Blake Bombs Against Stepanek; Mauresmo Taking a Break?

In the third set Stepanek received treatment for a left hamstring strain, then broke Blake for a 3-1 lead, and broke in the final game of the match.

Blake dropped to 9-9 in career finals.

"I barely had a look on his first serve in the third set," Blake said. "He served really well. I'm feeling good about the tennis I'm playing."

In the all-American doubles final, the top-seeded Bryan brothers beat Scott Lipsky and David Martin 7-6(5), 6-2.

NADAL WINS ATP STUTTGART, CONTINUES STREAK

Rafael Nadal capped his final claycourt event of the year by defeating Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 in his 16th consecutive clay court final to win the Mercedes Cup title on Sunday.

The title was an ATP-best sixth for the Spaniard in 2007.

Nadal donated his new Mercedes C350 for winning the event to his uncle and coach Toni.

"He needs one and I have the car from 2005, so this one is for him," Nadal said.

The 21-year-old Nadal has won 93 of his past 94 matches on clay, with his only loss coming to Roger Federer at Hamburg this year.

Wawrinka is now 1-2 in career ATP finals.

"I was a break up in the first set and 5-2 in the second set, but I played against the best player on clay and he was too good today," Wawrinka said. "I am so sad to lose the car, but it has been a good week. I have a lot of confidence for the rest of the year."

In the doubles final, the Czech duo of Leos Friedl and Frantisek Cermak beat Spaniards Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia Lopez and Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco 6-4, 6-4.

QUALIFIER DARCIS WINS ATP DUTCH OPEN

No. 297-ranked Dutch qualifier Steve Darcis won the Dutch Open in Amersfoort Sunday, defeating unseeded Austrian Werner Eschauer 6-1, 7-6(1) to become the lowest-ranked player to win a tour title in three years.

Darcis was competing in only his third ATP career main draw.

"This was an unbelievable week for me," said the 23-year-old Darcis. "I still don't realize what I did -- it's a great feeling, almost like a dream. I was playing good and he was a little bit stressed in the beginning. In the second set he came very close and I'm glad that I made it to the tiebreak. This might be the best week of my life so far. Now my goal is to reach the Top 100 as soon as possible."

In the semifinals Darcis rallied from a set down to beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.

Darcis was 0-2 in career ATP matches entering the event, and lost two straight first-round challenger matches entering the Dutch Open.

The 33-year-old Eschauer was also appearing in his first ATP final.

In the doubles final, the Argentine team of Brzezicki/Guzman beat Dutchmen Haase/Wassen 6-2, 6-0.

TOP-SEEDED CHAKY WINS WTA CINCINNATI

Russian top seed Anna Chakvetadze improved to 5-0 lifetime in finals after Sunday capturing the title at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open, defeating No. 7 seed Akiko Morigami 6-1, 6-3.

"When I came here I started hearing about being 4-0 in finals and that's just great," Chakvetadze said. "Today I think I played better than I did yesterday because it was a final. I always try to improve my game for a final because it's just a more important match."

Morigami is now 1-2 lifetime in tour singles finals. She saved a match point against Pin in her first round, and in the quarters upset over No. 2 seed Patty Schnyder.

In the doubles final, top seeds Bethanie Mattek/Sania Mirza beat Alina Jidkova/Tatiana Poutchek 7-6(4), 7-5.

SZAVAY WINS FIRST WTA TITLE AT PALERMO

Hungary's Agnes Szavay won her first career title Sunday at the Internazionali Femminili di Tennis di Palermo, rolling over Germany's Martina Muller 6-0, 6-1.

"Today I tried to attack a lot but be patient at the right times and it worked well," Szavay said. "Now I'm feeling very good, as you can imagine."

The 18 year old No. 8 seed had never previously reached a tour final before upsetting the No. 2 seed.

Muller falls to 1-1 lifetime in finals.

"It was certainly my best tournament of the year," Muller said. "I played well in Berlin as well but here I won the most rounds. My goal this year was to reach another final and it was a great feeling to play another one. Hopefully, I'll have another chance to win a title soon."

In the doubles final the Ukraine/Belarus duo of Koryttseva/Kustava defeated Italian wildcards Canepa/Knapp 6-4, 6-1.

NEXT WEEK

Indianapolis Tennis Championships
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Seeds:
1. Andy Roddick
2. James Blake
3. Dmitry Tursunov
4. Mardy Fish
5. Ivo Karlovic
6. Hyung-Taik Lee
7. Robby Ginepri
8. Benjamin Becker

Opening matches of interest: (6) Hyung-Taik Lee vs. (WC) Donald Young, (4) Mardy Fish vs. Vince Spadea in an all-American, (5) "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. Nicolas Kiefer, and (2) James Blake vs. former Slam winner Thomas Johansson.

Monday Order of Play:
J Benneteau (FRA) vs S Querrey (USA)
J Gimelstob (USA) vs E Korolev (RUS)
J Del Potro (ARG) vs A Delic (USA)
[7] R Ginepri (USA) vs M Berrer (GER)
F Dancevic (CAN) vs [8] B Becker (GER)

Austrian Open
Kitzbuhel, Austria

Seeds:
1. Tommy Robredo
2. Mikhail Youzhny
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero
4. Juan Ignacio Chela
5. Juan Monaco
6. Agustin Calleri
7. Nicolas Almagro
8. Florian Mayer

Monday Order of Play:
[Q] J Chardy (FRA) vs L Horna (PER)
O Patience (FRA) vs J Hajek (CZE)
[WC] M Fischer (AUT) vs D Hartfield (ARG)
[Q] R Eitzinger (AUT) vs M Mirnyi (BLR)
[Q] H Armando (USA) vs P Capdeville (CHI)
[Q] C Rochus (BEL) vs C Guccione (AUS)

Studena Croatia Open
Umag, Croatia

Seeds:
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Nikolay Davydenko
3. Ivan Ljubicic
4. David Ferrer
5. Guillermo Canas
6. Carlos Moya
7. Filippo Volandri
8. Janko Tipsarevic

Monday Order of Play:
M Cilic (CRO) vs M Montcourt (FRA)
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) vs [Q] P Andujar (ESP)
G Simon (FRA) vs [2] N Davydenko (RUS)
C Berlocq (ARG) vs [Q] M Gonzalez (ARG)
[WC] L Belic (CRO) vs [Q] P Riba (ESP)
G Gaudio (ARG) vs R Ramirez Hidalgo (ESP)

WTA Stanford Preview: Chaky, Bartoli Headline

STANFORD, CA, USA -- Six of the world's Top 20 will head for California this week to do battle for the Bank of the West Classic and all will be hoping to kick off the US Open Series on a high note. This hard-court event is the first stop in the five-tournament series leading to the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open.

Anna Chakvetadze is this week's top seed and she will be making her debut at the $600,000, Tier II event. The 20-year-old Muscovite enters the tournament in a rich vein of form, having lifted the title in Cincinnati on Sunday and she will be confident of a good showing at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. This triumph in Cincinnati was the Russian's third tournament victory of the season and these successes have established her in the elite Top 10 -- she currently sits at a career-high ranking of No.7. Like all of the top four seeds, Chakvetadze will receive an opening-round bye in Stanford, before facing the victor in the match between American wildcard, Amber Liu and Greek No.1 Eleni Daniilidou.

No.2 seed, Marion Bartoli, comes into the tournament fresh from her memorable runner-up finish at Wimbledon and she will keen to maintain this form and get her summer hard-court season off to a flying start. It will be the 22-year-old's fourth appearance at the event and although she has never ventured beyond the round of 16, after a first half of 2007 in which she has accumulated an impressive 31 victories, she will be confident on improving the statistic this week. All three of the Frenchwoman's Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles to date have come on hard courts and she will open up her campaign against the winner of the all-American clash between wildcard entrant, Lilia Osterloh and Jill Craybas.

Daniela Hantuchova, the tournament's No.3 seed, is making her third appearance at Stanford and will be eager to erase the memory of a painful first-round loss to qualifier Shenay Perry 12 months ago. The 24-year-old Slovak star has enjoyed something of a renaissance this year, compiling and enviable 31-16 win-loss record as well as capturing her second career title on the hard courts of Indian Wells in March. The world No.12 has also made it to the round of 16 at two of the year's three Grand Slams and with her hard-court pedigree she will be expecting a good run in her first event since Wimbledon.

Switzerland's Patty Schnyder was runner-up at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium in 2006 and she will be desperate to go one better this time around. Tour legend Kim Clijsters was her conqueror last year and with the Belgian absent this year after her retirement, the 28-year-old from Basel will fancy her chances. Schnyder currently sits at No.16 in the world rankings and has enjoyed a steady year on Tour, highlighted by a semifinal run in Rome and quarterfinal appearances at four other events -- including the back-to-back hard-court tournaments in Dubai and Doha. 

The remaining seeds this week are comprised of Israeli star Shahar Peer (No.5), talented Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin (No.5), Slovania's two-time hard court tournament winner Katarina Srebotnik (No.7) and popular Austrian Sybille Bammer (No.8). There are also several dark horses lurking in the draw, including Cincinnati runner-up Akiko Morigami and high-flying Belarusian teenager Victoria Azarenka.

The Bank of the West Classic is in its 37th year as a Tour stop-off and is the longest-running women's-only professional tennis tournament in the world. The event is held on the campus of the famous Stanford University's and several tennis legends have held aloft the coveted trophy in the past, including Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Davenport and Venus Williams. This year's winner will receive a cheque for $88,265, while the runner-up will take home $47,125.
-- Courtesy WTA Tour

WTA Bad Gastien Preview: No 31 Schiavone Top Seeded

BAD GASTEIN, Austria -- After three months of intense competition, the European clay-court season finally draws to an end and four of the world's Top 50 players will head to the Austrian Alps this week to do battle for the inaugural Gastein Ladies. Francesca Schiavone is the leading seed at the $175,000, Tier III event and she will view it as the perfect opportunity to capture her maiden Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title.

Schiavone, the world No.31, has struggled for form this season and after reaching just one quarterfinal in 2007 she will be looking to get her season back on track in Bad Gastein. Last year Schiavone achieved runner-up finishes in three tournaments, in addition to helping Italy win its first Fed Cup, but this year has seen her win just 11 matches on Tour. The 27-year-old faces a qualifier in the opening round and she will hope to reproduce the form which saw her win three rubbers - including a victory over former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo -- during Italy's Fed Cup semifinal triumph over France last weekend.

The No.2 seed in Austria this week, Emilie Loit, has been one of 2007's most consistent performers on clay -- capturing her third career title in Acapulco as well as quarterfinal appearances at four other Tour stop-offs -- and she will be eager to continue this form when she takes on home favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the first round. The 28-year-old Frenchwoman currently sits at No.37 in the rankings and with her clay-court pedigree she is certainly among the favorites to lift the title on Sunday.

Another player who will be in the running for the title is Schiavone's compatriot, Roberta Vinci. The world No.44 has already captured one clay court title this year in Bogota and will be eager to add to the tally in Austria. However, since her triumph in Colombia the 24-year-old has struggled for consistency, winning just three matches on Tour and will be desperate to add to this number when she kicks off her challenge against Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

Hungarian prodigy, Agnes Szavay, has been one of the surprise packages of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour this year, compiling an enviable 36-10 win-loss record and soaring more than 150 places up the rankings. The 18-year-old first came to prominence at the start of the European clay-court season when she reached the semifinals of her hometown event in Budapest and she has been improving ever since, culminating in her maiden title in Palermo on Sunday. Szavay is seeded No.6 in Bad Gastein and will open up her campaign against Austrian wildcard entrant Tina Schiechtl.

The remaining seeds this week are comprised of Estonia's Kaia Kanepi (No.4), gifted Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai (No.5), ever-improving Italian Karin Knapp (No.7) and experienced Spaniard Lourdes Dom�uez Lino (No.8). There are also several dangerous unseeded players lurking in the draw, including three-time clay court tournament winner Flavia Pennetta and former Top 30 star Virginia Ruano Pascual.

The doubles competition at the Gastein Ladies this week also promises to be highly competitive and the Austrian crowds are sure to be treated to some thrilling matches. Top seeds Szavay and Vladimira Uhlirova have already triumphed once this year, taking home the doubles crown in Budapest, but they face a tricky opening-round encounter against Polish duo Marta Domachowska and Alicja Rosolska. The other seeds in the draw are Dom�uez Lino and Pennetta (No.2), Lucie Hradecka and Renata Voracova (No.3) and Iveta Benesova and Jelena Kostanic Tosic (No.4).
-- Courtesy WTA Tour

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
James Blake's biography "Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life" debuted at No. 22 on the New York Times Bestseller List during its first week in circulation...Lleyton Hewitt is working with new coach Tony Roche, and David Nalbandian has hired Martin Jaite...Swiss Stan Wawrinka received text message tips from compatriot Roger Federer ahead of losing the Stuttgart final to Spaniard Rafael Nadal...The USTA's Arlen Kantarian says the USTA is looking into the possibility of going against the ATP and doing their own seeding at US Open Series events, according to the LA Times...Amelie Mauresmo could skip out on next month's US Open, according to coach Loic Courteau. "She really needs to completely recharge her batteries, to re-energize, to come back with new ambitions and goals," Courteau told French daily L'Equipe. "It won't happen in ten days or 15 days."...American Amer Delic on Mark Philippoussis' dating show "Age of Love": "Hopefully I won't stoop to that level. I'm a fan of Mark, but not his reality show -- that's for sure."...Russian Anastasia Rodionova became only the second player on the WTA Tour to be disqualified from a match when she allegedly hit a ball at fans in the stands at the event in Cincinnati. Without warning, Rodionova was defaulted by tournament referee William Coffey for unsportsmanlike conduct. "I've never seen in my life anyone defaulted in this situation," Rodionova said. "I'm shocked. I still don't understand why they defaulted me. I'm really upset. I had no warning. I didn't hit the ball at anybody. I didn't swear at anybody. I didn't throw my racquet."...Nicole Vaidisova has pulled from the Acura Classic in San Diego with a viral infection: "I am obviously very disappointed," the 18-year-old told the San Diego Tribune. "The doctor has told me to rest for about two to three weeks, at which point I can slowly get back on the court. I hope to be back for Toronto."...From the Andre Agassi camp: "Tennis legend Andre Agassi will be celebrating the grand opening of his latest signature sport club in partnership with 24 Hour Fitness, the largest privately-owned U.S. fitness chain and a health club industry pioneer. This will mark the sixth 24 Hour Fitness-Agassi Sport club, the first of which opened in Agassi's hometown of Las Vegas in 2004. The 52,861 square foot club located in Laguna Niguel, CA will feature an outdoor pool, spa, indoor basketball court, cycling room, Group exercise, Kids' Club, steam room, juice bar, executive locker rooms and pro shop." Mmmmm, juice bar. But where's the "bar" bar? If health clubs had bars, guys would never leave...Lindsay Davenport announced she will play doubles at New Haven with Lisa Raymond...Pete Sampras lost to Rik de Voest and Frederic Niemeyer in singles play in World TeamTennis, while John McEnroe lost to Lester Cook and Nikita Kryvonos this past week...MediaZone announces "MediaZone Tennis, the most comprehensive broadband video channel delivering LIVE and On Demand coverage to tennis enthusiasts around the world. MediaZone Tennis is set to feature an action packed July schedule including LIVE and VOD coverage of events such as the Mercedes Cup and Dutch Open Tennis (July 16-22), as well as hard to find events such as the International Champs of Croatia and Generali Open (July 23-29). Building upon the riveting video programming within this channel package will be extensive blog commentary from Ted Robinson, a two-time Emmy Award winning broadcaster who has served as the anchor of NBC's coverage of Wimbledon and French Open since 2000 and has broadcast the last 20 U.S. Open Tennis Championships for USA Network partnering with John McEnroe."...Moscow's Luzhniki Arena will host the Fed Cup final between Russia and Italy...Serena Williams has pulled from Stanford with a thumb injury, and Anna Ivanovic withdrew with a knee injury...Justine Henin has pulled from San Diego with a wrist injury...Andy Murray is planning on making his return from injury at the ATP stop in Washington...Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and the Bryan brothers have already qualified for the year-end championships...Russian Dmitry Tursunov on raising the popularity of tennis in the U.S.: "They have to promote it more and put it more on TV. You have poker 24 hours a day and rock-paper-scissors competition. So I think people want to see that more than they want to see tennis...Players [need to] put forth a little more effort to promote it any way they can. You don't have to walk out there and beat your chest and scream, 'Tennis is the best sport ever.' But I think you could be more friendly with the fans and do a little bit more to make the fans want to come back again."...Venus Williams' post-Wimbledon letdown continued in her World TeamTennis debut this past week, just days after losing the Fed Cup deciding doubles against Russia with Lisa Raymond, Venus again teamed with Raymond in WTT play to lose to the team of Ashley Harkleroad\Hana Sromova. Venus also lost to Harkleroad in singles.