Hingis, Baghdatis Win Titles; Blake Rained Out in Delray
Posted on February 5, 2007
Weekend Wrap:
Toray Pan Pacific Open
Tokyo, Japan
Finals:
(2) Martina Hingis (SUI) d. (5) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-4, 6-2
(1) Raymond/Stosur (USA/AUS) d. V.King/Stubbs (USA/AUS) 7-6(6), 3-6, 7-5
Hingis reverses an 0-1 record versus the Serb, thrashing Ivanovic in 71 minutes. Raymond/Stosur, the world No. 1 team in 2006, successfully defend their title. Top seed Maria Sharapova retired against Ivanovic in the semis with a hamstring injury.
Delray Beach International Tennis Championships
Delray Beach, FL, USA
Finals:
(1) James Blake (USA) leads (3) Xavier Malisse (BEL) 7-5, 3-3, postponed due to rain.
(4) Auckland/Huss (GBR/AUS) vs. Armando/Malisse (USA/BEL), postponed due to rain.
Singles final will resume at 10 a.m. Monday, to be followed by the doubles final.
PBZ Zagreb Indoors
Zagreb, Croatia
Finals:
(2) Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) d. (1) Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4
Kohlmann/Waske (GER) d. (4) Cermak/Levinsky (CZE) 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-5
Baghdatis improves to 3-0 career versus the Croat, Ljubicic falls to 7-10 in career finals.
Movistar Open
Vina del Mar, Chile
Finals:
(5) Luis Horna (PER) d. (3) Nicolas Massu (CHI) 7-5, 6-3
Capdeville/O.Hernandez (CHI/ESP) d. Montanes/Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP) 4-6, 6-4, 10-6
Horna reverses 0-4 mark versus Massu, who finishes runner-up at his homecountry event for the second straight year. "I'm really sad," Massu said. "I really don't know what to think. I'm not surprised about today's result. I played really bad the entire week, except yesterday, and I still made it to the final somehow."
THIS WEEK ON TOUR:
Open Gaz de France
Paris, France
Seeds:
1. Justine Henin (BEL)
2. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)
3. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)
4. Nadia Petrova (RUS)
5. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)
6. Patty Schnyder (SUI)
7. Dinara Safina (RUS)
8. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)
Pattaya Women's Open
Pattaya City, Thailand
Seeds:
1. Marion Bartoli (FRA)
2. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)
3. Mara Santangelo (ITA)
4. Peng Shuai (CHN)
5. Sania Mirza (IND)
6. Gisela Dulko (ARG)
7. Vasilisa Bardina (RUS)
8. Aiko Nakamura (JPN)
Davis Cup World Group -- First Round
Chile vs. Russia
France vs. Romania
Germany vs. Croatia
Belgium vs. Australia
Czech Republic vs. USA
Switzerland vs. Spain
Belarus vs. Sweden
Austria vs. Argentina
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Roger Federer thinks he will play on until at least 30 years of age, speaking in Dubai where he unveiled another sponsor, Gillette, that he shares with Tiger Woods: "I enjoy the battle so much on the tennis court with my opponent, practice is also fun. But playing in front of all the fans, enjoying the applause and everything, that's what will keep me going in tennis for at least the next five years."...From SportBusiness: "IEC in Sports expanded its relationship with the Swedish ATP tournament, the Catella Swedish Open, in a new deal leading up to 2010. Under the new deal, IEC will take care of worldwide media distribution and all host broadcasting functions at the venue in Bastad. "The new deal reflects the rapid change in the media landscape. Hence we will focus on adopting the media output from the event into products aimed for IPTV, DTB-H, HDTV and all new forms of media," says Jonas Persson, CEO of IEC in Sports. "The Catella Swedish Open will very much be a showcase in event management and media development." IEC in Sports distributes around 50 tennis events per year from the ATP, WTA and senior tours plus a number of exhibition events. The Swedish Open was the first tennis event the Sweden-based-agency started to work with back in 1996."...James Blake on the rained-out Delray Beach final: "I'm supposed to be leaving tomorrow out of Tampa at Noon and that's clearly not going to happen. (U.S. Davis Cup captain) Patrick's (McEnroe) not going to be too happy with me but I don't know when I'll be able to get there now. I've gotta go back to the hotel and start dealing with the travel agents and figure out the best possible option. (Opponent Xavier Malisse and I) were both sitting watching the Super Bowl together. He's a good friend of mine so we'll talk but he's got a few people with him and I've got my coach and my trainer here with me so we kind of have our own little sections. But when we are together, we're good friends." Malisse had his "money on the Bears" in the Super Bowl...ESPN's Bill Simmons reminiscing on Anna Kournikova: "She entered Wimbledon with a ton of hype and enraged the old guard to no end. You could feel the venom from Carillo, King and Navratilova throughout the HBO coverage. It was palpable and fantastic. Every time Anna nailed a winner down the baseline, you kept expecting one of them to snap and scream, "WHORE! WHORE!" I wish ESPN Classic would create a weekly show called "Classic Kournikova" just so we could relive the announcing from those matches -- it's never been approached before or since. Actually, I wish ESPN Classic would create a weekly show called "Classic Kournikova" just so there would be a show called "Classic Kournikova." Like you wouldn't watch this?"...Insurance company Hastings Direct has ended its four-year sponsorship of Eastbourne's WTA event, and the British Lawn Tennis Association says the event will go ahead this year with or without a major sponsor...Elena Dementieva pulled from Paris with a groin strain...Xavier Malisse criticizing the round-robin format at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, needing to win a set to advance out of the round robin portion into the quarterfinals, losing to Rainer Schuttler 6-7(4), 7-6(1), 6-3: "It's just I knew I had to win one set, and I won the first set and there was no motivation anymore. It's a different mentality. You win a set and what are you playing for, there's nothing to it anymore."...Lindsay Davenport speaking to the LA Times on meeting husband Jon Leach: "I did have one memory of Jon. I had gone to Ojai four or five years before that. I was already a pro and it was some sponsorship thing. I ended up watching Jon play a match. And pretty soon, he is getting warnings from the umpire for bad behavior and finally, he says to the umpire, 'What would you do if I did this?' And he took his racket and broke it over his leg. Of course, they defaulted him and I kind of laughed. Had somebody told me then that this would be my husband, the father of my children, I would have told them they were crazy."