Hingis, Dokic Feature Monday to Begin 2006 Season

Notable opening-round match-ups are (1) Federer vs. (WC) Ivo Minar who stretched the Swiss to three sets in a meeting last year in Dubai, (3) Gasquet vs. Tim Henman, Tommy Haas vs. Swiss comer Stan Wawrinka, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Weslie Moodie in a race to the net, (4) Grosjean vs. (WC) Younnes El Aynaoui, and (2) Davydenko vs. Christophe "Brother Roach" Rochus.

Federer's road to the final could include a second-round meeting with former nemesis Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, a quarterfinal meeting with F-Lo, and a semifinal match-up with Gasquet, Henman or Haas.

Brit Greg Rusedski withdrew from the event due to the impending birth of his child.

In last year's final Federer dropped only four games against Ivan Ljubicic.

Returning champions in the field are Federer (2005), El Aynaoui (2002), and Santoro (2000).

On tap for Monday in Doha are Haas vs. Wawrinka, (3) Gasquet vs. Henman, (7) Monfils vs. Zib, Sanguinetti vs. (6) O.Rochus, Hanescu vs. (8) F.Lopez, (WC) S.Khalfan vs. Baghdatis, Youzhny vs. Bjorkman, and Mirnyi vs. Moodie.

Hewitt Begins Injury Comeback at ATP Adelaide

Aussie former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt, who missed the last leg of the 2005 season including the year-ending Masters Cup due to groin and foot injuries and the birth of his daughter, kicks off his 2006 campaign as the top seed this week at the Next Generation Adelaide International.

"I've just been training a lot, five or six weeks now, obviously getting my body in as good a shape as possible...hitting a lot of balls as well as trying to get used to the Rebound Ace courts here in Australia and the hot conditions," Hewitt said. "I've been fortunate. It's been extremely hot the last few weeks. I'll be well prepared going into the three tournaments."

A two-time winner in Adelaide, Hewitt will be favored over the top "B"-level tour talent including fellow seeds Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty of the Slovak Republic, Spaniard Tommy Robredo, Davis Cup championship team member Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic of Croatia, resurgent American James Blake, Czech Tomas Berdych, Finn Jarkko Nieminen, and Gaucho Juan Ignacio Chela.

Opening-round matches to watch for will be Aussie wildcard Chris "Penthouse" Guccione vs. talented German comer Philipp Kohlschreiber, unseeded Brit-Scot Andy Murray facing a qualifier, (4) Baby Goran vs. French veteran Arnaud Clement, (7) Nieminen vs. hot-handed Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, (3) Robredo vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, (8) Chela vs. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, and (WC) Mark Philippoussis vs. "Rappin'" Vince Spadea.

Hewitt's testers en route to the final would include (6) Berdych or Murray in the quarterfinals, and (4) Baby Goran or (6) Blake in the semis.

Swede Joachim Johansson, still out with a shoulder injury, beat Taylor Dent for the 2005 title.

Hrbaty (2004) and Hewitt (2000,'98) are the lone returning champs in the field.

On court Monday are Calleri vs. (6) Berdych, Kohlschreiber vs. (WC) Guccione, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. (WC) Luczak, Melzer vs. (3) Robredo, and (4) Ancic vs. Clement.

Ljubicic, Moya Head Star-Starved ATP Chennai Field

Croat Ivan Ljubicic, who secured his standing as a top player with a Top 8 rankings finish and (legitimate) Masters Cup appearance in 2005, leads the weakest of the three ATP events this week at the Chennai Open in India.

Tournament organizer Vijay Amritraj attempted to put a positive spin on the field which he labeled "magnificent."

"The field is fairly wide open," Amritraj said. "Players like Ivan Ljubicic, the top seed wildcard entry, who has replaced the injured Spaniard Nadal, and the second seed Radek Stepanek were rising fast. Stepanek's progress to No. 19 in the ATP rankings followed a good year he had in 2005."

Ljubicic is joined by a smattering of talent at best among his fellow seeds in blank Czech Radek Stepanek, exception and former No. 1 Carlos Moya, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, Luxembourg lefty Gilles Muller, and former Top 10 German Rainer Schuettler and countrymen Bjorn Phau and Tomas Behrend.

Wildcards went to Prakash Amritraj (vs. Ricardo Mello first round) and Vishal Uppal (vs. qualifier).

The No. 2-ranked Nadal pulled from the event with a foot fracture.

Last year the top-seeded Moya beat the No. 2-seeded Srichaphan from a set down in the final.

Returning champs in the field are the two-time defending champion Moya and Srichaphan (2003).

Scheduled for Monday are (WC) P.Amritraj vs. Mello, Vanek vs. (WC) Uppal, Y.Wang vs. Vliegen, (8) Behrend vs. Daniel, (7) Phau vs. Reynolds, and Ascione vs. Greul.

Hingis Return Highlights WTA Gold Coast

With the top WTA players filling their bank accounts this week at the Hong Kong exhibition, former No. 1 Martina Hingis will test her mettle coming off a three-year retirement against a field consisting of only one Top 10 player in fellow Swiss Patty Schnyder at this week's Mondial Australian Women's Hardcourts in Gold Coast, Australia.

Also among the seeds are Italian Francesca Schiavone, Russian Dinara Safina, Italian Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta, Frenchwoman Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin, Japan's Ai Sugiyama, Czech Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, and Spaniard Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues.

In addition to Hingis, wildcards went to Aussies Sophie Ferguson and veteran boat-rocker Nicole Pratt.

Hingis opens against Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi, with a potential second-round meeting with the winner of (7) Kouky and American Meghann Shaughnessy.

"From what I've seen...Martina is looking amazing," said Tournament Director Liz Smylie. "I don't think you could rule out the possibility that she could win this event. I don't think anyone in the draw would want to play her, put it that way."

Other openers of interest are (3) Safina vs. Russian countrywoman Evgenia Linetskaya, and (5) Golovin vs. (WC) Pratt.

Maria Sharapova was scheduled to make her 2006 debut at Gold Coast but after failing to give sufficient rest to injuries, the Russian money machine announced in the midst of an Asian exhibition tour that she had aggrevated her shoulder injury.

Schnyder will attempt to defend her title from 2005 when she defeated unseeded Aussie Sam Stosur from a set down in the final.

Returning champs in the field are Schnyder (2005,'99) and Sugiyama (2004,'98).

On court Monday are Safina vs. Linetskaya, Yuan vs. Schiavone, Vento-Kabchi vs. Hingis, Sprem vs. Haynes, Schnyder vs. Razzano, Golovin vs. Pratt, Bammer vs. Bohmova, Rolle vs. Medina Garrigues, Bychkova vs. Pennetta, Gajdosova vs. Garbin, and Sun vs. Llagostera Vives.

Petrova, Dokic, Second Tier Russians Head WTA Auckland

This week's Hong Kong exhibition featuring top players Lindsay Davenport, Serena and Venus Williams, and Kim Clijsters among others is felt particularly hard at the ASB Classic in Auckland where Russian Nadia Petrova attempts to draw in Kiwi tennis fans.

Petrova is joined by fellow seeds Daniela Hantuchova of the Slovak Republic, Russians Elena Likhovtseva, Maria Kirilenko and Vera Zvonareva, Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik, France's Marion Bartoli, and Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

Jelena Dokic also attempts to make her triumphant return as a repeat Australian citizen applicant, facing Germany's Julia Schruff in her opener.

The unseeded Srebotnik upset the No. 4-seeded Asagoe from a set down in the 2005 final.

Scheduled for Monday are Srebotnik vs. Daniilidou, Petrova vs. Diaz-Oliva, Zvonareva vs. Suarez, Dokic vs. Schruff, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Asagoe, Frazier vs. Azarenka, Castano vs. Brandi, and Cho vs. Peer.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
That's a fine money-grab effort from Maria Sharapova, ending the year with a pec injury, yet still playing an Asian exhibition swing in December, then pulling from the Gold Coast WTA event with a shoulder (pec) injury -- short on money? needed some extra Christmas cash? or just not-smart?...Marat Safin's holistic healing strategy with his knee may have him missing a chance to defend his Australian Open title after pulling out of his pre-Aussie Open ATP tune-up events...Still waiting on the doping ruling on Sesil Karatantcheva for testing positive for Nandro -- do 15-year-olds (she was still 15 at the time of the testing) need Nandro? And did she really give the excuse that the positive test was due to an abortion according to L'Equipe?...Pat Cash will play doubles at the ATP stop in Chennai with India's Karan Rastogi...For allegedly drinking out of his wife's glass, Mariano Puerta has the distinction of becoming the first player hammered with a tennis ban lasting more than two years, with the Argentine expected to appeal...Former No. 16-ranked and 22-year-old Czech Daja Bedanova has retired due to recurring injuries...Rafael Nadal's pull from Chennai confirms that what was originally thought to be a minor foot injury that forced him to miss the Masters Cup was in fact a more serious stress fracture, one that could have him going into the Aussie Open without any match play (if he can play at all)...Nadia Petrova has a new coach in Alexsande Mityaev, 31, replacing long-time coach Glen Schaap: "We were doing quite well on the court but I realized he did not know how to handle me emotionally. I decided we should split. There were a few issues which needed to be corrected. He felt as my coach he had the right to tell me everything. He did not want my parents around. He was overprotective, and when there were changes in my personal life in July when I had a new boyfriend, he became even worse."...Tim Henman said he was sick of tennis at times in 2005, and 2006 may not be any better: "There were times in 2005 when I was sick of tennis but I looked at it in the context of over 20 years competing," Henman told The Times. "My school holidays used to be about which tournaments I'd play in. It's human nature to get just a little bored with it and that is the first time it had happened to me. I'm realistic; 2006 may not be a bundle of laughs. Now is the right time to say this: 2005 was difficult to judge because I wasn't right. As for 2006, I will not judge it after one week, after Australia, after Miami, after Wimbledon."...Kay Bullitt, who won two Wimbledon doubles titles and reached one All-England Club singles final, died in Louisville, Ky. this week at age 91...From the LA Times' Lisa Dillman: "You see, tennis wasn't all doom and gloom in 2005. After all, Marcelo Rios stayed retired...and Martina Hingis didn't."...Jelena Dokic is still only 22 years old, and looking for a new coach: "I haven't found the right person that could do everything I need. In the first two months of this year I would like to get somebody." Wouldn't we all...Goran Ivanisevic is expected to be announced as the new Croatian Davis Cup coach in the coming month...Michael Llodra will team in doubles in 2006 primarily with Arnaud Clement...The ATP Doha event will hold their singles and doubles finals on Saturday this week...Congrats to the WTA Tour website on the redesign, and condolences on still not being able to list the former champions in the tournament profiles pages...From Ivan Ljubicic's ATP blog in Chennai: "Happy New Year! I'm pleased to say my wife and I saw in the New Year at a players' party in the hotel bar. One thing I hadn't thought of in India is the need to avoid putting ice in your drinks. People have said to me that you never know what type of water was used to make the ice and it could carry some health risks."...Roger Federer finished No. 1 in the Xinhua News Agency's list of the world's Top 10 athletes, with Maria Sharapova inexplicably finishing at No. 7 ahead of No. 10 Lindsay Davenport who finished the year at No. 1 and doubles-bageled the Russian...Aussie Wayne Arthurs injured his calf in this week's Hopman Cup exhibition...Pity the Chennai sports fans who this week have to choose between the ATP event and the National Billiards and Snooker Championships.