Federer, Roddick Tested on Grass; Serena Plans Return

"The field for this event has gotten consistently stronger since the women returned (to Cincinnati) in 2004, and we're very excited about this field," said Tournament Director Bruce Flory. "It looks like it could be the best year yet."

While excited at the prospect, the veteran Flory knows that the chances of a Williams sister pulling from your event is about the same as rain at Wimbledon.

"We're tempering that excitement with the knowledge that sometimes an injury can linger," Flory said. "Of course we hope that doesn't happen, and we'll keep in touch with her agent about her health as the tournament gets closer. We are thrilled about the possibility of her playing here for our fans."

Nadal Beats Fish, Roddick Shaky at ATP Queens

Three players suffering through lackluster seasons turned their fortunes around Wednesday at the ATP grasscourt stop in Queen's, winning two matches on the day in the midst of a rain-backed-up schedule at The Stella Artois Championships.

Aussie Mark Philippoussis, who hadn't put together back-to-back wins on tour all year, led the way Wednesday with wins over South African Weslie Moodie and No. 11 seed Sebastien Grosjean in three sets.

"For me, I just need to play matches," said Philippoussis, who has been snubbed for a Wimbledon wildcard this year and will have to play the qualifying. "I just want to concentrate on this tournament and take it a match at a time. Whatever I have to do, whether I have to go out there and play qualies, win three matches, I've got to do that. It doesn't matter. It has to be done."

Also double-dipping were Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. (10) T.Johansson 7-6 in the third and Bracciali) and Taipei's Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (d. Bjorkman, (4) Davydenko 6-1 in the third).

Three-time defending champ Andy Roddick received a scare when the No. 3-seeded American was forced to battle back from a set down to defeat Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"I felt like I struggled a little bit early and I wasn't totally comfortable. Let's give credit to him because in the first set he played unbelievable," Roddick said. "But as the match went on I played better and better. I knew the beginning of the second set was going to be crucial, so it was nice to get the early break and go on from there."

Roddick's countryman Mardy Fish didn't have such a fight-back in him, going down meekly as the favorite against top seed Rafael Nadal 7-6(1), 6-1. Fish, who put on a brilliant display in his first-round win, tightened up against the French Open champion Spaniard, getting in well under 50 percent of his first serves and averaging almost one double fault every service game. At one point the gasping Fish offered up four double faults in a row.

"Seriously, this is a very important victory for me," Nadal said. "A very good surprise. I had only played 2-1/2 hours on grass since arriving here and it is a tough surface to change to. But I like to play here, it has a silence. It is a different sport."

Another American, No. 9 seed Robby Ginepri, continued his turn-around play with a straight-set win over Janko Tipsarevic, who earlier in the day beat Andy Murray to the dismay of British fans.

After a slow-motion meltdown that included mutterings, audible obscenities and whacking various things with his racquet, Murray in his post-match conference went to his familiar "I'm only 19" card.

"I'm ranked in the world Top 50 and I'm only 19 so I'm not worrying about things right now," said Murray, who is has won five of 15 matches since winning his first career title in February at San Jose. "I just have to win some tighter matches and play more consistently...I am obviously still looking for (a coach) and it is not the easiest to find. I think after Wimbledon and before Cincinnati and Toronto I should have found a coach by then."

Other seeded winners Wednesday were (2) Ivan Ljubicic (d. Sabau), (6) Fernando Gonzalez (d. Dupuis), (8) Lleyton Hewitt (d. Vicente from a set down), (13) Gael Monfils (d. Reynolds), (15) Dmitry Tursunov (d. Udomchoke in three), and (16) Paradorn Srichaphan (d. Y.-H. Lu in three).

Frenchman Nicolas Mahut turned up a turf upset with a three-set win over (7) Radek Stepanek.

Tim Henman (d. Delgado) advanced to the delight of British fans, joined by another un-seed in Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (d. H.-T. Lee in three).

"For the first time in a couple of years I feel comfortable with my style of play and I thought I played very, very well," said Henman, who says he is no longer bothered by back pain. "I would be the first to admit I have not enjoyed the last few of years on grass because I was not comfortable and was not playing in the way I felt I could or should. Probably 2002 was when the conditions changed and it has taken a long time to be able to adjust. But today was a different story and I feel if I keep playing this kind of tennis things are looking good."

On court Thursday at Queen's is Henman vs. Mahut, (1) Nadal vs. (Q) Verdasco in an all-Spanish, (13) Monfils vs. (2) Ljubicic, (16) Srichaphan vs. (3) Roddick, (6) Gonzalez vs. (WC) Philippoussis, Mirnyi vs. (8) Hewitt, (5) Blake vs. (9) Ginepri in an all-American, and Wang vs. (15) Tursunov.

Federer Tested by Qualifier at ATP Halle

World No. 1 Roger Federer quelled a challenge from an unlikely source Wednesday, defeating Indian qualifier Rohan Bopanna 7-6(4), 6-2 in his 2006 grasscourt debut at the ATP stop in Halle.

It was the 37th consecutive win on grasscourts for the Swiss who is fast closing on Bjorn Borg's record of 41.

"Well, as long as I win it's all good," said the three-time Halle defending champion. "Expectations are not very high in a first match like this. Especially coming from the (French Open) final, getting over it, more emotionally in a way, being exhausted from all the pressure. Then three days later being on a totally different surface in the first round best of three sets. It's such a big difference that you can't expect yourself to play well."

Also advancing in first-round play was unseeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement, who defeated Dane lucky loser Kristian Pless in straight sets.

Winners in second-round action were (8) Kristof Vliegen (d. (Q) Chiudinelli, bagel in the second) and unseeded German Florian Mayer (d. (3) Nieminen in three).

Slated for Thursday in Halle are Santoro vs. Clement in an all-French, (1) Federer vs. Gasquet, Safin vs. (7) O.Rochus, (6) Haas vs. Seppi, Soderling vs. (WC) Pavel, and (5) Berdych vs. Novak in an all-Czech meeting.

Sharapova Wins, Players Win Two-a-Days at WTA Birmingham

A solid 22 matches were played Wednesday at the WTA stop in Birmingham to make up for rain-outs earlier in the week, with multiple players forced to double-up on the day to advance into the third round.

Earning their pay with two wins on the day were Russian Vera Zvonareva (d. (LL) Kremer, Sucha), American Lisa Raymond (d. Morigami, (15) Stosur 7-6 in the third), and Bulgarian teen Tsvetana Pironkova (d. Sfar, Zi).

Seeded players into the third round Wednesday were (1) Maria Sharapova (d. (Q) Rolle), (2) Francesca Schiavone (d. Vento-Kabchi in three), (4) Elena Likhovtseva (d. (Q) Poutchkova), (5) Ai Sugiyama (d. Gajdosova), (6) Marion Bartoli (d. (LL) Mattek in three), (7) Anna Chakvetadze (d. (Q) Gagliardi), (8) Jelena Jankovic (d. Shuai), (12) Mara Santangelo (d. Vesnina), (13) Li Na (d. Daniilidou), and (14) Sania Mirza (d. Perry in three).

"It feels good to be back," Sharapova said after beating the American qualifier Rolle. "It was a good first match to have and physically I feel good now. Her serve is pretty big, so I had to take my chances when I could. It's great to be back in Birmingham. Every time I come back everyone is so welcoming and I love that."

Other unseeded winners advancing were Americans Jamea Jackson (d. (WC) Borwell) and qualifier Meilen Tu (d. (LL) countrywoman Osterloh), and Japan's Ayumi Morita (d. (9) Arvidsson).

Winning opening-round matches before being eliminated in second-round play were Stosur (d. (Q) Rodionova in three), Daniilidou (d. (WC) Keothavong, bagel in the second), and Vento-Kabchi (d. Ant.Serra Zanetti).

Scheduled for Thursday are Santangelo vs. Sugiyama, Jackson vs. Jankovic, Sharapova vs. N.Li, Likhovtseva vs. Raymond, Bartoli vs. Morita, Pironkova vs. Schiavone, Mirza vs. Tu, and Chakvetadze vs. Zvonareva.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer on the difficulties of adjusting from the clay to the grasscourts: "Getting used to quick points instead of long rallies, getting used to the slice serve instead of the kick serve, getting used to the little steps instead of the sliding. It adds up and is a lot. This transition is tough and this is why we have many players, who actually don't like this surface, who can't really move on this surface. Thank God I'm not one of them."...Fernando Gonzalez blogging for the ATP: "We're lucky to have wireless internet in the locker room at Queen's so while I was waiting for my match today I did a little web surfing. I'm setting a personal record this week. Yesterday I spent four hours online and the day before it was six. It's a really good week for me with the internet!"...Andre Agassi is scheduled to play the Boodles Challenge grasscourt exhibition at the Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire next week according to a BBC report, joined by James Blake, Mardy Fish, Radek Stepanek, Nicolas Massu and David Nalbandian...That was a hell of a choke for Mardy Fish against Rafael Nadal, four double faults in a row, be more intimidated against a player you should have beaten...Venus Williams is iffy about playing the team competition for the U.S. in Fed Cup, but not when it comes to the big cash, as the American has already confirmed her participation for next January at the Hopman Cup exhibition...Mats Wilander speaking with Reuters on Wimbledon making the grasscourts more hardcourt-like each year: "I'm personally very disappointed the way they are making Wimbledon these days. We're slowly losing the style of playing tennis which is the serve and volley. We are slowly losing that because the grasscourts in Wimbledon are getting slower and slower. I'm not sure what they are thinking in England because you have (British) players like Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski. England might be the only country in the world who don't actually try and (prepare courts to) suit them. It seems they are doing everything they can for them not to win."...No e-mail inquirers, supermodel Gisele is not dating Gustavo Kuerten, she just stopped by to visit his new clothing store...From Content-USA: "Hawk-Eye, the global pioneer in ball tracking technology for sports broadcasting and officiating, has been bought by the Wisden Group, the owners of Cricinfo. Mark Getty, a director of Wisden Group, said that the acquisition was a coup for the group which would strengthen its presence in the global cricket market and provide an entry into tennis and other major international sports. "In a relatively short space of time, Hawk-Eye has achieved a major impact in the way cricket is presented and appreciated by fans around the world," he said. "It already has enormous recognition in the sport and is now making a similar impact in the world of tennis. Wisden is cricket's most famous publisher and Cricinfo is the game's largest global website, so the addition of Hawk-Eye as the most innovative technology provider in sports broadcasting is a development that will reinforce the group's presence and influence."...Sania Mirza is in the third round of a WTA event for the first time in eight months.

Also see:
The Rafa Rules
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2006-06-14/61.php