Mirza Punishes Petrova at WTA San Diego; Safin Knee Surgery Botched?
Posted on August 4, 2005
Blake, Ginepri Among Five Upset-Makers at ATP WashingtonGardening was the theme Wednesday at the ATP stop in Washington as five seeds were uprooted in second-round play with the host Americans doing the majority of the damage.
Three unseeded Americans provided upsets in James Blake (d. (4) Stepanek in three), current US Open Series leader Robby Ginepri (d. (12) Beck), and wildcard Bobby Reynolds (d. (15) Mello in three).
"It feels good to get through to the next round," said the heat-fit Ginepri, who melted down countryman Taylor Dent in the Indianapolis final. "The hotter the better. I love playing when it's plus-90 out."
Blake says he is getting over the hump with his ever-building confidence.
"I have been working on my serve I have been feeling a little more confident -- I got an ace and then another first serve in, those are the kind of points that three or four months ago I would not have won," Blake said. "I wouldn't have the confidence to build up my shots...I got through a match that most people underestimated me. It seems the tides are turning and the crowd support definitely helps."
Also on the upset tip were Peru's Luis Horna (d. (5) Hrbaty 7-6 in the third), and L.A. runner-up Gilles Muller (d. (9) Massu) continuing his torrid left-handed play.
Seeded winners through to the third round were (8) Sebastien Grosjean (d. Popp), (10) Tomas Berdych (d. Arthurs in three), (11) Greg Rusedski (d. (Q) Healey), (13) Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Goldstein, saving three match points), and (14) Juan Ignacio Chela (d. (WC) Baker).
"Since Newport I'm starting to play well and I have no complaints," said Rusedski, who will next face Karlovic in a serve-a-thon. "I expect a tough match against Ivo and it usually comes down to one or two points with him. I've beaten him twice indoors last year."
In the only all-unseeded meeting on the day, Arnaud Clement took another step toward pre-injury form with a 7-6-in-the-third win over Brit lucky loser Richard Bloomfield.
In first-round doubles action, three seeded teams advanced Wednesday in (1) Bryan/Bryan (d. Grosjean/Hrbaty), (2) Black/Ullyett (d. Palmer/Parrott), and (3) Bhupathi/Damm (d. Moodie/Zib).
On tap for Thursday on the hardcourts are (11) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Moodie vs. (13) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (1) Roddick vs. (14) Juan Ignacio "The Spitting Snake" Chela, (16) Zib vs. Blake, Clement vs. Muller, (8) Grosjean vs. (10) Berdych, Ginepri vs. Luis "Me So" Horna, and (WC) Bobby Reynolds "Wrap" vs. Hernych.
Coria Continues Claycourt Cruise-Control at ATP Sopot
Rolling with momentum from his title run last week in Umag, No. 3 seed Guillermo Coria moved into the quarterfinals Wednesday at the ATP clay stop in Sopot, recovering from a slow start to outlast Spanish veteran Felix Mantilla 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Also into the quarters were seeds (7) Igor Andreev (d. Sabau who retired in the second set with injury) and (8) Victor Hanescu (d. Costa), and unseeded former No. 1-ranked junior Gael Monfils (d. Monaco).
Vying for the final quarterfinal spots Thursday are Mayer vs. (5) Volandri, Acasuso vs. (WC) Chadaj, Starace vs. (4) Moya, and Nieminen vs. Almagro.
Mirza Pounces on Petrova at WTA San Diego
Indian qualifier Sania Mirza provided the major upset of the day Wednesday at the WTA stop in San Diego, using her power-baseline game to belt Russian No. 4 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-1 and advance into the third round.
"She's a very good young player, very powerful, has great groundstrokes," said Petrova, who played with a taped right arm, suffering from an elbow strain. "The most difficult thing was that I hadn't really played a match in three weeks, and I had to play someone so powerful...My arm is getting better and hopefully, I'll get more practice matches in, get in better shape and be ready for Los Angeles."
Mirza's plan was to come out swinging.
"I knew if I relaxed for a second she would have jumped on me," Mirza said. "I had a game plan in my mind and I'm glad I was able to do what I needed to."
In other upsets American Mashona Washington ousted (8) Vera Zvonareva in three, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama likewise defeated (14) Daniela Hantuchova.
Seeds advancing on the day were (5) Patty Schnyder (d. Peschke 6-1 in the third), (6) Mary Pierce (d. Groenefeld 1-and-1), (7) Kim Clijsters (d. Domachowska), (9) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Peer, recovering from a first-set bagel), (10) Nathalie Dechy (d. Dulko 7-6 in the third), (16) Dinara Safina (d. (Q) Jidkova, bagel in the third), and (17) Francesca Schiavone (d. (Q) Rodionova).
"I'm really happy with my match today," the 30-year-old Pierce said. "I came out strong from the beginning of the first point of the match. It was nice to see how well I was playing out there today."
In the only all-unseeded meeting, Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva straight-setted American Lisa Raymond.
Scheduled for Thursday in San Diego are Washington vs. Karatantcheva, Sugiyama vs. Kuznetsova, Schnyder vs. Schiavone, Jankovic vs. Clijsters, Dechy vs. Pierce, Likhovtseva vs. Chakvetadze in an all-Russian, Peng vs. Safina, and Morigami vs. Mirza.
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
Bowling For Soup will perform between matches at the Monday, Aug. 8 opening night session of the WTA 2005 JPMorgan Chase Open in L.A...From X-Reader Duncan M.: "In the main draw at Umag last week there wasn't a single tiebreak. The odds on this happening are so unlikely -- if you put in the average 32-player clay event for about an estimated 71 sets and 13% chance a tiebreak a set which is roughly average for ATP level, then you are looking at odds of approaching 20,000/1 of none in the whole event, although the maths are rather volatile if you adjust the initial figures even slightly (make it the actual 69 sets that happened and a lower than average 12% a set and it drops to about 7000/1) -- anyhow, it's incredibly unlikely, and quite possibly the only time this has happened in an event before."...Nicolas Kiefer withdrew from Washington this week with illness...SI.com's Jon Wertheim weighing in on the ATP doubles scoring-change quagmire: "But it would have been nice if the ATP had played the role of "players union" and not "tournament-directors union" and figured out creative ways to boost the product. The notion of fining events for not putting doubles on show courts was a good start. Measures like the super-tiebreak to help with scheduling and time certainty isn't so objectionable either. More player promotion would have helped as well. And what if the tour had made a real push to sell a doubles specific corporate sponsorship? Instead of taking the high road, the ATP caved to the skinflint promoters who got tired of paying for Leos Friedl's hotel room...My guess: This will be a bonanza for the 40-60 players -- Jurgen Melzer, Karol Beck, Ken Carlsen -- who can pick up some extra cash for little effort. Promoters will still be frustrated with their return on investment and eventually doubles will be euthanized altogether."...Marat Safin has officially pulled from next week's Masters Series-Canada to give his surgically-repaired knee additional time to heal -- with a rumor spread by a Russian Tennis Federation official that the surgery did not go well...Southwest Basketball, LLC principal David Kahn announced that Andre Agassi has become an investor in the entity that owns four teams in the NBA's Development League. "Southwest Basketball is a great enterprise that benefits both players and fans alike," Agassi said. "It not only expands the opportunities available for athletes to professionally compete in the sport, it also brings a new form of affordable family entertainment to these markets." Who wrote that robo-speak for Andre to say?...The Disney-owned ESPN2 plans to launch a weeknight program later this month examining the "junction between sports and entertainment." "ESPN Hollywood" is set to debut Aug. 15, with first-week segments spotlighting Serena and Venus Williams among others...Mats Wilander talking to Reuters on Brit-Scot Andy Murray: "I think that tennis-wise he's probably as good as I was when I was 17. I was very impressed with him at Wimbledon. I had seen him play before without being too impressed, but the way he handled the situation of being the focal point of the tournament after (Tim) Henman had lost was very impressive. (At Wimbledon) he even seemed nonchalant, as if he was not satisfied with his own performance, and you have to be like that. He wasn't playing to win Wimbledon, he was playing to improve, and that's what I always tried to do. In that way he also reminded me a little of Rafael Nadal."...Zimbabwe's Cara Black and trainer Brett Stephens will marry in either December or April.