Hewitt Loses, Hingis Wins, Nadal Reportedly Ready to Pull from Aussie Open

"I was a bit down in the second set where he broke to get back and I got a little upset where I shouldn't have, but it's the first tournament and getting it all back in the groove is what I've got to do," Philippoussis said. "It can only get better and things can't happen overnight, the only thing I can do is just keep working hard and I know it's going to happen. There's no need to get down and I'll move on towards the Australian Open."

Other winners into the quarterfinals were No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych (d. Murray 6-1 in the third) and unseeded Dane Kenneth Carlsen (d. Karlovic from a set down).

"Compared to my first match it was a lot better performance, so I have to be positive," said the Brit-Scot Murray after the loss. "I was disappointed I didn't serve as well as I can. I was much better on the ground, I came to the net a little bit and was moving well. You want to make sure you are playing better and getting closer and closer to your best with each match. It's a matter of being ready to go when the bell rings straight away. For me, the most important tournament of this trip is the Australian Open."

Friday's quarterfinals line up as (7) Nieminen vs. Serra, Carlsen vs. (2) Hrbaty, Malisse vs. Seppi, and Kohlschreiber vs. (6) Berdych.

Federer Through to Haas Meeting at ATP Doha

The bad news for opponents of Roger Federer -- he says he's starting to feel good.

The world No. 1 Federer put down a challenge from talented Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-3 Thursday at the WTA stop in Doha to advance toward a semifinal meeting with former No. 2-ranked Tommy Haas.

"I am now getting a feel for the big games," said Federer, who ended the 2005 season with an ankle injury.

Haas defeated fellow un-seed Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-3.

"Facing a player of Roger's calibre gives you an idea where your game is," said Haas, whose two wins over Federer came prior to the Swiss' ascent to No. 1.

Unseeded Italian Filippo Volandri shocked No. 2 seed Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 6-4 for a semifinal berth, while No. 7 seed Gael Monfils dispatched of Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 7-6(4).

On tap for the Friday semifinals in Doha are (1) Federer vs. Haas, and (7) Monfils vs. Volandri.

Ljubicic, Srichaphan Struggle Into Quarters at ATP Chennai

Top seed Ivan Ljubicic (d. Vanek) and No. 4 Paradorn Srichaphan (d. (Q) Gicquel) weathered second-set losses Thursday at the ATP stop in Chennai to eventually gain the quarterfinals, keeping pace with two-time defending champ Carlos Moya who Wednesday secured his quarterfinal berth.

"The only concern today was the transition during the match from daylight to playing under lights," wrote Ljubicic in his ATP website blog. "That gave me some problems, but it was the same for both players. And I'm not using that as an excuse for dropping the second set. Jiri played some amazing points to break me to go 2-0 up and he served well to hold for the rest of the set."

Also into the quarters were lefty (5) Gilles Muller (d. (Q) Bopanna) and unseeded Belgian Kristof Vliegen (d. (6) Schuettler), both in straight sets.

Friday's quarterfinals match up as (4) Srichaphan vs. Vliegen, (7) Phau vs. (3) Moya, (1) Ljubicic vs. (5) Muller, and Ascione vs. (2) Stepanek.

Top 2 Petrova, Hantuchova Into WTA Auckland Semis

Top seeds (1) Nadia Petrova (d. Brandi) and (2) Daniela Hantuchova (d. (Q) Obziler in three) led the way into the semifinals Thursday at the WTA stop in Auckland.

"It had been a long wait," Petrova said. "When we walked on court it was hard to get myself going. In the end it was a comfortable win for me."

Hantuchova looked the opposite of comfortable, spraying 70 unforced errors before edging Israel's Obziler 7-5 in the third.

"I think I aged 10 years," Hantuchova said. "I just tried to hang in there as much as I could and I'm really happy that I was able to pull it off. She was very solid and not missing a ball at all."

Joining the top seeds in the semis were (8) Vera Zvonareva (d. (4) Kirilenko, bagel in the second) and (6) Marion Bartoli (d. Schruff, bagel in the second).

On Friday Petrova will face Bartoli, while Hantuchova squares off against Zvonareva.

Hingis Bakes Bagel in Semifinal Berth at WTA Gold Coast

Where her mental state failed her, Martina Hingis' fitness level picked up the slack Thursday at the WTA stop in Gold Coast where the comeback Swiss outlasted Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 4-6, 6-0 for a berth in the semifinals.

"Instead of really taking charge and playing my game as I did in the third, I started backing up again and I'm like 'Oh, come on do it,'" Hingis said of her second-set slump. "And then I got tired and she started hitting the balls better and controlling, and I had to turn things around in the third."

In the end Hingis used her precision ground game to wear down her opponent in the third without dropping a game.

"I somehow would be pretty mad at myself if I had lost this match," Hingis said. "I had it totally under control and if I had let it slip away it would have been an unnecessary loss, especially winning the first two rounds and grinding it out, and now I had it all in my hands and just let it go and I'm like 'No, that's not going to happen.'"

18-year-old Lucie Safarova shocked defending champion Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-3 in a battle of left handers, overpowering the slight Swiss.

"She had too much power for me," Schnyder said. "It's simple -- she was just too good on the returns and putting me on the defensive. I felt like my footwork wasn't so good tonight. But I had a few good matches here, so I have some positives to take from this week."

Other winners were (3) Dinara Safina (d. (8) Medina Garrigues), and (4) Flavia Pennetta (d. (5) Golovin in three).

Friday's semifinals will be Safarova vs. Safina, and Pennetta vs. Hingis.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Andy Murray's coach Mark Petchey on the Brit LTA building a national tennis center, speaking to the BBC: "I think you have to ask whether that money is well spent. Where are the players going to come from to fill it? The centre won't be the reason Britain has Top 100 players because the kids will have to be produced elsewhere. If they are not being produced now then you need to go and address that problem rather than go and build a national training centre when you've only got five good kids who are actually going to use it."...Jelena Dokic has pulled from the WTA stop in Canberra next week with a recurrence of an injury to her left abductor...Venus Williams suffered a left hip injury in her win over Sania Mirza Thursday at the Hong Kong exhibition...The ATP stop in Chennai is drawing heat from local media with its problem in filling seats with fans at the event...Ivan Ljubicic writing in his blog on the ATP website: "My wife and I both woke up with headaches, with hers worse than mine. I think it's because we're in air conditioning everywhere we go. My wife may travel with me a little less in the first half of the year because she's studying to take the bar exam back in Croatia. She's thinking of becoming a lawyer or a judge. So the Australian Open will probably be one of her last long trips with me."...Andre Agassi has taken a wildcard into Delray Beach on Jan. 30 after the Australian Open...The Guardian is reporting that Rafael Nadal has been told by doctors to pull from the Australian Open or risk further injury to his fractured foot...Nicolas Kiefer pulled out of the Hopman Cup exhibition with back spasms...Matt Cronin of tennisreporters.net says Maria Sharapova will fly back to Australia on Sunday from the U.S. to compete at the Aussie Open...Thomas Johansson sustained a shoulder injury at the Hopman Cup...Marcelo Rios is apparently on the verge of signing on with the ATP European Senior Tour.

Tennis Injuries: Players, Fans Suffer While Tours Win
Newly-announced injuries to Andre Agassi, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova indicate another injury-riddled year in pro tennis -- but do tours, fans care?
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-01-06/c.php