Agassi Says No to Davis Cup, ATP Backpedaling on Doubles Changes

No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt also looked exceptionally steady in his opener Wednesday, dismantling fellow slam winner Al Costa 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 in his quest to defend his 2004 runner-up effort to Roger Federer.

Both player had to deal with temperatures near 90 degrees and winds kicking up gusts of 36 mph during the match.

"It was just extremely difficult conditions," Hewitt said. "You want to get it under your belt, get into the tournament and get back into the locker room as quickly as possible...I think I just handled the conditions better. I don't think these kind of conditions suit his game."

Costa, who chooses to stick to the physically-kinder claycourts with a dodgy knee, had not played a hardcourt match since January at the Australian Open.

Other seeded winners Wednesday on the thin men's schedule were (15) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Seppi in four), (17) Dave Ferrer (d. Calleri in five), and (25) Taylor Dent (d. Burgsmuller in four).

"The conditions were so tough out there, they were so tough," said Dent of the wind. "I just consider it a victory getting out there and toughing it out and coming through the win."

Unseeded winners were Slovak Karol Kucera (d. Philippoussis) putting the Aussie wildcard quickly out of his misery, Swiss qualifier Michael Lammer (d. K.Kim in four) competing in only his second tour-level event of the year, Argentine Jose Acasuso (d. Horna in four), and Spain's Nicolas Almagro (d. Carlsen) who was 0-2 on hardcourts this year entering the Open.

"It's not like I've got too much pride to play Challengers," Philippoussis said. "It's all mental. I've been working hard off the court, very hard. Definitely lacking confidence. It's definitely what I'm lacking."

On tap for Thursday are (7) Agassi vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Blake vs. Andreev, Ginepri vs. Muller, (8) Coria vs. Spadea, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. Baker, (29) Haas vs. Schuettler in an all-German, (13) Gasquet vs. Galimberti, (26) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Soderling, (24) Youzhny vs. Bjorkman, (10) Puerta vs. Wawrinka, (18) Ljubicic vs. Saulnier, (14) T.Johansson vs. Grosjean, (19) Robredo vs. the former No. 1 Kuerten, and (32) Berdych vs. Mello.

"On Thursday we cannot be friends on the court," Muller said of facing his doubles partner Ginepri in singles. "But then after we can go and drink one beer together."
  
Womens Blowouts as Five Seeds Bake Bagels at US Open

Maria Sharapova mastered the blustery conditions Wednesday in her opening-round match at the US Open, blowing past Dally Randriantefy 6-1, 6-0 in her quest to re-take the No. 1 spot during the Flushing Meadows fortnight.

The 6-foot-2 Sharapova blistered the 5-foot-5 player from Madagascar, showing no sign of the pectoral muscle issue that troubled her entering the US Open.

"It's good that I ate some chocolate cake last night," said the model-thin Sharapova, dropping some funny after the match. "I'm glad I put on a few pounds. Otherwise, I might have blown away out there."

No. 4 seed Kim Clijsters held off a first-set challenge from Fabiola Zuluaga before rolling the Colombian 7-5, 6-0.

Clijsters led 4-1 before dropping four straight games, then ran through the last nine games to win in little over an hour.

"I lost a little bit of my footwork. I wasn't as on my toes anymore," Clijsters said. "At 5-4, I started to be a little more aggressive again. I think I wasn't being aggressive enough anymore at 4-1. That made her come back into that first set."

No. 8 seed Serena Williams had an easy time with Catalina Castano, punishing the Colombian 6-2, 6-2 while adorned with more than $50,000 worth of diamond jewelry. After the match Serena clapping for herself after announcing she would donate $100 for every ace she delivers for the remainder of the year to the Gulf Coast hurricane relief effort.

"I've always considered myself a philanthropist," Serena said.

Serena is now one match away from a meeting with No. 10-seeded sister Venus, who dropped four games in easing past Russian Maria Kirilenko.

After her match Serena bristled at the notion that the bling, the fashion and cosmetics design, the reality show, the (fill in the blank) come before tennis in her life.

"I love tennis," Serena said. "Quite frankly, I'm tired of people saying I put tennis third and last in my life. If I did, I wouldn't be here playing. I wouldn't be here practicing. I could be at the beach. I could be retired. I could be drinking lemonade with my legs crossed in the sun on the beach. I'm not doing that. I'm not in Saint-Tropez."

Other seeded winners Wednesday were (9) Nadia Petrova (d. Nakamura, bagel in the second), (20) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Ma. Emilia Salerni, bagel in the second), (25) Francesca Schiavone (d. Laine), (26) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Zheng, bagel in the second), and (30) Ai Sugiyama (d. Pastikova from a set down).

Two seeds were sent home on the day with Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. (18) Ivanovic from a set down) and Israel's Shahar Peer (d. (33) Douchevina in three) victorious.

Unseeded winners into the third round were India's Sania Mirza (d. Camerin in three), Germany's Julia Schruff (d. Raymond), Croatian Ivana Lisjak (d. Bychkova), American Laura Granville (d. Pratt in three), and France's Marion Bartoli (d. Perry, bagel in the third).

Scheduled for Thursday are (7) Henin-Hardenne vs. Sanchez Lorenzo, (2) Davenport vs. Parmentier, Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva vs. (3) Mauresmo, (15) Dechy vs. King, Srebotnik vs. (12) Pierce, Smashnova vs. (23) Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, (17) Jankovic vs. the 15-year-old American Glatch, Craybas vs. (29) Chakvetadze, (32) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Sun, Cho vs. (27) Gisela "Sgt." Dulko, (31) Groenefeld vs. Razzano, (24) Asagoe vs. Linetskaya, Martina "Nurse, Hand Me a" Sucha vs. (11) Schnyder, (13) Myskina vs. Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, (6) Dementieva vs. Diaz-Oliva, and (19) Likhovtseva vs. Maleeva.
  
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
According to Bob and Mike Bryan, the doubles players will hold a 10 a.m. press conference Friday morning to announce a new doubles strategy to increase the popularity of the sport and to thwart the ATP's recently-adopted changes to the game. The ATP responded by reissuing their old doubles scoring-change press release with some new tweaks, but the players say that still won't do...Former Andy Roddick coach Tarik Benhabiles is now helping "Dr." Ivo Karlovic...All Arthur Ashe matches during the first three days have gone straight sets...Wonder what happened to Andy Roddick's b-day cake the USTA had lined up in anticipation of his win Tuesday night...Someone tell Laura Granville to stop crying during matches...Could Mark Philippoussis be slower on court?..As if he needs it, Roger Federer gets two days off after a 1, 1, and 1 win over Ivo Minar. He'll play Fabrice Santoro, likely on Friday night...I-Play has released the "Maria Sharapova Tennis" game for cell phones. "By using my name in a mobile gaming context, I hope that tennis fans will be able to share my passion, whatever the weather or conditions of play." And give me lots of money...Greg Rusedski, after Guillermo Canas' recent two-year ban for doping, couldn't leave the US Open without taking some shots at the ATP for their failed conviction of him: "It was the injustice I was being put through with the whole situation. I think it was very unfair...Plus, the (ATP) tour gave me absolutely zero help (afterwards) -- It's just something where you want to fight back and prove people wrong and show you can still play well."...Gustavo Kuerten is the ace leader at the US Open through the first round with 35...For Andy Roddick's win of the US Open Series he doubled his first-round loser's money of $3,000...SI.com's Jon Wertheim agrees that Andy Roddick's game doesn't seem as big as last year: "He doesn't seem able to generate the same "stick" on his shots. I might buy this. It seems that opponents -- I noticed that when Roddick lost to Paul-Hank Mathieu earlier this month in Montreal and again last night -- no longer get blown off the court. Roddick will get his share of aces, but once the rally begins he doesn't dictate as much."...Like the teacher willing to reach out to the troubled youth, Bud Collins is not going to give up on Andy Roddick: "But I do want to make it clear that Roddick is only 23, and while he spoiled his 23rd birthday by falling to Muller, he's still a very young guy. I'm disappointed by Roddick's result at this US Open, and I believe he's going to have to do some serious soul searching as to how to turn things around. That said, I am definitely not ready to give up on Roddick. I think that he's young enough and talented enough to find a way to pick himself by his boot straps and come back around. But it's going to take a lot of work. Roddick's a feisty and competitive guy, so I'm betting he's willing to log the time needed in order to turn things around, but only time will tell."...Meghann Shaughnessy led all women in first-round play with 12 aces at the US Open...Vijay Singh had to pull from his PGA event this week after injuring his back playing table tennis with his son -- probably the closest he has gotten to real sport during his career?...Al Costa says he will decide at the end of the season whether to retire with his dodgy knee: "I want to finish this season and then decide. If I finish, I finish altogether. I can't play only on clay."...Does Michael Barkan seem like even more of an insufferable ass-clown than usual this year during his "personality pieces" for USA Network's US Open coverage? Tap the interviews of Serena and Chris Rock so far this year as some of the worst ever...Taylor Dent on the American tennis commentators saying he is not in condition: "I don't really react too much to what, you know, Patrick McEnroe says and Jim Courier says. I think they kind of see what they want to see sometimes. I've had discussions with a few people about why I lose matches. They seem to be the expert on my tennis, seeing me play one or two matches a year. I don't know. I find that a bit humorous. You know, there's always a second side to the story for me being tired in Indianapolis...if (the U.S. Davis Cup captain McEnroe)made those comments to light a fire under me), then he doesn't really know my personality that much. I'm pretty tough on myself. I spend as much time working on my game and on my tennis -- everything -- fitness, as my body will allow me to. If someone criticizes me, then I kind of go the other way with that person. I'm so tough on myself, I don't need the extra added pressure and beat-down from somebody else."...Maria Sharapova said she watched a little of Andy Roddick's loss: "I was getting a massage. Yeah, you know, like I said, it's tough. I mean, first round. The other guy played out of his mind, I thought. You know, you run into someone that good in the first round, it's tough. But this is life."...Switzerland has three representatives in the second round of the US Open for the first time in the Open Era in qualifier Michael Lammer, Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka...Jiri Novak pulled from his second-round match at the US Open with a heel injury...Taylor Dent is the only remaining American in the top half of the Open draw with Roger Federer...Andre Agassi announced he will not be part of the U.S. Davis Cup team traveling to Belgium later this month in an attempt to try and remain in the World Group for 2006...Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty has the answers to the rash of injuries plaguing ATP and WTA players: "I always follow doctor's orders. I take care of my body. And I sleep 10 to 12 hours every day."...India's Sania Mirza on accusations she shows too much skin while playing tennis: "No Muslim is perfect and no human being is perfect. I guess I'm not dressing the way Islam states but I guess we all make mistakes and that's why Islam has forgiveness."...The ATP has changed its doubles scoring "experiment" after the US Open to sets up to six with a tiebreak at 5-5, and no-ad scoring, featured at six tournaments only. But how odd that the ATP simply re-released that original doubles press release from June, tweaked the scoring, but kept the musty quotes from the English-challenged Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet saying how great they thought the scoring changes were. When will that rudderless ship hit ground?...Serena notes that in case you haven't noticed lately, she is practically the reincarnation of John McEnroe at the net: "I've been working on my net play. I have great volleys. It's a shame I haven't been to the net sooner. I'm just really talented at that. I have great volleys." Serena also noted that she's not at 100 percent physically, but when has she needed to be at 100 percent to win a slam over the competition? "I'm definitely not at my best," said Serena after advancing Wednesday. "Honestly, I'm under 50 percent (healthy). But I've won stuff under 50 percent before."...Which is your favorite Andy? The one who cock-struts around Arthur Ashe screaming "This is my house!" after winning big points, or the one with the deer-in-the-headlights look dreading another approach shot coming to his backhand?...Andy-killer Gilles Muller is without a coach at the US Open...LA Times tennis bulldog Lisa Dillman caught up with Evgenia Linetskaya, who allegedly required stitches this summer after being slapped around by her father, and has since split with her father and her coach, going solo in New York: "He was my manager, not a coach," said the Russian of her father. And "Well, it's not that easy," she said of splitting with her coach also after the event in Carson. "I feel right now, it's better for me. Just to play and get pleasure. Relax. I like it. I just like playing on the court. I'm just not listening to anything. I'm just doing what I like."...Cause and effect: TennisWorld's Pete Bodo blasted the US Open website for a story that took a personal shot at Tim Henman, now that story has mysteriously disappeared off the site...Brit-Scot Andy Murray seems to have stepped it up in the fitness dept. with coach Mark Petchey, eh? Guess that's what nine consecutive weeks of playing tournaments since Wimbledon will do for you...Venus Williams on avoiding reality: "No, I don't really watch the news...In some ways, I'm very unaware of the latest happenings in the world. I kind of leave it like that because sometimes it's better not to know."