Henman Hints at 2006 Retirement, Mirza Explains Choking on Bagel

Posted on September 24, 2005

Sharapova Wins, Venus Out at WTA Beijing

World No. 1 Maria Sharapova advanced into the semifinals at the WTA stop in Beijing Friday with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

"I played well today," Sharapova said. "I started off strong but then I made a few mistakes and she capitalized. She's a good player and has a strong return. I just tried to play my game and in the end I got the win."

Sharapova's road to the title was paved smooth when No. 3 seed Venus Williams withdrew from her quarterfinal match with Poland's Marta Domachowska with a left knee injury.

"I just couldn't play today's match," Venus said. "I'm not fit enough to play professional tennis and so I shouldn't be out there. It's really disappointing because I was having such a great time at this tournament."

Also into the semis were No. 9 seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany (d. Peng) and unseeded Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Sun), eliminating the last two Chinese from the event.

Saturday's semifinal match-ups are Domachowska vs. Groenefeld (first meeting), and Sharapova vs. Kirilenko (Sharapova leads career meetings 1-0) in an all-Russian.

Myskina Defeats Indian Hope Uberoi at WTA Kolkata

Top-seeded Anastasia Myskina knocked the last Indian hope from the draw Friday at the WTA stop in Kolkata, defeating Shikha Uberoi 6-4, 6-2 to advance into the semifinals.

"It was more a practice match for me," said Myskina on her slow start due to a muscle pull, going down a break 1-3 in the opening set. "I pulled a muscle playing doubles yesterday, but once I was out there today it was getting warm and getting better."

Myskina was joined in the semis by another Russian when No. 2 seed Elena Likhovtseva straight-setted Swede Sofia Arvidsson.

Also into the semis were No. 7 seed Karolina Sprem (d. Czink) and unseeded Kaia Kanepi (d. Bammer) of Estonia.

Lining up for the Saturday semifinals are Sprem vs. Likhovtseva (Sprem leads career meetings 2-0), and Myskina vs. Kanepi (first meeting).

The doubles semifinals are Indians Uberoi/Uberoi vs. Czink/Fedak, and Russians Likhovtseva/Myskina vs. Mirza/Ruano Pascual.

No. 2 Medina Garrigues Ousted at WTA Portoroz

No. 2 seed Anabel Medina Garrigues was added to the casualty list Friday at the WTA stop in Portoroz, rolled 6-3, 6-1 by No. 6 seed Katarina Srebotnik.

Other players into the semifinals were No. 4-seeded Czech Klara Koukalova who defeated No. 8 Roberta Vinci, and unseeded Greek Eleni Daniilidou who bested Severine Bremond in straight sets.

Saturday's semifinal line-up will be Daniilidou vs. Srebotnik (first meeting), and Henke vs. Koukalova (first meeting).

Davis Cup World Group -- Semifinal Results

Croatia tied with Russia 1-1

Russia's Nikolay Davydenko puts the visiting team up 1-0 with a 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 win over Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, but top Croat Ivan Ljubicic stepped in for the save with a five-set win over Mikhail Youzhny. Ancic and Ljubicic will be favored in the Saturday doubles over Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov.

"It's not easy to play doubles on this surface because it's pretty quick and tough to return," Ljubicic said. "There won't be many rallies so you are going to have one or two chances to make it, and if you don't -- bad luck. We are going to have to be focused and hope for the best."

Argentina tied with Slovak Republic 1-1

Slovak Karol Beck made good on his word that he could handle Guillermo "El Mago" Coria, masterfully taking apart the magic-less Argentine 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 on the slick indoor courts before David Nalbandian evened things with a comeback 3-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 win over Slovak No. 1 Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty.

The critical Saturday doubles will pit Slovaks Beck and Michal Mertinak against Nalbandian and Mariano Puerta.

Davis Cup World Group -- Qualifying Results

Austria tied with Ecuador 1-1

Rather than going to bed with a 2-0 lead, Austrian captain Thomas Muster tossed and turned Friday night as Austria and Ecuador finished the day tied 1-1 after Stefan Koubek blew a 2-0 set lead against Nicolas Lapentti. In the opening match Jurgen Melzer dropped only three games against Giovanni Lapentti.

Now Saturday's critical doubles match will determine the momentum with the Ecuadorian Lapentti brothers facing Austria's Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya.

Canada tied with Belarus 1-1

Though he struggled with completing only six of an amazing 29 break point opportunities, Canada's Frank Dancevic still came back from 1-2 sets down in the opening singles to defeat Belarus' Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov 6-3 in the fifth set to put the home Canadians up 1-0.

Max "The Beast" Mirnyi then drew the tie even when Canada's Daniel Nestor retired with The Beast leading 6-7(4), 7-5, 2-1, ret. with a left hip injury that leaves him in doubt for the Saturday doubles.

Nestor is scheduled to play the doubles with Frederic Niemeyer against Mirnyi and Voltchkov.

Chile leads Pakistan 2-0

Fernando Gonzalez pasted Aqeel Khan 6-0, 6-0, 6-1, while Nicolas Massu followed with a more uneven 6-2, 7-6(4), 6-1 win over Aisam Qureshi to put Chile up 2-0 over the overmatched Pakistanis on the red clay.

All four players will take to the doubles court Saturday when the 2004 Olympic gold medal-winning Chileans look to secure their place in the 2006 World Group.

Czech Republic tied with Germany 1-1

Tommy Haas had Germany in the pole position before blowing a 2-0 sets lead against Tomas Berdych on Friday, then Nicolas Kiefer played hero for the Germans, evening the tie at 1-1 after a four-set win over Tomas Zib.

The Czechs will have the upper hand in the doubles Saturday, with the crowd support and five-time 2005 ATP title winners Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl up against Germans Haas and Alexander Waske.

Spain tied with Italy 1-1

Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero's Davis Cup stock further plummeted Friday when the Spaniard blew a 2-0 set lead against Andreas Seppi, losing 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 before new-order Spaniard Rafael Nadal righted the ship with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 pounding of Daniele Bracciali. Potito Starace, scheduled to play singles for Italy, withdrew suffering from the flu.

The critical Saturday doubles are scheduled to feature Nadal and Feliciano Lopez for Spain against Bracciali and Giorgio Galimberti.

Sweden leads India 1-0

Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman rolled Prakash Amritraj in straight sets in the opener, but India retains hope for a delayed point as the second singles was rained out with Sweden's Thomas Johansson leading Rohan Bopanna 7-6(3), 6-6.

In addition to the resumed singles on Saturday, India's former No. 1-ranked doubles team of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will shoulder the pressure of all India against Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin.

Switzerland leads Britain 2-0

Brit captain Jeremy Bates' singles strategy backfires, sitting out top player Greg Rusedski on day one as Roger Federer rolls Alan Mackin 6-0, 6-0, 6-2, and Swiss No. 2 Stan Wawrinka defeats Andy Murray 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-4 to put the home team up 2-0 and the Brits in the commode entering the Saturday doubles.

"When you're leading by so much, it can get a bit boring and you have to make sure you stay focused," said Federer after rolling Mackin. "It's almost like I didn't play a match; it went so fast, less than a two-hour training session."

Now part two of Bate's plan comes into a play as a fresh Rusedski and Murray take on Federer and Swiss doubles specialist Yves Allegro Saturday in an attempt to keep the British hopes alive.

Belgium tied with U.S. 1-1

Andy Roddick righted the U.S. ship with a straight-set win over Christophe Rochus after Belgian brother Olivier played hero in the first match with a straight-set win over James Blake.

Blake looked beaten as soon as he dropped his opening service game in the third set, making U.S. fans wonder what could have been with odd-man-out Robby Ginepri.

"It was one of those days when he is playing well and he is getting the breaks," Blake said. "Things tend to feel like they are snowballing."

On Saturday the Bryan brothers will have their hands full against Olivier Rochus and Kristof Vliegen, who in their last D-Cup pairing defeated the experienced Zimbabwean team of Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett. The Bryans lost in their last outing to Croatians Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
According to the Ottawa Sun, John McEnroe has been training with Detroit Red Wings veteran Chris Chelios: "He's a great guy to work out with because he makes me realize I have to work a whole lot harder." And McEnroe on his rivalries over the years: "Two of my greatest rivals were guys I didn't like or basically didn't like me, (Ivan) Lendl and (Jimmy) Connors. I didn't have to look too far for that. But my greatest rival was (Bjorn) Borg because we were so opposite in every way. He was actually the only guy I got along with on and off the court." On Ilie Nastase: "He made it a goal of his just to get me pissed off. He'd drive me crazy like he did to a lot of other players and then he would come up to me after the match -- he called me Macaroni -- and he'd say, 'Macaroni, let's go eat dinner.' He'd be absolutely unbearable on the court and then he'd put his arm around you and say: 'Let's go to a nightclub.' It was part entertainment and part he was just nuts. My game was try and hit him between the eyes with the ball. I was too busy trying to hit him in the forehead rather than win the point." On Jimmy Connors: "It was like bulls banging heads. He brought out the best and the worst in me and I like to think I did the same with him. Jimmy is one of the greatest players that ever lived, in my opinion. He's like the Pete Rose of tennis. I never seen a guy try as hard as this person on a tennis court. That's something I really respected."...Play "Find the Error" in the excerpt from this Reuters story on players who have committed to the Masters Series-Paris: "Argentine Guillermo Coria, who is suspended for doping, and injured Swede Joachim Johansson will be replaced by Romanian Victor Hanescu and Swede Robin Soderling."...Shuai Peng was the first Chinese player in history this week to reach the quarterfinals at the China Open. Stone...From Reuters: "Russia's Nikolay Davydenko found an unusual way to escape the pre-match tension of a Davis Cup semi-final against Croatia, fishing in the Adriatic. The 24-year-old, who gave Russia a flying start with an impressive four-set victory over local favorite Mario Ancic, spent the days leading up to the tie in the historic port city trying his luck off the harbor wall. "I've been every day since we arrived here," said Davydenko. "It's very nice, it's been fun. I went and bought some line and just sit by the harbor for a few hours in the morning. I have not caught much, just a few small ones. I was there for two hours and caught five, then my girlfriend came and caught three in 10 minutes. That's women for you.""...Sania Mirza writing for the Indian Express on her loss at Kolkata: "My loss in the second round of the Sunfeast Open is disappointing. I am aware that people all over the country are feeling low but there are certain things beyond your control. I did my best but my opponent played better. It is no secret that several players hate to win a set 6-0, particularly at an early stage of the match. Andre Agassi, I believe, prefers to win a set 6-1 or 6-2. Taking the first set 6-0 puts a certain amount of pressure, in that you feel that you cannot improve further." Coughchokercough...Matt Cronin writing for TennisReporters.net: "With her 6-2, 7-6 loss to Sun Tiantian at the China Open on Wednesday, Serena Williams all but took herself out of serious contention for the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships, which begin November 7. She's 400 points behind Patty Schnyder for the eighth and final spot in the prestigious event and, unless the Swiss gets hurt and Serena decides to enter Moscow or Zurich (both Tier I tournaments) and goes very deep in those tournaments, she'll likely miss out. She's not going to qualify by playing three Tier IIs with a bad knee, especially because Schnyder, Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova -- all are who ahead of her in the race -- will play a ton."...Tim Henman has withdrawn from Bangkok with his back issue, and hints he could retire next year if he doesn't regain his fitness...Wimbledon champ Stephen Huss on getting dumped by Weslie Moodie for 2006 in favor of Mahesh Bhupathi: "I'm absolutely disappointed. It's a new situation for Wes where his ranking is very high (29th), and when someone with Mahesh's reputation asks him to play, it's pretty tough to say no. So I understand his decision, but I'm a little disappointed with it because we won Wimbledon together. It would have been great to have played with him here. Take nothing away from Wes as a player or a person. He's top class in both areas. I've talked about it to my coach and we'll approach a few people over the rest of the year."