Full Monday Schedule at Wimbledon
Posted on June 27, 2005
Net-Rushers, Claycourters Battle in Week 2 at WimbledonMonday features a full menu with all eight men's round-of-16 matches at Wimbledon, with the number of claycourt aficionados remaining in the field a testament to how All-England Club officials have successfully slowed the grasscourts to indoor-carpet speed over the years.
If that's too technical for you, just picture Pat Rafter or Pete Sampras chipping and volleying opponents to death, as compared to two women slugging out 25-hit topspin-only rallies from the baseline. Wimbledon now more resembles the latter, on both the men's and women's sides.
Three players remain of the final 16 on the men's side who retain the net-rushing spirit of a Rafter, Sampras, or Goran Ivanisevic: American Taylor "Acci-" Dent, Croatian Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, and Belarus' Max "The Beast" Mirnyi.
Dent, with his current physical and conditioning (and perpetual injury) challenges is not favored Monday against No. 3 seed and former Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt, who Dent has lost three of his four meetings with. For the better part of the last four months Dent has been suffering with a slow-healing ankle injury that has curtailed his conditioning, explaining his chunk-ified appearance. The No. 24 seed will have to fire on all cylinders to bother Hewitt, who just dispatched of another big-serving American in the third round in Justin Gimelstob.
The No. 10-seeded Ancic would be the overwhelming favorite against the rare fast-court-loving F-Lo were it not for the lefty wrench thrown into the equation. The two have never faced each other, and Lopez's formidable lefty serve and spin off the ground gave Marat Safin fits when the Russian went down in straight sets in week one.
The Beast's game fits poorly into the steady stream of passing-shot winners from No. 12 seed Thomas Johansson, who is 4-0 career versus Mirnyi, including a grasscourt win a couple weeks ago at Nottingham.
Cover up "The Championships" on the draw sheet and you'd think we're in the midst of the French Open with former Roland Garros champs Juan Carlos Ferrero and Guillermo Coria still around during Week Two. Unfortunately for Ferrero, "The Mosquito" is up for a swatting, lining up as the potential 33rd consecutive grasscourt win for the world No. 1 Federer. A consolation for Ferrero entering the match is wins over big hitters Hyung-Taik Lee and Florian Mayer last week, and three wins in his career over Federer on hardcourts.
Coria first displayed his grasscourt potential last year by reaching the final at 's-Hertogenbosch, and lived up to his nickname "El Mago" in the third round last week, coming from 0-2 sets down against Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer. Unfortunately for Coria he now faces No. 2 seed Andy Roddick who has won all four of their career meetings, with the lone consolation prize his stretching the American to three sets, twice, on hardcourts.
No. 21 seed Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez faces No. 31-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny in what should be a spray-fest on Gonzo's part, though his forehand was set to kill in his previous-round win over No. 11 seed Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson.
Gonzo his only previous career meeting with Youzhny earlier this year on hardcourt in a four-set Davis Cup encounter, a nice mental edge to carry on the lawns.
California-Russian Dmitry Tursunov, along with Mirnyi the only unseeded player in the Sweet 16, tries to keep his run alive against No. 9 seed and perpetual second-week Wimbledon resident Sebastien Grosjean in a first-time meeting.
Frenchman Richard Gasquet, the No. 27 seed and the lone teen left in the draw, will bring his "Baby Fed" skills to bear on No. 18 seed and former runner-up David Nalbandian, who looked shaky in his five-set comeback win over Brit wildcard Andy Murray. Gasquet has lost both his career meetings with Nalbandian, both on clay.
Ferrero and F-Lo both are trying to become the first Spaniards to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since Manuel Orantes in 1972.
The full run-down for Monday is (3) Hewitt vs. (24) Taylor "Acci-" Dent, (1) Federer vs. (23) Ferrero in the battle of No. 1s, (15) Guillermo "El Mago" Coria vs. (2) Andy "El Service" Roddick, (18) Nalbandian vs. (27) Gasquet, (9) Grosjean vs. Tursunov, (21) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (31) Youzhny, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. (12) T.Johansson, in doubles highlights (2) Bryan/Bryan vs. Israel's (15) Erlich/Ram, and (10) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. (26) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez.
"I've learned to believe that I, too, can be a dangerous player on grass," Coria says prior to his run-up with Roddick. "I want to be a complete player This is the most difficult surface for me, but it's a big challenge for me to be able to play well here."
Davenport, Clijsters Head Toward Final Versus Sharapova at Wimbledon
Can anyone stop the "Big Three" from their charge toward the final at Wimbledon, even though one of them is seeded No. 15?
World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and No. 15 Kim Clijsters face off today in the round of 16 at the All-England Club, with the winner likely to navigate the following two rounds to a championship match-up with defending champ Maria Sharapova.
Sharapova, whose draw could be described as cushy at worst, faces No. 16 seed Nathalie Dechy today, then the winner of No. 8 Nadia Petrova and unseeded cancelled-Czech Kveta Peschke, then likely (14) Venus or (12) Pierce in the semifinals.
Clijsters has won eight of her last 10 against Davenport, and it will be interesting to see if she has shaken off the magnanimous choke she offered the American at the French Open, leading 6-1, 3-1 before mentally caving.
No. 3 Amelie Mauresmo is a wildcard of sorts in the top half with Davenport and Clijsters, needing to get by two Russians to face the winner of the favored two in her half. But with the Frenchwoman's history of going for the throat-clutching choke in the latter rounds of the majors, it is doubtful she can reach the semifinal match-up.
"You have to wonder if it's all psychological," said BBC commentator Virginia Wade on Mauresmo's troubles, speaking with ESPN. You think? Nice insight, no wonder you're paid the big bucks.
In miscellaneous notes, Sharapova is riding a 20-match win streak on grass, while the six Russian women in the round of 16 is a Wimbledon record.
Monday's full singles schedule is in the top half (1) Davenport vs. (15) Clijsters (Belgian leads career series 9-7), Maleeva vs. (5) Kuznetsova (Kuzy leads 1-0), (3) Mauresmo vs. (13) Likhovtseva 9Frenchwoman leads 3-1), and (9) Myskina vs. (6) Dementieva in an all-Russian (Myskina leads 7-4, first lawn meeting), and in the bottom half (26) Pennetta vs. (12) Pierce (Pennetta leads 1-0), (14) Venus vs. Craybas (first meeting), (8) Petrova vs. Peschke (first meeting), and (16) Dechy vs. (2) Sharapova (Sharapova leads 1-0, on grass in 2003).
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
The ATP and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will re-test player urine samples after modifying their test procedure for nandrolone after the discovery that nandrolone metabolites can form independently in urine when a highly concentrated sample is kept for several hours at 37 C or higher...The results are in for Jimmy Connors' commentating on the BBC and the result is -- do you like dry American white toast?...According to the AP, Maria Sharapova will switch to Prince's new line of racquets at the end of the year...Sir Sean Connery on more Scottish support for Andy Murray, speaking to The Scotsman: "The way they help people, certainly from Scotland, is zilch in the UK. We lost Peter Nicol, who now plays for England at squash and is now a world champion, and he's Scottish. Why? Because he wasn't funded. Now Andrew isn't funded so much and he's in Barcelona...It was an absolutely extraordinary match, and I have to say that Andrew Murray is as gifted as anybody who's ever played the game. But what was evident was that he is not fit enough to stand up to the ritual. The boy here has played fantastic tennis. I don't think I've seen anything like it; he's won three straight sets, was two up on (David) Nalbandian, who was a Wimbledon finalist. I hope the tennis people get off their arses and do something about it and not hold it against him that he comes from Scotland. If nobody is going to make the move in Westminster then it's certainly not going to happen with the Executive in Scotland, because that's exactly what happened to Peter Nicol. Now, somebody has to get their arse off the ground and help him."...The Guardian on Andy Murray: "One is the way he lost on Saturday, just as he lost at Queen's before: with a trudging ache of exhaustion. If you're tired and cramping after two sets on a cool June afternoon, then you'll never stay the course through to a final. He's only 18, they say: still a growing lad. But Maria Sharapova is only 18, and defending champion, and Rafael Nadal, the French open champion, was 18 when he began his Roland Garros run a few weeks ago. Only 18? Maybe a fitness drive would help. Maybe Judy's favoured preparation diet -- "Celebrity Love Island and a Pizza Express delivery of bruschetta and chicken pizza", she tells Telegraph readers -- could be sharpened up. (Her "chocolate cream frappuccino, a cross between a milk shake and a knickerbocker glory" sounds like a cholesterol panic attack waiting to happen.) Nevertheless: if you're tired at 18, you'll probably be exhausted at 23. But fatigue, remember, is much more than a twinge in the thigh. Fatigue is the killing weight of expectation; and that burden is another good reason for fearing the worst. The real enemy, yet again, is Wimbledon itself."...Michael Stich has invited Maria Sharapova to play mixed doubles at Wimbledon next year, and the Russian reportedly told the BBC yes...Serena Williams through tears after losing at Wimbledon: "I definitely think it's important for me to practice harder than what I have been. I've never been big on practicing. I've kind of just been all about playing."...Matt Cronin on TR.net on Serena Williams: "She's brilliant at times, but she's a good 15 pounds overweight and is slow off the mark. She's hitting off balance a lot, which is why she's making so many errors. She's not getting enough lift off her ankle, so she can't crack her serve. She's not turning into the ball quickly enough, so she's not burying her returns. She needs to work harder than every before because really, outside of Australia, since she came back from knee surgery in March of 2004, she's done little to convince anyone that she can dominate again."