Murray Could Pull From Nottingham; BBC Tennis Announcers Under Fire

Mirnyi's doubles partner Jonas Bjorkman also advanced to the second round by dismissing Agustin Calleri 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 in one hour, 17 minutes. The 34-year-old Swede, who posted his 378th career win, fired four aces and broke Calleri in six of eight opportunities.

Spaniard Feliciano Lopez snapped a six-match losing streak with a 6-3, 6-1 upset-win over No.3 seed Olivier Rochus. Lopez, who is only 8-16 in the season, dominated action during the entire match, going 4-for-4 in break point conversions and winning 83 percent of the points in first serve.

Defending champion Richard Gasquet opened play in Nottingham with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 hard-fought win over Spaniard Ivan Navarro Pastor. The Frenchman will next face Daniele Bracciali, who defeated No.8 seed Nicolas Almagro 1-6, 6-3, 7-6(7).
-- ATP

Davydenko, Ginepri Slip Up on 's-Hertogenbosch Grass

Top seed Nikolay Davydenko's career grass court record slipped to 1-10 after a 6-2, 6-4 first-round loss to German Philipp Kohlschreiber at the Ordina Open Tuesday. The World No. 6 had won 18 of his past 22 matches heading into the grass season but his loss today followed a first-up loss at Queen's to unheralded Taipei player Yeu-Tzuoo Wang last week.

Second seed Tommy Robredo, making his first appearance of the grass court season, defeated Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4.

Fifth seed Robby Ginperi's disappointing season continued when a respiratory illness forced his retirement against Fabrice Santoro. The veteran Frenchman was leading 6-1 3-2 when Ginperi was forced to stop. Despite sitting at No. 16 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings -- just one place lower than his career-high -- Ginepri has won just six of 21 matches in 2006. Two of those victories came last week at Queen's, when he reached the round of 16 before falling to eventual finalist James Blake in three sets. The American will now focus on Wimbledon, where in 2004 he reached the fourth round.

American Vince Spadea rallied from a set down to defeat German Bjorn Phau 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 and claim his first match win in three appearances in 's-Hertogenbosch. Spadea, who went 0-4 during the European clay court season, claimed his first match win since defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the second round of the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston in mid April.
-- ATP

Kuznetsova Advances to Eastbourne Quarterfinals

Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her recent habit of overcoming huge deficits Tuesday. After dropping the first set of her opener at The Hastings Direct International Championships, the Russian quickly turned things around, dropping three more games in a 16 61 62 win over Ai Sugiyama.

"I started off very slowly today," said Kuznetsova, seeded No.4. "It took me a while to get used to the grass, and she's a dangerous opponent. It was similar to last year here in the first round, and I had a slow start and in my last four matches at the French, too. It took me a while to get awake."

Kuznetsova showed her come-from-behind skills during her spectacular fortnight at Roland Garros. She trailed 5-1 in the first set of her quarterfinal match (which she ended up winning in straight sets) and was down a set and 5-3 in her semifinal (which she won in three). Her runner-up finish shot her from No.10 to No.6, her highest ranking since the 2005 US Open (No.5).

The St.Petersburg, Russia resident won her first grass court title here two years ago. That week, her semifinal and final opponents both served for the match in the second set, but her refuse-to-lose attitude prevailed. After winning the singles, Kuznetsova tacked on a doubles crown with countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva. However, Kuznetsova couldn't carry her successful play to the most prestigious grass court event, Wimbledon, falling in the first round to a qualifier. She became just the second Eastbourne champion in the Open Era to go winless at Wimbledon.

2002 Eastbourne finalist Anastasia Myskina swept aside Slovakian qualifier Jarmila Gajdosova 63 60 to set up a second round match-up with Jill Craybas. No.5-seeded Myskina posted outstanding grass court results four years ago, not only reaching the finals here but also in Birmingham. Last year, the Russian was stopped here in the quarters by qualifier Roberta Vinci before making her career-first run to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

"For my first match on grass, I was really happy," Myskina said. "I had a bit of a slow start, but that's normal since I've been playing on clay for so long now. It was a little windy today, but I think I handled the conditions well."

No.7 Groenefeld won her first grass court match of the season against Marion Bartoli, 26 64 62. The fast-serving German rounded out the clay court season in style two weeks ago when she reached her career-first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros. She also managed another noteworthy feat three months ago by crossing the $1 million career mark and becoming only the seventh German to do so.

Capturing her fourth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title in Birmingham last week, Vera Zvonareva kept her winning streak alive and edged Anna Chakvetadze 76(3) 67(2) 62. No.2 seed Kim Clijsters now awaits in the second round.

"It's great to be able to come here from Birmingham, where I had such a great week, and win another match," Zvonareva said. "It's obviously giving me a lot of confidence going in to Wimbledon. I was disappointed to lose the second set, after I had some chances to win in straight, but I'm proud of the way I pulled it all together again."

Other Tuesday winners were Craybas, Vera Dushevina, Kveta Peschke, Akiko Morigami and Shenay Perry.
-- WTA

Safina Will Face Schultz-McCarthy in Ordina Open Quarters

'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands -- No.2-seeded Dinara Safina picked up on grass where she left off on clay by winning her first Ordina Open match on Tuesday. The Russian ousted Maria Elena Camerin 46 62 61 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Dutch veteran Brenda Schultz-McCarthy.

Safina entered her first grass court event of the season in good spirits. Two weeks ago, she upset Maria Sharapova on her way to the Roland Garros quarterfinals. Her win over Sharapova was her sixth career Top 10 victory and fourth of the season. Last month, Safina had a terrific run to the finals of Rome, posting consecutive wins over Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"I think that for my first match on grass, I played well," said Safina, the sister of former world No.1 tennis star Marat Safin. "She was a tough opponent, and I was happy that I could fight through. She didn't give me any free points. She moves very well so I had to play well against her to win. I didn't play so great in the first set, but I kept fighting. I think I served well and used my drop shots well."

No.8-seeded Jelena Jankovic ousted Dutch wild card Marrit Boonstra 63 60 and will next face qualifer Alona Bondarenko in the second round. Two years ago, the Serb teenager upset top seed Nadia Petrova in the second round here en route to the quarterfinals. Shortly after the tournament, she broke into the Top 50.

Wild card Schultz-McCarthy collected her second match win in the main draw of a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournament since making her 2006 comeback. The 35-year-old toughed out a 76(4) 67(3) 63 battle with Marta Domachowska on Tuesday. Plagued by back injuries, Schultz-McCarthy did not compete in any Tour events between 2000 and 2005. Even though she has been playing professionally since the 1980s, she only competed in her home event once, in 1996, when the tournament was still held in Rosmalen.

Other Tuesday winners were Paola Suarez and Eleni Daniilidou. Suarez beat Jelena Kostanic 62 60 and Daniilidou eliminated No.7 seed Gisela Dulko 63 63. Bondarenko advanced when Li Na retired due to a neck sprain.
-- WTA

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARB
From Neil Harman writing for The Times Online: "Perhaps it was the sight of Tim Henman almost winning a match that got them overexcited. Perhaps they just got too involved. After a crucial line call in a semi-final of the Stella Artois tournament, an embattled Henman apparently looked away from the umpire up to the BBC commentary box for guidance -- and got it. Henman was leading Lleyton Hewitt 2-1 in the final set on Saturday and was within a point of taking the fourth game to deuce on his serve when he struck a shot that was called "good" by the base linesman. Hewitt screamed in protest. A split-second later, the linesman reversed his decision. Emmanuel Messina, the umpire, upheld the delayed call but Henman, riled, looked up to the BBC box where Chris Bailey and John Lloyd, two close acquaintances, were commentating. Lloyd, the former British No 1 and Davis Cup coach, is believed to have signalled that the call was wrong: the ball had touched the back of the line. This prompted Henman to demand to see Thomas Karlberg, the match supervisor, but the latter said he could do nothing to influence line calling. "Are you saying they (the commentators) are lying to me?" Henman asked, but to no avail. He lost the point, the game and the following four games to lose the match. Television pundits with their slow-motion replays are accustomed to sitting in judgment on umpire calls, but with Wimbledon only one week away the ATP, the governing body for men's tennis, is worried that commentators may have begun broadcasting their decisions to the court. The BBC is holding an investigation."...From Max "The Beast" Mirnyi blogging for the ATP: "One really funny thing had been happening several times over the last couple of days with [daughter Melanie] learning to speak and today was a "classic" one: With the support of the national football team in the World Cup so many cars in England ride with their flags attached. So, to get Melanie's attention from time to time we point our finger and say FLAG, FLAG, FLAG, so she looks and she quickly forgets whatever the problem was. Today at some point of the match when I lost a quick exchange at the net naturally the crowd started applauding my opponent (keep in mind that he is a Brit) and right after everyone stopped, and we were setting up for the next point I hear Melanie say F..K, F..K, F..K. Can you imagine?!!!! I of course kept my composure and stayed focused but I could just feel my wife turn red and get so embarrassed... Of course very few realized that our dear Melanie was pointing the finger across the court where some kids had little English flags in their hands in support of Alex [Bogdanovic]." -- Got to get a corral on that kid's Brit-hatin' complex, hyuk...Mary Pierce has pulled from Wimbledon with her ongoing foot injury...Two former Wimbledon semifinalists squared off in the Wimbledon qualifying Tuesday when No. 602-ranked Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson beat Aussie-Serb Jelena Dokic in three sets: "Her game is one-dimensional and it collapsed with the wind," Stevenson said of Dokic. "She was playing well at the beginning and I was surprised by it but I've got over my first hurdle -- two more and then the seven at Wimbledon." -- Nice confidence level for someone who likely won't get out of the qualifying...Andy Murray slipped on the Nottingham grass Tuesday in a win over Dmitry Tursunov injuring his Achilles, and may pull to be 100 percent fit for Wimbledon: "I slipped and felt my Achilles tendon jar," Murray said. "I thought it was bad at first, but now it just feels like it's bruised. Obviously this tournament is important, but it's not the same as playing at Wimbledon, so I asked (trainer) Bill (Norris), 'If I slip again and do the same thing, is that going to make it bad?' He said, 'Yes, possibly.' But he told me not to think about it and said I should play. I'll now take stock in the morning."...Russian Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva speaking with Tennis Week on her favorite players: "I like to watch Andy Roddick. Every time he serves, I just check the speed of the serve [laughs]. And (Andre) Agassi. I think (Marcelo) Rios was another player I liked to watch. I watched him play in Washington and I think he was a great player to watch, for me. I think he was like an actor on the court. And I love it because he was doing his show. Everybody knows it's tough to play in tennis, especially when it's 100 degrees. And he was like, performing as an actor. You can always see his emotions. He wasn't like just standing there, doing his job. You could see how he feels."...If Rafael Nadal pulls from Wimbledon mid-match with his shoulder injury, ask why he played an exo this week after pulling from an ATP event last week...Andre Agassi has committed to play L.A. in July...From Andy Roddick: "It's tough knowing that you're a better player than you were two or three years ago but not having a lot to show for it." -- That's excluding the Brad Gilbert period, we presume...Anna Kournikova tells Tennis Week she will play her fourth season of World TeamTennis, but a comeback is physically still out of the question: "I have a chronic spinal lumbar dysfunction. If I exercise a little too much it does bother me. If I start training for six hours a day on a professional level that's when it's really troubled. If I exercise one or two hours a day it doesn't bother me. I don't know how to fix that problem right now. If I knew, I would have come back and played already. World TeamTennis is very competitive, but it's a good level for me physically and personally (because it is) a very short amount of time so my back doesn't start to get bad...It's very hard to say right now. I don't know what the goal is right now. I'm just kind of taking a break and taking it a day or month at a time. Believe me, if I would know I would already make some sort of announcement or statement. As you can imagine, I get these questions all the time. Really, I want to be honest and I don't want to raise anyone's expectations or my expectations."