Clijsters Says No Coach Necessary; Murray Breaches Top 100 Goal

Federer strerched his Open Era-record hardcourt streak to 36 consecutive matches with the win, and improved to 73-3 on the year.

No. 2 seed Lleyton Hewitt, No. 4 seed Tommy Haas, and No. 8 Luis Horna all struggled to three-set victories Wednesday, with Horna saving a match point against Czech Ivo Minar.

Hewitt dropped the middle set against Czech Lukas Dlouhy, and Haas the same against Georgian Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze, so nicknamed for his unpredictable play and variety of shot.

Haas said, like Hewitt, he has has been slow in adjusting to the indoor courts.

"He doesn't give you much rhythm," Haas said of Freak Show. "I didn't have the best preparation and only got one hit in yesterday. But overall I had a great last weekend, and I'm going to keep going with it and see where it takes me here."

No. 3 seed Robby Ginepri dropped 13 aces on French qualifier Nicolas Thomann, coming back from a 1-4 deficit in the second for a straight-set win.

Un-seeds into the second round were American Justin Gimelstob (d. N.Lapentti) and Russian Dmitry Tursunov (d. Calatrava from a set down).

Scheduled for Wednesday in Bangkok are (5) Soderling vs. Murray, (1) Federer vs. (Q) Gremelmayr, (7) Srichaphan vs. Garcia-Lopez, Gimelstob vs. (2) Hewitt, (4) Haas vs. Y.Wang, Tursunov vs. (6) Nieminen, and Muller vs. (8) Horna.

Puerta, Seeds Struggle Through at ATP Ho Chi Minh

The Top 3 seeds in Mariano Puerta (d. (Q) Soeda in three), (2) Thomas Johansson (d. Popp from a set down), and (3) Radek Stepanek (d. H.-T. Lee, navigating a first-set tiebreak) all struggled into the second round Wednesday at the inaugural ATP stop in Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnam Open.

"I'm happy. I'm in the fight for Shanghai (Masters Cup)," Puerta said. "I feel very good, but very tired. He played very very good. He was much better than me in the second set."

No. 6 seed Juan Monaco (d. Tuksar) was a straight-set winner, while No. 4 Kenneth Carlsen was dismissed in straights by Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman. Monaco then found himself in the quarterfinals when Yen-Hsun Lu retired from his next-round match with an ankle injury.

Other unseeded winners were Germans Rainer Schuettler (d. countryman Greul 6-1 in the third) and Alexander Waske (d. Sluiter in three tiebreaks, saving two match points), and Czech Jiri Vanek (d. (WC) P.Amritraj in three).

Scheduled for Thursday at the Vietnam Open are Bjorkman vs. (Q) Mamiit, (Q) Vico vs. (3) Stepanek, Phau vs. (2) T.Johansson, (1) Puerta vs. Arthurs, (5) Saulnier vs. Vanek, Waske vs. (7) Burgsmuller, and Schuettler vs. Moodie.

Ferrero, Homecountry Volandri Win at ATP Palermo

Spanish No. 3 seed Juan Carlos Ferrero eased into the quarterfinals Wednesday at the ATP claycourt stop in Palermo with a straight-set win over countryman Oscar Hernandez while another Spaniard wasn't so lucky, with No. 5 Fernando Verdasco getting routed 6-1 in the third by Germany's Tomas Behrend.

No. 6 Filippo Volandri pleased the home crowd with a 6-3, 6-0 dismantling of Nicolas Massu, who has yet to regain his confidence after a wrist injury earlier in the year.

Unseeded players into the quarterfinals were Spaniard Al Martin (d. (Q) Elsner), and Russian Igor Andreev (d. (WC) Aldi in three).

On court Thursday are Montanes vs. (2) Robredo in an all-Spanish, Seppi vs. Sabau, (6) Volandri vs. C.Rochus, and Chela vs. (8) Sanguinetti.

Clijsters Bakes Bagel in Opener at WTA Luxembourg

US Open champion Kim Clijsters ripped through her opening-round match Wednesday at the WTA stop in Luxembourg -- with injuries to Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova now looking all the more like the player who will cross the No. 1 year-end finish line first -- blowing past Klara Koukalova 6-3, 6-0 to advance into the quarterfinals after a first-round bye.

"It's always tough to adjust to the conditions after playing outdoors the whole summer," Clijsters said. "I got used to the court pretty quickly today."

Other seeded winners into the quarters were (5) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Chakvetadze), and (6) Francesca Schiavone (d. Razzano who retired with a thigh strain).

Unseeded first-round winners were Czech qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova (d. Srebotnik), German Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Daniilidou), Madigascar's Dally Randriantefy (d. (Q) Tu), and Italian Roberta Vinci (d. (Q) Krajicek).

Scheduled for Thursday in Luxembourg are Dechy vs. Randriantefy, Safina vs. Gajdosova, Peschke vs. Petrova, Vinci vs. Schnyder, and Smashnova vs. Groenefeld.

Three Chinese Advance at WTA GuangZhou

The Chinese continued their roll Wednesday at the WTA event in GuangZhou with three advancing in (3) Na Li (d. S.Uberoi), (5) Jie Zheng (d. Jackson), and unseeded Zi Yan (d. (WC) Y.-C.Chen).

Other seeded winners on the day were (4) Maria Kirilenko (d. Camerin), and (6) Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. Bammer in three).

Belarus 16-year-old qualifier Victoria Azarenka scored the lone upset of the day, knocking out (8) Martina Sucha in straight sets.

On Thursday's docket in GuangZhou is Obziler vs. Peng, Kirilenko vs. Parra Santonja, Gagliardi vs. N.Li, T.Sun vs. Llagostera Vives, T.Li vs. Jidkova, and Domachowska vs. Yan.

Jankovic Shows Soul in Win at WTA Seoul

Top-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic turned back a stern opening-set test Wednesday from Meghann Shaughnessy, edging the American 7-6(2), 6-2 to advance into the quarterfinals at the WTA stop in Seoul.

Other seeded winners were (3) Tatiana Golovin (d. (LL) Gallovits 6-1 in the third), and (6) Vera Douchevina (d. Nakamura).

Unseeded Aussie Nicole Pratt survived a three-set encounter with Korean wildcard So-Jung Kim, advancing into the second round.

Lining up Thursday in Seoul are Castano vs. Dulko, Morigami vs. Vaidisova, Muller vs. Sugiyama, Golovin vs. Diaz-Oliva, Bartoli vs. Obata, and Granville vs. Pratt.

X-CORRECT
The Argentine story on Marcelo Rio's reported return for 2006 references him playing senior events.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Kim Clijsters says she will go coachless for the remainder of her career: "I want to play my remaining two years, until the end of 2007, without a coach. I don't need one any more." Clijsters and her former coach, Marc De Hous, split a week after she won her first grand slam title at this year's US Open...The USTA has renewed U.S. Fed Cup captain Zina Garrsion's contract through 2006...World No. 1 Roger Federer says Spanish upstart Rafael Nadal can win all the titles he wants, with both tied at 10 this year, as long as he stays off the Swiss' turf: "Nadal is winning titles, and that's good for him, just as long as he isn't beating me."...How does soccer get promoted for its own page once again on SI.com's website but tennis remains thrown in with "More Sports?" Memeo to SI.com -- that's weak...From TennisReporters.net: "BTW: There is a huge overemphasis on calling players "heroes" for winning minor matches. In the past few days, the term has been applied in various quarters to [Vladimir] Voltchkov, [Andy] Roddick, [Tommy] Haas, Thomas Johansson and Paradorn Srichaphan. We'll give it up to Luby [Ivan Ljubicic], [Karol] Beck, and Dominick Hrbaty, but there is no way that the word "hero" should ever apply to former Top-5 player Haas for beating Tomas Zib or to Paradorn to winning a first-round match in Thailand." -- When it's Haas, coming off two five-setters in two days, down a set and looking exhausted but still somehow managing to come back in the fifth and deciding rubber to lift Germany back into the World Group after a year in zonal competition -- we'll stick with "hero," as did all of Germany. Throw the former No. 2 a bone for 14 sets in three days...Brit-Scot Andy Murray will make his Top 100 debut next week on the ATP Rankings: "It's a pretty big deal for me, getting to the Top 100 when I'm 18. I said at the start of the year that's my goal. After the first couple of months a lot of people told me I should have kept quiet, but I'm pretty happy with myself now."...Brit Davis Cup captain Jeremy Bates talking to The Guardian, defending his decision to sit Greg Rusedski in a failed attempt to get even a point off the Swiss D-Cup team: "We looked at the best way to try and beat an exceptionally good team and put them under as much pressure on day one as possible. We targeted their No. 2 player, Stanislas Warwinka and the doubles as our best chance of gaining three rubbers -- and looked at the best way of achieving that. You want your best player to win you a deciding rubber on the last day of a tie. The match [with Andrew Murray on the first day] was very close but Wawrinka played the big points exceptionally well." Keep Alan Mackin ready again for the next time you face Switzerland, sounds like a plan -- a bad one...TennisWorld's Peter Bodo on Murray-mania: "But it also seems to me that the British public may be reading too much into [Andy] Murray's early results, expecting too much too soon, and putting the kid under a lot more pressure than he needs to be facing at this stage in his career. I saw [Stan] Wawrinka play at the US Open. This kid is good, and he's going to get better. If you think his win over Murray was a fluke, or indicative that Murray was way off his game or just the victim of a bad day, you're making a big mistake. Wawrinka is almost two years older than Murray, of course, but he's still just 20. Bottom line: The match with Wawrinka was a reality check for Murray fans, if not for Murray himself."...First Randy "Sky" Walker, and now David "NNN-ewman!" Newman is jumping the USTA Communications ship. Newman, the USTA's Managing Director, Marketing and Communications, is leaving the USTA to become Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the New York Mets...Tennis Week on the Alex Bogomolov, Jr. doping suspension for asthma medication: "I am deeply frustrated and saddened by the ITF's decision to suspend me from competing for the next six weeks," Bogomolov, Jr. said in a statement e-mailed to Tennis Week. "My physician and I assumed the Therapeutic Use Exemption I was granted in March of 2004 was for permanent use of my asthma inhaler. I was not aware of the exemption's expiration. It was an unfortunate paperwork oversight that will now impact my tennis career and livelihood." Bogomolov, Jr. and his doctor failed to file the required paperwork necessary to extend his TUE, which expired on December 31st, 2004. Consequently, he was not covered to use salbutamol at the time of his drug test on January 13th despite the fact he had a valid prescription for the drug, had received two prior Therapeutic Use Exemptions and had passed six previous drug tests. "I respect the rules and regulations enforced by the ITF and understand that they are designed to maintain the integrity of our sport," Bogomolov, Jr. said. "While I am relieved the ITF rightfully acknowledges the only use of my inhaler was to treat my asthma, the suspension for not filing appropriate paperwork is still incredibly disappointing. I want to thank my friends, family and fans for their support during this matter.""...Sania Mirza on Wednesday signed on as an ambassador of 'Save a Child's Heart Foundation' (SACH), to raise funds for providing medical aid to children suffering with heart diseases...Though they have only two men and two women in the Top 100, Tony Roche tells Fox Sports that he is hopeful for Australian tennis: "I think it's exciting times in Australian tennis right now. There has been a bit of a shake-up and I think with our proud tradition and record in tennis that there's no reason why we can't get back on top. When Lleyton (Hewitt) was 15 it was obvious that he was something pretty special and when John Newcombe picked him as an orange boy for the first time in Sydney, I mean it wasn't that long before he played his first Davis Cup match in America...so that is how quickly things can happen."...Will Emilio Sanchez be announced as the new Spanish Davis Cup captain today?...From AFP: "Tickets for the Vietnam Open, which began Monday, are selling at 30 dollars for the day pass and 150 dollars for the week -- a small fortune in a country where the average worker gets around 50 dollars a month."