Moya Exits, Murray Mumbles Along at ATP Barcelona

Seeded winners Monday were (10) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Vliegen), and (13) Gael "Force" Monfils (d. (Q) Galvani), improving to 2-6 on the year.

Brit-Scot Andy Murray (d. (WC) Granollers-Pujol from a set down) was a high-profile unseeded winner, joined by Spaniard Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. (Q) Klec from a set down) who next meets Rafael Nadal, and (WC) Al Costa (d. Spadea 6-1 in the third) competing in his last career event.

"I didn't do anything that well," Murray mumbled to reporters. "I didn't have any big first serves and didn't do much with my forehand or my backhand. I didn't play well, it was good just to come through."
 
Highlights of Tuesday play on the dirt are (9) Berdych vs. Montanes, Almagro vs. (13) Monfils, (5) Ferrer vs. Murray, (3) Coria vs. (WC) "Julio &" Galo Blanco, and Vik vs. (12) Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco.

No 4 Seed Seppi Slips at ATP Casablanca

No. 5 Arnaud Clement defeated Juan Monaco in straight sets and No. 6 Jurgen Melzer outlasted Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez in three, while No. 4 Andras Seppi was ousted by German Bjorn Phau in seeded play Monday at the ATP claycourt stop in Casablanca.

Other unseeded players into the second round were France's Nicolas Mahut (d. Berlocq), Italian Alessio Di Mauro (d. (WC) El Aarej), Algerian wildcard Slimane Saoudi (d. (Q) Skoch), and Czech Jan Vacek (d. Ramirez-Hidalgo in three).

Seeded players in action Tuesday are (8) Simon vs. Hernych, (1) Massu vs. Berrer, (Q) Peric vs. (2) Horna, (7) Bracciali vs. Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, and Behrend vs. (3) Christophe "The Roach" Rochus.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Server crash Monday, to answer your question...Rafael Nadal on his 42-match winning streak on clay, speaking with the media after the Monte Carlo final: "Yeah, sure, is important for me be the now the No. 3 in the history. Is nice, no? For (Bjorn) Borg, 46? 46, no? I need do the final, final in Barcelona for tie with him, no? Not easy, no. Any day, I gonna lose, no, on clay, sure."...From Patrick McEnroe on his wife and baby girl: "Melissa and Victoria Penny McEnroe are home and happy."...Justin Gimelstob and Andy Murray are making for a unique doubles pairing in Barcelona this week...Roger Federer on what sets himself and Rafael Nadal apart: "He plays very well every point of the game, you know. No matter if he's down Love 40 or 40 Love, you're always going to get the same guy. That's the same with me. That's what the lower-ranked players tend not to do, is they go for too much when they're losing or also when they're winning."...One more week and Amelie Mauresmo will tie Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario's 12 weeks at the No. 1 ranking...The WTA Tour and Wilson Sporting Goods have announced the signing of a three-year agreement through 2008...Japan beats Switzerland in Fed Cup? Nice effort Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder. Fed Cup = vacation week...Nice "blank week" this week on the WTA Tour, not like there was a planned "vacation week," rather a scheduling fall-out -- who dropped the sales ball there?...While Rafael Nadal currently holds at 42 straight on clay, tennis writer Peter Bodo reminds that Chrissie Evert won 125 straight on clay through 24 tournaments...From Tennis Week on what, from the pictures we've seen, looks like an ugly-ass line of shoes: "Andy Roddick has put his feet in the hands of a familiar partner and now you can too. Babolat, known for its strings and racquets, introduced its the Spring/Summer 2006 collection of Babolat tennis shoes. The collection features six models, each designed to meet the unique needs of tennis players."...From Indiaenews.com: "Singer-actress Mandy Moore doesn't want to talk about her romance with 'Scrubs' star Zach Braff because she regrets sharing too many details when she was dating tennis star Andy Roddick. Moore regularly gushed about Roddick to the media but has now learnt a painful lesson through a public break-up. She says: "I am an open book, to a fault, and that's fine when you are together but then when you are not anymore, and people think they know why, it is such a bummer. I ended up wishing I'd never opened my mouth."...French Fed Cup captain George Goven on their shocking loss to Italy: "The main lesson I will draw from this encounter is that we were inferior to the Italians in terms of physical freshness. It was a strange sensation because (Amelie Mauresmo) was leading for over two sets and even got a match point in her favour. Even though she was fighting hard she started to dominate less and less. But since she was still ahead I could not tell her to stop playing the way she was playing. Everything was fine until 6-4, 5-4. Then she played badly in the tiebreak and the match totally changed." -- George, it's called choking, there's got to be a French word for it, or the French would have created one in the Mauresmo era...From India's Financial Express: "Sania (Mirza) is trying beyond her capacity. To keep up with the pace on the tour, she is forcing her body beyond limit. She's only 19, she shouldn't rush things. My advice to her is -- listen to your body, work on your mobility on court and overall strength," says Kolkata-based Aparesh Roy, who has worked with Sania during Wimbledon, Dubai Open and Sunfeast Open last year. "For a player who is forehand-dominated, the same set of muscles get stressed over and over again. Also, the fact that she started playing well before adolescence should be kept in mind, since the muscles don't fully develop by then." -- Wow, poor Sania, if she is overworked when she can barely string two wins in a row together, pity her when she starts reaching some semifinals and finals...Daniela Hantuchova has again dumped coach Nigel Sears, and says she will explain next week in Warsaw -- the world is on the edge of its collective seat...Jana Novotna speaking to the Royal Gazette: "For me the women's game is in pretty bad shape at the moment. In the late '90s, every tournament it was difficult to predict who was going to win and there were a lot of close games. That is not the case at the moment and the women's game lacks a role model to inspire people like the men's game has in (Roger) Federer. He is a great ambassador for the game and he is also forcing everybody else to raise their standard which is not happening on the women's side." -- Apparently Jana hasn't gotten the WTA talking-point memo that the Top 5 players all taking turns winning titles then getting injured represents "parity."...Either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal have won 11 of the last 12 Masters Series events.

Also see:
Nadal Deep in Federer Headspace
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-04-25/c.php