Jittery Roddick Leads Seeds on Day One at Athens Olympics
Posted on August 16, 2004
Despite a case of the jitters that kept the match close, No. 2 seed Andy Roddick moved into the second round at the Athens Olympics with a 6-3, 7-6(4) win over unheralded Brazilian Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta."I was a little more nervous today than I would be normally for a first round match," said Roddick, who threw down 12 aces in the windy contest. "Seeing other athletes in the village, there's so much stuff going on, so much excitement in the air. It's definitely a different dynamic than I've been a part of before."
Roddick said the poor tennis attendance on day one of the event is understandable.
"You have to understand -- people see tennis a lot," Roddick said. "If it's a choice between that or swimming at the Olympics, people possibly go to swimming."
Seeds joining the American in the second round were the oft-injured (5)Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. Arazi), (8)Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean (d. Luis "Me So" Horna), (9)Marat "The Olympics are SO Important" Safin (d. Kucera), (14)Nicolas Kiefer (d. (ALT)Voltchkov), and (16)Fernando "The Flayin' Chilean" Gonzalez (d. Greek (WC)Economidis).
Safin was not happy with the balls used for the competition, Wilsons that have proved fast according to a number of players.
"We have very bad balls, I have to admit and I have to be honest," Safin said. "It's not balls that we used to play. I don't know who choose to play with these balls, but it definitely made a lot of people suffering."
There were two upsets on the day with Jiri Novak, whose game has fell off in 2004, shocking (4)Tim Henman in straights, and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi bringing his awkward net game to fruition in a win over (11)Juan Ignacio Chela in three.
"I do feel that I've lost a little bit of rhythm in my game," Henman said. "That's something I need to pick up again. I need to play some more matches and get the balance right of being aggressive and being consistent."
Other un-seeds into the second round were wildcards Wayne Arthurs of Australia (d. (WC)Hanescu) and Hyung-Taik Lee of Korea (d. Zabaleta in three), Fin Jarkko Nieminen (d. (WC)Lu), Cyprus' Marcos Baghdatis, who has not played an ATP-level match this year, advancing in a shocker (d. Carraz in three), Spain's Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez (d. Soderling in three), American Mardy Fish (d. Bjorkman who retired in the second with a pulled stomach muscle), Russian Mikhail Youzhny (d. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse), and former No. 2-ranked German Tommy Haas (d. Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic to set up a meeting with Roddick).
The No. 1s take to the court today in Athens in world singles No. 1 Roger Federer and doubles No. 1s Bob and Mike Bryan. Monday's schedule: (3)Moya vs. Enqvist, (1)Roger "Club Fed" Federer vs. Davydenko, Andreev vs. (7)Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, (10)Massu vs. "Guga" Kuerten, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic vs. (13)Pavel, (12)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, Mark "Scud" Philippoussis vs. Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, Dent vs. (Alt)Niemeyer, Clement vs. (WC)N.Lapentti, Sargsian vs. Ljubicic, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Younes "From Tunis" El Aynaoui, Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer vs. Vincenzo "Rollin' in the Benzo" Spadea, Berdych vs. Florian "Oscar" Mayer, Calleri vs. Beck, (INV)Ouahab vs. (15)Tommy "The R." Robredo, and Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro vs. Flip Volandri.
Doubles highlights today are (5)Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes of India vs. unseeded Americans Mardy Fish/Andy Roddick, wildcard Croatians Baby Goran/Ivan Ljubicic vs. unseeded Swedes Jonas Bjorkman/The Jackhammer, wildcard Czechs Tomas Berdych/Jiri Novak vs. Aussies (2)Wayne Arthurs/Todd Woodbridge, unseeded Spaniards F-Lo/Tommy The R. vs. Argentines (6)Gaston Etlis/Martin Rodriguez, and top-seeded Americans Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan vs. unseeded Russians Marat Safin/Mikhail Youzhny.
"Roddick is one of the best singles players in the world, and Fish plays both," Bhupathi said on he and partner Paes facing off against the big-serving Americans. "They may be unseeded, but they are among the best teams here."
Prodigy Nadal Wins First ATP Title at Sopot
No. 6-seeded Spaniard Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal, who missed almost three months of play beginning in April with an ankle injury, fulfilled his promise Sunday at Sopot with his first ATP title after a 6-3, 6-4 win over unseeded Argentine Jose Acasuso.
Despite playing two singles and a doubles match on Saturday, The Prodigy showed no sign of fatigue in Sunday's championship.
"I needed a tournament win like this after my injury, I just hope that it's not the last one," said the 18-year-old. "After this tournament, I'll be in the Top 50. To see me in 70th place after being 30th before my injury, it wasn't
easy."
In the doubles final, Czechs (1)Cermak/Friedl outlasted (4)Garcia/Prieto 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 for their second title of the year.
ATP Preview: Washington
The US Open Series starts up again this week at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, featuring Olympic hold-outs Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt. Also among the eight seeds are Sjeng Schalken, Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri, James Blake, Al Martin, Cyril Saulnier, and Russian-American Dmitry Tursunov.
Other entrants of interest are (WC)Paul Goldstein (vs. (1)Agassi), the slumping Jan-Mike Gambill, Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience (vs. (8)Tursunov), Wayne Ferreira in his last Washington appearance (vs. (6)A.Martin), Todd Martin vs. "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter (who got dissed by the Dutch Olympic Committee), and Alex Corretja (vs. (4)Ginepri).
Returning champs in the field are Blake (2002), Corretja (2000), and the five-time champ Agassi (1999-98,'95,'91-90). In last year's final, (10)Tim Henman beat (4)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, both of whom are competing this week at the Athens Olympics.
On court Monday at Washington are Schalken vs. Muller, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter vs. T.Martin, Carlsen vs. Hewitt, Corretja vs. Ginepri, Moodie vs. Kratochvil, Kendrick vs. Wang, Falla vs. Gimelstob, Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience vs. Tursunov, Serra vs. Zimonjic, and Levy vs. Suzuki.
WTA: Henin-Hardenne Makes Winning Return at Athens Olympics
Top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne returned from a four-month absence Sunday at the Athens Olympics, defeating Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 in a match filled with nervous strokes and swirling winds.
"Even if I was nervous, I had good feelings on the court," Henin-Hardenne said. "I feel finally healthy."
There were no seeded upsets among the eight seeds in play, with winners (6)Venus (d. (WC)Melinda "The Fifth Element" Czink), (7)Paola Suarez (d. Dechy 9-7 in the third), (8)Ai Sugiyama (d. Zheng 8-6 in the third), (10)Patty "Handshake" Schnyder (d. Mandula), (11)Francesca Schiavone (d. Asagoe), (12)Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem (d. Gisela "Sgt." Dulko), and (16)Chanda Rubin (d. (Alt)Stosur 6-0 in the third).
"I'm playing well and I'm playing smart," said Venus after pasting The Fifth Element, dropping three games. "You know, it's just awesome to be here...it's like 'Wow, we're in Greece at the Olympic Games.' The only sad part is Serena not being here. That's tough for both of us, super-strange."
Question: Why didn't Serena show to support the U.S. team and sister Venus? Discuss.
Un-seeds into the second round were wildcards Tetyana Perebiynis of the Ukraine (d. Randriantefy) and Zimbabwe's Cara Black (d. Pisnik in three), Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova (d. Schaul), Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Anne "Kosmo" Kremer), Slovak Maja Matevzic (d. Obata), Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho (d. (WC)Kanepi), Indonesia's Angelique Widjaja (d. Tanasugarn 6-1 in the third), and Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga (d. Jankovic).
After her win, The Fabulous One complained about the court, joining the chorus of players who have described it as too fast/sticky/soft/nasty after organizers boasted it would perfectly match the US Open surface.
"They told us it was the same court used in the US Open but it was nothing like that," The Fabulous One said. "With the heat it is a little bit more soft, more sticky."
The ITF said the surface, Decoturf II, was exactly the same as the US Open surface, and was laid by Decoturf techs.
Spain's Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who came out of retirement in search of a fifth Olympic medal, lost in the first round of the doubles with partner Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues to Argentines Paola Suarez/Patricia Tarabini. Other winners were American hopefuls 47-year-old Martina Navratilova and comparative youngster Lisa Raymond, who beat the Ukraine's Yuliya Beygelzimer and Tetyana Perebiynis 6-0, 6-2.
"On my first serve of the match, I thought, 'OK, this is your first Olympic toss,'" Navratilova said. "And it was a good one, and a good serve, and that was all the jitters I had."
On court today for the women are Kapros vs. Daniilidou, C.Martinez vs. (2)Mauresmo, Molik vs. (4)Elena "The Diagnosis is" Dementieva, the amazingly uninjured (3)Anastasia "Sopot Drop-Out" Myskina vs. Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna, (5)Kuznetsova vs. (WC)Diaz-Oliva, (9)Petrova vs. Martina "Nurse, Hand Me the" Sucha, (14)Farina Elia vs. Testud, Garbin vs. (13)Smashnova-Pistolesi, Morigami vs. Benesova, Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Pierce, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. (15)Maleeva, Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi vs. Kostanic, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Srebotnik, Kurhajcova vs. (Alt)Raymond, (WC)Jugic-Salkic vs. Camerin, and Pratt vs. Casanova.
Teen Vaidisova Wins First Career WTA Title
In the Sunday WTA Vancouver final, 15-year-old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic won her first career WTA title by upsetting No. 4 seed Laura Granville 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
WTA Preview: Cincinnati
You've got to wonder why Cincinnati isn't part of the US Open Series with two Top 10 players in Lindsay Davenport and Vera "Warren" Zvonareva, while on the men's side this week the Washington stop is part of the Series. Too little star-power as Lindsay took a wildcard at the last minute? Joining Davenport and Zvonareva among the seeds are Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier, Marion Bartoli, Denisa "Hanging" Chladkova, Jill Craybas, Flavia "Of the Day" Pennetta who won her career-first title last week in Sopot, and Marlene Weingartner. This year marks Cincinnati's return to the WTA Tour for the first time since 1988.
"Fans have been asking when women's tennis would return to Cincinnati, and to the Midwest, for many, many years," said tournament chairman Paul Flory, who also puts on the ATP event. "We're very pleased to finally be able to answer that question, and to announce a field which should produce some very competitive and very entertaining matches."
Wildcards went to Davenport, Lilia Osterloh, and Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad.
On court Monday are Bartoli vs. Kirilenko, Razzano vs. Grande, Irvin vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, and Weingartner vs. Gagliardi.
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NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
American Laura Granville's grandfather Edwin Lennox was a member of the 1924 U.S. Olympic swimming team that competed in Paris...David Nalbandian withdrew from the Athens Olympics with a thigh injury, replaced in the draw by Canadian Frederick Niemeyer. Nalbandian was due to play doubles with Agustin Calleri, but they will be replaced by the Argentine team of Juan Ignacio Chela/Mariano Zabaleta...Anyone else notice the "live scores" on the tennis Athens website aren't live, but just results?...Here's Marat Safin defending himself on first saying tennis should not be in the Olympics, then turning around at one of his sponsor parties and saying how important Olympic tennis is: "Okay, that's the thing. It's a little bit -- it is a little bit different, Olympic Games, like for the tennis players than for other sport, for the other athletes because we have a little bit different schedule. We have 42 tournaments, 42 weeks we can play tennis, you know. For other athletes, they prepare for the World Championships, European Championships and Olympic Games. So basically they have three biggest event, and Olympic Games is every four years. For us we have four Grand Slam events a year...Of course, Olympic Games is important because you're playing for the country and it's a little bit prestigious, and it gives you a good image." A "little bit prestigious," good comeback...U.S. Olympic and Davis Cup coach Patrick McEnroe got slammed by International Tennis Federation officials in Athens for his insistent suggestions that tennis at the Olympics be changed to a team event akin to Davis Cup. ITF president Francesco Ricci "Itti" Bitti dismissed P-Mac's proposal as "...only popular in the United States, where people are shortsighted. This is a non-valid option."...There are four tennis courts in the Olympic Village facility and athletes and officials can book them at the swimming pool reception desk...Tim Henman is happy in the apartment he shares in the athletes' village with Gary Smith, a trampolinist, and Nate Ackerman, a wrestler, according to The Independent: "We got back from the opening ceremony at half past one last night and I had to be out by 8:30 in the morning to go and practice, but when we got back we sat there for an hour talking about wrestling," Henman said. "It was really interesting, Nate tried out some holds on Gary, but thankfully not on me."...Andy Roddick on trading pins at the Olympics: "I'm having a blast with it. It's a good way to meet girls."...The retired Andrei Cherkasov got into the main draw at the St. Petersburg Challenger as a lucky loser last week, losing in the first round.
MONDAY BLOG
Can't figure out what was more interesting: waking up at 5 a.m. (EST) time in the U.S. to watch tennis live on Bravo, seeing the odd broadcast pairing of Barry "And There it Is!" McKay and Jim Courier, watching McKay/Courier try to to a live shot in the hurricane wind, or the almost completely empty stadium watching Carlos Moya and Thomas Enqvist. Or again, the stupidity of waking at 5 a.m...See Moya has broken down and gone to the Babolat, surprise surprise. Why not switch to the racquet you can slap a winner from anywhere on the court when half the tour is using it?...Nice shot of Mats Wilander cheering on his home-slice, rushing over straight from playing the senior tour stop in Graz, Austria.