U.S., Sweden, Germany, Russia Win; Tournament Previews

Germany d. Belgium 3-2
The home court was no advantage for the Belgians, who were swept by the Germans 3-0 by Saturday. Tommy Haas (d. Kristof Vliegen) and Philipp Kohlschreiber (d. Olivier Rochus) did the job in singles, with Michael Kohlmann and Alexander Waske clinching the tie on Saturday, coming from a set down to win in four.

Russia d. France 3-2
Marat Safin proves the hero in the deciding fifth-match rubber Sunday, defeating France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-2. Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev put Russia up 2-1 after the Saturday doubles, but France's Sebastien Grosjean extended the drama in the first singles Sunday with a five-set victory over Andreev. Russia will host Germany in the semifinals.

WTA Charleston Soldiers On After Pull-Outs

Having five of the Top 6 players in the world turned to Nicole Vaidisova and Jelena Jankovic headlining the Family Circle Cup this week in Charleston after a rash of injury pull-outs by top players.

Also among the Top 8 seeds are Serena Williams, Dinara Safina, Shahar Peer, Patty Schnyder, Ana Ivanovic and Na Li.

While the Top 8 seeds receive opening-round byes, first-round match-ups of note are (15) Sybille Bammer vs. Alicia Molik, (13) Marion Bartoli vs. American Shenay Perry, Amelia Island winner (10) Tatiana Golovin vs. (Q) Dominika Cibulkova, and (14) Sam Stosur vs. Venus Williams.

In the 2006 Family Circle Cup final, (2) Nadia Petrova outlasted (3) Patty Schnyder 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.

Roddick, Blake Headline Houston U.S. Claycourts

Fresh off leading the U.S. into the Davis Cup semifinals, Andy Roddick and James Blake lead the field this week at the U.S. Claycourt Championships in Houston.

Roddick will open on the red clay against Spaniard Al Montanes, and Blake against a qualifier.

Also seeded are German Tommy Haas, American Mardy Fish, Austrian Jurgen Melzer, German Benjamin Becker, American Robby Ginepri and Argentine Juan Monaco.

Wildcards went to Americans Justin Gimelstob, Ryan Sweeting and Jan-Michael Gambill.

The No. 7-seeded Ginepri opens against fellow American Vince Spadea while No. 3 Haas faces American Sam Querrey; the No. 6 Becker squares off against "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, No. 8 Monaco vs. (WC) Gambill, and an all-American meeting in Amer Delic vs. Robert Kendrick.

In last year's final Fish beat Melzer in three sets.

Spaniards Lead at ATP Valencia

Four Spaniards in David Ferrer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nicolas Almagro and Fernando Verdasco head the seeds on the red dirt this week at the Open de Tenis Communidad Valenciana in Spain.

Also among the seeds are Gilles Simon, Florian Mayer, Filippo Volandri, and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Wildcards for the event went to Britain's James Ward, Russian Igor Andreev, and Spaniard Santiago Ventura.

In last year's final Almagro beat Simon in straight sets.
 
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Maria Sharapova is expected to be out of action from the beginning of April through mid-May with a reoccurrence of a right shoulder injury and a left hamstring injury...Amelie Mauresmo won World Breakthrough of the Year and Serena Williams won Comeback of the Year honors when the Laureus World Sports Awards were announced in Barcelona, Spain. No. 1 Roger Federer created history by becoming the first-ever three-time Laureus winner, taking the Sportsman of the Year award for the third consecutive year...With few rankings points to defend due to injuries last year, Serena Williams, who rose to No. 11 after winning the Miami title, is tipped to return to the Top 10 on the WTA Tour Rankings for the first time since Sept. 2005 by the French Open...Jamie Murray writing for The Guardian on his brother Andy's coach: "I've got to know his coach, Brad Gilbert, who is also with us here, really well since he started to work with Andy. He's been really good to me and I have to thank him a lot for that. He doesn't need to. He would practise with me and help me out on certain things and give me advice. He came and watched all my matches in the US. It's great to look up and have Brad giving you motivation. It inspires you. It's been fantastic."...Litigation problems: The Masters Series-Hamburg event is suing the ATP in an attempt to not be downgraded on the ATP's 2009 calendar, the MS-Monte Carlo event is expected to follow suit (excuse the pun), the Williams sisters and their father have threatened to sue the WTA Tour over being forced to play the Indian Wells event on the 2009 calendar, and CBS and the Miami event are at odds now that the ATP is trying to do away with the best-of-five set final at the event which would mean less TV time for the network...The injury and tournament withdrawal problem on the WTA Tour reared its head at Charleston the week after the Amelia Island event, where Martina Hingis, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo all pulled out of the event...Britain's Greg Rusedski announced his retirement after playing Davis Cup doubles this past weekend...From tennis writer Matt Cronin on the Tennis Week magazine make-over: "Sadly, publications like Tennis Week, which at one time was a compelling read, have sunk to new depths, producing a new issue under it new publisher at IMG that had zero tennis content and almost nothing of interest to read. I can't imagine that ex-pro and publisher Andre Leand had much to do with the decision to spend 100 or so notebook-sized pages discussing fashion, makeovers and quasi-celebrity sightings. I would wager a good deal that the recently deceased Gene Scott, its former publisher, would have been embarrassed at what was produced. It's no skin off my nose because the weaker other tennis outlets are, the more it benefits serious tennis writers. But for Gene's sake, please stop it with the absurd Ashley Harkleroad Extreme Makeover layouts and allow professionals like Steve Flink, Richard Evans and Richard Pagliaro to write something about the sport. That's why fans buy the publication, not to find out which designers the players like, or whether a fashion writer knows the difference between a forehand and a backhand."...Billie Jean King speaking to the Philadelphia Inquirer on the current "soft" state of American women's tennis compared to other countries: "I think it's very hard to be an American and understand what it feels like to be a Russian who plays tennis wearing layers of clothes in the snow. Kids in America, let's face it, we have the most unbelievable life in this country, and that's why it's still the greatest country for opportunity. But once you get to fourth-, fifth-, sixth-generation Americans, I think we can say we're all a little softer."