Federer Goes on Five-Week Walkabout; Murray Under Magnifier at Newport

Posted on July 5, 2005

Americans Spadea, Ginepri Advance at ATP Newport

American Davis Cup hopefuls (2) Vince Spadea (d. Popp in three) and (5) Robby Ginepri (d. (WC) Oudsema 6-0 in the third) advanced into the second round Monday at the ATP grasscourt stop at Newport, with Ginepri hoping to rekindle the magic that brought him the 2003 title in Rhode Island -- and Spadea hoping to rekindle his fire.

"Sometimes I find myself lackadaisical," Spadea said. "It's not like I have to get myself angry to get myself back into the match...I practiced with (Popp) the other day and he killed me."

In the only other main draw match of the day, Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti upset No. 6 seed Lars Burgsmuller.

Into the main draw after the final round of qualifying was non-Beach Boy Brian Wilson (USA), Florin Mergea (ROM), Dusan Vemic (SCG) and Uros Vico (ITA).

On tap for Tuesday are (WC) Murray vs. Carraz, (1) Dent vs. Delic, Dupuis vs. (8) Blake, (3) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. (Q) Vico, Mertinak vs. Bobby Reynolds "Wrap," Jeff "The Lizard King" Morrison vs. Kucera, Frank "You Can" Dancevic vs. Vik, Bogomolov Jr. vs. (Q) Vemic, Waske vs. Elseneer, Moodie vs. Wang, Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali vs. (4) Saulnier, (7) Goldstein vs. D.Norman, and an all-qualifier in (Q) Mergea vs. (Q) Wilson.

Verdasco Only Player Through Rain Monday at ATP Gstaad

Rain stopped almost all play at the Swiss Open in Gstaad Monday, with only one main draw match completed in Spain's Fernando Verdasco defeating qualifier Jaroslav "Popsicle" Pospisil 6-2, 6-4.

Two matches were halted in progress, with No. 6 seed Jiri Novak tied with Polito Starace 3-6, 7-6(3), and Stefan Koubek tied with Andreas Seppi 2-2.

The tournament is making due without defending champ Roger Federer.

"It's a shame not to have Roger here of course, but the fans seem to have got over it pretty quickly because our ticket sales have still been good," tournament deputy director Claudio Hermenjat told Reuters. "In fact, we haven't really seen much of a 'Federer Effect' in the years that he has played here. After his first Wimbledon win we had around 50 more spectators a day and an average of just two more last year. It seems like the Swiss have just got used to having their very own Wimbledon champion which for me is really incredible. People here don't seem to appreciate what he's achieving week in and week out."

On tap for Tuesday are (1) Davydenko vs. Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian, Andreev vs. Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. (6) Novak (to finish), (WC) Bastl vs. (2) Gaudio, (7) Massu vs. Behrend, Wawrinka vs. (8) Volandri, (3) Stepanek vs. (WC) Allegro, (WC) Lammer vs. (Q) Sabau, Koubek vs. Seppi (to finish), (5) Ljubicic vs. Ricardo Mello "Yello," Rainer "Shine" Schuettler vs. Sanguinetti, Di Mauro vs. (4) Ferrer, Hernych vs. (Q) Armando, Luis "Me So" Horna vs. Zib, and Kohlschreiber vs. (Q) Cermak.

Robredo Bakes Bagel at ATP Bastad

Only two main draw matches were played on the dirt Monday at Bastad, with No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo recording a bagel in brushing by Michal Tabara, and Andreas Vinciguerra winning the battle of Swedish wildcards, dropping four games in defeating Michael Ryderstedt.

Vinciguerra has been out of action since the fall of 2003 with various injuries.

"I served well and steered the game to where I wanted it," Vinciguerra said. "It's always a bit nerve-racking to play at home, but not as bad as I thought it would be."

The last round of qualifying was also completed, with four more onto the big dance in Lukas Dlouhy (CZE), Agustin Calleri (ARG), Gorka Fraile (ESP), and Florent Serra (FRA).

Scheduled for Tuesday are (Q) Dlouhy vs. (5) Ferrero, (1) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Juan "The Principality" Monaco, Bjorkman vs. Gael "Force" Monfils, (7) Soderling vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer, Vanek vs. (2) Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, Haehnel vs. (6) Youzhny, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. Zabaleta, Calatrava vs. (4) Moya in an all-Spanish, Berdych vs. K.Kim, Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez vs. (WC) N.Lapentti, Nieminen vs. (Q) Serra, O.Hernandez vs. (Q) Fraile in an all-Spanish, (8) Acasuso vs. Almagro, and (Q) Calleri vs. A.Martin.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Brit-Scot Andy Murray in Newport this week: "I hate losing for a start," Murray said speaking with The Times. "I don't think I've played any tournament hoping to come second best. What I want to do is really try to win every match. I actually believe I can go right to the top. I feel really motivated to go on and do it. Things have got a little over the top recently, because I still don't think I've really done anything yet. Okay, I won the US Junior Open, which was good, and I had quite a good Wimbledon. I've won four or five matches so far, but some people have acted as if I pretty much won Wimbledon. Obviously, my results so far have been quite good, and some people are calling me the new British hope. That bit doesn't bother me. I just need to try to keep doing it on the court."...Venus Williams rose from 16 to No. 8 on the WTA Tour Rankings after her Wimbledon win...Court 2 in Gstaad is named "SportCenter," get ready to get sued...Roger Federer says he is taking the next FIVE weeks off for rest...Local environmental enthusiasts are trying to stop a tennis training center from being built near Graz, Austria, with Davis Cup captain Thomas Muster saying he will step down if the facility doesn't get the OK. No tree can stand up to Tommy Moo..As compared to last year, Russian women are 0-3 for slam titles...Tennis author Michael Mewshaw's take on Serena: "That's her primary problem, fitness. She is grossly overweight in all the wrong places."...John McEnroe blames Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras for killing doubles: "Borg won so many titles without playing doubles, and then Pete Sampras won all those Grand Slams without playing doubles, so people thought, 'Why bother?'"...Nick Bollettieri writing for The Independent on his Wimbledon funniest moment: "I was told an American guy tried to get into Centre Court by showing a sheriff's badge. It didn't work. And Andy Roddick trying to beat (Roger) Federer by hitting through his legs and then being self-effacing, gracious and humorous afterwards is a contender. But I'll go for John McEnroe dressed in long knickers at his veterans' match. John doesn't wear tank-tops at the US Open any more because of his skinny arms. And now his legs are so bony he's got to cover them in pirate pants!" What do they say about living in a glass house and throwing rocks? This from a guy whose whole body looks like a catcher's mitt...With ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert lifting the nicknames Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer and Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali for use on air during the Wimbledon fortnight, how about at least a Tennis-X on-air plug or studio guest shot? We're practically writing ESPN's on-air scripts during the slams, and making Brad seem clever ain't easy...From SI.com's Jon Wertheim: "If you didn't smile watching Venus Williams elevate her game, stave off a match point and then go positively nuts with joy after she won her first Major since 2001, consult your cardiologist." Actually, as Venus was jumping up and down like a 6-year-old practically right in front of a seated and dejected Lindsay Davenport, we were waiting for Lindsay to do a Tonya Harding and put her on the ground -- nuts with joy, or more in-your-face egoism by the player who was stand-offishly cold and uncooperative with the media for the two weeks prior? You be the judge...Lleyton Hewitt has lost to the eventual champion in the last six slams he has contested...ESPN writer Wayne Drehs, a card-carrying Andy Roddick Fan Club Member during the Wimbledon fortnight, on A-Rod quipping it up after losing to Roger Federer: "Afterward, Roddick refused to hang his head. Sure he was upset, sure it was frustrating to again lose to a player he has no idea how to beat, but he wasn't going to sulk. He wasn't going to cry. So, after walking into the interview room in a backwards mesh Mississippi cap, he reverted to the man of many one-liners. Only this time they were directed at himself. Where does he go from here? "Home. Fast." Mentally, what's it like to have an opponent tease with you like that? "Sounds like my life in high school." The highlight came when Roddick answered a reporter's question about how he stayed confident when Federer was dominating. Said Roddick: "It's not like I'm sitting there down two sets thinking, 'I've got this one,'" Roddick quipped. That got a laugh out of the stone-faced moderator, who had yet to smile during any of Roddick's belly-busting post-match media sessions the entire tournament. "I finally got a laugh out of you!" Roddick said, smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. "They're not easy, but I got one." Another telling note from Drehs: "At no singular moment did Roddick play poorly." Huh? Guess we were watching a different final, the one where Andy moved poorly and couldn't get anything on the serve because he was tired from the day before, and struggled to pull a forehand winner on the easiest of sitters, instead hitting topspin approach shots into the service box and running in to get passed. That final...Mark Philippoussis is out of Australia's July 15 Davis Cup tie on grass vs. Argentina with an ankle injury, while added to the squad were Peter Luczak and Chris "Penthouse" Guccione.