Davis Cup Previews; Haas, Ljubicic, Acasuso Win Titles

Posted on February 6, 2006

Davis Cup Weekend Features First-Round Play

This weekend features the first round of Davis Cup play for 2006, and each day Tennis-X will preview two of the eight first-round ties leading to the beginning of the first day of singles play on Friday:

Croatia at Austria
Site: Schwarzl Freizeit Zentrum, Graz, Austria
Surface: Red clay indoors
Ball: Wilson Tour Davis Cup

The Austrians will need their homecourt advantage, the slow red clay, and then some against the Davis Cup defending champion Croatian team comprised of Ivan Ljubicic and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic.

On Sunday, Croatian fans in Zagreb got a Davis Cup preview when Ljubicic easily handled the hot-handed Austrian Stefan Koubek in the final. Jurgen Melzer will join Koubek in shoring up the Austrian singles, with Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya likely taking up the doubles duty.

Melzer beat Ljubicic last year in their only career meeting but that was on the slick lawns at Wimbledon, and the Austrian has never faced Ancic. Koubek is now 3-3 versus Ljubicic, but those wins came before the Croat's confidence surged with his standing in the Top 10, and after injury has caused Koubek's ranking to plummet. As with Melzer, Ancic has likewise never faced Koubek.

The slower the dirt, the better chance the Austrians will have, so look for a mud bog in Graz and for the scrappy Melzer and Koubek to potentially make it interesting.

Sweden at Argentina
Site: Parque Julio A. Roca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Surface: Red clay outdoors
Ball: Pro Penn Extra Duty (Black Seal)

Did Gaston Gaudio injure himself last week in Vina del Mar?

If so, increase Sweden's slim chance against the French Open champion and David Nalbandian-led team on the red dirt. Agustin Calleri or Juan Ignacio Chela could step up in Gaudio's potential absence, or team in doubles against Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin.

Thomas Johansson and Robin Soderling will likely head the singles effort for the underdog Swedes, who injuries to the Argentines or not, will be the heavy underdogs on the dirt.

French, Russian Top Players at WTA Paris

Australian Open champ Amelie Mauresmo and hot-handed countrywoman Mary Pierce headline this week's 14e Open Gaz de France in Paris, a Tier II stop on the WTA Tour where the homecountry Frenchwomen will try and fend off a slew of top Russian competitors.

"The draw is incredible, it is hard to look very far ahead," Mauresmo said. "I'll take my matches one after the other because I really want to make the most of my time here and see where it takes me. It's not that easy to be back on tour after a great victory. I'll just try to surf that positive wave. The impact of my Australian Open title? I have the feeling it was a pretty loud bang."

The main threats to the French will be fellow seeds Nadia Petrova, Tokyo winner Elena Dementieva and defending champ Dinara Safina of Russia, Swiss Patty Schnyder, Italian Flavia Pennetta and German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

"There are many good players and pretty tough first-round matches," Petrova said. "Things will be hard for me, as early as my first match."

Opening-round matches of interest are (7) Safina vs. countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze, (8) Pennetta vs. Indian star Sania Mirza, and Nathalie Dechy vs. Marion Bartoli in an all-unseeded all-French match-up.

Wildcards for the event went to Schnyder and France's Stephanie Foretz and Emilie Loit.

In last year's final Safina shocked the No. 2-seeded Mauresmo 6-3 in the third, with Safina then losing in the three-set doubles final.

Returning champs in the field are Safina (2005), Mauresmo (2001), and Pierce (1998).

Zvonareva Out Front in Weak WTA Pattaya Field

No Top 25 players in sight this week at the WTA stop in Pattaya as Russian Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva heads a cast of title hopefuls at the Pattaya Women's Open Presented by YARIS.

Joining the Russian among the seeded contestants are Japan's Shinobu Asagoe and Aiko Nakamura, Colombian Catalina Castano, Israel's Shahar Peer, Spaniard Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives, China's Jie Zheng, and Italian Marta Santangelo.

Wildcards went to Argentina's Paola Suarez, Thailand's Sucharan Viratprasert, and Slovak Henrieta Nagyova.

In last year's final No. 3 seed Conchita Martinez defeated No. 7 Anna Lena Groenefeld in three sets.

Haas Edges Malisse for ATP Delray Beach Title

Tommy Haas reinforced his standing as a threat to Roger Federer's top perch in 2006 on Sunday, edging Xavier "X-Man" Malisse 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(X) in Delray Beach for his first title since 2004 at Los Angeles.

The former No. 2-ranked Haas has struggled with injuries and mishaps over the last few years, undergoing multiple shoulder surgeries and last year taking a forced extended break from the game after stepping on a ball at Wimbledon and tearing tendons in his ankle.

Both players struggled in the breezy conditions Sunday in Delray Beach. The tightly-contested match ending in the third-set breaker when the final ball sailed long after a broken string by Malisse, with the Belgian looked at his coach in disbelief before walking to the net to shake hands.

"I changed my racket at 5-4 so I wasn't worried about breaking a string," said Malisse, now 1-7 in career finals. "It's the only string I broke all match so it's just bad luck. I can't call it anything else."

Haas seemingly dictated play for much of the match but the Belgian would not go away after losing the first set.

"Obviously it was such a tight match, I would like to congratulate Xavier for playing unbelievable tennis today," said Haas of his practice partner. "It could have went either way with the tough conditions with the wind."

The lone seemingly obstacle for the oft-injured Haas to regaining his Top 10 status in 2006 is staying healthy. Although he is 0-2 this year versus Federer, he recorded a win over the Swiss at an exhibition during the Aussie Open lead-up.

"One goal I have is I would like to make the Masters (Cup), the final eight," said Haas, now 11-2 on the year with his only two losses to Federer, of his goal for the new year.

In the doubles final Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor defeated South Africans Chris Haggard and Wesley Moodie 6-2, 6-3 for their first title of the year.

Ljubicic Captures 2nd 2006 Title at ATP Zagreb

Ivan Ljubicic further reinforced his Top 10 standing and defending him home turf Sunday at the ATP stop in Zagreb, rolling over Austrian qualifier Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-4 in the final for his second title of the year after Chennai.

"Everyone said 2005 was my year, but 2006 started even better," Ljubicic said. "Everyone expected me to win this tournament so there was some pressure on me, but I did it."

The under-powered counter-punching Koubek was at a loss against the power of Ljubicic, which does not bode well for when their respective countries face each other next weekend in the first round of the Davis Cup.

In the doubles final, the No. 2-seeded Czech/Slovak pair of Jaroslav Levinsky and Michal Mertinak defeated Italians Davide Sanguinetti and Andreas Seppi 7-6(6), 6-1 to clinch their first title in their first ATP-level pairing.

Acasuso Wins Singles, Doubles at ATP Vina del Mar

No. 3 seed Jose Acasuso won the singles over homecountry favorite Nicolas Massu 6-4, 6-3 at the WTA claycourt stop in Vina del Mar, capping the doubles title he won one day earlier.

The Argentine Acasuso is now 3-7 in ATP finals, while Massu drops to 5-6. Acasuso entered Vina del Mar with an 0-2 record on the year.

"I am satisfied because I know I needed to improve my game to beat Nicolas, and I did it," Acasuso said. "I congratulate Nicolas and I know that someday he will win this tournament in his hometown."

On Saturday Acasuso teamed with countryman Sebastian Prieto to defeat top seeds Frantisek Cermak and Leos Friedl in the doubles final.

DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. A year's subscription costs less than a meal. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
More from Elena Dementieva on bageling Martina Hingis: "I love to do passing shots. When [Martina] started to come to the net, I could see she didn't like my groundstrokes, and was trying to change the pace. I was able to use those lobs effectively. I felt like I played up to my potential today. I just went for all of my shots and I was serving pretty well also."...How about Tennis Channel commentator Jimmy Arias just hammering booth guest Vince Spadea during the Delray Beach final, saying he needs to "get back to the gym" after appearing out of energy in his semifinal on a cool night, ranking on his long curly locks, and accusing him of tanking in the second set? Nice stuff, Jimmy needs to go off-script more often, actually makes you and Leif listenable...Kim Clijsters writing on her website that her ankle is healing faster than she thought and she may be able to play Antwerp: "I've been to the doctor today and he examined my ankle thoroughly. The ultrasounds have been looked again. The scar tissue is progressing well and I'm more or less pain free. So, I'm kind of ahead of schedule. According to one of the doctors I shouldn't be too surprised at that as he has known football players start again with a similar injury and this only after three weeks. Mind you, I'm not there yet. I'm seeing my physio three times a day and I should be able to cycle from next week onwards. I'm having a new examination next Tuesday and only when everything seems to be settling alright, I'll be able to cherish some hope. Of course I would love to play in Antwerp and I have repeatedly stated how fantastic it is to play for a home audience. And yes, I secretly hope to be there, but then the recovery has to be a 200 percent success. I can only start training in ten days the earliest, but I reckon that should be not that bad." Reckon?...Nice screaming f-bombs from Tommy Haas on camera and right in front of the chair umpire during the Delray Beach final, how is that not an audible obscenity penalty?...Lleyton Hewitt and wife are suing a Sydney restaurant for giving a newspaper pictures of them on a boat ride.