Agassi Clinches Masters Cup Berth; Murray Wins Again at ATP Basel
Posted on October 28, 2005
Coria Ousted, Murray Wins Again at ATP BaselUnsung Kristof Vliegen made a splash on the Belgian tennis scene, Thursday toppling No. 1 seed Guillermo Coria 7-6(0), 7-5 to advance into the quarterfinals at the ATP stop in Basel.
"It's not easy because we have Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters and the Belgian men don't normally make it into the newspapers," Vliegen said. "People in Belgium want me to make the Top 50, but I always say they should give me time. If I'm good enough I will be there, whether it's in two weeks or two years."
Coria was one of a number of seeded casualties Thursday, with Argentina's Jose Acasuso ousting No. 3 Juan Carlos Ferrero in three sets, No. 7 Jiri Novak taking only five games from Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, and No. 8 Tommy Haas likewise limited to five games by Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis.
Seeded winners into the quarterfinals were (2) David Nalbandian (d. Mayer), (4) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Berrer), and (5) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Calleri from a set down).
In the day's only all-unseeded match-up, Brit-Scot wildcard Andy Murray made good of his Wednesday win over Tim Henman, following with a three-set victory over Czech Tomas Berdych to move into the quarters.
"That was pretty hard physically because yesterday took a lot out of me," Murray said. "I woke up pretty stiff this morning and didn't feel that great in practice but once I warmed up in the match it felt okay."
Lining up for the Friday quarterfinals are Baghdatis vs. Acasuso, Srichaphan vs. (2) Nalbandian, Vliegen vs. (5) Hrbaty, and (4) Gonzalez vs. (WC) Murray.
Roddick, Monfils Into Quarters at ATP Lyon
Unseeded French teen Gael "Force" Monfils continued on his promising road Thursday in front of the homecountry fans at Lyon, upsetting No. 3 seed Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 6-3 to advance into the quarterfinals.
"It was a tough match to get through mentally," Monfils said. "It's great to be in the quarterfinals here in Lyon and to play Marc [Gicquel] in the quarterfinals tomorrow. He's had some great results recently and it will be another tough one. I haven't set myself any goals for the year, I just want to try my best in every match and after Bercy, I will look back with my team and assess the year."
The French qualifier Gicquel defeated unseeded Davide Sanguinetti in straight sets.
After the match Monfils also accused Gaudio of tanking.
"As soon as we started to warm up, I felt that he was not in the game," Monfils said. "He was not concentrating, he was teasing me. I think it's a shame for the spectators who came to watch a real game of tennis. I took no pleasure at all."
Top seed Andy Roddick moved into the quarters in straight sets over French qualifier Nicolas Mahut, while Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean turned in a crowd-pleasing performance with a straight-set upset over No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo.
"I had the feeling I was returning well but I had to wait until the end of the game to break his serve," said Roddick, who says he is leaving his options open in joining the exodus next week from the maligned Masters Series-Paris. "For the time being, I'm in Lyon. I have officially entered the Paris tournament. We'll see later on."
Other unseeded players into the quarterfinals were Frenchman Fabrice Santoro (d. Mathieu) and American Vince Spadea (d. (WC) Llodra).
Friday's quarterfinal match-ups in Lyon are (Q) Gicquel vs. Monfils in an all-French, Grosjean vs. O.Rochus, Spadea vs. Santoro, and (1) Roddick vs. (7) Ancic.
Injured Davydenko Lines Up Kiefer at ATP St. Petersburg
Top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko helped his Masters Cup qualifying chances Thursday with a 6-3, 6-4 dismantling of American Paul Goldstein, leading five additional seeds into the quarterfinals at the ATP stop in St. Petersburg.
"I still feel some pain in my right hand and my shoulder," Davydenko said. "That's why I had to change my strategy in the second set."
Joining the Russian in the winner's circle were (2) Thomas Johansson (d. Pavel), defending champ (4) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Saulnier 1-and-1), (7) Greg Rusedski (d. K.Kim from a set down), and (8) Fernando Verdasco (d. Monaco).
Lining up for the Friday quarters are (8) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco vs. Carlsen, (7) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. (2) T.Johansson, (4) Youzhny vs. Vik, and (1) Davydenko vs. (5) Kiefer.
Schnyder, Petrova Continue Year-end Charge at WTA Linz
Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Nadia Petrova, both vying for one of the final remaining spots at the WTA Championships, recorded easy straight-set victories Thursday at the WTA stop in Linz to advance into the quarterfinals.
The No. 3-seeded Petrova eased past Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson, while the No. 4-seeded Schnyder dropped only four games against Czech Iveta Benesova.
"In the beginning I started out aggressively, but I think I was possibly a little too mean," Petrova said. "I was forcing too much, and I was making too many errors -- I wanted to finish the point on the first shot."
Other seeded winners were No. 6 Daniela Hantuchova (d. Martinez who retired in the third with an arm injury) and No. 8 Ana Ivanovic (d. Paszek).
Also into the quarterfinals were un-seeds Ai Sugiyama of Japan (d. Dulko in three) and Sybile Bammer (d. Dushevina).
On tap for the Friday quarterfinals in Linz are Bammer vs. Petrova, Golovin vs. Ivanovic, Schnyder vs. Hantuchova, and Sugiyama vs. Peschke.
Clijsters Bagels Way Into Quarters at WTA Hasselt
Top-seeded Kim Clijsters helped her cause in securing the year-end No. 1 ranking Thursday at her homecountry WTA stop in Hasselt, with the Belgian topping Croatian Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem 6-2, 6-0 to move into the quarterfinals.
"I definitely played at a higher level tonight," Clijsters said. "I've played her a few times before so we know each other's games, no surprises there. I think I improved as the match went on, and I think I played closer to the level I was at this summer."
Other seeded winners Thursday were (2) Nathalie Dechy (d. Vinci), (4) Dinara Safina (d. Craybas), and (8) Katarina Srebotnik (d. Tu who retired in the first set with injury).
Un-seeds into the quarters were Dutch legacy Michaella Krajicek (d. Safarova in three) and Aussie Sam Stosur (d. Flipkens).
Friday's quarterfinals line up as Krajicek vs. Dechy, Stosur vs. Schiavone, Clijsters vs. Schruff, and Safina vs. Srebotnik.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
John McEnroe will be honored as the New York Athletic Club's "Man Of The Year" at the club's 2005 All Sports Dinner on Nov. 2. The annual event lauds outstanding sports celebrities, with past honorees including Joe Torre, Arnold Palmer, Tommy LaSorda, Rick Pitino, Pat Reilly, Phil Simms, George Steinbrenner, and Bob Costas. Also in attendance will be former NY Mayor and avid tennis supporter David Dinkins, singer Patty Smyth (Mrs. John McEnroe), tennis commentator and younger brother Patrick McEnroe, former doubles partner Peter Fleming, WFAN sportscaster Chris Russo, and MSG's Ted Robinson...Edward Black writing for The Scotsman: "Andy Murray has often complained of not being taken seriously by the British tennis establishment, so he might have allowed himself a little smile after being compared to "alcopops" by a BBC commentator. The contrast between the young Scottish streetwise challenger and the darling of the English home counties Tim Henman prompted the BBC's commentator Andrew Castle to describe the clash as "alcopops" versus "a good red wine." Castle, a former British No. 1 himself, did not hold back when it came to setting the scene for British television viewers yesterday afternoon. Describing Murray, he said: "This is just so urban. He is skinny up top with nasty little sideburns. He looks scruffy the whole time, which I think is marvellous, in total contrast to the gent here he is playing. It is the streetwise Scot against middle England...It's alcopops versus a good red wine." A BBC Sport spokeswoman added that Castle was merely trying to highlight the differences between the two players and his comments were in no way meant to be negative about Murray. She said it would be shame if the remarks were taken out of context. "Andrew Castle was trying to be descriptive and not disparaging. He is a huge Andrew Murray fan and was simply trying to capture the moment and the differences between the two players. Sometimes on a live broadcast comments made do not come out entirely as they were intended." Oh please, if that is controversy nowadays you Brits need to get with the program...Gael Monfils, accusing Gaston Gaudio of tanking their match Thursday in Lyon: "As soon as we started to warm up, I felt that he was not in the game. He was not concentrating, he was teasing me. I think it's a shame for the spectators who came to watch a real game of tennis. I took no pleasure at all."...Spain's Conchita Martinez says she will decide at the end of the year on retirement: "I always said I would finish the year and the year is not finished yet. My main goal is to make the (WTA) Championships in doubles and obviously I'm going to take care of my injuries and that takes some time. During that time I'm going to think of what I want to do, if I want to continue or not. I still have some good tennis in me. It's just a matter of being fit and being 100 percent all the time. It's tougher to recover now and when you carry injuries it's tough to play. I love tennis and I love coaching and I'm definitely going to miss it. If a good opportunity comes my way, I think with all the experience and knowledge I have in this sport, I wouldn't like it to get lost out there. If I can tell it to somebody and they can learn from it, that's a good thing." Like Martha Stewart says...According to our math, Andre Agassi has already clinched the sixth of the eight spots at the Masters Cup, joining Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin and Lleyton Hewitt. Two spots to go entering the final week...From Matt Cronin at Tennisreporters.net: "In September, the WTA gained Stacy Alastar as its new president but now is losing one of its communications' stalwarts, Darrell Fry, who is moving to Orlando, taking a job with Disney and getting married (in that order). We'll miss D. Fry's even-handed approach and the unique way that he mixed corporate and player PR. I'd offer the bright Silvia Farina Elia the job immediately."...If you want to see some French people go ballistic, wait until this weekend when Andy Roddick, making a statement that the ATP season is too long, pulls from the MS-Paris leaving it without a Top 6 player: "We are more than disappointed (with the pullouts)," Alain Riou, the tournament co-director, told French sports daily L'Equipe. "But it's difficult to comment on the injuries because we are sure they are real. It's a complex problem which does not have one solution." Sure it does, it's called 'Bonus Pool,' and it used to give the ATP control over coercing the top players to play the Masters Series events, before hard times hit and the ATP ran out of cash...Greg Rusedski on Andy Murray beating Tim Henman: "Murray will be the British top player for many years. His potential is fantastic and to beat Tim was a great result for him."
Friday Rage:
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