II: Lyon + Rankings + Hannover + Stuttgart!! + ...

[Wout's Report:]

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$ SECTION 2: THE ATP TOUR: PART 2 &
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Right!! Welcome back y'all! :)

Well let's move on to the FINAL of the Lyon tourney shall we? :)

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24TH 1999:

LYON, France (Ticker) -- Six seed Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador won his first
indoor title today, defeating 13th-seeded Australian Lleyton Hewitt in
straight sets at the $750,000 Grand Prix of Tennis.

Lapentti, who had never won a match on carpet and had only two indoor wins
prior to this tournament, cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 victory for his third career
title. He earned $101,500.

Lapennti, ranked 14th in the world, won this year on the hard court RCA
Championships in Indianapolis in August and was a finalist at the Swiss Open,
losing to Albert Costa. His first career title was in 1995 at Bogota, Colombia.

Hewitt, at 18 years and eight months, was the youngest player in the draw and
was coming off a semifinal appearance in Singapore last week.

A two-time titlist, Hewitt played in his fifth career final. He made the
finals in Adelaide and Scottsdale early this season before winning the Citrix
Tennis Championships at Delray Beach, Florida in May. His first ATP Tour
title was as a wild card at Adelaide last year.

Last year at this time Hewitt was ranked 129th in the world. He entered this
event at a career-high No. 27. Lapentti was 69th at this time last year.

Both players played in Lyon for the first time.

"From now on Lyon is going to be very special for me. No one expected me to
do well indoors. And I was so close to losing twice this week (he saved one
matchpoint against Jan Siemerink and one against Magnus Gustafsson). It's
difficult to express what I feel right now", said Lapentti after the final.

Before coming to Lyon the Guayaquil resident was 2-12 indoor and 0-5 on carpet.

"My previous record indoors is easy to keep track of, lost in the
first round, lost in the first round, lost in the first round", he joked in
the press conference.

``This tournament will remain something very special to me because I never
was very successful indoors and I nearly lost twice this week. I could not
dream of a better outcome,'' said Lapentti.

He also took the opportunity to thank his coach, Patricio Rodriguez, "He's my coach, my
best friend, and my second father. My relationship with him is unbelievable, and the
chemistry between us is really good".

He has now moved closer to his main goal for the season, which is to make it
into the ATP Tour World Championship in Hannover next month. When one of the
journalists pointed out that last year's champion, Alex Corretja, also won
Indianapolis and captured his first indoor event here last year and wanted to
know if Lapentti intended to end up winning in Hannover as well, the 23 year
old replied, "First I have to get into Hannover, and I think I have a good
chance. If I make it, I'll keep that information in mind".

Winner in Indianapolis earlier this year, Lapentti will now hope to emulate
Alex Corretja. The Spaniard had never shone indoors either before last year,
when he won in Indianapolis and Lyon, then went on to win the ATP Tour world
championship.

``The problem is I have not yet qualified (for the Tour championship),'' said
Lapentti, world ranked 14th.

``To improve indoors when you're considered a clay-court specialist is a
matter of psychology. You must not tell yourself you cannot play on all
surfaces,'' he added.

Lleyton Hewitt, who was looking for his second tournament win this year after
having captured Delray Beach on clay in May, never really got into the match.

"I got off to a bad start losing my serve in the second game. I came out and
tried to be too aggressive from the start. In the first three games I
struggled, while he gained confidence", said Hewitt after the loss.

Well and here's the final result:

GRAND PRIX OF TENNIS · Lyon, France · Sunday Results
Final

Nicolas Lapentti (6) def. Lleyton Hewitt (13), 6-3, 6-2

If you want to know more about this tourney, like the doubles..just check out the
Official Homepage: http://www.leprogres.fr/GPTL

****************************** THE ATP RANKINGS **************************************

Well and after this marvelous tourney, here are the Rankings:

1999 ATP Tour top 100 ranked singles players
(Through Sunday, October 24)

1. Andre Agassi, United States, 4,144 points
2. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia, 3,842
3. Pete Sampras, United States, 3,141
4. Todd Martin, United States, 2,812
5. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 2,537
6. Greg Rusedski, Great Britain, 2,409
7. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany, 2,322
8. Richard Krajicek, Netherlands, 2,313
9. Marcelo Rios, Chile, 2,369
10. Tim Henman, Great Britain, 2,137

11. Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, 2,113
12. Alex Corretja, Spain, 1,926
13. Tommy Haas, Germany, 1,903
14. Patrick Rafter, Australia, 1,833
15. Carlos Moya, Spain, 1,765
16. Cedric Pioline, France, 1,727
17. Karol Kucera, Slovakia, 1,653
18. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden, 1,645
19. Vincent Spadea, United States, 1,629
20. Magnus Norman, Sweden, 1,615

21. Felix Mantilla, Spain, 1,536
22. Mark Philippoussis, Australia, 1,518
23. Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia, 1,490
24. Albert Costa, Spain, 1,482
25. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 1,387
26. Sebastien Grosjean, France, 1,296
27. Mariano Zabaleta, Argentina, 1,265
28. Thomas Johansson, Sweden, 1,255
29. Fernando Meligeni, Brazil, 1,247
30. Younes El Aynaoui, Morocco, 1,237

***************************** RACE 2 HANNOVER ****************************************

Right and after those rankings, let's see how exciting the Race to Hannover has become
huh?

Standings as of October 25th

By capturing his first indoor title in Lyon, Nicolas Lapentti moved to No. 8
on the Race to Hannover and overtook Britain's Tim Henman.

This week's Mercedes Super 9 tournament in Stuttgart could be of great
importance. So far, only Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov have secured a
berth for Hannover. Of the top contenders, only Pete Sampras (No. 4) and
Patrick Rafter (No. 12) are not playing at the EUROCARD Open. Brazil's
Gustavo Kuerten and local favorite Nicolas Kiefer are in the best position,
but the Race is still very close.

Rafter is out of contention - he will only return next year due to a shoulder
injury. Sampras might play in Paris next week. All the other top players have
entered Paris. Of the Top 12, Kafelnikov and Kiefer have entered Moscow,
while Marcelo Rios, Nicolas Lapentti, Tim Henman and Tommy Haas will play
Stockholm.

Here are the current standings. In brackets you will find the upcoming
tournaments the players have entered.

@1. Andre Agassi - 4047 (Stuttgart - Paris)
@2. Yevgeny Kafelnikov - 3127 (Stuttgart - Paris - Moscow)
3. Gustavo Kuerten - 2537 (Stuttgart - Paris)
4. Pete Sampras - 2332 (Paris)
5. Nicolas Kiefer - 2322 (Stuttgart - Paris - Moscow)
6. Todd Martin - 2216 (Stuttgart - Paris)
7. Marcelo Rios - 2155 (Stuttgart - Paris - Stockholm)
8. Nicolas Lapentti - 2099 (Stuttgart - Paris - Stockholm)

9. Tim Henman - 1895 (Stuttgart - Paris - Stockholm)
10. Tommy Haas - 1841 (Stuttgart - Paris - Stockholm)
11. Richard Krajicek - 1775 (Stuttgart - Paris)
12. Patrick Rafter - 1731

*********************** ATP SUPER 9 TOURNAMENT IN STUTTGART ***************************

Ok...enough about those stats..here's THIS week's ATP Super 9 in Stuttgart..a preview..

As the second-last Mercedes Super 9 of the Millenium, the 1999 EUROCARD Open
in Stuttgart is shaping up to be one of the most important events of the
year.

Not surprisingly, the draw boasts no less than 19 of the Top 20, the
honorable exception being Patrick Rafter, whose injured shoulder means he is
unlikely to play again this season.

World No.1 Andre Agassi leads the field with his rival for the year-end No.1
ranking, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, snapping at his heels. A finalist in Stuttgart
last year, Kafelnikov needs more good results here to have any hope of
overhauling Agassi. Both have already qualified for the ATP Tour World
Championship in Hannover.

Stuttgart could see the return of Pete Sampras, providing the back injury he
sustained before the US Open has healed. Stuttgart is the perfect opportunity
for Sampras to end his year on a high note and shore up position in the Race
to Hannover. He is currently fourth.

Two-time champion Richard Krajicek may have a say in matters. The 1995 and
1998 winner, at 11th place in the Hannover standings, has a chance of
qualifying and is one of the best indoor players in the world.

Home players Nicolas Kiefer and Tommy Haas will be hoping to follow in the
footsteps on countrymen Boris Becker and Michael Stich by lifting the trophy.
Kiefer is fifth in the Hannover rankings and, like Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten
in third place, could put qualification beyond doubt by winning in Stuttgart.
Haas is at No.10 in the Race and still has everything to play for.

Other Hannover contenders Todd Martin (sixth), Marcelo Rios (seventh),
Nicolas Lapentti (eighth) and Tim Henman (ninth) will all be doing their best
to stay in the tournament until the last day.

They know that the 1999 EUROCARD Open winner will pick up 370 points, plus
double the usual bonus points if they beat a big name in the final. With this
year's Race to Hannover closer than ever before, those points could make all
the difference.

Right..enough about the introduction...let's get to the ACTION!!! Startin with...

MONDAY, OCTOBER 25TH 1999:

STUTTGART, Germany (Ticker) -- Andre Agassi of the United States and Russia's
Yevgeny Kafelnikov each will try to gain the upper hand in the race to finish
the year No. 1 this week at the $2.45 million Eurocard Open, a Super 9 indoor
tennis event.

Agassi, the top seed and world No. 1, has split his last four matches since
winning his second Grand Slam of the season at the U.S. Open in September.
He also captured the French Open and two smaller tournaments, and reached the
final at Wimbledon.

Kafelnikov trails Agassi by 302 points in the rankings but has points to
defend this week after making the final last year. He lost to Richard
Krajicek of the Netherlands, who defeated Agassi in the third round a year ago.

Although he has reached four straight quarterfinals, Kafelnikov has not won
three matches in a row since the U.S. Open, where he lost to Agassi in the
semifinals. He won the Australian Open in January and the ABN/AMRO World
Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam a month later.

Third seed Todd Martin of the United States is trying to snap a three-match
losing streak. Martin, whose only title of the year came at the Sydney
International in January, has not won a match since topping Cedric Pioline of
France to reach the U.S. Open final.

Slumping fourth seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil is playing on carpet, which is
not one of his favorite surfaces. He is 23-6 on clay this year with two
titles, but only 2-2 on carpet. Kuerten has dropped four of his past six
matches.

Conversely, fifth seed Greg Rusedski of Britain struggled for much of the
season but has perked up now that the circuit has moved back indoors. He won
two of the last three events he has entered -- the Grand Slam Cup in Munich
and the CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna-- and 13 of his past 14 matches. Five of
Rusedski's nine career titles have come indoors.

Marcelo Rios of Chile is seeded sixth, followed by Germany's Nicolas Kiefer,
who has won three titles this season and reached two other finals. Krajicek,
who also won here in 1995, is eighth, with Alex Corretja of Spain and Tim
Henman of Britain rounding out the top 10.

Tommy Haas of Germany, Vienna champion Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador,
Australian Open runner-up Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, Pioline, Karol Kucera of
Slovakia and Sweden's Magnus Norman, who leads the tour with five victories
this season, are the other seeds -- all of whom received first-round byes.

In a battle for the right to face Agassi, Mark Philippoussis of Australia
outlasted Italian qualifier Gianluca Pozzi, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Philippoussis,
who improved to 2-2 since coming back from knee surgery, fired 20 aces
against only three double faults. He won 80 percent of his first serves and
saved 20 of 21 break points.

In matches involving American players, Michael Chang rallied past Rainer
Schuttler of Germany, 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, while qualifier Chris Woodruff
needed only 46 minutes to cruise past Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.
Woodruff will face Krajicek in the second round.

Croatian Goran Ivanisevic's 10th appearance at Stuttgart turned out to be a
short one as he suffered a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2) loss to Jiri Novak of the
Czech Republic. Ivanisevic won this event in 1992 and reached the 1994
final. His best result this season was a semifinal showing at the Swiss
Indoors three weeks ago.

French Open finalist Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine was forced to retire in the
second set of his match with Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic due to back
problems. Vacek was leading, 6-1, 2-1.

In first-round matches involving unseeded players, Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty
outlasted Thomas Johansson of Sweden, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, and
Romania's Andrei Pavel eliminated Brazil's Fernando Meligeni, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Also, Magnus Larsson of Sweden ousted Italy's Laurence Tieleman, 7-6 (7-4),
6-7 (6-8), 6-2, and Arnaud Clement of France slipped past Sjeng Schalken of
the Netherlands, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4).

First prize is $376,000.

Mark Philippoussis, playing only his fifth match since knee surgery in July, beat
Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 Monday to advance to the second round of the Eurocard Open.

Philippoussis injured his knee in a quarterfinal match against Pete Sampras
in Wimbledon. He tried to come back in August, losing in the first round in
Indianapolis, and did not play again until earlier this month.

``I tried to come back too soon, I definitely wasn't ready,'' said
Philippoussis, who was a U.S. Open finalist in 1988.

``I am definitely ready now,'' the Australian said after dispatching Pozzi,
an Italian qualifier.

In the next round, Philippoussis plays top-ranked Andre Agassi.

``If I play good tennis, it's going to be tough for him. It's also going to
be tough for me, but I'm looking forward to it,'' said Philippoussis, who is
3-2 since his comeback.

``I've been training extremely hard, feeling physically great. It does take a
couple of matches, just playing those tough points. I played the tough points
extremely well today.''

Agassi and all other seeded players had a bye into the second round. Apart
from Sampras, Patrick Rafter and Carlos Moya, who are injured, all other top
ranked players are at the $2.45 million tournament, one of the so-called
Super 9 series.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 26TH 1999:

Jim Courier won a thriller in the Stuttgart Open men's tournament first round on
Tuesday, then paid tribute U.S. Open golf champion Payne Stewart who died in a plane
crash on Monday.

American former world number one Courier, playing his first match since the
U.S. Open nearly two months ago, came from within two points of defeat to
oust former Olympic champion Marc Rosset 4-6 7-6 6-2.

Afterwards his thoughts were for the tragedy affecting his fellow Americans.

``I am very saddened for the loss, not only for Payne Stewart's family, but
also for his agents and the pilots...It just touches us a little bit more
when it's someone we know or know of.''

Courier, who had been an acquaintance of Stewart's, added: ``None of us ever
know where we are going. I guess Payne went out on one of his highest years
ever. But none of that would be worth missing the time he is going to miss
with his family.''

He took a month off after the U.S. Open to heal an injured ankle.

``I had a wonderful month, went to the Ryder Cup, stayed home, visited
friends,'' said the 29-year-old American. ``I have to take time like that
more often because I just can't keep grinding and grinding. I've done it for
too long.

``I have to step back and enjoy life a little bit more along the way.''

Courier paid tribute to Payne Stewart, the golfer who died in an airplane
accident Monday and with whom Courier was acquainted. Stewart was on the U.S.
Ryder Cup team.

He also said he would like to be a part of the U.S. Davis Cup team and that
he had spoken to new captain John McEnroe about it.

``Hopefully, if I play well enough, I'll earn my spot on the team,'' he said.

Naming McEnroe as captain will help restore some publicity for the Davis Cup
in the United States, Courier said.

Seventh-seeded Nicolas Kiefer had to quit when he twisted his left ankle in
the first set against Andrei Pavel in a second-round match.

And Magnus Larsson dropped out with a back injury, allowing fifth-seeded Greg
Rusedski to advance to the third round. Three players have been forced to
drop out of the tournament with injuries.

``I would have rather liked to play a match because it's always good to get
into a tournament and at least try to win a match,'' Rusedski said.

Kiefer was serving for the set at 5-3 when he slipped on the carpet surface.
With his ankle heavily taped, Kiefer played three more games, losing them
all, before giving up. He suffered partially torn ligaments.

Kiefer is one of the players trying to qualify for the season-ending ATP Tour
World Championship in Hanover, Germany, next month that brings together the
top eight players of the year. He said he would miss next week's big
tournament in Paris.

Another seeded player moved into the third round when No. 13 Thomas Enqvist
beat Michael Chang 6-4, 6-2.

Meanwhile, injuries are taking their toll in the Stuttgart event.

French Open finalist Andrei Medvedev quit with back trouble on Monday against
Daniel Vacek and seventh seed Nicolas Kiefer pulled out with a foot problem
on Tuesday.

The injury will also rule Kiefer out of next week's Paris Open.

Kiefer, who has just reached the world top 10 for the first time, was thus
denied a chance to celebrate in front of his home crowd.

The German stumbled badly when leading 5-3 in the first set against Romanian
Andre Pavel and retired at 5-6.

Kiefer's setback could ease the path to the quarter-finals for Britain's Tim
Henman, the 10th seed in this quarter, who meets Vacek on Wednesday with the
winner playing Pavel.

Another Briton, Greg Rusedski, has also benefitted from an opponent's injury.
Swede Magnus Larsson has pulled out, also with a bad back, so Rusedski
reaches the third round without striking a ball.

Pete Sampras and Pat Rafter both pulled out injured before the tournament
started.

Defending champion and eighth seed Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands and
No. 13 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden posted straight-set victories over their
American opponents to advance to the third round.

Krajicek, who also won here in 1995, downed qualifier Chris Woodruff, 6-4,
7-6 (7-3), and Enqvist disposed of the slumping Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-2.
Once ranked as high as No. 2, Chang slipped to No. 73 this week and has yet
to reach a final in 1999.

Rusedski, a quarterfinalist last year, had struggled for much of 1999 but has
picked his game up now that the circuit has moved back indoors. He has won
two of the last three events he has entered -- the Grand Slam Cup in Munich
and the CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna -- and 13 of his past 14 matches. Five of
his nine career titles have come indoors.

Well here's the FULL draw:

ATP SUPER 9 TOURNAMENT IN STUTTGART (2.200.000 $)

FIRST ROUND TOP HALF I:
Andre Agassi (USA/1) -
BYE
Mark Philippoussis (AUS) - 6 4 7
Gianluca Pozzi (ITA) 4 6 5
Sjeng Schalken (NED) - 7 7
Arnaud Clement (FRA) 5 6
Karol Kucera (SVK/15) -
BYE
Tim Henman (GBR/10) -
BYE
Daniel Vacek (CZE) - 6 2
Andrej Medwedew (UKR) 1 1 w.o.
Andrei Pavel (ROM) - 3 6 6
Fernando Meligeni (BRA) 6 3 4
Nicolas Kiefer (GER/7) -
BYE

FIRST ROUND TOP HALF II:
Gustavo Kuerten (BRA/4) -
BYE
Albert Costa (ESP) - 7 2 6
Hicham Arazi (MAR) 5 6 3
Michael Chang (USA) - 3 7 6
Rainer Schüttler (GER) 6 6 2
Thomas Enqvist (SWE/13) -
BYE
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU/12) -
BYE
Dominik Hrbaty (SVK) - 6 7 6
Thomas Johansson (SWE) 7 6 1
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) - 6 6
Fernando Vicente (ESP) 2 2
Marcelo Rios (CHI/6) -
BYE

FIRST ROUND BOTTOM HALF I:
Greg Rusedski (GBR/5) -
BYE
Magnus Larsson (SWE) - 7 6 6
Laurence Tieleman (ITA) 6 7 2
Wayne Ferreira (RSA) - 6 4 6
Justin Gimelstob (USA) 4 6 4
Tommy Haas (GER/11) -
BYE
Cedric Pioline (FRA/14) -
BYE
Jiri Novak (CZE) - 6 3 7
Goran Ivanisevic (CRO) 2 6 6
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) - 6 6
Younes El Aynaoui (MAR) 2 4
Todd Martin (USA/3) -
BYE

FIRST ROUND BOTTOM HALF II:
Richard Krajicek (NED/8) -
BYE
Chris Woodruff (USA) - 6 6
Francisco Clavet (ESP) 1 4
Jim Courier (USA) - 4 7 6
Marc Rosset (SUI) 6 6 2
Alex Corretja (ESP/9) -
BYE
Magnus Norman (SWE/16) -
BYE
Marat Safin (RUS) - 7 3 6
Lleyton Hewitt (USA) 6 6 2
Mariano Zabaleta (ARG) - 6 3 6
Vincent Spadea (USA) 3 6 1
Yevgeny Kafelnikow (RUS/2) -
BYE

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$ SECTION 3: THE ATP TOUR: PART 3 &
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Well if you wanna find out how this week progressed, flip the freakin' page and you will
find out! :)

Wout... --------->>>>>