Federer Shows Rust, Agassi Joins Sharapova in Injury Pull-Fest
Posted on August 16, 2005
Federer Struggles Past Blake in Opener at ATP CincinnatiWorld No. 1 Roger Federer's first appearance on tour since Wimbledon was not an easy one, Monday night at the ATP Masters Series-Cincinnati defeating unseeded American James Blake 7-6(3), 7-5.
Blake failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities in the second set, leading 3-0, then dropping serve leading 5-5, 40-0.
"Maybe I tried a little too much on a few of those breakpoints and he took advantage, and then he never gave up," Blake said. "Being down Love-40 on my service game, he still played a great game from there on out. I felt I should hold every time I'm up 40-Love, but I can't fault myself too much for the way I played the rest of those points -- he really attacked me on every single one."
Blake said he also had an opportunity to catch Federer when he wasn't at the top of his game.
"I really don't think Roger was at his best right now. He hasn't played in a little while, which I don't say as an insult, I say as a compliment," Blake said. "I think he beat me with less than 100 percent tonight, and that's something that guys on the top are able to do -- come up big on breakpoints, come up big in the tiebreaker."
Federer improved to 59-3 on the season, including 33-1 on hardcourts.
"I think I was struggling all the way through," Federer said. "I was disappointed at times where I just couldn't make all the returns I wanted to. I was getting aced quite frequently, which is not normal things. It really just shows how the eye is not quite there like it was maybe in Wimbledon."
No. 5 seed Andy Roddick advanced when Austria's Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer had a Melzer-down after dropping the first set and being broken in his first service game of the second, serenading Cincy fans with his extensive vocabulary of American obscenities in a 6-3, 6-4 loss.
"I felt like I didn't serve great," said Roddick, who lost only three points on serve in the first set. "It was kind of a weird match for me because I was putting a lot of returns in play and once I was in the point I felt like I was getting the better of it. I wasn't serving that well, so it was kind of like a backwards match for me."
Other seeds through to the second round were (9) Guillermo Coria (d. Srichaphan), (11) David Nalbandian (d. Pavel), (12) Tim Henman (d. Massu), and (16) Richard Gasquet (d. F.Lopez 6-1 in the third).
"It's nice to win. It's much more fun winning than losing, don't get me wrong," said Henman who halted a two-match losing streak. "When you've lost two first-round matches, it's not an ideal situation, but I still felt very confident. Because if you're struggling with your game and you can't control the ball or you've got no rhythm on your serve, then it's more cause for concern. But as I said, my game, my game's in good shape."
Two seeds made first-day exits courtesy of the French when No. 15 Radek Stepanek was defeated in straights by teen Gael "Force" Monfils, and No. 14 Ivan Ljubicic was outlasted in three by Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro.
Other un-seeds into the second round were former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Koubek after getting bageled in the first, setting up a meeting with Roddick), Belgian Olivier Rochus (d. Volandri after dropping the first), Russian Mikhail Youzhny (d. Saulnier 7-6 in the third), Slovak Karol Beck (d. Novak), Croat Mario Ancic (d. Mello), Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela (d. A.Martin who retired with injury), Peruvian Luis Horna (d. C.Rochus, bagel in the second), hot-handed German Nicolas Kiefer (d. (Q) N.Lapentti), and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez (d. Djokovic from a set down).
On tap for Tuesday in Cincy are (10) Puerta vs. (WC) Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, Andreev vs. (3) Hewitt, (4) Safin vs. (Q) Hernych, Berdych vs. (2) Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, Mathieu vs. Haas, (Q) Tursunov vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, (WC) Murray vs. Taylor "Acci-" Dent, Moya vs. (LL) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Robredo vs. (8) Gaudio, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. (13) T.Johansson, (6) Davydenko vs. Grosjean, (Q) Simon vs. Spadea, (Q) Moodie vs. Ferrer, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Soderling, and El Aynaoui vs. Acasuso.
Seeds Golovin, Sugiyama Advance in Dull Day at WTA Toronto
In a starless opener, both bottom seeds advanced Monday at the WTA stop in Toronto, with No. 16 Tatiana Golovin defeating Karolina Sprem in straight sets, and No. 17 Ai Sugiyama outlasting wildcard Jelena Kostanic in three.
Unseeded players into the second round were American qualifier Laura Granville (d. Vinci), Argentine Gisela Dulko (d. Domachowska), Japan's Shinobu Asagoe (d. (WC) Wozniak), Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. (Q) Safarova 6-1 in the third), France's Marion Bartoli (d. Kirilenko who retired with a knee injury), French lucky loser Stephanie Cohen-Aloro (d. (Q) Sfar), Madagascar's Dally Randriantefy (d. (Q) Uberoi), and Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Pelletier 0-and-1).
Four-time Canadian Open winners Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles officially opened the Toronto facility on Monday night as Tennis Canada's guests of honor.
The event has been hit with no-shows from top players Lindsay Davenport (back injury), Maria Sharapova (chest muscle), Alicia Molik (inner-ear infection), and Venus Williams (illness) among others.
On tap for Tuesday in Toronto are (2) Mauresmo vs. Randriantefy, (3) Kuznetsova vs. Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues, (5) Serena vs. Cohen-Aloro, (10) Dechy vs. Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga, (11) Jankovic vs. Li, (12) Ivanovic vs. Garbin, (13) Daniela "Stick Girl" Hantuchova vs. Jidkova, (14) Pennetta vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, (15) Safina vs. Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives, Craybas vs. Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva, Dubois vs. Ant. Serra "Nevada" Zanetti, Chakvetadze vs. Vaidisova, Martinez vs. Groenefeld, Razzano vs. Ruano Pascual, Zheng vs. Ma. Emilia Salerni, Linetskaya vs. Diaz Oliva, and Fujiwara vs. Camerin.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Electing to give his back injury some additional rest before the US Open in two-weeks time, Andre Agassi on Monday pulled from the Masters Series-Cincinnati: "For me, that's the only way I can be out there anymore. I cannot afford to take more steps back. As much as I want to get out there and do the best I can, you will not see me out on the court anymore unless I'm 100 percent...If I have a little pain in my life, that's fine. I just don't want it on the tennis court, because I've worked too hard to get out there and feel helpless. I wasn't last week, but I would be this week...I'm trying to negotiate a career now and how I go about my profession. Making the wrong decision can have big ramifications for me at this stage."...Franco Bartoni, former player, ATP Board member, tournament director and supervisor passed away over the weekend after an extended battle with illness, with his funeral Wednesday in Rome. Bartoni played Davis Cup for Italy and later was the tournament director in Rome (1989-97), Bologna (until 1998) and Milan (1995-2005). He was chairman of the European Group of tournament directors and represented the Europeans on the ATP Board of Directors...From the Toronto Star: "During a long layoff due to illness last season, Justine Henin-Hardenne needed another way to get the adrenaline fix she normally received from playing competitive tennis. She found it 4,000 metres in the air. "I couldn't get excited on the court," said Henin-Hardenne. "When you love this so much, when you're on the court, when you have to save break point when you serve for the match, wow, you're just getting excited. I didn't have that last year when I was sick. I had to find something else." So, Henin-Hardenne's husband introduced her to one of his favorite pastimes -- skydiving. To date, she's jumped out of a plane 19 times."...Roger Federer improved his career win-loss in Cincy to 2-4 Monday. Federer is No. 7 on the all-time weeks at No. 1 list with 81 weeks, behind Andre Agassi who amassed 101...No. 8-ranked Kim Clijsters was at No. 133 back in March after her wrist injury...Cincy is the only tournament Roger Federer will play between Wimbledon and the US Open. Here's Fed putting the Sophomore Slump voodoo jinx on Rafael Nadal: "I think next year will be a very interesting year for him to see how other players cope with him and to see how he himself handles the pressure. But I have no doubt he will be around for a long, long time."...Marat Safin said his injured knee did not require surgery: "I've been struggling for five months since March. I'd been taking pain killers and injections in my knee. I just decided to stop straight up after Wimbledon to take care of the knee. Otherwise my knee would have been destroyed and it would have cost me six months to one year."...Anastasia Myskina title count -- last year: 9, this year: 0...Amelie Mauresmo is feeling fresh after her self-imposed five-week layoff: "We have a very long year -- that's the way it is. If you want to, you can play 11 months of the year -- the season's very long."...The USTA's communications/marketing guru Randy "Sky" Walker is leaving the U.S. tennis governing body for the Leverage Sports Agency where he will serve as vice president...Box office workers in a contract dispute with the USTA voted Monday to allow union officials to call a strike during the US Open. Which means you'll get in free! (or not)...The WTA Tour remains mum on doing anything about the plethora of injuries on tour: "I think recently the style of play has definitely played a role," said Stella Sampras Webster, the women's tennis coach at UCLA and sister of Pete, speaking with the LA Times. "The girls especially are physical and more aggressive in the past. I think their bodies are not up to the physicality of what they're doing. They are over-training and they're playing probably too much, especially at a young age. When Chris Evert played and Martina (Navratilova), no one jumped off the ground to hit a ground stroke." Or had to sprint at full speed every point to chase down a Babolat-launched groundstroke...Andre Agassi says don't look for a TV-ready tearful send-off when (or if ever) he retires: "It would be great to win (the US Open), but I have no interest in putting a nice little bow around my career and handing it over to anybody. I'm going to keep giving everything I've got to the sport. It's been so good to me. I couldn't hope or even expect for it to give me any more. So I go to the Open with the intention of hopefully bringing some inspiration to those who take a few hours out of their day to come watch me. That's what I look forward to."...Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Sun showing his part-time-tennis-coverage knowledge of the women's tour, bemoaning the fake injuries while including Maria Sharapova's very-real chest injury: "What's distressing is that Sharapova, the sport's marquee player, has already earned a name as a questionable no-show. Two weeks ago she withdrew from a Tier I event in San Diego with a mild back strain. Larry Scott, the WTA Tour chief executive, was perturbed enough to interrupt a vacation and promise tournament organizers that Sharapova will attend next year. But how can he make that promise knowing that Sharapova's presence, is a system in which the six-figure fines for not honoring commitments are a pittance to a woman who made a reported $18.2 million (U.S.) last year, depends solely on Sharapova's whim, er, health?" Thanks Dr. Feschuk, keep up that insider writing during these two weeks of the year (Montreal and Toronto) when you cover tennis...Carlos Moya is high on the US Open Series: "I think it's great. People and fans here have accepted it very well, for the players, nothing changes, but I guess, for the fans, they can better follow the hardcourt season. What's better for fans is good for sport, so I am happy about that."...Alicia Molik is still waiting on word for a wildcard next week at New Haven in an attempted return from battling her extended inner-ear infection...Enjoying a wildcard this week in Cincinnati, Brit-Scot Andy Murray says the best part is just getting the hell away from the British press: "It's better to be over here, with no guys from the press putting pressure on me. They were a little nasty to me after I lost in Newport, they expect so much of you even at a young age. It's best just to get away from it so I can concentrate on my tennis."