Federer Sacks Rosset as Swiss Davis Cup Captain, Safin Enjoying Injury Rehab
Posted on July 28, 2005
Defending Champ Haas Exits at ATP Los AngelesNo. 4 seed and defending champion Tommy Haas, playing in his first event since dropping out of Wimbledon after stepping on a ball and twisting his ankle, was upset 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday by Belgian Xavier Malisse in second-round play at the ATP stop in Los Angeles.
"I felt physically pretty good actually, to be honest," Haas said. "I played a really good set of flawless tennis on my side. Second set I played one weak game, made a few easy mistakes, and got the break. That always helps and motivates the opponent a little bit...Third set came around and he played a really solid game to go up 3-2 in the third...When you're playing top level and you don't make you opponent play, you don't really have a chance to win, and therefor don't really deserve it either."
Joining the Belgian with quarterfinals berths were (2) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Hernych), and un-seeds Juan Ignacio Chela of Argentine (d. Tursunov from a set down), and Brazilian Ricardo Mello (d. (Q) Hadad).
"(Hernych) is a tough opponent," The Dominator said. "I lost to him in three sets (the last time we played). He plays a lot of angles and cross-court strokes, I was prepared for that."
In doubles highlights the top-seeded defending champ Bryan brothers advanced (d. Mello/Muller, bagel in the first) while No. 2-seeded Aussies Arthurs/Hanley were ousted in three sets by the American wildcard team of Leach/MacPhie.
Scheduled for Thursday are (WC) Goldstein vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (1) Agassi vs. K.Kim in an all-American, (Q) Fleishman vs. Muller, and the all-American nightcap in Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri vs. (WC) Blake.
Top-seeded Davydenko, Six Other Seeds Ousted at ATP Kitzbuhel
Argentina's Mariano Zabeleta, once touted as a force in the game as a misguided late-hour addition to the ill-fated "New Balls, Please" marketing campaign, drew on his early-career form Wednesday at the ATP stop in Kitzbuhel to oust No. 1 seed and Roland Garros semifinalist Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 7-6(5).
"I'm very happy because I'm having a good time, playing with a lot of confidence after my injury," said Zabaleta, who benefited from the Russian's inability to close it out serving at 5-4 in the second. "I won against a great player who's in the Top 10. I played the important points very well."
Davydenko was one of a host of seeded upset victims on the day, including (8) Olivier Rochus (l. to Verdasco), (11) Jose Acasuso (l. to Mayer), (12) Christophe Rochus (l. to homecountry favorite Koubek, retiring in the third set with cramps), (13) Igor Andreev (l. to Almagro), (14) Luis Horna (l. to (WC) N.Lapentti), and (16) Paul-Henri Mathieu (l. to Vik, retiring in the second with gastritis).
Seeds advancing into the third round were (2) Mariano Puerta (d. (Q) Labadze), (3) Gaston Gaudio (d. Kohlschreiber), (4) Fernando Gonzalez (d. (WC) Marach), (5) Feliciano Lopez (d. Di Mauro), (6) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Minar, bagel in the first), (7) Nicolas Massu (d. (WC) Koellerer), (9) Jurgen Melzer (d. (Q) Vemic in three), (10) Andrei Pavel (d. Schuettler 7-6 in the third), and (15) Victor Hanescu (d. Behrend 0-and-1).
"I'm happy. I didn't play a great game today," said Gonzo, struggling with the altitude. "The conditions are very different to last week and the ball flies a lot."
Battling for quarterfinal berths on Thursday are Mayer vs. (5) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (WC) N.Lapentti vs. (4) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. (9) Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, (7) Massu vs. Koubek, (3) Gaudio vs. Vik, Zabaleta vs. Almagro, in doubles Rochus/Rochus vs. (2) Suk/Vizner, (15) Hanescu vs. (2) Puerta, and (10) Pavel vs. (6) Youzhny.
Coria, Ferrero Set Quarterfinal Meeting at ATP Umag
Former No. 1 and French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Djokovic) and French runner-up Guillermo Coria (d. Mantilla from a set down) advanced into the quarterfinals Wednesday at the ATP claycourt stop in Umag, Croatia.
"I am playing very well and hopefully I can be back at the top pretty soon," said Ferrero, now looking at a blockbuster Friday quarterfinal meeting with Coria. "Coria is going to be very tough. Already in quarterfinals! He played really good today against Mantilla, and if I want to win I will need to be very aggressive. It is going to be a very interesting match."
Also into the quarters was (5) Jiri Novak (d. Portas in three after a bagel in the first) and Lukas Dlouhy winning the all-Serb battle with Ilia Bozoljac in straight sets.
On tap for Thursday in the resort town by the sea are Tipsarevic vs. (3) Robredo, (8) Volandri vs. Garcia-Lopez, Vliegen vs. (6) Moya, and (4) Ferrer vs. Vicente in an all-Spanish.
Venus Sets on Mirza at WTA Stanford
Rising India star Sania Mirza received a reality check Wednesday night at the WTA stop in Stanford where she was steamrolled 6-3, 6-2 by No. 2 seed Venus Williams.
"Mirza played well," said Williams after dropping seven aces on India's version of Maria Sharapova. "She moves very well and has good groundstokes. I was surprised with how well I played in my first match after Wimbledon."
Mirza was broken four times on serve, but enjoyed a great deal of Indian and Asian support amongst the sold-out Stanford crowd.
"It was a good match and much closer than the score suggests," Mirza said. "She played better on the important points, especially on game points that I had. That's why she won Wimbledon -- because she plays the important points very well...It was great, thankfully, there are Indians everywhere I go."
There were no upsets in the remaining three matches played earlier in the day with winners (3) Patty Schnyder (d. Bartoli), (6) Nathalie Dechy (d. Raymond from a set down), and (7) Jelena Jankovic (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier, bagel in the first).
Scheduled for Thursday on the hardcourts are Schiavone vs. Benesova, Hantuchova vs. Shaughnessy, Davenport vs. Groenefeld, and old doubles partners facing off in Clijsters vs. Sugiyama.
Russian Finds Losing a Bych at WTA Budapest
No. 2 seed Katarina Srebotnik stuttered in second-round play Wednesday at the WTA claycourt stop in Budapest before coming back from a set down to defeat unseeded Russian Ekaterina Bychkova 2-6, 7-6(11), 6-3 on the Hungarian red clay.
Also into the quarterfinals was No. 4 Jelena Kostanic (d. Schruff), while No. 6 seed Mariana Diaz-Oliva retired in the second set with a muscle strain against Spaniard Laura Pous Tio.
In the lone all-unseeded match-up, Spain's Maria Sanchez Lorenzo came from a set down to defeat Hungarian wildcard Agnes Szavay in opening-round play.
On court Thursday in Budapest are Smashnova vs. Savchuk, Fujiwara vs. Castano, Sucha vs. Mamic, Pastikova vs. Kapros, and Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Birnerova.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
From Reuters on world No. 1 Roger Federer using his pull to sack friend and now former Swiss Davis Cup coach Marc Rosset: "World No. 1 Roger Federer has again demonstrated his power over his country's tennis association by effectively ousting Swiss Davis Cup captain Marc Rosset. Swiss Tennis said in a statement that Rosset had been sacked following a vote by team members. Federer is quoted in the statement, saying the vote was unanimous and that he had personally informed Rosset of the decision. "Internal matters within the team" were cited as the reason for the split, with the statement adding that the "basis of trust necessary for further cooperation" was no longer in place."...Jan-Mike Gambill, Andy Murray, Sjeng Schalken and Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp are among the names competing this week at the Granby (Canada) Challenger...The USTA is considering an equity investment to help prevent the Indian Wells tournament from moving to China in 2007...Kim Clijsters has won half of her 14 career titles in California: "There must be something in the water (here)," Clijsters said...From the Indo-Asian News Service: "With her poster-girl good looks, and a fiery forehand, Sania Mirza is not merely India's new youth icon; she is a rising star in world tennis, raking in accolades and awards and showing all signs of a brilliant future ahead. In the last 18 months, Mirza, whose face now sells everything from gasoline to tea and jewellery, has pushed her WTA (Women's Tennis Association) ratings from below 450 to 70. Among the performances that soared her ranking was Mirza's historic winning of the Hyderabad Open, becoming the first Indian woman to win a WTA event. And prompting Sports Illustrated's powerful Jon Wertheim to write: "How about a Player of the Week award for Sania Mirza?"" Kneel to the power of Jon Wertheim mortals! That needs to show up in the SI.com tennis weekly mailbag, when Wertheim gets back from vacation...Nicolas Massu is a fan of the ATP Kitzbuhel stop: "For me this is the best tournament of the year by a long way. Not because I've won it, but I think the whole tournament is great. My family has come here and thought the same thing. They treat you incredibly and everything is close by. Apart from the Grand Slams, this is the best tournament there is. I'm happy to be here and hope to return here many times, as a player and even as an ex-player."...Lisa Raymond on her and Meghann Shaughnessy not being told until the last minute by U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrison that they would not be participating in the most recent U.S. Fed Cup tie: "Meghann and I always stuck up her hands up to play and went to whatever godforsaken place we were asked to or play on any surface," Raymond told TR.net. "Then we couldn't even get a call back, an e-mail back, and a text message back -- nothing. It was bullshit."...Jennifer Capriati was confirmed in entering October's Generali Ladies in Linz, Austria...Greg Rusedski and his wife Lucy are expecting their first baby in February...Maria Sharapova ($18.2 million) topped Russia's 50 Richest list this year, followed by the husband-and-wife pop singers Alla Pugacheva ($3.1 million) and Filipp Kirkorov (2.2 million)...India's Sania Mirza says she wants to see more Indian girls playing tennis: "Maybe more girls will play tennis because of what I'm doing. Parents do come up and ask me about whether their kid should be playing -- but it's usually their sons. India still has a big cricket culture and it's men who play cricket. We have a tennis tradition, but again, it's the men. Girls are playing tennis and I hope more do, but it's hard to make it to a high level. So many factors have to go right."...The USTA announced Wednesday that they were officially bagging the "Hawkeye" line-calling video replay system because it was not accurate enough on calls within five millimeters of the lines: "The ITF -- in association with the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour officials -- has determined that, at this time, none of the technologies tested meet the ITF's standards," said Dr. Stuart Miller, Technical Director of the ITF. "Specifically, the most recent tests failed to satisfy the three criteria set for accuracy: Staying within the maximum margin of error for any reading; making the correct call of in or out; or achieving consistent readings for individual lines. However, we are encouraged by the progress achieved during recent tests and believe that electronic line calling technology has the potential to be introduced as an officiating aid at some point in the future." That's a big wah-wahhhhhh from the USTA after earlier in the year triumphantly announcing that the US Open would be ahead of the curve in introducing the technology that will eventually re-energize the game by letting players question calls via video replay during stadium court-type matches.
And what is Marat Safin up to while recuperating from knee surgery? You tell us:
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