Safin Getting Knee Surgery; Davenport Pulls From U.S. Fed Cup
Posted on July 6, 2005
Murray, Rusedski Delight British Press at ATP NewportYou'd think Wimbledon had moved to Rhode Island this week with the ATP stop in Newport swarming with British media, both tabloid and legit, following every move of British wildcard hopeful Andy Murray after his introduction to the world during the Wimbledon fortnight.
On Tuesday in Newport the Brit press got a double delight when both Murray (d. Carraz) and old-news No. 3 seed Greg Rusedski (d. (Q) Vico from a set down) advanced into the second round.
"It's very difficult to play on these courts," Murray said of the mushy, odd-bouncing Newport lawns. "You can't really get into any rhythm, you just have to concentrate on holding serve...I know a lot of people we're expecting me to win, but it's not as easy as that. The guy's a very good player, for me to win against him is one of the biggest wins of my life. I know everybody's saying that I should be playing Greg in the quarters, but I just have to take it one match at a time because I'm not used to playing at this level consistently."
Also advancing Tuesday were American seeds (1) Taylor Dent (d. Delic) and (7) Paul Goldstein (d. D.Norman in three).
"I struggled here and there, especially on serves," said Dent who was stretched to a tiebreak in the opening set. "I was big in the breaker and one game in the second set. Otherwise I was struggling...I'm anxious to get back to the form I was at in the beginning of the year. My groundies and returns are pretty solid."
Un-seeds into the second round on the lawns were Italy's Daniele Bracciali (d. (4) Saulnier) and France's Anthony Dupuis (d. (8) Blake) with the upsets, Wimbledon doubles champ Weslie Moodie (d. Wang), Slovaks Michal Mertinak (d. Reynolds in three) and Karol Kucera (d. Morrison in two tiebreaks), Czech Robin Vik (d. Dancevic in three), Romanian qualifier Florin Mergea (d. (Q) Wilson), German Alexander Waske (d. Elseneer in three), and Serb qualifier Dusan Vemic (d. Bogomolov).
Scheduled for Wednesday are Kucera vs. (2) Spadea, (1) Dent vs. Moodie, (WC) Murray vs. Dupuis, (3) Rusedski vs. Vik, Mertinak vs. (5) Ginepri, (7) Goldstein vs. (Q) Mergea, Waske vs. Danielle "Choppin'" Bracciali, and G.Lapentti vs. (Q) Vemic.
Nadal Bakes Breadstick Message at ATP Bastad
Any doubts that Rafael Nadal's disappointing grasscourt season stalled his momentum were dispelled Tuesday as the French Open champion returned to clay at the ATP stop in Bastad, putting a 6-1, 6-1 double-breadstick beating on Argentine comer Juan Monaco.
"It feels good, the first game of the tournament is always tough," Nadal said.
On the Swedish front No. 7 Robin Soderling cruised past Florian Mayer, but No. 2 seed Joachim Johansson blew a set and a break lead against Jiri Vanek.
Other seeded winners Tuesday were former No. 1s (4) Carlos Moya (d. Calatrava) and (5) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Dlouhy), and Russian (6) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Haehnel 1-and-1).
Spaniard Nicolas Almagro managed the other upset of the day, ousting (8) Jose Acasuso in straights.
Other un-seeds into the second round were Spaniards Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (d. N.Lapentti), Al Martin (d. Calleri 1-and-1) and Oscar Hernandez (d. Fraile from a set down), Argentine Mariano Zabaleta (d. Sluiter from a set down), French teen Gael Monfils (d. Bjorkman), Czech Tomas Berdych (d. K.Kim), and Italian Florent Serra (d. Niemenen).
On Wednesday's schedule are Almagro vs. Berdych, Zabaleta vs. (4) Moya, (WC) Vinciguerra vs. (6) Youzhny, and (3) Robredo vs. Gael "Force" Monfils.
Top-seeded Davydenko Out with Injury at ATP Gstaad
Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko made a hasty exit Tuesday from the claycourt stop at Gstaad, retiring after trailing Sargis Sargsian 1-6, 0-1 with a wrist injury.
"It's the same wrist injury that forced me to retire from the second round in Wimbledon," Davydenko said. "I had more pain last week but today I felt it during the warm-up because it was cold weather and the balls were a little bit heavy. The doctor told me that I have an inflammation and that I have to get some rest. It's not really a big injury, I will now take five days off. Tomorrow I will take an MRI and if everything is okay I should be fit for Davis Cup."
Seeded winners through to the second round were (2) Gaston Gaudio (d. (WC) Bastl), (3) Radek Stepanek (d. (WC) Allegro), (5) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Mello), and (7) Nicolas Massu (d. Behrend in two tiebreaks), all in straight sets.
"With not having played in a month, it's pretty difficult," Gaudio said. "But it's good to win and I hope to play like this tomorrow again so that I can win and getting used to the tennis again."
Four unseeded Italians swarmed into the second round in Alessio Di Mauro (d. (4) Ferrer in three), Potito Starace (d. (6) Novak in three), Andreas Seppi (d. Koubek in three tiebreaks), and David Sanguinetti (d. Schuettler from a set down).
"I'm so happy. I won over two days, it was an unbelievably tough match," Starace said. "I'm so happy for my tennis, I can play good here because of the altitude."
Other un-seeds advancing were Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka (d. (8) Volandri in three), Romanian qualifier Razvan Sabau (d. (WC) Lammer from a set down), Spaniard Feliciano Lopez (d. Andreev), Czech qualifier Frantisek Cermak (d. Kohlschreiber) and countryman Jan Hernych (d. (Q) Armando), and Peru's Luis Horna (d. Zib).
Scheduled for Wednesday play are Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian vs. (Q) Sabau, Sanguinetti vs. (2) Gaudio, (5) Ljubicic vs. Seppi, and Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. "You Say" Potito Starace.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
To put it in context, what are Roger Federer's three consecutive Wimbledon titles when compared to five titles in row by the hotdog-eating legend Kobayashi? Could Club Fed pound down 49 dogs in 12 minutes? Would you like to see him try? Would he beat Andy Roddick? Who would blink (or puke) first? And what was up with Kobayashi, who has always sported the Roddick pipe-cleaner arms, suddenly coming in with the Rafael Nadal-style guns? And what crime did ESPN's Darren Rovell commit that he gets put on hotdog duty?...Get ready for the new puke-green and blue court coloring debuting for the US Open Series hardcourt events and the US Open: "The new court colors have been tested and proven to enhance visibility of the ball for both players and fans," said Arlen Kantarian, Chief Executive, Professional Tennis, USTA. "In addition, it provides an instant visual link between the US Open Series tournaments and the US Open, helping to create a unified 'regular season' for tennis leading up to the US Open."...Andre Agassi for Congress, from Fox News: "There's a new push for Andre Agassi to put down the racket and pick-up a congressional title. Gil Eisner, a Summerlin resident and registered voter in the third Congressional District, announced yesterday (July 4th, 2005) the establishment of an unofficial movement to draft lifetime Nevada resident Andre Agassi for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District. In a press release statement, Eisner said "I appropriately choose the 4th of July, our Nation's birthday and beginning as the time to make this announcement to emphasis the need for new leadership in running the affairs of our country." Eisner also stated, "Andre Agassi is the type of person who fits that measure as far as I am concerned." Supporters hope the tennis great will respond and explore a run for office. Agassi is currently a registered Independent. Agassi hasn't commented on the possibility of running in the 2006 election." Or the possibility of taking out a restraining order against Eisner...From The Guardian on Andy Murray's opening-round win at Newport: "It says much about his professionalism that occasional dodgy bounces from the treacherous grass surface, and the distraction of latecomers straggling to their seats, gave him almost as many problems as somebody ranked 87 places above him. With only 250 or so people dotted around the stands at the start of play and the atmosphere as dull as the weather, the Scot realised quickly he was now a long way from Wimbledon. "My coach (Mark Petchey) was there and he's most important person for me," said Murray. "He got me geed up. It was quite difficult to play because it was windy and then I had balls bouncing over my racket. But it's not difficult to get fired up for ATP tournaments; I mean, this is just my fourth one. I was happy when I won but it was difficult to get into any rhythm so I just had to concentrate on holding serve. I did that pretty well." It is a measure of the 18-year-old's growing maturity, and maybe the influence of Petchey -- his full-time coach as of last week -- that he was able to cope with the changed circumstances from the glamour of a fortnight ago. A wild-card entry into an ATP ranking tournament is a precious gift for an ambitious player and it was one he never looked like squandering."...Roger Federer goes on a five-week holiday knowing he has clinched a spot at the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai: "It's a great feeling to know that I have already qualified for Shanghai. I want to defend my title, it's one of my goals this year. I remember playing the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai in 2002; it was my debut in the tournament as part of the best eight players in the world. The crowds were fantastic, I love playing in Asia and I look forward to November."...Boris Becker has teamed with German sportswear company Volk to unveil a line of clothing...Andy Roddick takes two weeks off before returning to the court on July 18 at Indianapolis, then to Los Angeles, Washington, the Masters Series-Canada, Cincinnati, then the US Open...The South Florida Sun-Sentinel's Charlie "Brick" Bricker on Roger Federer and Andy Roddick: "Who knows when they'll next play? Perhaps in the final of the US Open, where it's not clear who is favored by the slower surface." Yikes, it's pretty clear to us...Appears Martin "Berzerk" Verkerk may be out for the remainder of 2005 with his slow-healing shoulder injury...Lindsay Davenport has pulled from the U.S. Fed Cup tie at Russia with her back injury: "I'm very disappointed that Lindsay would not be able to support our team here in Moscow," U.S. captain Zina Garrison told a news conference on Wednesday...Virginie Razzano has pulled from France's Fed Cup semifinal against Spain with an ankle injury...Marat Safin has chosen surgery for his knee and has pulled from Russia's Davis Cup match-up in July.