Federer, Hewitt Featured in Bangkok Quarters; Rafa Not a Fan of Davis Cup Ousting

Other seeds into the quarters were (6) Jarkko Nieminen (d. Tursunov) and (7) Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Garcia-Lopez).

Seeded upsets were orchestrated by Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (d. (4) Haas) and Brit-Scot Andy Murray (d. (5) Soderling in two tiebreaks).

"I wasn't feeling that great towards the end of the first set," said the injury and puking-prone Murray. "But I took a timeout and got some medication from the doctor. I had a really sore head. I don't know why...I thought I played a pretty clever match. I used my slice pretty well and I didn't give him so much pace which I think he likes."

Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals in Bangkok are Murray vs. (3) Ginepri, Y.Wang vs. (6) Nieminen, (7) Srichaphan vs. (2) Hewitt, and (1) Federer vs. Muller.

Puerta Weathers Arthurs Ace Attack at ATP Ho Chi Minh

It was one of the best serves on tour against one of the most underrated returns, and defense won out Thursday when top seed Mariano Puerta weathered 30 aces from Wayne Arthurs in a 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(3) win to advance into the quarterfinals at the ATP event in Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnam Open.

"Today I played against a great player on this surface," Puerta said. "I think he served very good the whole match. I played very good and with a lot of concentration today."

Arthurs double-faulted the second-set tiebreak away and was ineffective on the return of serve, helping the Argentine to his first indoor quarterfinal effort since Memphis in 1999.

"I'm satisfied with the way I served. I returned terribly," Arthurs said. "I played one really good return game in the first set. I didn't give him much of my chance on my serve."

Other seeds into the quarters were (2) Thomas Johansson (d. Phau), (3) Radek Stepanek (d. (Q) Vico), (5) Cyril Saulnier (d. Vanek in two breakers), and (6) Juan Monaco (d. Lu by walkover (ankle)).

German Alexander Waske created the only upset on the day with a two-tiebreak win over (7) Lars Burgsmuller.

Un-seeds into the quarters were Swede Jonas Bjorkman (d. (Q) Mamiit who retired with a back injury) and German Rainer Schuettler (d. Moodie).

Lining up for the quarters at the Vietnam Open are (6) Monaco vs. (3) Stepanek, (1) Puerta vs. Schuettler, (5) Saulnier vs. (2) T.Johansson, and Bjorkman vs. Waske.

Three Italians Into Quarters at ATP Palermo

No. 6-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri (d. C.Rochus 0-and-0), unseeded countrymen Davide Sanguinetti (d. Chela) and Andreas Seppi (d. Sabau in three) delighted locals Thursday at the ATP stop in Palermo, advancing into the quarterfinals with straight-set wins.

No. 2 seed Tommy Robredo was also a winner with a straight-set display over Spanish countryman Al Montanes.

Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are Andreev vs. A.Martin, Seppi vs. (8) Sanguinetti in an all-Italian, Behrend vs. (3) Ferrero, and (6) Volandri vs. (2) Robredo.

Schnyder Ousted, Clijsters Featured at WTA Luxembourg

Unheralded Italian Roberta Vinci was the upset winner Thursday at the WTA stop in Luxembourg, ousting No. 3 seed Patty Schnyder 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals.

Other winners Thursday were (2) Nadia Petrova (d. Peschke), (4) Nathalie Dechy (d. Randriantefy), (7) Dinara Safina (d. (Q) Gajdosova), and unseeded German comer Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Smashnova).

"To be honest, this morning I didn't feel like playing," Petrova said. "I have been here since Saturday and only played my first match on Thursday so I had a lazy feeling. But as soon as I stepped on court everything turned around and my legs felt back and I was ready to fight."

Lining up for the quarterfinals Friday are Safina vs. Vinci, Groenefeld vs. Petrova, Dechy vs. Hantuchova, and Clijsters vs. Schiavone.

Chinese Seeds Peng, N.Li Into WTA Guangzhou Quarters

Four Chinese stormed into the quarterfinals Thursday at the WTA stop in Guangzhou in (2) Shuai Peng (d. Obziler), (3) Na Li (d. Gagliardi), and unseeded players Zi Yan (d. (7) Domachowska) and Ting Li (d. Jidkova, bagel in the third).

Also into the quarters were seeds (4) Maria Kirilenko (d. Parra Santonja) and (6) Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. T.Sun who retired with a foot injury).

On tap for the Friday quarterfinals are T.Li vs. Llagostera Vives, Yan vs. N.Li, Kirilenko vs. Zheng, and the 16-year-old Azarenka vs. Peng.

Teens Golovin, Vaidisova Into WTA Seoul Quarters

Four of the five seeds in action won through to the quarterfinals at the WTA stop in Seoul Thursday, with Argentina's Gisela Dulko the lone upset victim, upended 6-3, 6-0 by unseeded Colombian Catalina Castano.

Seeded winners on the day were (2) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Morigami), (3) Tatiana Golovin (d. Diaz-Oliva), (5) Ai Sugiyama (d. (Q) Muller), and (8) Marion Bartoli (d. (Q) Obata), all in straight sets.

American Laura Granville (d. Pratt) was the second unseeded player into the quarterfinals on the day.

Scheduled for Friday in Seoul are Golovin vs. Sugiyama, Jankovic vs. Douchevina, Bartoli vs. Vaidisova, and Granville vs. Castano.

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
The Spanish Tennis Federation announced Thursday it was dumping dual Davis Cup captains Jordi Arrese and Juan Avendano, and would pursue former Spanish great Emilio Sanchez for the position: "We have officially brought to an end the idea of having two captains. The philosophy will now be to just have one captain," federation president Pedro Munoz said. "I would like the new captain to be Emilio Sanchez Vicario. He would be the popular choice to do the job. He has always given his all as a tennis player, and he was a great Davis Cup competitor. But we have not yet made an offer because we need to elicit a consensus from within the organization and from among the players first."...The ITF announced the 2006 Davis Cup World Group draw on Thursday, featuring in the first round Croatia at Austria (probably on clay), Sweden at Argentina (definitely on clay), Spain at Belarus (definitely not on clay), Australia at Switzerland (on whatever Roger wants), France at Germany (likely on a fastcourt), Russia at Netherlands (maybe grass to bother Marat?), Romania at the U.S. (hard or indoor), and the Slovak Republic at Chile (dirt and lots of it)...From the ATP: "One more title for [Roger] Federer, who is playing in this week's Thailand Open, will give him twice as many consecutive finals wins as the previous record holders (Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe each had streaks of 12 straight titles won). ESPN.com has asked fans how Federer's streak compares to other sports. In it's survey, ESPN.com asked "What is the most impressive active streak in sports?" Federer is second, having received 31 percent of the nearly 20,000 votes by early Thursday morning. With 34 percent of the vote, first place belongs to Major League Baseball's Atlanta Braves who have won 14 consecutive division titles. Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre's streak of 227 consecutive NFL games start gets 26 percent of the vote, while the University of Southern California's collegiate football winning streak of 24 games has nine percent of the vote."...Rafael Nadal is not happy with the Spanish federation canning the Davis Cup captains: "The Federation promised them they would have the post for two years and now they have gone back on their word," he told Spanish media. "I want to send all my support to the captains because they were the best people for the team and I was really happy working with them."...From The Age: "In his self-titled autobiography to be released on Saturday, [Todd] Woodbridge covers a broad spectrum of topics following his 16-year career on the ATP Tour. Woodbridge claims Pat Rafter retired too early and could still have won Wimbledon, that he actually accepted Australia's decision to dump him from doubles duty in the ill-fated Davis Cup final defeat in 2001 and that Mark Philippoussis wasn't all to blame for Australia's shocking loss to Zimbabwe three years earlier. The 34-year-old laments being touted a doubles "specialist" after also enjoying a successful singles career that featured a Wimbledon semifinal appearance and two ATP titles. He reveals the torment of his brother's heroin addiction and the freakish deaths -- 15 months apart -- of close friends Payne Stewart in a plane crash and Renay Appleby, the wife of Australian golfer Stuart, in a car accident, and expresses his anguish at being arrested at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games."