Roddick-Sharapova Rumor Resurfaces; Murray Wins Under Gilbert

Posted on August 3, 2006

U.S. Magazine Confirms Roddick, Sharapova an Item

The latest issue of US Weekly magazine contends that Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova have been dating for over a year, with friends confirming the relationship.

A source for the magazine said the couple recently went public with their relationship at the Zinc Lounge in Manhattan Beach, where they were "beside each other all night."

The magazine also quotes a friend of Roddick's, saying the couple have kept the relationship on the down-low because of Sharapova's age, with the Russian former Wimbledon champ turning 19 this past April. Roddick is 23 years old.

Rumors swirled last month when Roddick was seen having lunch with ex-girlfriend Mandy Moore.

At last year's ESPY awards in July, according to ESPN, "After the party, the two retired to the Tropicana Bar at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and were still lounging together poolside into the wee hours of the morning."

This past January at the Australian Open, Sharapova spent more than one night watching Roddick play poker in a casino.

The Herald-Sun reported back in January from Australian that Sharapova left an IMG player party early to go watch Roddick play poker in a casino's exclusive gambling rooms. Sharapova also saw him play cards on a couple other nights, leading to more speculation that the couple is more than just friends, Fox Sports reported.

Murray, Hewitt, Gambill Win at ATP Washington

Andy Murray opened play in Washington D.C. with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Ramon Delgado in one hour and 33 minutes. The young Scot, who is making hit debut at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, was also playing his first match under the guidance of Brad Gilbert.

Murray, who had served a total of 170 aces in 38 matches coming to Washington, fired another 13 aces today. He also broke Delgado in five of eight opportunities and won 79 points in his first serve.

The 19-year-old Scot is currently at a career-best INDESIT ATP Ranking of No. 35, built on the strength of his 22-17 record this year. In his last tournament, at Newport three weeks ago, Murray reached the semifinals (l. to Gimelstob). He has won 10 of his last 13 matches, including a fourth-round showing at Wimbledon (l. to Baghdatis). He will next take on the winner of Teimuraz Gabashvili and No.12 seed Feliciano Lopez.

Lleyton Hewitt, the 2004 champion, started his bid for a second Legg Mason Tennis Classic crown with a 6-7(3), 7-6(5), 6-4 hard fought win over American Vincent Spadea.

The 25-year-old Australian won his first tournament in nearly 17 months at London-Queen?s Club in June (d. Blake). He has now won 13 of his last 16 matches, including a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon last month (l. to Baghdatis).

Hewitt, who posted his 425th career win today, will next battle Denis Gremelmayr, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over No.13 seed Bjorn Phau.

Last week's Los Angeles finalist Dmitry Tursunov also booked a spot in the third round after Edgardo Massa from Argentina retired with a shoulder injury when the match was 3-6, 6-1, 3-3. The Russian, currently at a career-high of No.29 in the INDESIT Entry Ranking, fired 14 aces and won 85 percent of the points in his first serve.

Also advancing to the third round were Americans Mardy Fish and Jan-Michael Gambill. Fish, the winner at Houston (d. Melzer), defeated Tomas Zib 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 22 minutes, while Gambill, a former World No.14, dismissed Janko Tipsarevic 2-6, 6-3, 6-0.
-- ATP

Confidence-Challenged Gaudio Ousted at ATP Sopot

Oliver Marach recorded the biggest win of his nine-season professional career at the Orange Prokom Open on Wednesday.

The Austrian No. 2 knocked out third-seeded Gaston Gaudio, currently No. 20 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 41 minutes for a place in his third quarterfinal of the season (also Poertschach, Stuttgart).

Playing only his 34th career ATP-level match, Marach hit 11 aces and broke Gaudio's serve four-out-of-four times for his 15th career win.

Marach, currently a career-high No. 87 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, will next play seventh-seeded Italian Filippo Volandri.

Volandri won his 19th clay-court match of the season in beating Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in one hour and 57 minutes.

Meanwhile, Carlos Berlocq won successive matches at ATP-level for the first time in his career on day three in Sopot. The Argentine fought back from a one set deficit against fellow 23-year-old Lukas Dlouhy for a place in his first quarterfinal of season.

Berlocq recorded a 5-7, 7-5, 6-0 victory -- his fifth ATP-level win of the season -- in a shade over two hours. He broke his Czech opponent's serve six out of nine opportunities.

Berlocq now waits for the winner of top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko or Juan Monaco, whose match has been postponed until Thursday because of continuous rain. Davydenko leads 7-5, 3-2 against the 22-year-old Argentine in his second round encounter.
-- ATP

Clijsters, Pierce Win at WTA San Diego

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA -- Defending champion Mary Pierce survived an early scare, Nadia Petrova was sent packing but Kim Clijsters, Elena Dementieva and Patty Schnyder posted convincing victories Wednesday at the Acura Classic. The Tier I event is the second of five tournaments in the US Open Series.

Playing her first tournament in six months, Pierce was pushed to her limits at the La Costa Resort and Spa before beating world No.46 Sybille Bammer, 61 67(7) 76(4). The Frenchwoman cruised through the first set in 26 minutes but lost momentum in the second set when Bammer raced to a 5-2 lead. Pierce battled back and forced a tie-breaker, but couldn't use any of her three match points.

Trailing 5-3 in the decider, Pierce recovered once again and, to the excitement of the fans, forced another tie-break. On match point, trailing 4-6, Bammer sliced a backhand into the net to end the two hour, 34-minute-match.

"It was fun, a lot of fun," Pierce said. "I don't know if I've ever been that happy and excited, being out on the court at a tournament competing again. I had three match points in the second set. It's difficult to lose a match when you had match points. When I got to the third set I just put that behind me."

Up next for Pierce is Emma Laine, a 67(1) 76(5) 64 victor over Elena Vesnina. After a formidable comeback into the Top 10 last year, Pierce has only competed in two tournaments this year due to foot and ankle injuries. Last year, she did not drop a set en route to her fourth of five career Tier I title.

No.1 seed Clijsters did not waste much time against doubles specialist Samantha Stosur. The Belgian needed just 53 minutes for her 61 62 victory and will meet Jelena Jankovic in the third round. Clijsters is arguably the most dangerous hard court player on Tour these days. The 23-year-old just defended her Stanford title last week and has now won 21 consecutive matches on summer hard courts. In addition to Stanford, she also captured Los Angeles, Toronto and the US Open last year.

But Clijsters knows that a tough task will await on Thursday morning.

"(Jankovic) moves really well," Clijsters said. "I've played matches against her where she defends a lot and others where she goes for a lot. My serves weren't great the last time I played her (Stanford) but I've been working on them a lot recently.

"I've always enjoyed coming here and I play well here, just have never won it. But yeah, I'd love to win this."

No.3 seed Petrova became the first high-seeded casualty on Wednesday. The Russian was upset by countrywoman Anna Chakvetadze, 63 67 (5) 62. Petrova, who ruled the competition during clay court season by winning three straight tournaments (Amelia Island, Charleston, Berlin) hasn't won a match since May, when she defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne in the Berlin final. Hampered by a right hip injury, Petrova made a first round exit at Roland Garros and has not competed since.

The win over world No.5 Petrova marks Chakvetadze's second best victory in her young career. The 19-year-old upset then-No.3 Anastasia Myskina two years ago at the US Open. She will next face fellow teenager Ana Ivanovic in the third round. Ivanovic swept aside Amy Frazier, 63 62, on Wednesday.

No.4 seed Dementieva cruised to a 62 62 win over wild card Ashley Harkleroad. The Russian is making her seventh consecutive appearance here. Her best result came two years ago, when she reached the semis, losing to eventual champion Lindsay Davenport. Dementieva played an outstanding hard court event earlier this year, making a run to the Indian Wells final.

No.5 seed Schnyder kicked off her 2006 San Diego campaign with a 64 61 victory against Gisela Dulko. The Swiss will meet Paola Suarez in the third round. After modest results on grass, Schnyder found back to her old strength on American hard courts, making the semis at Cincinnati and following up with a run to the Stanford final last week. Schnyder advanced to the quarters here last year before she ran into Pierce.

Other Wednesday winners were No.11 seed Daniela Hantuchova, No.12 Flavia Pennetta, Sania Mirza, Vera Zvonareva, Jankovic, Suarez and Laine.

On Thursday, No.2 seed Maria Sharapova returns to action against Zvonareva. Tennis Channel has live coverage from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. EST.
-- WTA

Gilbert-Murray Tops Tennis-X.com Coaching Poll

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JACKSONVILLE, Fla (August 2, 2006) -- Tennis-X.com readers put their faith behind Brad Gilbert, who coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to the No. 1 ranking, as the best pairing of the latest high-profile mergers on the men's tour.

Gilbert and Andy Murray are debuting in their first tournament together this week at the ATP stop in Washington, where the pair are in a unique position -- according to research from the ATP, Gilbert's prior American charges both won their debut tournament with the all-black-wearing Oakland Raiders' fan in the stands.

"It's definitely generating the most buzz," says Tennis-X.com Senior Writer Richard Vach. "Though most of the calls I'm getting are from tour insiders wanting to bet me how long it will last. Nobody is banking on it lasting the full three years of the contract. Brad is the all-American talker, a sports guy who likes to crack the whip. Murray is a sullen pale kid whose preference is sleeping late after an all-night video-game session. We'll see how that pans out. But Brad has results on his side, and it's hard to argue with results."

The British Lawn Tennis Association has kicked in to meet Gilbert's $1 million per year asking price, which will require him to spend time in England working with other aspects of the LTA's effort to produce champions to replace the aging Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski.

Murray, who earlier this year cut loose his first coach Mark Petchey, says Gilbert is the man he has confidence in to take him into the Top 10 and beyond.

"While growing up, Andre Agassi was one of the players I looked up to," Murray told The Independent. "He won several grand slams and reached No. 1 in the world with Brad so I am delighted to now have Brad as my coach. Back in April, I set a very high standard for what my next coach needed to have in terms of experience and Brad meets all the requirements. It's great to see that the new LTA are looking to bring in the best coaches in the world to help British tennis."

While 36 percent of Tennis-X.com readers said Gilbert-Murray was the best coupling, a close 31 percent thought Andy Roddick taking on part-time coach Jimmy Connors was most effective. Roddick immediately reached the final at Indianapolis after joining Connors, losing to countryman James Blake who has surpassed him as the No. 1-ranked American.

A staunch 21 percent of voters cited "Who cares" as the top coupling, while 12 percent thought the Gilbert-Murray and Connors-Roddick pairings were "even" or too close to call.

The players and their backers going head-to-head in hardcourt results will have to wait until later this summer, as Roddick is currently sidelined with a back injury which forced him to pull out of LA where the injury occurred, and he also pulled this week in Washington.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Hats off to India's Somdev Dev Varman for having the sports agency pull to get a main draw wildcard this week at the ATP stop in Washington. The 21-year-old has been slogging it on the Futures circuit for the past six years with only one win in 2004, and both his career Challenger appearances resulted in first-round losses. Dev Varman got fed a bagel set in his opening-round loss this week at No 343-ranked Edgardo Massa...From Matt Null writing for the North County Times: "After an Internet report surfaced over the weekend stating the Acura Classic has been sold to the WTA and would likely leave the San Diego area after 2007, tournament officials were quick to say "Not so fast." "I can assure you that both Raquel (Giscafre) and I intend to be here running and owning the tournament in 2006 and 2007, which is the last year of our current La Costa agreement," said tournament co-creator Jane Stratton of Promotion Sports, Inc., responding to the report on tennisreporters.net. "It is premature to consider what may or may not happen after that." The tournament signed the two-year agreement last year with the La Costa Resort and Spa. At the time the tournament began in 1984 at Balboa Park, it was called the Ginny of San Diego, with prize money totaling $50,000. Now in its 23rd year, the Acura ---- which has been at the La Costa Resort and Spa for the past 16 years ---- offers a purse of $1.34 million. The event has changed venues three times since its inception."...From X-blogger Lynn Berenbaum on the Andre Agassi exit at Washington: "I really thought it was going to go to a first set tie-break, so I went over near the end of the set. We were standing by the chain waiting to go in when Andrea Stoppini broke Agassi to take the first set 6-4, marking the beginning of the end. Agassi completely smashed his racquet to bits in a tirade while the crowd gasped and sighed at what they had just witnessed. No one really seemed to have prepared themselves for the second set yet, and I regret having missed the best of what the man apparently had to offer last night. Andre was hitting balls long, far wide, and into the net. Suddenly the younger guy was up 3-0. With every point Andre managed to win the sold out crowd rocked the place with cheers. With every point Andre lost the fans still cried "You can do it!" and whispered to each other about how sad it was to see him choke it. Darren Cahill sat at the baseline expressionlessly watching when, close to the end of the second, Agassi walked over near him and screamed something like, "I can't fucking see it! It's getting smaller and smaller!!" Soon it was over and the place went crazy. He immediately tried to make for the exit, but he could see all the fans waiting by the player tunnel, and knew he could never walk out like that."...From the Washington Times on Jan-Mike Gambill making the main draw as a lucky loser: "I found out when I was in the hotel last night," Gambill said. "It is a good opportunity. It is the first time I have ever in my entire career gotten a lucky loser." After turning pro in 1995, Gambill slowly climbed the rankings, reaching a career high No. 14 in the world in June 2001. Gambill remained a fixture in the top 100 until January 2005 when injuries slowed him down. He eventually was forced out of competition after shredding tendons in his right shoulder -- a crushing blow to a player who prides himself on serves that clock more than 130 mph. For the next eight months, Gambill couldn't bare to watch tennis. Finally healthy, Gambill has competed in just one tournament this year. He retired in the first round and earned just $520 for his effort. But Roddick's strained muscle gave Gambill a free ticket to his second main draw of the year. "I had to earn it all, so I know what it takes to do that," Gambill said. "When I first came out, I toughed it out in the qualifiers for almost a year before I broke through. It's a little weird coming to a tournament where I was on the poster before as one of the guys promoting the tournament and now I'm a qualifier. It doesn't matter. I don't have that big of an ego. I just like playing tennis and doing it my way and having fun with it, so that's what I'm going to go do. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out."...Highlights Thursday in Washington include (1) Blake vs. Safin, (14) Henman vs. (LL) Gambill, (16) Fish vs. the Agassi-killer (Q) Stoppini, and (8) Murray vs. (12) Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez...From the AP: "A federal judge ruled against tennis star Maria Sharapova on Wednesday, saying a Florida production company was entitled to market a documentary on her despite her agents' attempts to halt distribution. U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said Byzantium Productions Inc. was lawful in its production of two films, Anna's Army and Russian Women's Tennis. The documentaries did not violate trademark laws, the judge found."...From SI.com's Jon Wertheim: "We hear that Ronald Agenor, at the ripe age of 41, has entered the U.S. Open qualifying draw."...From the New York Times: "Nine years after christening its stadium for Arthur Ashe, the United States Tennis Association is adding Billie Jean King's name to the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The change will take effect Aug. 28, during an opening-night ceremony at the United States Open. "I'm still in shock," King said yesterday by telephone from Prescott, Ariz. King was aware the organization was planning to honor her, but she was still unable to temper her excitement. "I'd heard the rumors, but it's still a dream, and I just wish my dad were alive. He would have loved it."...Andy Murray after getting a "C" grade from coach Brad Gilbert after his win Wednesday in Washington: "He said I played a tentative service game at 5-2 in the second set. I was maybe a little too defensive with the weather. Working with a new coach, it's always a little difficult. You always want to impress him. I was just glad to get through. I think he was grading me on the American scale."

Also see:
Legg Mason Day 4, Adieu Agassi
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