News Report Says Puerta Doped, Madrid Dopes Down Doubles

Posted on October 5, 2005

Monfils, Santoro Put On Show at ATP Metz

The French put on a show for the home crowd Tuesday at the ATP stop in Metz, with winners (6) Gael Monfils (d. Chela 7-6 in the third), unseeded Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro (d. Melzer from a set down), and unseeded Michael Llodra (d. countryman (Q) Simon, bagel in the second) into the second round.

"Although I won against him not too long ago, at the US Open last month, I was really cautious about this match, and I was right because today it hasn't been easy," said Santoro on the three-setter against Melzer. "I don't think I played a bad first set. He played really well, he was aggressive, took the opportunity to take my serve and kept the lead."

The embattled Llodra hopes his win is a sign of better things to come.

"I had a rough summer, was injured, sick a couple of times," Llodra said. "I haven't been able to play much lately. Today I think I played a convincing match. It's a great way to get into the tournament, winning a match is already great but winning playing well is even better."

Other unseeded winners Tuesday were Romanian Andrei Pavel (d. (7) Sanguinetti from a set down), Italy's Andreas Seppi (d. Sabau), German Florian Mayer (d. El Aynaoui from a set down), and wildcard Mark Philippoussis (d. Behrend in three), with the Aussie getting his first win in his last five matches.

Scheduled for Wednesday are Mayer vs. (4) Hrbaty, Andreev vs. Mathieu, (WC) Clement vs. (Q) Summerer, an all-French doubles in (1) Llodra/Santoro vs. Mathieu/Monfils, Calleri vs. (WC) Philippoussis, Beck vs. (2) Gasquet, and (Q) Schukin vs. (Q) Luczak.

Seeds Fail to Plant Tuesday at ATP Tokyo

All three seeds were uprooted Tuesday at the ATP stop in Tokyo, with upsets orchestrated by German Bjorn Phau (d. (8) Spadea), Cyprus riser Marcos Baghdatis (d. (14) Minar), and American Kevin Kim (d. (15) Vik), all in straight sets.

Unseeded first-round winners Tuesday were Dutch qualifier Raemon Sluiter (d. Burgsmuller), Germans Alexander Popp (d (WC) Motomura), Alexander Waske (d. Gimelstob 7-6 in the third) and Rainer Schuettler (d. (Q) Soeda in three), Japanese wildcard Takahiro Terachi (d. Kohlschreiber), Aussie Wayne Arthurs (d. (WC) Suzuki 7-6 in the third), South African Weslie Moodie (d. Y.Wang), and Czech Jiri Vanek (d. Dlouhy in two tiebreaks).

Scheduled for Wednesday in Tokyo are (1) Puerta vs. (Q) Taino, (3) Ginepri vs. Popp, (WC) Terachi vs. (9) Srichaphan, (10) Carlsen vs. N.Lapentti, (Q) Gambill vs. (5) Ancic, (16) Monaco vs. Arthurs, Tursunov vs. (4) Dent, (12) Saulnier vs. (Q) Sluiter, Vanek vs. (2) Stepanek in an all-Czech, (7) Nieminen vs. Schuettler, Karanusic vs. (11) Horna, (6) Youzhny vs. Moodie, and Waske vs. (13) Muller.

Russians Myskina, Dementieva Win at WTA Filderstadt

All three seeds cruised without dropping a set Tuesday at the WTA stop in Filderstadt with winners (5) Elena Dementieva (d. (Q) Ondraskova), (7) Patty Schnyder (d. Ivanovic), and (8) Anastasia Myskina (d. (Q) Gehrlein) into the second round.

"That really helps my confidence coming in here," Myskina said. "It hasn't been all that good of a year."

Unseeded winners advancing were Italian Francesca Schiavone (d. Chakvetadze) setting up a meeting with Lindsay Davenport, Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy (d. Molik), and Russian Elena Likhovtseva (d. Farina Elia from a set down).

Scheduled for Wednesday at Filderstadt are Davenport vs. Schiavone, Safina vs. Myskina in an all-Russian, Hantuchova vs. Schnyder, Petrova vs. Groenefeld, Henin-Hardenne vs. Pennetta, Daniilidou vs. Sprem, and Medina Garrigues vs. Jankovic.

Russia's Other Maria Advances at WTA Tokyo

With Maria Sharapova out suffering a pectoral muscle injury, Russia's "other Maria," No. 4 seed Maria Kirilenko, took up the mantle of disappointing the home Tokyo fans Tuesday at the Japan Open with a 6-4, 6-4 win over homecountry wildcard Ayumi Morita.

Other seeded winners Tuesday were (1) Vera Zvonareva (d. Castano), Japanese flagship (5) Ai Sugiyama (d. Jidkova), (6) Gisela Dulko (d. (Q) Hsieh from a set down), and India's (8) Sania Mirza (d. (Q) Castellvi).

Japan's Aiko Nakamura (d. Washington 6-1 in the third) led the advance of the unseeded, joined by Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Bartoli), France's Camille Pin (d. Granville from a set down), Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson (d. (Q) Bremond 6-0 in the third), and American Jill Craybas (d. Jackson 6-1 in the third).

Scheduled for Wednesday in Tokyo are Golovin vs. Spears, Asagoe vs. Arvidsson, Morigami vs. Vaidisova, Nagyova vs. Kirilenko, and Dulko vs. Craybas.

Loit Lax at WTA Tashkent

No. 3 seed Antonella Serra Zanetti (d. Koryttseva) and No. 5 Michaella Krajicek (d. Sromova 6-1 in the third) led the winners Tuesday at the WTA stop in Tashkent.

No. 6 Emilie Loit was the lone seeded victim on the day, rolled 7-5, 6-0 by Hungarian Melinsa Czink.

Other un-seeds into the second round were Spain's Arantxa Parra Santonja (d. (Q) Poutchek), Russian wildcard Evgeniya Rodina (d. countrywoman Panova), and the Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko (d. countrywoman (Q) Antypina 2-and-0).

Scheduled for Wednesday are Gagliardi vs. Fedak, Strycova vs. Krajicek, Bychkova vs. S.Uberoi, Camerin vs. Gallovits, Voskobeova vs. Amanmuradova, Tulyaganova vs. An.Serra Zanetti, Rodina vs. Czink, Santangelo vs. Obziler, Rodionova vs. Vesnina, and Laine vs. Yakimova.

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
In a shocker, the mystery player who tested positive for doping at this year's French Open was -- hold your breath --an Argentine! The French sports daily l'Equipe reported today that Mariano Puerta, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the Roland Garros final, tested positive for the stimulant Etilefrine and could now face a lifetime ban since he was previously banned in 2003 for anabolic steroid use. The paper says Puerta will not be identified by the ATP until he appears before a doping panel. Puerta says l'Equipe is wrong: "I'm really angry, I've started investigations with my lawyers. This is a very delicate subject, there's no truth in it," Puerta told Reuters. "It's news to me. In my opinion, it's strange because nobody from the ATP or ITF has called me. It's crazy. The newspapers can say anything without proof. I haven't taken anything I shouldn't. When I tested positive two years ago, they called me and told me. Nobody has called me, so I don't know anything and I can't say anything. I'm just in Tokyo playing and trying to do my best. I have no idea where this comes from. There was a rumor going round that it was one of the 14 Argentines at the French Open. If there's an Argentine who was positive let them find him."...In another shocker, the promoters of the Masters Series-Madrid have announced they will use the doubles players suing the ATP as an excuse to cancel the doubles at their event later this month. Tournament organizers said Wednesday that if the player lawsuit is not resolved by the Oct. 17 start of the event, "the organization of the Masters Series Madrid will cancel the doubles competition and will donate 50 percent of the doubles prize money (about $202,726) to the ATP Player's Retirement Plan." Unfortunately their good-guy donation tactic comes up short, with estimates that putting on doubles in Madrid costs roughly $750K, which means a clean $550K in their pockets (after the "donation") from the cancellation. "We believe that the ATP new rules will help the doubles grow and take this great competition out of the dark hole is in at the moment," Gerard Tsobanian, General Manager at the Masters Series Madrid said in a statement. "We consider that the lawsuit filed by these 45 doubles players makes no sense and therefore it is not coherent for us to organize the doubles draw this year in Madrid with these same players while they are in the middle of a lawsuit against the ATP, of which we are members." ATP officials, perhaps again the last to know, and who would be brutalized by players and media alike were it known they OKed the move after all their talk of "enhancing doubles," have yet to comment on the action by the Madrid event which seems to go contrary to the ATP rulebook that says a tournament has to put on a double event. "This has reached a level of preposterous that I have never seen," said the ATP's Tennis Channel Open Tournament Director and doubles supporter Steve Bellamy. "There couldn't be anything more mutually exclusive than the doubles players suing at large, and this one tournament killing the doubles competition," Bellamy said. "This coming from a Masters Series Event? They must really want tennis to be something special."...Kim Clijsters can re-take the No. 1 ranking this week at Filderstadt by reaching the final if the right combination of bonus-point opponents fall in place...While Kim Clijsters' participation in Fed Cup is up in the air for next year, Justine Henin-Hardenne says her priority for 2006 will be re-taking the No. 1 ranking, not representing Belgium in the maligned international competition: "Whether Kim plays or not is irrelevant. People don't always understand the life that we lead. You have to be very strong mentally and physically. Our careers are becoming shorter and shorter. I can understand why Kim has chosen to only play for two more years, but that is not in my character. I will try to carry on for as long as possible."...From the Sydney Morning Herald: "It can also be stated categorically that (Australia's) favorite sport is tennis. Back in January, 4 million people in the mainland capitals watched Lleyton Hewitt lose to Marat Safin in the men's final of the Australian Open. And that ratings figure was no freak occurrence. 2.5 million watched the Australian Open on day 12, 2.3 million watched on day eight and 2 million watched on day 10. By comparison, the most watched cricket moments this year have been the final 10 minutes of the first Ashes test, which brought 2 million viewers to SBS (the network's biggest audience ever) and the Asia v Rest of the World tsunami fund-raiser, which brought 2 million viewers to Channel Nine in January."...From Wilson: "Wilson's new line of women's tennis racquets serve up a high-tech mix of form and function to give Canadian women a serious advantage on the courts. This is the first time a line of tennis racquets has been designed specifically for female tennis players. The W line combines Wilson Racquet Sports' industry-leading nCode technology with a new female-specific racquet construction and distinct cosmetics in a series of nine racquets that will hit Canadian retailers in October 2005." So is the racquet pink or what?...Anastasia Myskina has made good on her promise to bail on Fed Cup for Russia if Maria Sharapova is let on the team, yesterday announcing she will no longer represent Russia in the international competition after team announcements that Sharapova would play in 2006. "If she (Sharapova) joins our team next season you won't see me there for sure," Myskina told Reuters in November 2004. "I don't want to be on the same team with people who don't show respect to me as a person. End of story." With the new spin Myskina says: "We have so many good girls who can play and who want to play so I just wish them good luck. I want to step aside now and let others have the chance."...From the ATP website: "Advanced Media Department -- Winter Internships (Unpaid), Location: ATP International Headquarters, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (USA). The ATP is seeking enthusiastic Web Editors, Graphic Designers to work with our Web and Communications staff from October through December/January 2005." You'd better be enthusiastic and enjoy it -- because you won't be getting paid! How weak is that, the old "Just count your lucky stars you're working for the ATP -- if you're super-lucky, after your internship we'll take you on at slave wages."...Andy Murray's mom Judy speaking to The Sun: "I am hoping Andy will invest some of the money he earned in Bangkok on a haircut and a sideburn shave...His coach Mark Petchey and I will try to persuade Andy to take a holiday. I know that will be difficult to do as he will be reluctant to lose all the momentum he has built up. But I think he needs time to relax with his friends and chill out away from tennis."...Elena Dementieva says don't count on Maria Sharapova to post for Russia in Fed Cup play in 2006: "I think if she is going to play it will make our team even stronger. But I don't think she has such a desire because she didn't participate for two years. She has been telling the captain that she's going to play but she (hasn't), so I don't think she wants to play."