Roddick Flakes in Delray, Sharapova Leads Russians in Tokyo

Few opening-round matches of interest await Monday and Tuesday play due to the shallow field, but later-round match-ups with crowd potential include (4) Haas vs. (7) Muller in the quarters, and (2) Ginepri vs. (WC) Fish in the second round, with the winner to face (8) Spadea. Ginepri opens against Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee, Fish against Germany's Simon Greul, and Spadea against Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang.

Agassi's road to the final is even smoother, with an opener against Brazil's 2004 Delray winner Ricardo Mello "Yello," then the winner of Bobby Reynolds "Wrap" and Ramon Delgado, with a potential quarterfinal against (5) Moodie and a semi against (3) Malisse.

In last year's final the No. 3-seeded Malisse upset No. 2 seed Jiri Novak in straight sets. Novak has yet to play an event in 2006, missing the Australian swing with a foot injury.

On court Monday are (1) Agassi vs. Mello, (WC) Fish vs. Greul, Gimelstob vs. Udomchoke, (Q) Widom vs. (5) Moodie, (8) Spadea vs. Wang, Phau vs. Garcia-Lopez, Berrer vs. (6) Mayer in an all-German, and Marach vs. Saulnier.

Top Seed Ljubicic v Murray in Opener at ATP Zagreb

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic will test his Top 10 mettle against the fastest-rising player on the ATP tour when the Croatian faces Scotland's Andy Murray in his opener at the Zagreb Open this week.

Ousted by upstart Marcos Baghdatis last week at the Australian Open en route to the Cypriot reaching the final, Ljubicic will be out to regain his momentum against Murray in their first-time meeting.

Seeded players joining Ljubicic in Croatia are Spaniards David Ferrer and Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, French hope Richard Gasquet, Czech Radek Stepanek, homecountry favorite Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Finn Jarkko Nieminen and Russian Igor Andreev.

Wildcards for the event went to Murray, Gasquet and Croatian Marin Cilic.

Other opening-round matches of interest are (8) F-Lo vs. comeback Swede Robin Soderling, struggling Brit Tim Henman vs. fellow veteran Arnaud Clement, (6) Baby Goran vs. Russian Dmitry Tursunov, homecountry favorite "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. former Top 10er Rainer Schuettler, and (2) Ferrer vs. rising Swiss Stan Wawrinka.

The inaugural Croatian event will be held at the Dom Sportova Arena, which has hosted Croatian Davis Cup matches in the past and can accommodate up to 7,400 spectators on the center court.

On court Monday in Zagreb are Djokovic vs. Vik, (7) Andreev vs. (WC) Cilic, Clement vs. Henman, and Starace vs. (6) Nieminen.

Chileans Gonzo, Massu Head Dirt Field at ATP Vina del Mar

Seeds Carlos Berlocq and Boris Pashanski? Yikes.

Former French Open champ Gaston Gaudio heads the field this week in Chile at the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar where homegrown dirtballers Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu round out the seasoned competitors before the field quality drops off the ledge into challenger territory.

Also among the seeds joining the household names Berlocq and Pashanski, who have never been seeded at or are accustomed to gaining direct entry into tour events, are tour "C"-squader Argentines Jose Acasuso and Agustin Calleri, and Spaniard Al Montanes.

In last year's final Gaudio raised the trophy after dismissing Gonzalez in straight sets.

Past champions in the field are Gaudio (2005) and Gonzalez (2004,'02).

Three-time French Open champion and 2000 Vina del Mar champ Gustavo Kuerten was ready to make his 2006 debut at the event before twisting his ankle late last week and withdrawing.

"It was a pity this happened right now," Kuerten said. "I was ready to compete."

Scheduled for Monday are Vicente vs. (4) Calleri, (1) Gaudio vs. (WC) Parada, (5) Massu vs. Daniel, Monaco vs. (6) Montanes, Del Potro vs. Portas, (WC) Aguilar vs. (WC) Hormazabal in an all-Chilean, (Q) Cuadrado vs. Behrend, and (Q) Marcaccio vs. Horna.

Sharapova Leads Russian Charge at WTA Tokyo

Officially titled the Toray Pan Pacific Open, Maria Sharapova will be renaming this week's WTA stop in Tokyo the Russian Open as she leads fellow seeds Elena Dementieva, Anastasia Myskina and Elena Likhovtseva toward a title effort.

Non-Russians among the seeds in Tokyo are France's Nathalie Dechy, Czech Nicole Vaidisova, Slovak Daniela Hantuchova, and Serb bombshell Ana Ivanovic.

Lindsay Davenport was forced to withdraw from the event after turning her ankle at the Australian Open, and Serena Williams backed out of the event saying she was "not ready."

Opening-round matches of interest include (6) Hantuchova vs. Serb Jelena Jankovic, four-time Tokyo winner (WC) Martina Hingis vs. homegrown talent Akiko Morigami, (8) Ivanovic vs. Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama, and (7) Likhovtseva vs. homegirl Shinobu Asagoe.

In last year's final Sharapova beat the top-seeded Davenport 7-6 in the third.

Play begins on Tuesday in Tokyo.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer on his tearful breakdown accepting the Aussie Open trophy: "I think after seeing, you know, he was struggling all of a sudden with the cramp on his calf muscle, I knew I was in very good shape, but I had to stay focused. So many things go through your head about the win already because you think, "Well, now nothing can go wrong." But as we saw, it was still quite a long way to the finish line. I was getting I think emotionally ready for that sort of, which normally you shouldn't, but I can't block it out. I'm also just human. And I guess, you know, when I won, I was so relieved that I got it through. Wasn't emotional in the first minute, except the relief. It only came out later when I was standing there with Marcos waiting for the ceremony. I was very relaxed. Once I got up on stage, it all changed." Coming off his Aussie Open win, Federer is on the verge of potentially letting down his legion of fans, announcing in the next couple days whether he will pass on representing Switzerland in the Davis Cup first round against Australia. With Lleyton Hewitt already announcing he is too injured to play, a Federer-led team would be a virtual lock to advance into the second round...Boo-birds to ESPN USA Sunday in their re-broadcast of the Aussie Open men's final that was originally shown at 3:30 a.m. (EST), fast-forwarding through the third set then failing to show Roger Federer's tearful acceptance speech...Martina Hingis on Amelie Mauresmo's Aussie Open win: "Well, I think Amelie deserved it, even though she made the opponent always -- she had the ability to finish off the matches. She didn't show any nerves. She end up winning. Doesn't matter how, she's going to be the champion hanging on the poster next year."...Jelena Dokic is basing herself in Monte Carlo...Amelie Mauresmo revealed she suffered through a neck injury during the second week of the Australian Open: "I couldn't move my neck for three days. But it didn't show, so that's good. I guess my physio did a great job during this week because I was pretty bad at some point and he did some good work. I started feeling that a little bit against [Nicole] Vaidisova. It was strange because that day I couldn't move," she said. "I woke up and I couldn't move my neck. So I had to use different things to work things around. So I thought 'Yeah, mentally you're capable of doing that, you're capable of using other strengths that you are used to.' I think it helped me to get past the other rounds. I didn't panic at any time. I was really struggling in my first two matches here and then things got better and better. I really felt my rhythm was coming pretty strong in the fourth round and then the quarterfinals."...Jon Wertheim scribing for SI.com: "I think it's always dangerous to question decisions athletes make about their bodies. Too many tennis players have harmed themselves playing through pain. (see: Clijsters, Kim.) And while other players have "booted and rallied" or gritted out heroic comebacks -- Mauresmo said she was prepared "to die" on the court -- we have no way of knowing just how lousily JH-H felt. I suppose it would have been nice had she gone through the motions for 14 more points so Mauresmo could have won conventionally. But would we then be chastising her for tanking?"...The retired Brenda Schultz-McCarthy won a qualifying match at Tokyo before getting knocked out...From The Australian: "Punters who staked their hard-earned money on Amelie Mauresmo to win the women's singles final on Saturday got a rude shock when it came time to collect from TAB Sportsbet. Even though Mauresmo's name is on the Australian Open trophy, all that unsuspecting punters got for their outlay was their original stake. "The rule states if a match is not completed all bets on the result are null and void and their original stake money is automatically refunded," TAB Sportsbet spokesman Glenn Munsie said yesterday."...Nice of Andre Agassi to swing wildcards for the formerly-retired Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian at Delray Beach and San Jose...Socket on the X-Discussion board: "Hewitt knows that TA won't change the Rebound Ace surface for him. But he's also miffed about the fact that they won't sell the Fanatics blocks of tickets for RLA, which means that either Lleyton has scrounge around for, and pay for, the tickets (which he did last year) or the Fanatics don't get to sit together on RLA. This year, TA wouldn't accommodate the Fanatics, but they did accommodate Baghdatis' fans, which is what supposedly really ticked Hewitt off. 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But I agree that Roger Federer will take his triumph here in four sets over the upstart Marcos Baghdatis and become the first man since the legendary Aussie Rod Laver in 1969 to accomplish the feat."
 
Also see:
Roddick Weekend Flake-Out in Delray Beach Raises Questions
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-01-29/c.php