Nadal Pulls From Umag After Stuttgart Win, Fake Injury Du Jour for French Champ

Posted on July 25, 2005

Ginepri Wilts Dent in ATP Indianapolis Final

With a heat index over 110 degrees, the questionable fitness level of Taylor Dent demanded a quick straight-set victory in the ATP final Sunday at Indianapolis versus countryman Robby Ginepri.

Unfortunately a 6-4 win in the first set didn't prove quick enough as the burly American went on to lose the next nine games before retiring with fatigue/heat illness at 6-4, 0-6, 0-3.

"I was really struggling that whole first set," Dent said. "I dug as deep as I could to finish that first set. I was struggling that first set. The second set I tried to push myself, but unfortunately I had nothing. It is extremely disappointing. I was getting worse as time went on...We tried some things, like the ammonia sniffing, which only helped me for a point. I didn't want to risk doing physical damage to myself."

Ginepri is the first unseeded champion in Indy since the tournament moved to hardcourts in 1988, and captured his career-second title after Newport on grass in 2003.

"I could tell he was running out of energy pretty early," Ginepri said. "As a friend, you don't want too see that, and you don't want to win a tournament like that. All the hard work down in Miami with my fitness coach Paul (Pisani), it has definitely worked out."

Dent is now 0-2 in finals in 2005.

"Conditioning is a big deal," Dent said. "I haven't gotten back from my ankle injury. I've got to get my conditioning back to where it was."

In the doubles final the first-time team of Paul Hanley and Graydon Oliver defeated top seeds Simon Aspellin and Todd Perry 6-2, 3-1, ret., when Perry suffered a stomach illness.

Nadal Wins Title, Extends Win Streak at ATP Stuttgart

Rafael Nadal tied world No. 1 Roger Federer Sunday in Stuttgart by winning his eighth title of the year, defeating former French Open champ Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the best-of-five claycourt final.

With the title Nadal will climb to No. 2 for the first time on the ATP Rankings, and extends his claycourt winning streak to 34 matches.

"My goal now is to improve my game, I want to improve my game on hardcourt," said Nadal, who after the final pulled from the ATP Umag event to rest for the hardcourt Masters Series-Canada event. "My final goal for this year is to finish as the No. 2 in the world."

Gaudio is now 0-3 in Stuttgart finals.

"I think that I played good tennis but I couldn't find a way to beat him at all during the whole match," said a frustrated Gaudio. "It was no doubt that I played against the true champion, he was too good and he took my Mercedes again."

In the doubles final the Argentine team of Jose Acasuso and Sebastian Prieto won their first title as a team, defeating Argentine Mariano Hood and Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-6(4), 6-3.

Gonzalez Wins Singles, R-Up in Doubles at ATP Amersfoort

No. 2 seed Fernando Gonzalez won his second title of the season Sunday at the ATP claycourt stop in Amersfoort, subduing unseeded Argentine Agustin Calleri 7-5, 6-3.

Calleri served for the first set at 5-4 before dropping the next three games, and dropped his record in career finals to 1-5.

"I am not disappointed about today, I faced a great player," Calleri said. "Fernando Gonzalez played an unbelievable match today. After a two-month injury break this has been great week for me and I feel very positive and confident."

Gonzalez's first title of the year came on hardcourts in January at Auckland. He is the third Chilean to claim the Dutch Open title after Marcelo Rios (1995) and Nicolas Massu (2003), after finishing runner-up last year.

In the doubles final the top-seeded Gonzalez and Chilean countryman Nicolas Massu came up short 6-4, 6-4 to No. 4 seeds Martin Garcia and Luis Horna, who claimed their first title of the year.

"I am very happy to finally win a title with Luis," Garcia said. "After two finals in Casablanca and Houston it is great to finally win."

Medina Garrigues Captures Third Palermo Title

Spain's Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues won her third ATP Palermo title Sunday, with the No. 3 seed defeating No. 5 Klara "Kouky" Koukalova 6-4, 6-0.

Koukalova led 4-2 in the first set before the wheels came off and the Czech didn't win another game.

"Palermo is a good tournament for me -- I feel at home," Medina Garrigues said. "The match was not so easy, especially in the first set, I was down 4-2 but then I fought and I won the set."

Koukalova is now 1-5 in finals, meeting her losing expectations.

"I'm very happy to have been in the final," Koukalova said. "Anabel played very well and I was just a little tired. In the first set I was leading 4-2 but then she came back and plays very well. I'm happy anyway because it is my sixth final and I won my first tournament this year."

In Saturday's doubles final, unseeded Giulia Casoni and Mariya Koryttseva defeated No. 4 seeds Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska in three sets for their first title as a team.

Schnyder Cruises to WTA Cincinnati Title

Swiss top-seed Patty Schnyder won her first North American title Sunday at the WTA stop in Cincinnati, punishing unseeded Akiko Morigami 6-4, 6-0 for her second title of the year.

"I now have one win, one title, which is important for the rest of the weeks," Schnyder said. "It's a big win for me and it gives me a lot of confidence...When my game is on, it looks like this."

Morigami was appearing in her first career final.

"Patty obviously played great against me," Morigami said. "She played very aggressive and was controlling a lot of the points. She was mixing it up well. She was putting balls high to my backhand, which I don't like and was really playing a lot of different shots."

In the doubles final, No. 3 seeds Laura Granville and Abigail Spears of the U.S. upset top seeds Kveta Peschke and Maria Emilia Salerni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 for their first title as a team.

Agassi Hoping to Compete This Week at ATP Los Angeles

Andy Roddick's pull with the "sore knee" and Andre Agassi's chronic back problem leave the ATP stop in L.A. in a precarious situation, with No. 2 seed Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty set to possibly become the tournament's iffy main-gate card if Agassi ends up pulling, or more likely losing early.

Agassi and Hrbaty are joined among the seeds by Germans Nicolas Kiefer and Tommy Haas, American Taylor Dent, Croat Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean and Brit Greg Rusedski.

Although the field lacks star power, early-round match-ups of interest abound in (6) Baby Goran vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (4) Haas vs. the giant "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, (5) Dent vs. countryman Mardy Fish (if Fish doesn't pull with the wrist injury), the hot-handed Indy winner Robby Ginepri vs. Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs, and (3) Kiefer vs. (WC) James Blake.

Haas beat Kiefer in last year's final, while the Bryan brothers tamed the Aussie duo of Arthurs/Hanley.

Returning champs in the final are Haas (2004) and the three-time champ Agassi (2002-01,'98).

On tap for Monday in L.A. are (WC) Goldstein vs. Saulnier, (7) Grosjean vs. Mello, Srichaphan vs. (6) Ancic, Malisse vs. H.-T. Lee, Carlsen vs. K.Kim, and Chela vs. Baghdatis.

Three French Open Champs This Weeks at ATP Umag

It was four, but now three former French Open champions make the little Croatian Open in Umag this week one of the most competitive claycourt events of 2005.

New world No. 2 Rafael Nadal headed the field before winning Stuttgart then pulling from Umag with a "knee injury."

Now Guillermo Coria heads the field, joined by seeds Tommy Robredo, David Ferrer, Jiri Novak, former French champs Carlos Moya and Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Filippo Volandri.

Also among the unseeded is former Roland Garros champ Gustavo Kuerten.

Competitive opening-round matches of note are (4) Ferrer vs. "You Say" Potito Starace, (3) Robredo vs. (WC) Kuerten, and (7) Ferrero vs. the hot-handed Jarkko Nieminen.

In last year's final the under-drug-scrutiny Guillermo Canas defeated Volandri in straight sets.

Returning champs in the field are the four-time winner Moya (2003-01,'96) and Felix Mantilla (1997).

Scheduled for Monday are Vliegen vs. (WC) Cilic, (Q) Krajan vs. (2) Coria, (8) Volandri vs. (WC) Tuksar, Vanek vs. (Q) Portas, A.Martin vs. Dlouhy, Montanes vs. (5) Novak, and Aldi vs. (Q) Bozoljac.

Davydenko, Puerta Head Field at ATP Kitzbuhel

With three former French Open champs in Umag this week, the Generali Open gets the leftovers with a 48-man draw and Top 8 seeds Nikolay Davydenko, Roland Garros runner-up Mariano Puerta, former French champ Gaston Gaudio, Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, Mikhail Youzhny, Nicolas Massu, and Olivier "The Roach" Rochus.

All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes, with potential second-round matches including (3) Gaudio vs. Al Costa in an all-French-Open-champ-match-up, and (8) O.Rochus vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco.

In the 2004 final, Massu edged Gaudio 7-6(3), 6-4.

Returning champs in the field are Massu (2004), Nicolas Lapentti (2001), and the three-time champ Costa (1999-98,'95).

On court Monday are Zib vs. (WC) Marach, Kohlschreiber vs. A.Costa, (Q) Vemic vs. (WC) Hipfl, (Q) Luczak vs. Vik, Sluiter vs. Di Mauro, Monaco vs. Mayer, (Q) Ramirez Hidalgo vs. (Q) Labadze, and Ventura vs. Behrend.

Davenport Tests Back Injury at WTA Stanford

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport will compete for the first time since injuring her back in the Wimbledon final, this week at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, California where she is joined by seeds Venus Williams, Swiss Patty Schnyder, Belgian Kim Clijsters, Russian Vera Zvonareva, Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, Serb Jelena Jankovic, and Italy's Francesca Schiavone.

The top four seeds receive byes in Stanford, with a handful of early-round matches of interest in Lisa Raymond vs. (WC) Angela Haynes in an all-American, (6) Dechy vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem, (WC) Alexandra "Dr. A." Stevenson vs. Daniela "The Walking Stick" Hantuchova, and (7) Jankovic vs. Chanda Rubin.

In last year's final Davenport defeated Venus Williams 7-6 in the third set.

Smashnova Leads Shaky Field at WTA Budapest

Israel's Anna Smashnova leads the star-challenged field this week at the WTA stop in Budapest, joined by seeds Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, Italian Roberta Vinci, Croatian Jelena Kostanic, Italian Antonella Serra "Nevada" Zanetti, Argentine Mariana Diaz-Oliva, Slovak Martina "Nurse, Hand Me a" Sucha, and Czech "Oh!" Zuzana Ondraskova.

In last year's final No. 8 seed Jelena Jankovic defeated Sucha 7-6(4), 6-3.

On court Monday on the dirt in Budapest are Cervanova vs. Schruff, Kostanic vs. Loit, Bychkova vs. Chladkova, Castano vs. Vinci, and Diaz-Oliva vs. Parra Santonja.

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The ATP announced that Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal has joined Roger Federer in qualifying for the year-end Masters Cup eight-man field: "For me it's a dream," Nadal said. "Now I'm amongst the eight best players in the world, which is very important to me. Shanghai is an exotic and nice place. Carlos Moya told me that it was a very, very nice tournament three years ago. For me this is unbelievable. It will be my first Masters and I hope to enjoy the experience and to play well."...On the heels of winning in Stuttgart, and realizing he would likely win Umag next week them go into the Masters Series-Canada exhausted, Nadal announced after the Stuttgart win he was pulling from Umag with a "knee injury" (Hey! Andy Roddick pulled from L.A. with the same "injury" when he realized his schedule was overloaded!). Nadal is expected to show in Umag Monday to further explain his sudden injury that in no way impeded him from storming to the Stuttgart title without dropping a set...If the photos we've seen from L.A. are any indication, Andre Agassi has suddenly switched from Nike to adidas. Nike recently lost Lleyton Hewitt, freeing up the swoosh for a big purchase in the near future.