Davenport, Sharapova Added to Walking Wounded as Tennis Injuries Run Wild

Posted on July 29, 2005

Agassi, Thai Fighter Set QF Meeting at ATP Los Angeles

It was a return to normalcy Thursday at the ATP stop in Los Angeles: Andre Agassi cruising past opponents, Thai Paradorn Srichaphan reestablishing his fastcourt supremacy, James Blake losing another tight match, and your oddball unseeded player from Luxembourg sneaking through to the quarterfinals.

Agassi bruised fellow American Kevin Kim 6-2, 7-5, following a 26-minute first set by jumping to a 3-0 lead in the second, then dousing a comeback from Kim.

"He stepped up in the second," Agasssi said. "The quality overall picked up and I felt he was making me earn it...Kevin is talented and a great ball striker. He moves well, but sometimes takes some unnecessary risks."

Agassi will next face the unseeded Paradorn Srichaphan, who rolled over American (WC) Paul Goldstein 6-1, 6-4.

Two other unseeded players progressed into the quarterfinals when Luxembourg's Gilles Muller beat American qualifier Zach Fleishman 6-3, 7-5, and last week's Indianapolis winner Robby Ginepri outlasted American countryman and wildcard James Blake 6-3, 7-6(2).

"He's such an athlete and such a tremendous hustler, it's always tough playing James and you never know what to expect from him," Ginepri said. "You think the points over but you have to win it six times out there."

Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are (1) Agassi vs. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, Ricardo Mello "Yello" vs. (2) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Muller vs. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, and Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. Juan Ignacio "The Spitting Snake" Chela.

Spaniards Robredo, Ferrer, Moya Ease Into Quarterfinals at ATP Umag

The Spanish Armada was on the march Thursday at the ATP stop in Umag, with three seeded Spaniards moving into the quarterfinals in straight sets.

No. 3 seed Tommy Robredo (d. Tipsarevic) led the charge, joined by countrymen No. 4 Dave Ferrer (d. countryman Vicente), and No. 6 Carlos Moya (d. Vliegen).

Also into the quarters was Italian No. 8 seed Filippo Volandri (d. Garcia-Lopez 1-and-1).

Scheduled for the Friday quarterfinals on the red clay are Dlouhy vs. (5) Novak in an all-blank Czech, (8) Volandri vs. (3) Robredo, (7) Ferrero vs. (2) Coria, and an all-Spanish in (4) Ferrer vs. (6) Moya.

Puerta, Gonzalez Swept Off at ATP Kitzbuhel Claycourts

Argentine Mariano Puerta came down off his French Open and Davis Cup high Thursday at the ATP stop in Kitzbuhel when the No. 2 seed was ousted in straight sets by No. 15 Victor Hanescu.

Two more seeds exited when wildcard Nicolas Lapentti (d. (4) Gonzalez from a set down) found his old form, and (6) Mikhail Youzhny outlasted (10) Andrei Pavel, who retired in the second set of their encounter with heat exhaustion.

The final two homecountry Austrians were also dumped from the event when (7) Nicolas Massu defeated Stefan Koubek, and Spain's unseeded Fernando Verdasco recovered from a set down to oust (9) Jurgen Melzer in three.

Other players into the quarters were (3) Gaston Gaudio (d. Vik), (5) Feliciano Lopez (d. Mayer), and unseeded Argentine Mariano Zabaleta (d. Almagro in three), following up on his earlier upset of No. 1 seed Nikolay Davydenko.

Lining up for Friday's quarterfinals are Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. (15) Hanescu, (7) Massu vs. (WC) N.Lapentti, (3) Gaudio vs. (6) Youzhny, and Zabaleta vs. (5) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez.

Davenport Injured Again at WTA Stanford

World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport retired Thursday trailing 0-5 to German Anna-Lena Groenefeld with a back strain at the WTA stop in Stanford, succumbing to the same injury that slowed her at the end of the Wimbledon final against Venus Williams.

"It felt fine earlier but this morning, it locked up on me, and I knew it was going to be a tough day," Davenport said. "In hindsight, I may have been rushing to play, but I love this event and really wanted to come. It's tough to walk away from something you enjoy."

No. 4 Kim Clijsters (d. Sugiyama 1-and-2) was the only seeded winner on the day, with two other unseeded players gaining the quarterfinals in Czech Iveta Benesova (d. (8) Schiavone from a set down) and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova (d. (Q) Shaughnessy 6-1 in the third).

"I learned in our previous matches I let her dictate too much," said Clijsters, who had lost three times previously to her former doubles partner and friend Sugiyama. "I felt like if I was going to win, I'd have to hit the ball deep and hard to put her on her back foot."

On tap for the Friday quarterfinals are (2) Venus vs. (7) Jankovic (first meeting), (3) Schnyder vs. Benesova, (4) Clijsters vs. Hantuchova (Clijsters leads 5-0), and (6) Dechy vs. Groenefeld.

Kapros Thrills Locals with QF Berth at WTA Budapest

Hungarian wildcard Aniko Kapros had the locals clapping with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) win Thursday to reach the quarterfinals at the WTA claycourt stop in Budapest.

Joining the No. 259-ranked 21-year-old were seeds (1) Anna Smashnova (d. (Q) Savchuk 0-and-1) and (7) Martina Sucha (d. Mamic), and un-seeds Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain (d. Birnerova in three), and Colombia's Catalina Castano (d. Fujiwara).
On court Friday in quarterfinal play are Sucha vs. Castano, Pous Tio vs. Srebotnik, Kostanic vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, and Smashnova vs. Kapros.

X-CORRECT
Kim Clijsters has won 24 career titles.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Serena Williams (ankle) and Maria Sharapova (back) have pulled out of next week's Acura Classic in San Diego...According to Russian translations, yesterday's pic of Marat Safin with his girlfriend sitting on top of him actually showed him giving her a lower-back sports massage...From e-online after the recent ESPYs: "Party Pooper: Andy Roddick is in a funk. In fact, he seems downright pissed (could it be that he lost an ESPY to Roger Federer, who also beat him at Wimbledon?) that no one is paying much attention to him. In his defense, I'd guess he might be feeling some pain after throwing a pre-party last night at the Playboy Mansion along with Matthew Perry and Maria Sharapova. Instead of socializing, he opts to spend the majority of the night barking into his cell."...Kevin Kim after losing to Andre Agassi in L.A.: "I learned a lot out there today. I learned I have plenty of weaknesses in my game."...ESPN analyst Mary Carillo speaking to Paul Fein on the ATP doubles scoring changes: "As for the ATP doubles debacle, what a colossal error those knuckleheads have made this time. I almost couldn't believe the press release. I thought it had to be a joke. Then I approached both my bosses at ESPN and NBC during Wimbledon, and I asked them if the new format for doubles would get doubles more air time. Both network execs laughed at the notion. The ATP has dropped the ball so many times so many ways, but this could be the stupidest "innovation" of all."...According to Bild newspaper, Boris Becker already has a new girlfriend -- "a 17-year-old Russian named only as Elena L. -- whom he met on the Spanish Mediterranean island of Majorca, though Becker's communications advisor denied they were an item."...The ITF announced the two venues for the Davis Cup semifinals: The Slovak Republic will take on Argentina at the Sibamac Arena National Tennis Centre in Bratislava, and Croatia will host Russia at the Dvorana SC Gripe in Split...With Lindsay Davenport retiring at Stanford, and now in doubt to defend Carson next week with her back injury, her No. 1 ranking will likely be there for the taking from No. 2 Maria Sharapova at the US Open if the Russian can eventually take to the court after her own back injury. Says Davenport: "I'll make a decision by Sunday," she told Reuters on pulling from Carson. "I would say I'm below 50-50. I want to make sure long-term that it ends quicker than it has. I still have four or five weeks before New York. That's my main goal, and (if) it means having to pull out of the next three weeks, I'm ready to do it. Hopefully by that time it's not an issue." For the record, approximately half of the Top 10 players on both the men's and women's sides are currently suffering injuries keeping them off the court, with neither the ATP or WTA addressing the stresses on players' bodies brought on by reacting to the no-limit racquet technology.