Coria Retires to Hand Roddick ATP Miami Title

Posted on April 6, 2004

Andy Roddick won his second title of the year Sunday at the ATP Masters Series-Miami when Guillermo Coria was forced to retire with back spasms with Roddick leading 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1 in the best-of-five final.

The Argentine Coria took treatment from the trainer before the first-set tiebreak, then captured the first set in an almost flawless display, but was frowning and shaking his head as he walked to the sidelines.

"The pain was excruciating, and I was having trouble serving," Coria said. "I knew after I won the first set I was not going to be able to finish...At 4-5, when I served at 15-love, when I came down, the whole left side of the back stiffened up. It came from nothing, because I was feeling great up to that point. At the beginning, it was just the serve. Then as I progressed, it started hurting on every side -- sitting down, standing up. I knew it was very difficult to play Roddick feeling this way."

Roddick said that he had woke with an upset stomach that morning, and was battling his own discomfort during the match.

"It's not the picture-perfect ending," Roddick said. "It's not the way you want to win a tournament. But at the same, I'm here at the end of the day. That was my goal coming into the tournament."

In the Saturday doubles final, (8)Wayne Black/Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe defeated (3)Jonas Bjorkman/Todd Woodbridge 6-2, 7-6(12) for their first title of the year after coming off a runner-up effort at the MS-Indian Wells.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEWS

In the Miami doubles final Sunday, the No. 6-seeded Russian/American tandem of Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy ousted No. 2-seeded Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova/Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-3 for their first title of the year. For the Russians it was their sixth final in six tournaments in 2004.

World No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, Serena Williams, and singles wildcard Martina Navratilova head the excitement at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, which features six of the Top 10 players on the WTA Tour, and a potential H-H vs. Serena final. H-H took last week off, skipping Miami to practice up to clay for her Amelia run. Joining H-H and Serena among the Top 8 seeds are Amelie Mauresmo returning from a back injury, Lindsay Davenport, Miami runner-up and Amelia defending champ Elena Dementieva, Japan's Ai Sugiyama, Miami doubles winner Nadia Petrova, and Vera "Warren" Zvonareva. Opening round match-ups of note are (WC)Navratilova vs. No. 48-ranked Kristina Brandi (winner to play (7)Petrova), (11)Jelena Dokic vs. Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, and second round (2)Serena vs. the Mary Pierce/Meghann Shaughnessy winner. Returning champs in the field are Dementieva (2003), Mauresmo (2001), Pierce (1998), Davenport (1997), Conchita Martinez (1995), and three-time winner Navratilova (1988,'84,'80).

On court Monday in Amelia are Tanasugarn vs. Safina, Schnyder vs. Schaul, Maleeva vs. Randriantefy, Krasnoroutskaya vs. C.Martinez, Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Craybas, Schiavone vs. Parra, Kremer vs. Pisnik, Ruano Pascual vs. Granville, Asagoe vs. Reeves, Vento-Kabchi vs. Morigami, Mikaelian vs. Zheng, Black vs. Sun, Kostanic vs. Weingartner, Mandula vs. Barna, Strycova vs. Czink, and Castano vs. Diaz-Oliva.

A heinous Tier V event is also occurring this week on dirt at Casablanca, featuring top seeds Emilie Loit, Barion Bartoli, Katarina Srebotnik, Ludmila Cervanova, Iveta Benesova, Julia Vakulenko, Lubomira Kurhajcova, and Maria Elena Camerin. Only Tennis-X would hire an intern to type in those eight names for you, try and find that anywhere else besides the WTA website -- if that. In last year's final, No. 2-seeded Rita "Ain't It" Grande defeated Antonella Serra Zanetti 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. Both are unseeded in this year's draw.

On court today in Casablanca are Marrero vs. (5)Benesova, (1)Loit vs. (WC)Mirza, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. Barabara "Use the" Schwartz, Antonella Serra Zanetti vs. Talaja, and the final round of qualifying.

ATP CAREER 200 WINS
Andy Roddick won his 200th career match on Sunday against Guillermo Coria in the final of the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami. Roddick?s career record is 200-67. Here is a look at the last six players who have ranked No. 1 for the first time in their career and how long it took before they reached the 200 match wins club:

Lleyton Hewitt 200-66 (at 2002 San Jose)
Andy Roddick 200-67 (2004 Miami)
Juan Carlos Ferrero 200-86 (2003 Rome)
Roger Federer 200-102 (2003 Halle)
Gustavo Kuerten 200-107 (2000 Tennis Masters Cup)
Marat Safin 200-114 (2002 Hamburg)

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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The 21-year-old Andy Roddick is the youngest MS-Miami champion since Michael Chang in 1992...Martina Navratilova will also play singles at Charleston, following her singles appearance at Amelia Island this week: "I'm going to give it my best shot and just have fun. I'm playing singles to help my doubles. In singles you're covering every angle of the court. It'll help me get a better rhythm." Navratilova said she hopes to play singles at Eastbourne again on grass, and possibly at Wimbledon. "I'm going to take it week by week."...With David Nalbandian out with a bad ankle, and now Guillermo Coria questionable with back spasms, Argentina is looking shaky for their Davis Cup match-up this weekend at Belarus...Zimbabwe's Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett moved up to No. 2 behind the Bryan brothers in the ATP Team Rankings...Former No. 1 Marcelo Rios, on the mend from surgery, took a wildcard during the MS-Miami into the Salinas Challenger, losing in the second round...Taipei's Yen-Hsun Lu won a Challenger, reached another Challenger final, and won a Challenger doubles during the two-week Miami stint...David Hyde writing for the Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Women's tennis is thinner than the baseline right now, more fragile than the championship crystal (Serena) Williams held overhead. Just a few Key Biscayne tournaments ago, the women's game had a comparative glut of names: Jennifer Capriati, Serena and Venus Williams, the emerging Belgians, Martina Hingis and even Anna Kournikova to deliver a buzz if no titles. Now there are four women who can be expected to win a Grand Slam -- the Williams sisters and the Belgian sisters. That's it. Meanwhile, on the men's tour, 50 men can win a top event."