Aussies Reeling From Davis Cup Upset; Roddick Goes for Indy 3-Peat
Posted on July 18, 2005
Davis Cup World Group Quarterfinal Sunday ResultsArgentina d. Australia 4-1
David Nalbandian delivered the final humiliating blow to Australia in their contentious Davis Cup quarterfinal, straight-setting Australia cornerstone Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 on the Sydney grasscourts to put Argentina into the World Group semifinals.
Surprisingly it was the rock-like Hewitt who folded under the pressure to extend the Aussie's Davis Cup chances.
"I saw Lleyton was so nervous in the beginning that I changed a little bit my mind the way to play him," Nalbandian said. "I know that he was going to miss before me. I was surprised a lot."
In the dead rubber fifth singles, Guillermo Coria defeated Peter Luczak.
"We are feeling great. It was a really tough tie for us," said Argentine captain Alberto Mancini. "It was really a win for all the team. The players gave up a lot to be here and to play at this level. They had to think about Argentina and not for themselves and that paid a lot."
Argentine will travel to the Slovak Republic in September for the semifinals.
Slovak Republic d. The Netherlands 4-1
The Slovak Republic reached their first-ever Davis Cup semifinal Sunday when Dominik Hrbaty delivered the clinching blow in the opening singles, defeating Peter Wessels 6-3, 6-1, 3-0, ret. with the Dutchman failing to finish due to a rib injury.
In the dead fifth-rubber singles, Slovak Michal Mertinak defeated Melle Van Gemerden from a set down.
"Of course Argentina will be favorites," said Hrbaty of their home semifinal in September. "But I think that we have more togetherness. That is the main thing about our team. Also we will be playing at home so we can choose the surface. But Argentina has many players from the Top 10 but I have played them before and managed to win so I think we can win if we play our usual Davis Cup match."
Slovak captain Miroslav Mecir said the Slovaks were lucky the Dutch were without their injured top players Sjeng Schalken and Martin Verkerk.
"I think both teams were very strong but our team had better luck with injuries," Mecir said. "Both teams played with heart and gave everything."
Russia d. France 3-2
Whenever you have a difficult day on the job, just tell yourself, "Well, at least I'm not Paul-Henri Mathieu."
For the second time in four years the Frenchman Mathieu choked away a fifth and deciding rubber against Russia, losing 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 to Igor Andreev after Nikolay Davydenko opened the day with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over top Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
"I think I proved today that I really am a Top 10 player, whether for myself in a tournament or in a team," said Davydenko after downing Gasquet.
After Andreev's win, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin joined an eight-man Russian conga line on-court in Moscow, including the Russian players and coach Shamil Tarpischev. Much drinking ensured.
Croatia d. Romania 4-1
Croatian Ivan Ljubicic made quick work of Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday in the opening singles to put Croatia in its first-ever Davis Cup semifinal.
"I sensed early that Pavel was slow, took the advantage of the only break in the first set," Ljubicic said. "The key to the match was the second set, when I got back from 0-3."
Mario Ancic avenged his earlier singles loss, defeating Victor Hanescu 7-6(3), 7-6(8) in the dead rubber.
Croatia will again use the home court to its advantage in September when it hosts Russia.
Smashnova Outlasts Ailing Garbin in WTA Modena Final
Israel's Anna Smashnova improved her record in WTA finals to 10-0 for her career Sunday in Modena when Italian homecountry favorite Tathiana Garbin retired due to heat illness in the first set tiebreak.
Garbin requested a medical timeout trailing 0-3 in the tiebreak, then nearly fainted on the sidelines due to the 95 degree temperatures. The Italian then retired with cramps and sunstroke, carried out of a stretcher.
"I felt sick at 2-0 and from that moment things started to get worse," Garbin said. "I was scared because I couldn't breathe any longer. It was terrible. I believe I could have won because I arrived at this tournament very fit. I regret that things have gone this way."
It was Smashnova's first title since 2004 Vienna.
In the doubles final the unseeded team of Yulia Beygelzimer and Mervana Jugic-Salkic rolled top seeds Gabriela Navratilova and Michaela Pastikova 6-2, 6-0 for their first WTA title as a team.
Roddick Heads ATP Indianapolis Field
The RCA Championships in Indianapolis may have lost Andre Agassi, who pulled with his chronic back/nerve injury, but still has two-time defending champion Andy Roddick and a handful of "B"-squad Americans to keep fickle U.S. fans interested as the US Open Series kicks off.
Joining Roddick among the Top 8 seeds of the event's 16 total are Germany's Nicolas Kiefer, Slovak Davis Cup hero Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Croatian D-Cup hero Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Belarus' Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, Brit "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, and Americans Taylor "Acci-" Dent and Vince Spadea.
All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, but potential second-round encounters to note are (9) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. James Blake, (8) Spadea vs. Robby Ginepri in an all-American, (16) Mardy Fish returning from a wrist injury vs. Brit (WC) Andy Murray, and (4) Dent vs. the winner of (WC) "The" Donald Young and Jan-Michael Gambill.
Murray benefitted from the main draw wildcard once Agassi withdrew from the event.
In last year's final the top-seeded Roddick eased past the No. 12-seeded Kiefer in straight sets.
Returning champs in the field are Roddick (2004-03), Rusedski (2002), and Jonas Bjorkman (1997).
On court Monday in Indianapolis are Lisnard vs. Moodie, Ryderstedt vs. Ginepri, Carraz vs. Blake, Lu vs. Tursunov, and Dupuis vs. Popp.
Nadal Leads Shallow Field This Week at ATP Stuttgart
French Open champ Rafael Nadal heads a surprisingly weak claycourt field this week at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, featuring only one other Top 10 player in Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Others in the Top 8 in the 16-seeded field are Spaniards Tommy Robredo and Dave Ferrer, Argentine and former French champ Gaston Gaudio, Czech Jiri Novak, Russian Mikhail Youzhny and Italian Filippo Volandri.
All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, with only a few potential second-round meetings of note in (1) Nadal vs. former No. 1 and French champ Gustavo Kuerten, (4) Robredo vs. Frenchman Gael "Force" Monfils, and world-shaking big-match choker (16) Paul-Henri Mathieu of France vs. former Roland Garros champ Al Costa.
Defending champ Guillermo Canas sits this one out as he is under investigation for doping, but returning champs in the field include Youzhny (2002) and Kuerten (2001,'98).
Scheduled for Monday are (Q) Brzezicki vs. Kohlschreiber, Zabaleta vs. (WC) Thron, Mayer vs. Seppi, Di Mauro vs. (WC) A.Beck, (Q) Greul vs. Zib, Ramirez Hidalgo vs. Koubek, Simon vs. Montanes, and (WC) Summerer vs. Monaco.
Puerta Tops Scantly-Clad ATP Amersfoort Clay Field
Mariano Puerta, straight from his grasscourt upset of Australia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, switches to clay this week at the ATP stop in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.
Joining the French Open runner-up among the seeds are Chileans Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu, Belgian Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, Peru's Luis "Me So" Horna, Romania's Victor Hanescu, Spaniard Oscar Hernandez, and German Tomas Behrend.
As a testament to The Priority Telecom Open's lack of funding, the three tournament wildcards went to local Dutchmen Melle Van Germerden, Dennis Van Scheppingen, and Steven Korteling.
Dutchman Martin Verkerk, currently off the tour with a bad shoulder, defeated Gonzalez in last year's three-set final.
Massu (2003) is the lone returning champ in the field.
No American Seeds This Week at WTA Cincinnati
No Top 10 players in residence this week as the Europeans hold court in Cincinnati, where Swiss Patty Schnyder heads the field at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.
Also among the seeds are Russian Vera Zvonareva, Serb Jelena Jankovic, Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, Japan's Ai Sugiyama, German Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and Czech Kveta Peschke.
The funds were apparently lacking this year in Cincinnati to attract a top player such as Lindsay Davenport, who in last year's final defeated Zvonareva.
Chanda Rubin also attempts her comeback from injury, facing fellow American Laura Granville in her opener.
On court Monday are Dekmeijere vs. Mattek, Nakamura vs. Spears, Fedak vs. Peer, Kirkland vs. Brandi, Rubin vs. Granville, Luzhanska vs. Avants, Haynes or Ospina vs. Salerni, Peschke vs. Panova, Jidkova vs. Cho, and Bammer vs. Uberoi.
Italians Farina Elia, Pennetta Head WTA Palermo Field
Italians Silvia Farina Elia and Flavia Pennetta lead the low-powered dirt field this week in Palermo, joined by Top 60-ranked seeds Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues and Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives, Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, Pole Marta Domachowska, Italian Roberta Vinci, and Slovenia's Katerina Srebotnik.
Italy came up short in last year's final when Medina Garrigues defeated Pennetta in straight sets.
Scheduled for Monday in Palermo are Oprandi vs. Koryttseva, Kostanic vs. Dominguez Lino, Vinci vs. Sucha, Yakimova vs. Muller, Ozegovic vs. Ani, and Flipkens vs. Vesnina.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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