Kuerten, Gaudio Continue Losing; Sampras Joins Senior Tour
Posted on February 1, 2007
AROUND THE TOUR:
Many players, including top-seeded Maria Sharapova, headed straight from the Australian Open to the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo this week, where on opening day it was reaffirmed that U.S. American women's tennis is a loss unless there is a Williams sister in the draw.
American Shenay Perry was bounced in her opener by No. 5 seed Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-2, while qualifier Lilia Osterloh lost to No. 6 Li Na 6-3, 6-2, and Meghann Shaughnessy failed to bring the win home after winning the first set against aged Aussie qualifier Nicole Pratt.
The last American exited the draw on Wednesday when qualifier Bethanie Mattek earned only three games against China's Jie Zheng.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida's Mike Russell has had an eventful last couple weeks: during week one of the Australian Open losing to Lleyton Hewitt after leading to sets to none, then winning a challenger in Hawaii during the second week, then promptly flying back that weekend to Delray Beach where Tuesday he was eliminated from the ATP tournament there when he retired against fellow American Ryan Sweeting in the second set with illness. That's a lot of flying.
Both Russell and Sweeting will fly to Ostrava as U.S. practice partners for next week's U.S. vs. Czech Republic Davis Cup meeting.
"It's great to be with the guys and help them any way I can," said Sweeting, who practiced with the U.S. team last year in Moscow, speaking to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "Some people may say that it's a waste of time to go, but I find it extremely valuable," Sweeting said. "It's good for me to be around the best players to see their day-to-day routine."
At the Movistar Open in Vina del Mar, Chile, former French Open winner Gaston Gaudio was anything but, dropping to 0-6 since last year's US Open with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to fellow Argentine Carlos Berlocq.
In Zagreb, Croatia, Fabrice Santoro beat Guillermo Canas 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round, spoiling the Argentine's return to the circuit following a 15-month doping suspension.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Jelena Jankovic makes her Top 10 debut this week after the Australian Open...Maria Sharapova spends her eighth week at No. 1 this week, the least of any player ranked No. 1, right behind Venus Williams' 11 weeks...Ouch, no Top 10 and only two Top 20 players are scheduled to compete at the WTA event in Memphis, and zero Top 20 the same week at the WTA dog-sniffing-luggage stop in Bogota...Mtv on the Rafa Nadal Tennis video game, to be released March 2007: "There is one thing that Rafa has that Federer doesn't, and that's a video game that bears his name and likeness. But this isn't something he's going to want to brag about when hanging out with the likes of Maria Sharapova. Thanks to poor controls, a paltry list of game modes, and a lack of real-life players not named Rafael Nadal, Rafa Nadal Tennis double-faults in its Nintendo DS debut. Pros: Can be a little bit fun when played in short bursts with the traditional control scheme; Some of the swing animations are nice. Cons: Touch-screen controls are abysmal; "normal" button controls are better but still problematic; Other than Rafa, there are no other ATP players; No minigames; Poor presentation."...Vince Spadea on his silver metallic shorts and bad golf shirt debuted this week in Delray Beach, beating Simon Greul in the first round: "I got the new style this year. Spadea's making a statement whether he wins or loses. At least I don't have rhinestones on them. I stayed away from the glitter today...I let him off the hook and he really started grunting and stretching and hitting some good shots. The bottom line is; you go against me dog, you're making a mistake."...19-year-old University of Florida freshman Jesse Levine after beating Lukasz Kubot in the first round at the ATP stop in Delray Beach for his first ATP win: "I'm pretty excited. It's a good situation to be in. You know, yesterday my goal was to miss today's classes and now I get to miss a lot more classes."...Pete Sampras will make his senior tour debut at the Outback Champions Series event in Boston on May 2-6. "I am excited Pete will be joining us for Outback Champions Series tennis in 2007," said Jim Courier, co-founding partner of the Outback Champions Series who says Sampras will also appear in other events later in the year to be announced. "Tennis fans will have an opportunity to see one of the greatest players of all time back on the court competing against his contemporaries. As a rival, I'm looking forward to going toe-to-toe with him with tournament titles on the line again. As a friend, it will be great to get together at these events and do what we do best."...Kim Clijsters says on her website she is pulling from Paris next week with a bad hip, and hopes to rest-up for the Antwerp tournament at home in Belgium for Feb. 12: "Unfortunately I will have to give the tournament in Paris a bye. Otherwise I would endanger my participation in Antwerp, and that is something which I want to avoid at all cost."...From the AP on the joint ESPN/Tennis Channel Slam coverage: "ESPN and The Tennis Channel will share U.S. cable TV and multimedia rights for the French Open and Australian Open through 2011 under an agreement announced Tuesday. In August, The Tennis Channel bought the U.S. cable TV rights to the French Open previously held by ESPN. With the new deal, The Tennis Channel will air more than 100 hours of the clay-court Grand Slam, while ESPN2 will have 55 hours. Beginning with the 2008 Australian Open, ESPN2 will continue as the main network from Melbourne; it's aired more than 120 hours of the tournament in recent years. The Tennis Channel will now be able to show up to 100 hours of that tournament when ESPN2 is not on the air."...From the Gulf Daily News: "India's Davis Cup hopes suffered a major blow yesterday after Mahesh Bhupathi refused to team up with his estranged doubles partner Leander Paes. Bhupathi opted out of the Indian squad, led by Paes, for the away tie against Uzbekistan in the Asia-Oceania Zone group one from February 9 to 11, the All India Tennis Association (AITA) announced. Paes and Bhupathi had combined for India at the Davis Cup, Olympics and other major multi-sport events. But a fresh row at the Asian Games in Qatar in December, where Paes questioned Bhupathi's fitness after India lost in the team event, appeared to have ended the duo's Davis Cup ambitions. India's two singles hopefuls, Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj, also withdrew from the opening Davis Cup tie citing prior commitments, forcing officials to name an untested squad."...From tennis writer Matt Cronin: "Venus Williams is scheduled to play Memphis, Antwerp and Miami, but according to her mom, Oracene Price, Memphis is no sure bet...Oracene is now living in LA, taking care of her murdered daughter Yetunde's two kids. Now that's a grandmother worth applauding...Didn't hear any of ESPN's work during the AO, but did hear a lot of Australia's Channel 7. Jim Courier is a genius and Roger Rasheed has a lot of promise..."...The Aussie Open Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova final was the highest-rated and most watched tennis telecast in ESPN2 history.
Also see:
ESPN+TTC: Tennis on TV Becomes More Like...Tennis
http://www.tennis-x.com/xblog/2007-01-31/139.php
Serena Shows Fitness is Mental
http://www.tennis-x.com/vachblog/2007-01-31/38.php