Kuznetsova Out, Sharapova On Court Today at WTA Los Angeles

Posted on August 11, 2005

Nadal, Agassi Win, Gasquet Outed at ATP Montreal

Scoring one for the older generation, Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean came back from 2-5 in the first set and weathered the rain delays Wednesday at the ATP Masters Series-Canada to defeat countryman Richard Gasquet 7-6(4), 6-3 to advance to the third round in Montreal.

The win averted another much-anticipated meeting between Gasquet and top seed Rafael Nadal, who Grosjean will now face.

"Sebastien has much more experience than I do playing after a (rain) delay," Gasquet said. "This is the first time on the circuit that I've played under reflectors (lights). I didn't adapt well and I didn't hit hard enough on this surface. I played well and in the end, I'd rather lose to a compatriot than an unknown. I'll have other opportunities to play against him."

The two other upset victims Wednesday were (9) David Nalbandian who was ousted in three by Slovak Karol Beck, and (12) Thomas Johansson who was edged 7-5, 7-6(4) by Xavier Malisse.

Seeded winners toughing it out on the day were (1) Rafael Nadal (d. Mello), (4) Andre Agassi (d. Bjorkman in three), (5) Nikolay Davydenko (d. Berdych from a set down), (6) Gaston Gaudio (d. Carlsen from a set down), (8) Mariano Puerta (d. Pavel from a set down), and (11) Tommy Robredo (d. El Aynaoui in two tiebreaks).

Unseeded winners into the third round were German Nicolas Kiefer (d. Dent), Brit Greg Rusedski (d. Mirnyi from a set down), Croat Mario Ancic (d. (Q) Serra in three), Paul-Henri Mathieu following up his win over Andy Roddick with an all-countryman victory (d. (Q) Clement in three), former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Ferrer in three), Slovak Dominik Hrbaty (d. Novak, bagel in the third), and Belgian Olivier Rochus (d. Soderling, who retired in the third with injury).

Scheduled for Thursday in Montreal are "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, (1) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Grosjean, Kiefer vs. (4) Agassi, Mathieu vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, (6) Gaudio vs. (11) Robredo, Ferrero vs. Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Beck vs. (5) Davydenko, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. (8) Puerta, and in doubles highlights, Spaniards Nadal/Robredo vs. Americans (2) Bryan/Bryan.

Kuznetsova Loses Again Early at WTA Los Angeles

Svetlana Kuznetsova has admitted she is burned out and looking for motivation this year as she approaches her defense of the US Open title, and things took another downturn on Wednesday when the No. 2-seeded Russian was eliminated in her opening-round match 6-4, 6-4 by the equally-struggling Greek Eleni Daniilidou at the WTA stop in Los Angeles.

"It's horrible," said Kuznetsova, who suffered her second consecutive first-round loss, and has not won a title in more than 10 months. "I can't find my game. I don't have confidence and everything comes from the head. If I keep playing like this, I might as well go home."

The only other upset on the day was 33-year-old slicer-and-dicer Conchita Martinez taking out No. 14 Gisela Dulko in straight sets.

Seeded winners on the day were (3) Elena Dementieva (d. Stosur), (4) Nadia Petrova (d. Craybas), (5) Kim Clijsters (d. Sprem), (9) Daniela Hantuchova (d. (Q) Haynes from a set down), (12) Dinara Safina (d. (Q) Fujiwara), (13) Francesca Schiavone (d. Peng from a set down), (16) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Benesova in three), and (17) Marion Bartoli (d. (Q) Sun from a set down 6-1 in the third).

"I was struggling with my serve the whole match and she was putting so much pressure on her serve," said Dementieva, rebounding from a first-round loss last week. "I couldn't really do what I wanted in the right motion."

Unseeded winners were American Lisa Raymond (d. (Q) Nakamura from a set down), and two qualifiers in Italian Tathiana Garbin (d. (LL) Obata) and the Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko (d. Zheng 6-0 in the third).

Mary Pierce, who hoped she had put her injury woes behind her after regaining her fitness, was forced to pull from the event Wednesday with a thigh sprain suffered in practice.

"I was hitting serves when I felt it," Pierce said. "I saw the trainers and it was feeling better, but the pain came back. I've tried to do some movement, but it hurts. I'm really disappointed, because I'm playing very well right now...I am going to go home and have treatment. I'll take a few days and hopefully play Toronto (next week)."

On Thursday's schedule are Lepchenko vs. (13) Schiavone, (5) Clijsters vs. Marat's little sis Safina, (1) Sharapova vs. (16)Chakvetadze in an all-Russian, Martinez vs. Daniilidou, (3) Dementieva vs. Bartoli, (Q) K.Bondarenko vs. (9) Hantuchova, (15) Koukalova vs. (4) Petrova, and Raymond vs. (Q) Garbin.

Medina Garrigues Fails to Bring the Funk at WTA Stockholm

22-year-old Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja moved into the quarterfinals Wednesday, upsetting No. 4 seed and countrywoman Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues 7-6(1), 6-4 in a bid to win her first WTA title in Stockholm.

Also into the quarters was unseeded Frenchwoman Emilie Loit (d. Santangelo in three), joined by seeds (5) Katerina Srebotnik (d. Bychkova 0-and-1) and (7) Catalina Castano (d. (Q) Laine).

Attempting to fill the final quarterfinal spots on Thursday in Stockholm will be Douchevina vs. Schruff, Pin vs. Myskina, A.Bondarenko vs. Arvidsson, and Beltrame vs. Sucha.

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