Safin Officially Pulls from Masters Cup, Coria Clinches Berth

Posted on November 3, 2005

Roddick Edges Dent for 3rd Round Berth at ATP Paris

Top-seeded Andy Roddick dodged a serve-and-volley bullet Wednesday at the Masters Series-Paris, defeating unseeded fellow American Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 to advance into the third round in a match he admitted Dent should have taken.

"He kind of gave it to me," said Roddick, who fought off all 11 break points he faced. "He had a lot of looks there in the third set. I didn't really have a whole lot of rhythm going. I think I'm fortunate to get through."

Winners among those still vying for the final spots at the year-ending Masters Cup were (7) Gaston Gaudio (d. (WC) Santoro), (9) Thomas Johansson (d. (Q) Vliegen), and (10) Dave Ferrer (d. Mirnyi).

Johansson next faces a Masters Cup elimination meeting against Ivan Ljubicic, who is also in the Shanghai hunt. Gaudio must win Paris to qualify for Shanghai, or reach the final with neither Ljubicic or David Nalbandian winning the title. Ferrer must also win out to qualify.

Other seeded winners were (12) Robby Ginepri (d. Verdasco in three), (13) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. (LL) Wawrinka in two tiebreaks), (14) Tommy Robredo (d. (WC) Clement), and (16) Dominik Hrbaty (d. (LL) Lisnard).

French fans had one highlight on the day when unseeded Paul-Henri Mathieu edged (11) Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 in the third, while German Tommy Haas ousted (5) David Nalbandian in straight sets, putting both players' Masters Cup chances on ice for the year unless more injury pull-outs occur.

In the lone doubles upset Wednesday, Frenchmen Carraz/Dupuis shocked (1) Bjorkman/Mirnyi in three sets.

Scheduled for Thursday in Paris are (Q) Tursunov vs. (3) Davydenko in an all-Russian, (13) Ferrero vs. Berdych, (9) T.Johansson vs. (6) Ljubicic, (8) Stepanek vs. Mathieu, (1) Roddick vs. (16) Hrbaty, (7) Gaudio vs. (12) Ginepri, (Q) Djokovic vs. (14) Robredo, and (10) Ferrer vs. Haas.

Dementieva, Petrova Stay Alive at WTA Philadelphia

No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva kept her WTA Championship qualifying hopes alive Wednesday, defeating German qualifier Angelika Bachmann 6-3, 6-4.

"There is extra motivation for me," said Dementieva, now within one win of making the year-end trip to L.A. "Knowing that I have a chance to play next week."

Other seeded winners were WTA Champs hopeful and No. 6 seed Nadia Petrova (d. (Q) Poutchek), and (7) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Koukalova from a set down).

"She played a great match, but I was able to break through on the important points, which was key," said Vaidisova who won her 17th match in a row. "This is my last tournament of the year, so I want to do really well. I'm not really thinking about the win streak, I just want to have a great tournament."

Unseeded winners Wednesday were Czech Kveta Peschke (d. Craybas 1-and-1), Slovak Martina Sucha (d. (LL) Haynes), and American Mashona Washington (d. Panova).

On tap for Thursday are Shvedova vs. Petrova, Sugiyama vs. Mauresmo, Peschke vs. Karatantcheva, and Raymond vs. Gehrlein.

Top Seed Dechy Tops Harkleroad at WTA Quebec City

Top-seeded Nathalie Dechy (d. Harkleroad), (6) Amy Frazier (d. Fedossova), and No. 8 Sofia Arvidsson (d. Keothavong) led the winners Wednesday at the WTA stop in Quebec City.

"There were a few close games and I was lucky to pull them out," said Frazier, a 6-3, 6-0 winner who will be appearing in her first quarterfinal since Auckland in January. "I was never confident a point was quite over because I thought she might get to every ball. She hits the ball very hard. I'm happy to get the win and move on because there are so many players playing well here."

Not so lucky was No. 4 seed Laura Granville, ousted by Slovak Henrieta Nagyova, and No. 5 Antonella Serra Zanetti likewise stopped in straight sets by Russian Elena Vesnina.

Scheduled for Thursday in Canada are Dechy vs. Salerni, Bartoli vs. Laine, Schruff vs. Perry, and Rodionova vs. Dubois.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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