loves Roger Federer when: a) the commentators drool over his "artistry" and resume ad nauseum, and; b) they show his match live, THEN LATER SHOW IT ON TAPE while other live tennis is still going on. Who made that bonehead decision? Hey ESPN, cater to the tennis fans, not people who can't set their VCRs...Elena Baltacha, sporting the hot British librarian look with those tiny glasses, on the Brit women's tennis scene after losing first round at Wimbledon: "Every year we have people going out in the first round. It's no different to any other year. You guys (media) build us up, but look at our ratings. I know there is progress being made. I am selfish. I look at how I am doing and I know I am improving, even if it didn't look like it out there."...From Tennis Week: "Former Australian touring pro Ray Keldie has filed a lawsuit in a Florida Circuit Court against the ATP Tour for retirement benefits from the ATP Player Benefit Plan. The complaint is an action in equity based upon the principle of unjust enrichment and claims financial relief of a sum in excess of $15,000. The 58-year-old Keldie, whose best results were in doubles -- including a 1968 finals appearance at the Australian Championships partnering Terry Addison, was one of 79 founding members of the ATP in 1972 and is the only one of the original 79 who has been deemed not eligible for retirement benefits. Despite having letters supporting his legal efforts from Hall of Famers and countrymen Fred Stolle and Roy Emerson, Keldie's petition has been denied, apparently because he failed to pay a $2,000 fine for not honoring the 1973 ATP boycott of Wimbledon and for not keeping current with his Association dues. Keldie counters that he is willing to pay the fine and past dues owed and was never notified that his retirement benefits were in jeopardy because of his procedural transgressions."...Mardy Fish has had minor wrist surgery and is expected to return for the ATP grasscourt event at Newport following Wimbledon. That's like drive-thru surgery considering he was supposed to be out 2-3 months...The always-entertaining S.L. Price writing for SI.com: "Precisely because of its history, because of its uniqueness, Wimbledon is becoming indispensable. At a time when, especially in the U.S., tennis viewership has fallen into an abyss, Wimbledon is the signal to the most casual fan that a player matters. It confers instant class. The Australian Open happens too early in the calendar year, and the French Open produces too many claycourt geniuses who never produce anywhere else. But Wimbledon's champions are almost never flukes, and their title runs always provide the necessary bones for an otherwise endless season. Last year's champions, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, lost no luster by losing in Melbourne and Paris this year, but if they lose here, now the murmurs will begin. Wimbledon made their names. Wimbledon will decide how they are discussed next."...Could Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Paradorn struggle more? Time to stop picking up retired journeymen doubles specialists as coaches and crawl back to dad for some guidance...Mariano Puerta after losing first round at Wimbledon: "It was difficult to play a good match, especially in the first and second sets, he didn't make a mistake. Grass is very different, it's faster. I only practiced for four days, but I'm happy because I'm No. 11 in the world and 10 months ago, nobody knew me." Translation: 'Who cares man, didn't you notice, I was just in the French final!'...Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon: "I cried a little bit when I left last year because I thought I might not be back again. I felt that I was losing the inner fire you need to be at the top. But somehow after I left here it got re-lit."...Andre Agassi has accepted a wildcard next month on hardcourt at Indianapolis.