Sharapova On Court Wednesday at WTA Moscow
Posted on October 12, 2005
Davydenko, Mirnyi Headline Wednesday at ATP Moscow20-year-old Russian wildcard Teimuraz Gabashvili livened-up a slow day Tuesday at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating giant-killer Gilles Muller 6-3, 6-1 to move into the second round.
"I know him very well," said Gabashvili of Muller, who he trained with at a tennis academy in Spain. "He was very nervous from the beginning, he needed more confidence in order to get into the match but I did not give him any chance."
No. 8 Filippo Volandri was the only seed in action, stomping Romanian Razvan Sabau 0-and-1.
Also into the second round were Romania's Andrei Pavel (d. (Q) Bohli), American Paul Goldstein (d. (Q) Ledovskikh), and Russian wildcard Dmitry Tursunov who advanced when Kenneth Carlsen retired citing the stomach flu.
In doubles, unseeded Russian defending champs Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko ousted top seeds Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro 4-5(3), 5-4(6), 5-2 under the ATP's poorly-received experimental doubles scoring system.
Scheduled for Wednesday in Moscow are (3) Youzhny vs. (Q) Dlouhy, (1) Davydenko vs. Daniele "Choppin'" Bracciali, Clement vs. (7) Andreev, Saulnier vs. (2) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (Q) Kunitsyn vs. Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, (WC) Gabashvili vs. (4) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (5) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. Llodra, and (6) Kiefer vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer in an all-German encounter.
Seeds Johansson, Blake Open With Wins at ATP Stockholm
Seeds went 2-for-2 Tuesday at the ATP stop in Stockholm, with top-seeded and defending champ Thomas Johansson edging 18-year-old Swedish wildcard Ervin Eleskovic in two tiebreaks, and No. 6 James Blake straight-setting Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
"I've been feeling very good during practice but today I wasn't playing well," Johansson said. "Most things need to improve, I was a little nervous. He was hitting the ball unbelievably well and I had to defend myself. I gave him some advice three days ago and was regretting that when I was on the court today."
Also into the second round were Swiss qualifier George Bastl (d. (Q) Cakl), French lucky loser Julien Benneteau (d. countryman Mathieu), and qualifier Rainer Schuettler (d. 3-time Stockholm winner (WC) Enqvist).
On court Wednesday in Stockholm are Beck vs. (4) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Behrend vs. Gael "Force" Monfils, Moodie vs. (WC) Bjorkman, (1) T.Johansson vs. Spadea, Massu vs. (7) Nieminen, Acasuso vs. Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, (5) Olivier "The Other Roach" Rochus vs. (Q) Niemeyer, Sanguinetti vs. (Q) Bastl, and Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. Juan "The Principality" Monaco.
Ferrero Rebounds at ATP Vienna
Former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero avoided an opening-round upset Tuesday at the ATP stop in Vienna, coming from a set down to defeat Swiss Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a bid to win his first title of the year.
Joining the No. 7 seed in the second round were fellow struggling seeded winners (3) Radek Stepanek (d. Horna from a set down) and (5) Tommy Robredo (d. Mello in three).
"The first set was very tough, Luis played incredible well and I wasn't close to getting a break point," Stepanek said. "I had to survive and hang in there waiting for my chances. The chance came right away in the second set, and I picked up my game and I was controlling it until the end of the match."
Unseeded winners on the day were German Tommy Haas (d. Zib), Czech Ivo Minar (d. K.Kim), and French qualifier Jean-Rene Lisnard (d. Koubek from a set down).
On court Wednesday in Vienna are Calleri vs. (4) Ljubicic, (SE) Phau vs. Moya, Melzer vs. (2) Gaudio, (1) Nalbandian vs. Grosjean, (3) Stepanek vs. (WC) Henman, and (5) Robredo vs. Minar.
Kuznetsova Opens Successful Campaign at WTA Moscow
Russian No. 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, still in search of her first 2005 title, began her campaign on the right foot Tuesday at the WTA stop in Moscow, rolling past Swiss qualifier Emmanuelle Gagliardi 6-0, 6-4.
"It was an easy match," Kuznetsova said. "I lost concentration in the fourth game of the second set and allowed her to break me but I never lost control of the match."
The 2004 US Open champion, Kuznetsova's last final was in May at Warsaw, losing in three sets to Justine Henin-Hardenne.
Qualifiers posted a 2-1 record on the day, with Aussie Sam Stosur straight-setting No. 7-ranked countrywoman Alicia Molik and Bulgarian teen Sesil Karatantcheva giving up only three games against Jelena Jankovic, but qualifier Iveta Benesova came up short in straight sets against Italian veteran Francesca Schiavone.
Other un-seeds into the second round were Italy's Flavia Pennetta (d. Dechy), German Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. (LL) Razzano from a set down), Russian Dinara Safina (d. Farina Elia), and Czech Kveta Peschke (d. (WC) Linetskaya).
Working on Wednesday in Moscow are Pierce vs. Pennetta, Myskina vs. Maleeva, Sharapova vs. Groenefeld, Kirilenko vs. Zvonareva in an all-Russian, and Likhovsteva vs. Schnyder.
Mirza Adjusts, Asagoe Exits at WTA Bangkok
Seeded players (3) Gisela Dulko (d. Jackson), (5) Sania Mirza (d. Nagyova in three), and (6) Conchita Martinez (d. Tanasugarn) led the winners into the second round Tuesday at the WTA stop in Bangkok.
"It was a very strange match, very up and down," said Mirza after her 6-0-in-the-third win. "The first round is always the toughest, you have to adjust to playing with new balls, on a new court and in a new stadium, but once you get past that first match it's a little easier because you have more confidence."
No. 4 seed Shinobu Asagoe exited at the hands of Antonella Serra Zanetti of Italy, while Thai wildcard Suchanan Viratprasert performed for the home crowd with a straight-set win over Taipei qualifier Su-Wei Hsieh.
Qualifiers were 3-1 overall on the day with winners Melinda Czink (d. Garbin 6-1 in the third) of Hungary, France's Stephanie Foretz (d. (LL) Muller, bagel in the second), and Japan's Saori Obata (d. Washington).
Other unseeded players into the second round were Colombia's Catalina Castano (d. Vento-Kabchi) and American lucky loser Shenay Perry (d. Timotic).
Wednesday in Bangkok features Ruano Pascual vs. Dulko, Spears vs. Vaidisova, Petrova vs. Llagostera Vives, Perry vs. Peer, and Sucha vs. Foretz.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
While she displays one of the worst serves in women's tennis, Russian Elena Dementieva says she will eventually rise to No. 1: "I believe nothing can stop me from becoming the world's No. 1 player. Certainly, I have to improve some elements of my game, but I gain confidence every year defeating great players."...From the ITF: "Following a successful site visit by the ITF Event Operations Department, the venue for the final of the 2005 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas between Slovak Republic and Croatia on 2-4 December has been approved as the Sibamac Arena National Tennis Centre in Bratislava. The Slovak Tennis Association has agreed to appropriate modifications of the Centre to accommodate the final. The final will be played on hardcourt (Premier) and Dunlop Fort Duck balls will be used."...From Reuters: "Marat Safin will launch the defence of his Australian Open title at the Hopman Cup [exhibition]. Safin will team up with former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in a Russian team seeded number one for the annual mixed team event. Argentina, represented by 2004 French Open winner Gaston Gaudio and Gisela Dulko, were seeded second ahead of the host-nation Australia (Wayne Arthurs and Alicia Molik) and the United States (Taylor Dent and Lisa Raymond). Germany, Belarus and Serbia and Montenegro were also guaranteed places in the eight-team draw while the Netherlands and China will playoff for the last spot. "It's a fascinating mix this year," tournament director Paul McNamee said in a statement."...The ATP stop in Madrid next week should be a hoot, with the tournament again featuring models-as-ball-girls, and a host of disgruntled doubles players.