Rafael Rolls; Hewitt to Marry This Week

Posted on July 11, 2005

Rusedski Beats Spadea for First 2005 Title at ATP Newport

With all the Murray-Mania furor following Wimbledon, Greg Rusedski reminded everyone why he remains on Britain's top-tier of bread-winners Sunday in the final of the ATP grasscourt stop in Newport, outlasting Vince Spadea 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-4 for his first title of the year.

With the win Rusedski successfully defended his title from 2004 in Newport.

"I always enjoy playing here," Rusedski said after winning the battle of 30+-year-old players. "For some reason, my luck always seems to end up good when I need it here in Newport."

Rusedski weathered a final service game that lasted 22 points, and came back from a break down in the third.

"He stepped up his game and I was a little tentative," Spadea said. "He took it to me in the last games of the match, that's why he won."

No. 2 seeds Jordan Kerr and Jim Thomas successfully defended their Newport title, defeating No. 1 seeds Graydon Oliver and Travis Parrott 7-6(5), 7-6(5).

Nadal Recovers for 7th 2005 Title at ATP Bastad

Rafael Nadal recovered from a first-step stumble Sunday in the final at the ATP stop in Bastad, regrouping for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Czech Tomas Berdych to capture his fifth consecutive claycourt title in his 29th consecutive match win on the red dirt.

"It's incredible to have won seven claycourt titles this year," Nadal said. "I didn't play well today. In the first set, I couldn't do so much. He made few mistakes. It was tough for me. I played more aggressive in the second set and hit the balls deeper. Taking a 4-0 lead was good for my confidence."

Berdych failed to convert a break point at 4-5 in the third, succumbing to the first player to win seven dirt titles in a season since Thomas Muster in 1996.

"I think I was a little bit unlucky today, I played quite good, but he is so good on clay," said Berdych, who looks forward to a rematch on a faster surface. "It's his best surface. If we play on another surface, a faster court, my chances are much better."

In the doubles final, unseeded Swedes Jonas Bjorkman and Joachim Johansson won in their first teaming of the year, easing by No. 3 seeded-Argentines Jose Acasuso/Sebastien Prieto 6-2, 6-3.

"It was very nice to play with (Bjorkman)," Johansson said after winning his career-first doubles title. "I have to say I always learn something playing with him."

Gaudio Wins Fourth 2005 Title at ATP Gstaad

No. 2 seed Gaston Gaudio won his fourth claycourt title of 2005 Sunday at the ATP stop in Gstaad, defeating unseeded Swiss hope Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-4.

"You always get pretty nervous when playing a final," Gaudio said. "I don't know why even though I've played four finals this year. Still I was getting so nervous and that's why I didn't show too many emotions."

Gaudio is looking to qualify for the year-end Masters Cup for the second consecutive year, but knows the North American hardcourt tournaments will be key.

"I'm trying to get into the Masters and I'm on my way, being No. 8 in the world," Gaudio said. "I have to continue to play like this because it's going to be tough. I have to play good at the two Masters Series events in Montreal and Cincinnati. I would love to be in the Masters this year. I was there last year but I couldn't play my best tennis."

In the doubles final, Czech No. 2 seeds Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl won their tour-leading fifth title of the year with a 7-6(6), 7-6(11) win over unseeded Germans Michael Kohlmann and Rainer Schuettler.

"It was a very tough match being up and down all the time, two tiebreaks and we were a little bit lucky," Friedl said. "When going in the hotel lift every day from the sixth floor, the lift always stopped at the fifth floor automatically. Today I was thinking this might have been a sign and today could be our fifth title."

A Masters Cup Doubles berth is looking good for the Czech duo, who last year won two titles but failed to qualify.

Russia, France Advance to Fed Cup Final

Venus Williams held off the inevitable for one match Sunday, defeating Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-2 before Russia ran out the final two matches to eliminate the U.S. and advance to the Fed Cup final for the second consecutive year.

Without world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport, who pulled from the event with a bad back, the lightweight U.S. bench was called in, which on Sunday translated to rookie Jill Craybas being run over in her Fed Cup debut 6-2, 6-4 on the red clay by the former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, clinching the tie.

"I played really well, except for a couple of games in the second set," Myskina said, enjoying the home tie at Olympic Stadium in Moscow. "I was feeling a little pain in my leg, but it was OK. It's a great feeling to be back in the final again. I love playing in front of this crowd."

Venus regretted dropping the opening singles on Saturday, which proved a must-win match for the U.S.

"I felt so bad yesterday," Venus said. "The reason I'm here is that I love Zina (Garrison, the U.S. captain) and I wanted to win for her. Yesterday I had some negative points where I lost a game or two, which made a difference to the match because I just wasn't there. I just wanted to come today and do a lot better."

In the dead-rubber doubles Venus teamed with Davenport's regular partner Corina Morariu, losing to Vera Douchevina and Dinara Safina 6-1, 7-5.

For the September final Russia will travel to Roland Garros where France will host after rolling over the underpowered Spanish team 3-1 in their semifinal.

France entered Sunday play with a 2-0 lead, and promptly clinched the tie in the first match Sunday when Amelie Mauresmo defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-3, 6-1.

"I had a little let down when I was up 3-0, but I was able to come back strong afterwards," Mauresmo said. "I'm really satisfied, as I played at a higher level as yesterday. Winning the decisive point for my country feels great."

Arantxa Parra-Santonja won the dead-rubber match 6-4, 6-4 over France's Severine Beltrame.

France also returns to the Fed Cup final, now for the third consecutive year, winners of the title in 2003 and 1997.

Winning World Group I Playoff spots for September were Austria (d. Switzerland), Italy (d. Czech Republic), Germany (d. Croatia), and Belgium (d. Argentina).

Schiavone Heads Field for New WTA Event at Modena

While the top players take a week of rest after the Fed Cup semifinals, the WTA fills the dead week with the Tier IV Internazionali di Modena, Italy's new stop on the WTA Tour calendar.

Italians Francesca Schiavone and Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta head the top seeds, joined by Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Poland's Marta Domachowska, Israel's Anna Smashnova, Croat Jelena Kostanic, Italian Antonella Serra "Nevada" Zanetti, and Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva.

Wildcards went to Pennetta and Adriana Serra Zanetti.

With only four Top 50 players in the field and no low-ranked comers to speak of, the Modena title will be up for grabs among the "B"-level competitors on the WTA Tour.

Davis Cup Quarterfinal Previews

The Davis Cup quarterfinals begin July 15, and Tennis-X will, beginning Tuesday, preview one tie each day leading to the beginning of play on Friday. Squaring off in the quarterfinals this weekend are the Netherlands at Slovak Republic, Argentina at Australia, France at Russia, and Romania at Croatia.

X-CORRECT
Aussie John Alexander slammed Todd Woodbridge for retiring before this weekend's David Cup tie.

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
No. 1 seeds on the ATP circuit are 16-0 in finals this year...Lleyton Hewitt will marry five-month pregnant fiancee and Aussie soap star Bec Cartwright in a ceremony Thursday afternoon in Sydney. The bridesmaids will include Cartwright's sister Kristy and her friend and former Home And Away publicist Victoria Supple, while Hewitt will line up with Adelaide AFL star Andrew McLeod and Cartwright's older brother, Shaun, among others...Yannick Noah in his Hall of Fame induction speech Saturday in Newport: "Arthur (Ashe) came to Cameroon on a State Department visit when I was 11. He saw me hitting balls with a board -- we were very poor. He gave me a racket and recommended me to the French Tennis Federation. They brought me to France to train, and I became a player. But that racket Arthur gave me...it was my friend. I slept with it."...The New York Daily News on Martina Hingis, who is playing World Team Tennis, and a potential tour comeback: "Hingis' two surgically repaired ankles are healthy. Her 5-7, 130-pound body looks fit, if not tour-ready. She forged an astonishing career out of two gifted hands and a tennis mind that had no equal, anticipating shots, knowing where she needed to be, talents that enabled her to flourish even against the vastly more powerful Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport. Now her mind is trying to decipher something else entirely: whether she is going to make a comeback to the women's tour, or just take her $18 million career earnings and move on. It is no easy decision. Before the Sportimes played the Hartford FoxForce last week, she sat in a hot tent with a grass floor and took questions from three reporters. "It's not like (this is) a comeback," she said. "I'm just playing some matches." Later, after she'd lost in singles (to Meghann Shaughnessy) and in mixed doubles (with Mark Merklein) but won in women's doubles (with Jenny Hopkins), she was not so definite. "I am just enjoying playing tennis. We will see what will pop out after that."" If Hingis' recent WTT outing where she dominated play in doubles against Martina Navratilova and her male partner is an indicator, time to call it a comeback...Swiss tennis have fallen a long ways since the days of Martina Hingis, with Switzerland falling out of the Fed Cup World Group I this past weekend after top players Patty Schnyder and Emmanuelle Gagliardi blew off the tie. "We have missed a big chance to win at home against an Austrian team that was beatable," said depressed coach Ivo Werner. "We haven't been able to prepare for the match as well as we wanted. We need to analyze this clearly and then maybe take the necessary countermeasures." Like getting your top players to play?...How about the all-choker finale lined up for the Fed Cup at Roland Garros with Russia at France, the site of numerous Amelie Mauresmo chokes, and with Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva, whose chokes travel well...Kim Clijsters, who was ill Sunday, on teaming with Els Callens to win the deciding doubles over Argentina to stay in the Fed Cup World Group I: "This will go down on my CV as one of my greatest moments."...Aussie Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald on former great John Alexander saying Todd Woodbridge was hurting the team by retiring prior to their tie with Argentina: "I think that's pretty harsh. If you've given 14 years of your career to your country, I think that speaks for itself," Fitzgerald said on Channel Seven. "No one could ever question what he did for us. Todd has played more ties (31) than anyone else in our history for Australia. His time was there. He was just out of gas. I support his decision wholeheartedly. He felt he had nothing left in the tank. What he didn't want was to perform below par...and maybe hurt the team's performance."...Rafael Nadal is the first teenager to win seven ATP titles in a season since 1983 when Mats Wilander won nine.