Federer Says Beef with Nadal Not a Rivalry

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer on Rafael Nadal: "I don't think we can call it a rivalry yet. There's just to many great players around." -- Ouch, when you've won only one out of four meetings, and that one win was coming from two sets down, you could say it is barely a rivalry...Bad news for James Blake as Andre Agassi says he is available for the upcoming U.S. Davis Cup match against Chile on grass: "If (U.S. Davis Cup captain) Patrick (McEnroe) concludes that I'm his next best option and he can convince me of that, then I would play. A lot can go right for anybody in these next few weeks. When my game and confidence comes around and the pieces sort of fall, I all of a sudden can be playing a pretty high level of tennis. History suggests I'm not that far removed from doing that." -- Think P-Mac will say no to Andre and risk alienating him for any future D-Cup matches? That's a lock, unless Andre gets injured or for any other reason backs out -- that's ball in Andre's court...The top-seeded Bryan brothers have a tough opener in Indian Wells against Mahesh Bhupathi and Wimbledon winner Weslie Moodie, with the winner to likely face Chilean gold medalists Fernando Gonzalez/Nicolas Massu. Other notable meetings are the Swiss Roger Federer/Yves Allegro vs. Frenchmen Richard Gasquet/Sebastien Grosjean, and Czechs (8) Frantisek Cermak/Leos Friedl vs. Croats Mario Ancic/Ivan Ljubicic...From TennisReporters.net's Matt Cronin: "The WTA will move to hard designating more Tier Is in the future, but Indian Wells will have a tough time getting on that list because it's played just before Miami. Additionally, since the Super-Nine formula of hard designations has essentially failed on the ATP Tour with the stars choosing to play when they want to, it's difficult to see a similar system working on the injury-riddled WTA Tour either. Heck, the WTA can't seem to get the Williamses to play anything these days (even though they may show for Miami). Serena's fines must have hit a solid $300,000 by now, but she's not playing...We've been propping American junior Alexa Glatch for a couple of years now as the nation's most promising girl, but the tall blonde jockette took a major step backwards in November, when she busted her right wrist and left elbow when she slammed into a dog on a motor scooter."...Andre Agassi speaking with reporters at IW on Rog vs. Rafa: "It's great to see that the one person that's close to him in the rankings is his most difficult match-up. Nadal can hit that one shot that everybody wishes they can hit against Roger and that's getting the ball up to his backhand side. It's isn't brain surgery. Nobody likes it up there. That's the only area that Roger doesn't hurt you with. So it's great to see a match-up that lends for a rivalry for a long time to come."...Bill Dwyre writing for the LA Times: "(Roger) Federer meandered into a press gathering, dressed in a drab gray sweatshirt and dirty jeans, hair slightly disheveled. And suddenly, you had the Beatles. It was standing room only. From all corners, cameras buzzed, whirred and clicked. Federer smiles. Buzz, whir, click. Federer gestures. Buzz, whir, click. It was 15 minutes of "Access Hollywood" and, as an afterthought, some questions about tennis."...Results from matches Friday at the senior tour Champions Cup-Naples were Mats Wilander d. Aaron Krickstein 2-6, 6-2, 10-2, Michael Chang d. Petr Korda 6-2, 6-4, Jim Courier d. Mikael Pernfors 6-2, 6-4 and Pat Cash d. John McEnroe 2-6, 7-6(5), 10-6. Saturday's schedule in Naples is Courier vs. Korda, Chang vs. Pernfors, McEnroe vs. Wilander, and Cash vs. Krickstein...More from the tenacious Matt Cronin: "(Andre) Agassi told tennisreporters.net that his contract with Dubai is done, which means that there is a possibility that he'll play the Tennis Channel Open (Las Vegas) next year. However, he lives very close to the site and said that having the tournament the first week of March is very risky, given that on Sunday, it's scheduled to snow 2-3 inches at his compound (which means at the Darling Tennis Center, too). He was quite interested in how the tournament went, but isn't sure whether at 36, he wants to go out and play in 40 degree temperatures at night. If I'm (Tennis Channel Open Tournament Director) Steve Bellamy, I'm guaranteeing AA day matches...Tim Henman scored a 6-3 6-1 victory over American teenager Donald Young, who received a wild card. Henman said that Young is over his head at the pro level and it's time to stop giving the 17-year-old wild cards. The Donald has yet to win a set on the ATP Tour."...Marcelo Rios says he doesn't want to make the sacrifices to play ATP-level matches again, but that since he has been the No. 1-ranked junior and a No. 1 on the ATP, he is currently training to reach No. 1 on the senior tour...From Novinite.com: "Former tennis No. 1 Martina Hingis will play in Bulgaria for the first time in a grand April 28 show. Hingis and several other big names -- including Conchita Martinez, Lizel Huber and Natasha Zvereva -- will come to mark the end of Bulgarian star racket Maggie Maleeva's playing career. Mobile operator Vivatel is supporting the spectacular event, which will take place at Maggie's own supermodern sport complex. After more than 15 years as a top tennis pro, Maleeva decides to withdraw and dedicate herself to promoting the sport center and her fashion house Capasca." Maggie's own supermodern sport complex and fashion house? Maggie is the Donald Trump of Bulgaria...Testament to the perks of being an IMG client: Wildcards for "The" Donald Young and Mark "The Dud Scud" Philippoussis this week at Indian Wells, and against next week at Miami, and again, and again until they reach their max wildcard limit for 2006...From The Desert Sun: "A four-time doubles champion, Lisa Raymond said she's relishing a new role with a new partner." -- Won't touch that...Lindsay Davenport, who will likely again this year skip the majority of the claycourt season, is conflicted on the WTA Tour schedule, saying earlier this week she would like to see the women's tour make their Tier I stops a requirement for players like the ATP does for their Masters Series events, but yesterday at Indian Wells reiterating that she wants to make her own schedule in 2006: "At the end of Australia, I'm not playing 13 plus the slams. I can't play 17," Davenport told reporters. "It was still given to me (by the WTA as), 'You have to.' 'You mean to tell me you're going to make me enter tournaments and I'm going to have to look bad pulling out even though I'm telling you I'm never going to play it?' and the answer we get is 'Yeah, basically.'"...Lisa Dillman writing for the LA Times on Andy Roddick's coaching situation with his brother John, who it turns out was responsible for his late-hour pull from The Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas: "John already influenced one decision. After Memphis, Roddick pulled out of his next tournament, in Las Vegas. "My nature is you fall off the horse, you get back on and you just keep going," Roddick said. "He said, 'You know what, let's just calm down. Let's get back. Let's get to work a little bit.'"