Fed Cup Begins Saturday, Sharapova Commits to Russia for 2006

"I got frustrated in the tiebreak and I think that was the turning point of the set and the match," Moya said. "Until that moment I think the match was very open. In some moments I played very well and in others not so well, and it wasn't enough to get through."

Matching up in the Saturday semifinals will be (2) Coria vs. (4) T.Johansson (Tojo won their only meeting at 2002 Miami), and (1) Nadal vs. (6) Ferrero (Nadal leads 3-0, all on clay).

"He's playing very well and he has the confidence from winning tournaments on hard like in Montreal," Ferrero said of Nadal. "It will be first time I play him on hard, so it will be different for both of us. I'll try and do my best and play better than I have against him in the past, when I thought I had good chances to beat him."

Top-Seeded Puerta Ousted at ATP Bucharest

Top-seeded Mariano Puerta was ousted 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 Friday by 2004 runner-up Igor Andreev at the ATP claycourt stop in Bucharest.

"The first set was very difficult, he broke me in the last game," Andreev said. "I changed a little bit of tactics in the second set and he started to make a few mistakes. I continued to play well at the same level and this is a very good victory for me."

Two of Romania's own advanced into the semifinals in (3) Andrei Pavel (d. Mayer) and (4) Victor Hanescu (d. Ramirez Hidalgo).

"I feel more motivated when I am playing at home," Hanescu said. "A Romanian final seems much closer, but there are still some hard matches to be played."

Also into the semis was unseeded Florent Serra, who toppled (7) Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3, 6-1.

Saturday's match-ups in Bucharest are (4) Hanescu vs. Andreev, and (3) Pavel vs. Florent.

Davenport Cruises Into Semifinals at WTA Bali

Lindsay Davenport's resort vacation in Bali rolled along on Friday when the top-seeded American defeated unseeded Italian Elena Camerin 6-3, 6-1 to gain the semifinals at the WTA stop in Bali.

The semifinals will be an all-seeded affair as Davenport was joined by (2) Patty Schnyder (d. Nakamura), (4) Francesca Schiavone (d. Italian countrywoman (6) Pennetta from a set down), and (7) Na Li (d. A.Bondarenko in three).

Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (4) Schiavone vs. (2) Schnyder (Swiss leads career meetings 2-1), and (1) Davenport vs. (7) N.Li, who the American defeated 6-4, 6-4 in their only career encounter earlier this month at the US Open.

France, Russia Square Off Today in Fed Cup Final

Russia will begin the task of defending the Fed Cup today against host France at Roland Garros, with Mary Pierce taking on Elena Dementieva, and Amelie Mauresmo squaring off against Anastasia Myskina.

The line-up for today's Fed Cup final at Roland Garros with France hosting Russia is Mary Pierce vs. Elena Dementieva, and Amelie Mauresmo vs. Anastasia Myskina.

Dementieva won her only meeting with Pierce on clay in three sets at Sarasota in 2003, but Pierce was the victor earlier this month at the US Open in another tight three-setter, punctuated by controversy when the Frenchwoman took a lengthy 12-minute injury-time-out.

Pierce has won one title in 2005, while Dementieva is 0-1 in finals. Both players have fond memories of Roland Garros, with Pierce winning the title and Dementieva finishing runner-up last year to Myskina.

Myskina trumps Mauresmo at Roland Garros with the title that has proved so elusive to the big-stage choking Frenchwoman, but Mauresmo has a resounding advantage in her head-to-head encounters with Myskina, winning six of their seven meetings, none of which occurred on the red dirt.

Scheduled for Sunday are the reverse singles in Mauresmo vs. Dementieva and Pierce vs. Myskina, followed by the doubles in Mauresmo/Nathalie Dechy vs. Vera Douchevina/Dinara Safina.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Mahesh Bhupathi says South Africa's Wesley Moodie will not play with Wimbledon-winning partner Stephen Huss at the Australian Open: "I am planning to team up with Wesley Moody for the Australian Open," Bhupathi said...Mary Pierce, 30, is the only team member to have played in both of France's Fed Cup victories in 1997 and 2003, and is looking forward to today's stand-off at Roland Garros: "As soon as I started to practice I could only smile, because it's the court that I love the most."...From IndiaExpress on the WTA stop in Kolkata: "With two days to go for the Sunfeast Open, the Netaji Indoor Stadium has begun to show the effects of long-term neglect. The synthetic track at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan adjoining the football field, the astro-turf at the Sports Authority of India are just two instances of the decay that has eaten into the state's sports culture and today, the sight of water dripping from air-conditioners on to the courts just showed what lack of proper maintenance can do even to the best of facilities."...Russian tennis head Shamil Tarpishchev speaking with the Vremya Novostei newspaper on Maria Sharapova playing Fed Cup next year: "We have a verbal commitment that Maria will be on the team from next year. Sharapova is success oriented regardless of anything. Money, relationships are all less important. The main thing for Sharapova is to overcome her opponents. This is the most valuable quality for a tennis player...The main thing now is to deal with the exercising correctly not to ruin the young organism, and most importantly her speed abilities...I see no problem here. The conflict between (Anastasia) Myskina and Sharapova is fiction. Of course, if they did have a confrontation, there would be a problem. But since the rumors come from the outside, they do not actually concern the players." Young organism, nice translation...Andy Murray will be doing some physical training with Frank Dick, who formerly worked with Boris Becker.

If you missed Xavier "X-Man" Malisse's mighty Miami meltdown earlier this year, here's some fine weekend viewing:
http://www.xaviermalissesite.be/video/video2.wmv