Two Teams Clinch Doubles Masters Cup Berths; Nadal to Pull from Madrid?
Posted on October 18, 2005
Henman Chassis Avoids Dent at ATP MadridTim Henman, attempting to regain his mojo after recent difficulties with his back, found the perfect foil Monday in sporadic American Taylor Dent, rolling to a 6-2, 6-4 win at the ATP Masters Series-Madrid.
"I was very happy with my level of play," Henman said. "I think it was a reflection of last week. I thought I played some similar tennis today and I was able to take my chances when I did."
Argentine qualifiers showed their hardcourt skills Monday with two advancing into the second round in Agustin Calleri (d. (WC) Costa, bagel in the first) and Juan Ignacio Chela (d. (WC) Massu), both in straight sets.
Other unseeded winners on the day were Sebastien Grosjean (d. F.Lopez in three sets), (WC) Fernando Verdasco (d. Mathieu in three), Spanish qualifier Al Martin (d. Novak from a set down), Romanian Victor Hanescu (d. (Q) Zib), Austrian Jurgen Melzer (d. Spadea from a set down), and former No. 2-ranked Tommy Haas (d. Pavel).
On tap for Tuesday in Madrid are (Q) "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, (11) Ferrer vs. (Q) Calleri, Volandri vs. Moya, Ferrero vs. Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, (15) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (WC) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, Gael "Force" Monfils vs. (Q) Christophe "The Roach" Rochus, Grosjean vs. (16) Ginepri, (5) Nalbandian vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, Berdych vs. Olivier "Brother Roach" Rochus, Youzhny vs. Acasuso, and Kiefer vs. Beck.
Two of 3 Matches Retire with Injury at WTA Zurich
The runaway injuries plaguing the WTA Tour were the winners Monday at the Zurich Open, with Russian Vera Zvonareva retiring against countrywoman and No. 7 seed Anastasia Myskina with a shoulder injury, and another Russian in Elena Likhovtseva retiring against Silvia Farina Elia with a hammy strain.
In the only main draw match to conclude without injury Monday, wildcard Maggie Maleeva rolled Russian Anna Chakvetadze 1-and-1. Maleeva announced that Zurich would be her career-farewell event.
The final four slots in the main draw were filled with the completion of the qualifying, with Ai Sugiyama (JPN), Katarina Srebotnik (SLO), Roberta Vinci (ITA), and Kveta Peschke (CZE) earning big-dance berths.
Scheduled for Tuesday in Zurich are Hantuchova vs. Sugiyama, Kuznetsova vs. Dechy, Schnyder vs. Dulko, Ivanovic vs. Golovin, Molik vs. Jankovic, and Asagoe vs. Srebotnik.
X-CORRECT
Francesca Schiavone is another player in addition to Nadia Petrova ranked in the Top 20 without a singles title...Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal in the five-set final at Miami earlier this year.
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Former French Open champ Al Costa after losing at the Masters Series-Madrid: ""It's possible that that was my last game, but I'm not completely sure. I'm going to leave the door open at the moment and will take a month off and then see if I recover the strength and motivation to carry on. If not it won't be worth it. It is very difficult to be playing at the top level for so long. I'm 30 and I've been a professional for 12 years."...Lleyton Hewitt will qualify for the year-end Masters Cup this week if both Gaston Gaudio and Mariano Puerta lose prior to the Madrid semifinals...The Tennis Channel Open is set to officially announce its move to Las Vegas for 2006 -- but can they wrestle Andre away from the Dubai event that same week? Magic 8-Ball says: no. Vegas has cash, but not Dubai-style cash...TennisWorld's Peter Bodo's ode to Lleyton Hewitt: "Hewitt is insensitive, clumsy, and unsophisticated; if he's got a saving grace, it's that he has no idea of what a jerk he is. The best you can say about him is that he's an innocent savage...The only thing worse than being an obnoxious boor is trying to convince the world that you're not that at all -- that underneath that deceptive exterior lurks what the Aussies call a SNAG -- a sensitive, New-Age guy." Ouch!...The ATP announced that the two-time year-end world No. 1 team of Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor, and 2005 Wimbledon champions Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie have clinched berths at the Masters Cup Doubles, joining Bob and Mike Bryan, Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi, and Zimbabweans Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett, with three spots remaining...Tennis Australia has announced it will not use the Hawk-Eye line-calling replay system at the 2006 Australian Open -- As US Open fans would say "Booo! You suck!"...Will Rafael Nadal pull from Madrid with a knee injury? Much like Maria Sharapova risking her pectoral injury last week at Moscow, from what Nadal has been saying it sounds like he will play out of homecountry pressure, even though he is feeling a lot of pain...Al Costa on getting dissed for the Spanish Davis Cup captaincy: "It was great that (the Spanish players) gave me their support. If I had been given the captaincy I would have given up as a professional straight away. It was just a shame that the president didn't take the players' advice. Still, I'd love to do the job at some time in the future."...Scoville Jenkins has been signed by Reebok...According to the AP, Roscoe Tanner was arrested Monday in Tennessee on a fugitive warrant out of Florida for failing to meet probation requirements, just a month after he began work as a professional at a local tennis school.