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Fragile Henman Holds Up, Sharapova Still a Question Mark in MoscowView Comments (8) | View Discussions
Posted on October 11, 2005
 Russian Seed Andreev Advances at ATP Moscow
All three seeds in play advanced easily Monday at the ATP stop in Moscow with winners (4) Max Mirnyi (d. (WC) Kirillov), (6) Nicolas Kiefer (d. German countryman Popp), and Russia's own (7) Igor Andreev (d. Kohlschreiber) victorious in straight sets.
"I'm glad to have had such a good start, the match was very quick but the next opponent will be much tougher," said Andreev, who next faces French veteran Arnaud Clement. "I have time to prepare for it and I want to go far in this tournament in front of my crowd."
Other player advancing into the second round were German Florian Mayer (d. Burgsmuller), Clement (d. Vik), and Czech Jan Hernych (d. Serra), all in straight sets.
Four more players were also added to the main draw after the completion of the qualifying in Igor Kunitsyn (RUS), Mikhail Ledovskikh (RUS), Lukas Dlouhy (CZE), and Stephane Bohli (SUI).
Scheduled for Tuesday in Moscow are (WC) Gabashvili vs. Muller, Carlsen vs. (WC) Tursunov, Sabau vs. (8) Volandri, Pavel vs. (Q) Bohli, and Goldstein vs. (Q) Ledovskikh.
Three Seeds Dug Up at ATP Stockholm
Three seeds were uprooted Monday at the ATP stop in Stockholm where Spain's Al Martin surprised No. 2-seeded countryman Dave Ferrer from a set down, Italian Davide Sanguinetti shocked No. 3 Taylor Dent in three, and Thai Paradorn Srichaphan ousted No. 8 Fernando Verdasco in straight sets.
"After the first set he started making a lot of first serves and I didn't play solid enough from the back to have a chance to beak him," Dent said. "On top of that he was playing very well and hitting great passing shots and I wasn't able to overcome that."
Another un-seed into the second round was American Vince Spadea who defeated Argentina's Juan Igancio Chela 6-1 in the third.
Through to the main round Monday were four qualifiers with the completion of the qualifying event in Frederic Niemeyer (CAN), Rainer Schuettler (GER), Tomas Cakl (CZE), and George Bastl (SUI).
Scheduled for Tuesday are (Q) Cakl vs. (Q) Bastl, Mathieu vs. (LL) Julien "United Colors of" Benneteau in an all-French, (1) T.Johansson vs. (WC) Eleskovic, (6) Blake vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez, and in a battle of players who have seen better days, (WC) Enqvist vs. (Q) Schuettler.
Henman finds Success in Return From Injury at ATP Vienna
Wildcard Tim Henman made a successful return from a back injury Monday at the ATP stop in Vienna, defeating French qualifier Anthony Dupuis 7-5, 6-3 to move safely into the second round.
"It was good all-round really," Henman said. "I've been working hard back home putting a lot of time on the court and in the gym but when you step out on the match court it's the next level. Not only was I very please with the way I played, I was obviously more interested in how I would feel physically and I felt like I came through it very, very well."
Seeded winners on the day were (6) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Berdych) and (8) Feliciano Lopez (d. (WC) Peya in three).
Two unseeded Austrian winners delighted the home crowd with wins Monday in wildcard Oliver Marach (d. Novak) and qualifier Rainer Eitzinger (d. (Q) Almagro), joined in the second round by Ecuador's unseeded Nicolas Lapentti (d. Seppi).
On tap for Tuesday are (3) Stepanek vs. Horna, Koubek vs. (Q) Lisnard, Haas vs. Zib, Wawrinka vs. (7) Ferrero, Minar vs. K.Kim, and (5) Robredo vs. Mello.
Chak Chills Schnyder But Can't Close at WTA Moscow
Only two main draw matches on the docket Monday at the WTA stop in Moscow, where Elena Likhovtseva defeated Vera Douchevina 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the "B"-Russian showcase, and No. 5 seed Patty Schnyder came from a set down to subdue Russian comer Anna Chakvetadze 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
"I'm happy to win the opening match," Schnyder said. "I came here to win one or two matches."
Maria Sharapova is the top seed, hoping to recover in time from the chest injury that forced her to pull from Filderstadt.
"I hope everything will be all right, though when the tournament starts it may be different, but so far it's all right," Sharapova said.
The final round of qualifying was also completed, with four more into the main draw in Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI), Samantha Stosur (AUS), Iveta Benesova (CZE), and Sesil Karatantcheva (BUL).
On Tuesday's schedule is Pennetta vs. Dechy, Farina Elia vs. Safina, Kuznetsova vs. Gagliardi, an all-Aussie in Stosur vs. Molik, Linetskaya vs. Peschke, Groenefeld vs. Razzano, Karatantcheva vs. Jankovic, and Schiavone vs. Benesova.
Mirza, Martinez on Tuesday at WTA Bangkok
Four main-draw matches opened play Monday at the WTA stop in Bangkok, with winners (8) Shahar Peer (d. Bremond), China's Meng Yuan (d. Nakamura in three), Spanish wildcard Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Fujiwara), and Slovak Martina Sucha (d. Cho).
The final round of qualifying was also completed with four more onto the main dance floor in Saori Obata (JPN), Melinda Czink (HUN), Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE), and Stephanie Foretz (FRA).
On tap Tuesday in Bangkok are Viratprasert vs. Hsieh, Asagoe vs. An.Serra Zanetti, Mirza vs. Nagyova, Martinez vs. Tanasugarn, Vento-Kabchi vs. Castano, Timotic vs. Perry, Jackson vs. Dulko, Czink vs. Garbin, Foretz vs. Bartoli, and Obata vs. Washington.
DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Will Argentina's Mariano Hood be suspended for testing positive for the hair-loss substance he has been taking for the last nine years, and was only added last year to the banned substance list? What's next, a player being suspended for testing positive for a Starbucks Latte?...Canny Maria Sharapova says she wants to play Fed Cup for Russia but won't commit to 2006: "I refused to play this year because I was not in proper physical shape for that. I do not know about next year, but I want to and I will play in the future."...Guillermo Canas's physical trainer Fernando Cao was quoted by L'Equipe as saying: "We are Latins. So we have a different personality from Europeans or Americans. We tend to take rules lightly. So we take less care than others. But that's not an excuse, quite the contrary. We have to be more responsible and not leave things to chance. In Guillermo's case, we, his entourage, have clearly made a mistake." Time for a country-wide personality transplant. Argentine coach and former player Horacio de la Pena (who is apparently working with Marcelo Rios for a senior tour comeback) also calls for a new level of responsibility: "It's ridiculous to say that people are pointing their fingers at us; they're doing so because real things are happening and it's our fault."...Patty Schnyder in Moscow: "I am happy to win the opening match here. I came here to win one or two matches and get some points. But I just don't see the way I can win this event." It's good to have goals...Mats Wilander speaking to Tennis Week on Rafael Nadal challenging Roger Federer: "Nadal is a very talented player, but I am not sure I think Nadal will have a good chance (to challenge Federer for No. 1) because the more he plays Roger, the more Federer's gonna learn how to play him and I guess that is Federer's strength: he adjusts so well to opponents and figures out how he has to play each opponent. I think where Federer differs is he is so talented physically, he can always work on his game and always improve stuff within his game. Federer can definitely improve his volley and he can definitely improve his serve. When you watch him, his serve and backhand are not always on all the time and I personally think he can improve his serve and backhand. Imagine if he even starts hitting his serve 10 mph harder how he will be even tougher to break than he already is now. Federer is one of those phenomenons and the question is how long can keep his mind into it to continue at this level? Will he get distracted or bored? I do hope guys will focus on beating him because it will be good for him and good for tennis. I personally don't like that he plays these smaller tournaments. Yes, it's great for those smaller cities that the world No. 1 comes to play, but I hope he doesn't burn out playing these smaller places."...Serena Williams on calling it quits for 2005, hopefully preparing a leaner and meaner version for 2006: "I'm going to be busy these next several weeks rehabbing, training and getting healthy so that I can play my very best for myself, the fans, tournaments and sponsors in 2006. I tried my best to fight through my injuries during the season, but I now realize that I need to take some time off to rest my body and get back to being 100 percent healthy. I look forward to regaining my form and playing at the same highly competitive level that I have in the past. This has been such a disappointing year for me because I'm such a competitive person and I like to win for myself and for my fans."
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