ATP Bangkok Shells Over $1 Mil in Appearance Fees; McEnroe v Lendl Rematch
Posted on August 5, 2005
Americans Roddick, Blake, Reynolds Into Quarters at ATP WashingtonTop-seeded Andy Roddick struggled through a three-set victory Thursday at the ATP stop in Washington, defeating No. 14 Juan Ignacio Chela to join fellow Americans James Blake (d. (16) Zib) and wildcard Bobby Reynolds (d. Hernych in three) in the quarterfinals of the US Open Series hardcourt event.
"Tonight is the kind of night where you feel you're on the verge of playing well, but then I'd throw in some errors," said Roddick, whose tiebreak miseries continued with a second-set loss. "It was one of those see-saw matches that you kind of fight through and win stuff you feel is maybe not your best."
Other seeds into the quarters Thursday were (10) Tomas Berdych (d. (8) Grosjean) and (13) Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Moodie), while (11) Greg Rusedski was ousted in straight sets by unseeded Croatian giant Ivo Karlovic.
"The second set he was a little bit tired," said Karlovic, who reached his first ATP quarterfinal on a surface other than grass. "I stepped up my overall game at crucial points."
Two additional unseeded players worked their way into the quarters in France's Arnaud Clement (d. Muller from a set down) and Peru's Luis Horna (d. Ginepri).
"It was a tough match and it was hot, and I played my best match of the tournament and one of my best matches of the season," Clement said. "It gives me confidence for the US Open."
Friday's QF line-up in Washington is (13) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. Luis "Me So" Horna, (1) Roddick vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Clement vs. Blake, and (10) Berdych vs. (WC) Bobby Reynolds "Wrap."
Roddick and Karlovic will be a repeat of the Queen's grasscourt final in June.
"It was my first final, so I was a little bit overwhelmed at the whole atmosphere," said Karlovic of the match he lost in two tiebreaks. "It was still a close match, so here it should be also close. An interesting match."
Un-seeds Romp Over Seeded Moya, Volandri at ATP Sopot
The upsets continued Thursday at the ATP stop in Sopot as No. 4 seed and former No. 1 Carlos Moya was ousted by Italian Potito Starace in three sets, and No. 5 Filippo Volandri was straight-setted by Germany's Florian Mayer.
Starace's victory over Moya followed up on a similar victory earlier in the year over the former Roland Garros champ at the Masters Series-Rome.
Argentina's Jose Acasuso (d. (WC) Chadaj) and Fin Jarkko Nieminen (d. Almagro 7-6 in the third) gave unseeded players a 4-0 record on the day, and put the title up for grabs entering into the Friday quarterfinals.
Scheduled for Friday quarterfinal match-ups are Nieminen vs. Mayer, (3) Coria vs. (7) Andreev, Acasuso vs. Starace, and (8) Hanescu vs. Monfils.
Asians Continue Roll, No. 2 Kuzy Falls at WTA San Diego
The Asian contingent continued to dominate Thursday on the hardcourts at the WTA stop in San Diego where Japan's Ai Sugiyama recovered from a first-set loss to oust reigning US Open champion and No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.
"I think I was playing good tennis at times," said Kuznetsova, who lost only seven points on serve in the first set but was then broken four times. "I just didn't keep my level at the top."
Seeded winners on the day were (5) Patty Schnyder (d. (17) Schiavone from a set down), (6) Mary Pierce (d. (10) Dechy), and (7) Kim Clijsters (d. (11) Jankovic).
"Nathalie played very well, especially her defensive game," Pierce said. "Sometimes, her shots were just too good, so I just focused on being aggressive. I was happy that I was able to serve out the match."
Other upsets Thursday were orchestrated by Russian Anna Chakvetadze (d. (9) Likhovtseva), and China's Shuai Peng (d. (16) Dinara Safina, bagel in the second), capping the exit of all six Russian seeds.
Un-seeds into the quarterfinals were Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva (d. Washington), and Japan's Akiko Morigami who ended the run of Indian qualifier Sania Mirza in three sets.
Lined up for the Friday quarters in San Diego are Karatantcheva vs. Sugiyama, Schnyder vs. (6) Pierce, Chakvetadze vs. Morigami, and Peng vs. (7) Clijsters.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Now that the dust has settled from Russian women winning three of the four slams in 2004, but not reaching a final through the first three slams of 2005, pretty conclusive that the Russians dominated simply due to the injury absenses of Serena, Venus, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters, etc. -- no?...We love Vincenzo, but his raps are like fingernails on the chalkboard of your brain. Here's rappin' Vince Spadea on The Tennis Channel CEO Steve Bellamy: "The Tennis Channel is going to be big, in my opinion. He's a nice guy too, we're good friends. Actually, here's a rap I wrote about Steve, see if you like it: He can befriend your enemy, the only thing crazier than hell and me, is this guy named Steve Bellamy. He always keeps selling me, telling me, his passion for tennis is like an unchained melody, he puts more time in tennis than a guy with 10 felonies, cause he's Steve Bellamy. He thinks he's cultural by drinking zinfandel and brie, but Steve you gotta stop putting caramel in tea, he's Bellamy. There's something compelling me, that there's a parallel in me to Steve Bellamy, tennis' biggest personality is Steve Bellamy and not Ellen and me."...Roger Federer has a 1-4 lifetime record at the Masters Series-Cincinnati...Jelena Dokic had to qualify to get into a challenger this week? Ouch...Sania Mirza showed up in the interview room at the WTA stop in San Diego wearing a T-shirt reading, 'You Can Either Agree With Me Or Be Wrong.' "I'm 18 years old," Mirza told the San Diego Union-Tribune, "and I think I sometimes should act like an 18-year-old."...All six of the Russian seeded players at the WTA stop in San Diego exited before the quarterfinals this week...American Paul Goldstein on choking match points against an ailing Paradorn Srichaphan at Washington: "At the end of the day, at the end of the match with three match points, nerves got the best of me. I'm extremely disappointed. He had stomach ailments and I needed to make him move. The guy could hardly stand up, and I'm just letting him stand there and use all his muscle on his returns. I was popping the ball up and hoping he'd miss. It wasn't very professional."...Lindsay Davenport will take a wildcard into New Haven the week before the US Open...Harel Levy and Noam Okun are allegedly boycotting Israel's Davis Cup tie with Zimbabwe because they say they are only getting paid half of what they were promised by the Israeli Tennis Association (ITA) -- they thought they were getting 30K, but the ITA says 15K now, and another 15K if you win -- and the pair say that won't float...Of the five calls challenged by John McEnroe with the instant replay system in World Team Tennis, only one was overturned...Andy Murray beat American Cecil Mamiit to advance to the quarters at the Vancouver Challenger...India's Sania Mirza in San Diego: "We should keep religion out of sport. It's two very different things. I don't want people to comment on what my religion is or what my skirt looks like. I think people in India look up to me and say 'Our girl can do it as well whether they are Muslim, Hindu or Christian.'...Coming out of India is much tougher than American or Russia. We haven't had the tradition of as many women athletes or the facilities. It's better now, but when I started, I must have twisted my ankle a dozen times because there were craters in the courts."...From Tennis Week: "John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl are taking their rivalry to the street this month. Twenty years after Lendl scored a straight set victory over McEnroe in the US Open final, the New Yorker will get his shot at revenge when the pair square off in the streets of New York City on August 25th in a charity match sponsored by Evian. Lendl will meet McEnroe in a portable court in the middle of Manhattan's Union Square."...Former No. 2-ranked Magnus Norman is working as a coach for Sweden's 14-and-under boys' squad that competed in the European Championships, works for an investment company, and is studying marketing and economics at a business school in Stockholm: "I have a lot of experience that the Federation wants me to chare with the junior players -- how I practiced, how I thought, so on," Norman told Tennis News Europe.org. "I think that by being there and providing these services, I can help them a lot. I'm also working with my home club, again with the younger guys, so I'm still very involved with tennis. I do coach, but not every day, as I have many other commitments and also because I cannot be on the court too much as I still have problems with my injuries and it can be too painful at times...The level of play has dropped slightly in Sweden recently, and people are starting to worry that after me and after Joachim Johansson there may be a few years before we see a really outstanding players coming. I think a lot of it has to do with role models. In Sweden we have never had a woman player at the very top of the game whereas boys have had a series -- first (Bjorn) Borg then (Mats) Wilander and (Stefan) Edberg, (Thomas) Enqvist, me and many others -- so there was always someone to look up to. What we need now is a female player who could compete regularly against the likes of Justine Henin-Hardenne and Venus Williams."...From The Australian on the struggling Mark Philippoussis: "With his ability to enter regular tour events now out of his control, Philippoussis has had to rely on wildcard invitations into each of the eight tournaments he has contested this season. And his form slump -- to say nothing of an embarrassing level of fitness -- shows no sign of abating." Flipper's consolation is that he's still engaged to arm-candy and wealthy teen supermodel Alexis Barbara, who says of her after-high-school ambitions, "I plan to be a successful businesswoman and hope to be a role model for other women, in the same way as Oprah Winfrey and Katie Couric have been for my generation." Good luck treading that path with the womanizing Aussie playboy by your side, can't wait to see how that unfolds...Next month's ATP Thailand Open in Bangkok has passed out under-the-table appearance fees of $400,000 each to Roger Federer and Marat Safin, and $100,000 to Tim Henman and Tommy Haas. Seems like they'd be able to get a better discount with Henman, rather than putting him on the same level as the former No. 2-ranked German. Henman should come with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon.