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$ SECTION 1: THE ATP TOUR $
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Well hi there people! :)
How very nice to see you all back here! You are just so damn loyal..it's quite sickening
you know??!! Ha ha! Just kidding of course! :) I am glad my reports are still
appreciated..at least I think they are????
So how have you been doing this week so far?? Good I hope?? Well I just got back from
playing badminton..I was not too happy about my game though...maybe it had to do with
the fitnesswork-out I had yesterday?? Oh well..it might..it might not! :) Can't have
good days all the time aye?? :)
Well I have noticed that people have been wondering about what happened to my DAILY
Jokes, MusicGame and Tennispictures...well I thought I explained this already, but for
those who weren't paying attention (TERRY?? LOL!).. I am very busy with school, so I
have decided to send those things only once per week..OK?? But I will give somethig in
return..I will play for DJ in my Musicgame and I will send some funny, big files along
with the jokes..OK?? Maybe even some extra Tennispictures as well! :)
Well now that I have mentioned Terry...he was wondering where he could find a homepage
that lists current & upcoming television coverage of tennis - by country, network, etc.
Does anybody know such a site?? I have known about this, but I forgot it, so help will
be appreciated! :) Us tennisfans gotta stick together aye? :)
Well enough chit-chatting for today...remember..tomorrow is my BUSY day at school, so I
won't send out any report then..OK?? So till Thursday..
Wout, your (hopefully favorite!) tennisreporter from Holland! :)
******************************* THIS WEEK: GRAND SLAM CUP ****************************
Well an now it's time to check out TODAY'S action at the Grand Slam Cup aye?? Yes this
is a tourney with men and women playing, so I will put them together this time..that's
OK aye?? :)
MUNICH, Germany -- Top-ranked Martina Hingis opened the women's era in the $6.7 million
Grand Slam Cup by beating Conchita Martinez 6-2, 7-5 today!! :)
Hingis, who will be 18 Wednesday, needed 1 hour, 20 minutes to beat the Spaniard
and reach the semifinals of the women's draw.
"I felt very well as a 17-year-old for the last time," Hingis said.
"Tomorrow, I am one year older, but that won't change much. I've been getting
ready and waiting for this moment for two years."
Eight women are participating in the lucrative event for the first time since the
introduction of the tournament in 1990 and Hingis got the honor of playing in the
first match.
Hingis also beat Martinez in the final of the Australian Open to win her only Grand
Slam title of the year, and earlier this month in leading Switzerland to the Fed Cup
title.
The tournament nominally brings together players with the best records in the four
Grand Slam events of the year - the Australian, French and U.S. Open and
Wimbledon.
But three men's Grand Slam champions of 1998 are skipping the tournament
despite its huge prize money - Wimbledon champion and top-ranked Pete Sampras,
U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter and Carlos Moya, the French Open champion.
Only Australian Open champion Petr Korda is among the 12 men here.
In the opening men's match, Jonas Bjorkman rallied from a 5-1 deficit in the
opening set to beat Tim Henman 7-5, 6-4.
Bjorkman saved three set points and broke Henman's serve when the Briton
committed a double-fault in the seventh game.
The Swede, fresh from leading Sweden into the Davis Cup final, then rolled
through the next five games to clinch the set. He broke serve again in the fifth
game of the second.
The women are fully represented, with Monica Seles the only absentee from the
top ranks. Seles refuses to play in Germany since being stabbed at a tournament in
Hamburg in 1993.
Hingis and Martinez played an erratic match and the Spaniard didn't hold serve
until 5-2 in the second set.
"Then she hit exactly the corner," Hingis said. ``I thought that was over, that's it. It
somehow caught me off balance."
Martinez finally held serve for 5-3, then saved a match point and broke Hingis to
close within 5-4. She held again to tie the score.
Hingis was taken to deuce before holding for 6-5 and she closed the match in the
next game on Martinez' serve, hitting a return backhand winner to the line on her
second match point. She improved her career record against Martinez to 6-2.
The men's winner will receive $1.3 million, the women's $800,000.
While Hingis was assured of collecting at least $200,000 for reaching the final four,
Martinez received $100,000 as a first-round loser.
"It's a great tournament," Hingis said. ``It's like starting in the quarterfinals of a
Grand Slam.
Henman, who qualified for the tournament for the best performers in the year's four
grand slams by reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon, said too much tennis was
one of the reasons for his defeat.
"I've been playing week after week, maybe a little bit too much," said the Briton, a
semifinalist here in 1996. "Since the 20th of July, I've spent only one full day at
home."
The hard-hitting Henman looked full of confidence in the opening stages, relying
on booming serves to open up a 5-1 lead. He then served for the set but wasted
two set points before double faulting to drop serve.
"I was playing pretty good but I was not doing anything amazing," he said. "He
was making a lot of mistakes. Then I started to miss and he played better and better."
Bjorkman won six games in a row to seal the first set with Henman hitting a
backhand long on set point. The Swede then stayed on top, breaking his
opponent to go 3-2 up in the second set before wrapping it up with a winning
serve on match point.
Hingis, who beat Martinez 6-3 6-3 in January in Melbourne to claim her only grand
slam title this year, needs to win just three matches in Munich to pocket $800,000.
Martinez, ranked seventh in the world, beat Hingis twice in their first two
encounters in 1995 and 1996, both times on clay. But she has always lost to her
since, conceding five defeats before Tuesday's match.
The Spaniard fought bravely in the second set, levelling it at 5-5. But Hingis
picked up her game when it mattered most, coolly winning the next two games to
set up a semifinal clash against either Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna or
Switzerland's Patty Schnyder.
"I felt very well as a 17-year-old for the last time," said Hingis. "It was not that
easy but I made it. I'm glad."
The women's tournament looks far more exciting than the men's, which lost much
of its interest after Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter and Carlos Moya all pulled out,
leaving Australian Open champion Petr Korda as the only winner of a grand slam
this year in the men's draw.
"It's a great tournament but it's a busy calendar," said Henman, who joined his
voice to those who wish to bring together the Munich tournament and the ATP
Tour world championship in one season-ending event.
"It would be a good idea to put everything together and have one big event," he
said. "We have two tournaments where there perhaps should only be one."
The ATP Tour world championship features the world's top eight players and
takes place every year in November in Hanover.
Tennis prodigy Martina Hingis turns 18 on Wednesday but is adamant her adult status will
not mean mother Melanie is left behind.
"I'll continue to go to tournaments with my mother to coach me," said the world
number one after she eased past Conchita Martinez as women made their Grand
Slam Cup debut on Tuesday.
"I think certainly you get more independent. But nevertheless, I'm not going to
believe that now I'm 18 I can decide everything without asking my mother."
One bonus of turning 18, though, is that she will finally be able to drive the sports
cars won in tournaments and lavished on her as gifts.
"Now I can finally drive it," the Swiss star said of a car promised by a sponsor. "I
got a Porsche once but it stays in the garage."
French Open semifinalist Felix Mantilla of Spain dumped Australian Open semifinalist
Nicolas Escude of France, 6-3, 6-3.
American Lindsay Davenport plays her first match Thursday since capturing her first
Grand Slam crown at the U.S. Open. Davenport, who beat Hingis in the final in New York,
has won 20 of her last 21 matches. She has won four titles this year and is closing in
on Hingis' No. 1 ranking.
The 22-year-old Davenport will take on Wimbledon finalist Nathalie Tauziat of France
later this week. She is 9-2 all-time against the Frenchwoman, including a fourth-round
victory at the U.S. Open.
On Wednesday, Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, the third seed,
will face Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, who lost to Novotna in the U.S. Open
quarterfinals. Novotna, a winner of four events this year, has won five of six
encounters with the Swiss teenager. The winner of this match will face Hingis in
the semifinals.
Fourth seed and French Open champion Aranxta Sanchez Vicario of Spain, who led her
country to the Fed Cup title last weekend, will look for revenge when she battles
American teenager Venus Williams on Thursday. Sanchez Vicario lost to the American in
three sets in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.
The 26-year-old Spaniard played in her fifth final of the year Sunday but failed to
capture her third title of the year when she fell to Seles in Tokyo, Japan.
Korda, who won the 1993 Grand Slam Cup, is the men's top seed, followed by Marcelo Rios
of Chile, who fell to Korda in the Australian Open final. Wimbledon runner-up and 1995
champion Goran Ivanisevic is seeded third and U.S. Open finalist Mark Philippoussis of
Australia is the fourth seed.
In the quarterfinals, Rios will face Mantilla and Philippoussis will take on Bjorkman.
Well and here's the draw..or I should say..here are the drawS!! :)
GRAND SLAM CUP IN MUNICH: MEN
A. Pioline (Fra) - Agassi (VS)
B. Kucera (Svk) - Arazi (Mar)
Bjorkman (Zwe) - Henman (GB) : 7-5, 6-4
Mantilla (Spa) - Escude (Fra): 6-3, 6-3
QUARTERFINALS:
Winnaar A - Korda (Tsj)
Winnaar B - Ivanisevic (Kro)
Bjorkman (Zwe) - Philippoussis (Aus)
Mantilla (Spa) - Rios (Chl)
GRAND SLAM CUP IN MUNICH: WOMEN
QUARTERFINALS:
Hingis (Zwi) - Martinez (Spa) : 6-2, 7-5
Novotna (Tsj) - Schnyder (Zwi)
V.Williams (VS) - Sanchez (Spa)
Tauziat (Fra) - Davenport (VS)
Well I haven't been able to find the Official Homepage of this fine tourney..some help
would be nice! :)
***************** THIS WEEK: ATP TOURNAMENT IN MALLORCA ******************************
But the Grand Slam Cup isn't the only tourney that's being played..nop..there are TWO
ATP tourneys as well...here's Mallorca..a report..
MALLORCA - Former world number one Thomas Muster made a confident start to his Mallorca
Open campaign on Monday, beating qualifier Galo Blanco in straight sets.
The fifth-seeded Austrian, playing on his favoured clay surface in Mallorca's
converted bull ring, swept past the Spanish player 6-4 6-2 in the opening night
match of the tournament.
The day's first game had earlier provided the first shock as number seven seed
Francisco Clavet of Spain was beaten in three sets by qualifier Dusan Vemic.
The little-known Yugoslav, who had to play three games just to reach the first
round, outfought his opponent to take a 7-5 4-6 6-2 win and gain revenge for his
defeat to the Spaniard at the Italian Open in Rome earlier this season.
Top seed Carlos Moya of Spain will try to put a horrid Davis Cup weekend behind him when
he plays before his hometown fans today at the inaugural $475,000 Mallorca Open
claycourt tennis event.
The French Open champion, who was born in Mallorca but trains in Barcelona, lost both
his singles matches as Spain was beaten by Sweden in the Davis Cup semifinals, 4-1.
Moya, a U.S. Open semifinalist three weeks ago, brings a 28-9 record on clay into his
opening-round matchup today against Romanian qualifier Ion Moldovan.
No. 4 Alberto Berasategui of Spain, the only other seeded player in action today, faces
Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti. Berasategui reached the quarterfinals at Bournemouth two
weeks ago after suffering four consecutive first-round losses.
Also today, Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic plays Spain's Sergi Bruguera, who has just
two wins in his last 15 matches. Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic meets German
Tommy Haas while Ulihrach's countryman, Slvaa Dosedel, battles Carlos Costa of Spain.
In addition, Fernando Vicente takes on Julian Alonso in an all-Spanish affair and
Mariano Puerta of Argentina plays Spaniard Javier Sanchez.
Costa, seeking his third ATP Tour title of the year, stormed past Australia's Andrew
Ilie, 6-1, 6-3. Costa is tied for fourth among active players in career titles on clay
with nine, having won this year's German Open in Hamburg and the EA Generali Open in
Kitzbuhel, Austria. He also was a finalist at the Italian Open in Rome and the
Samsung Open at Bournemouth, England.
Spain's Alex Corretja, coming off a Davis Cup singles loss to Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman,
is seeded second and will face Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia in the first round Wednesday.
Corretja has won two tournaments this year and was a finalist twice, including the
French Open, in which he fell to his good friend Moya. He also lost to Moya in the
fourth round of the U.S. Open.
The Mallorca Open is one of just two new tournaments on the ATP schedule this year. It
features a unique atmosphere as it is played in a bullfighting arena. First prize is
$34,260.
Well here are some first round results:
ATP TOURNAMENT IN MALLORCA: 475.000 $
FIRST ROUND:
Thomas Muster (AUT/5) - 6 6
Galo Blanco (ESP) 4 2
Alberto Berasategui (ESP/4) - 6 6
Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 1 4
Sergi Bruguera (ESP) - 6 6
Jiri Novak (CZE) 3 3
Slava Dosedel (CZE) - 6 6
Carlos Costa (ESP) 4 3
Thomas Haas (GER) - 6 3 6
Bohdan Ulihrach (CZE) 1 6 2
Mariano Puerta (ARG) - 6 6 6
Javier Sanchez (ESP) 3 7 4
Thomas Schiessling (AUT) -
Marat Safin (RUS) Wednesday
And what's this?? I even found the Homepage of this fine tourney..unbelievable aye?? :)
Here it is: http://www.mallorcaopen.com
***************** THIS WEEK: ATP TOURNAMENT IN TOULOUSE ******************************
And now our final ATP tourney..Toulouse...a report..
TOULOUSE, France -- Lionel Roux and Jean-Baptiste Perlant, two of France's best hopes
for success at the $400,000 Toulouse Open tennis tournament, crashed out in the first
round Monday.
Armenia's Sargis Sargsian defeated Roux in straight sets, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), while
Ukrainian No. 1 Andrei Medvedev eliminated Perlant, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4.
Four of the top six seeds will see first-round action today at the $375,000 Toulouse
Open hardcourt tennis event.
Second seed Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands plays Argentina's Guillermo Canas.
Siemerink, a semifinalist here in 1992, won his third career singles title in Rotterdam
earlier this year and advanced to the semifinals in 's-Hertogenbosch this summer.
Third seed and U.S. Open quarterfinalist Thomas Johansson, a member of the Swedish Davis
Cup team that advanced to the final last weekend, faces Romanian Open finalist Arnaud Di
Pasquale of France in opening-round play. Johansson is having a strong season, reaching
one final and four semifinals. He is currently ranked a career-best No. 22.
Defending champion Nicolas Kiefer of Germany, the fourth seed, takes on French qualifier
Julien Boutter. He captured his first ATP Tour title here last year.
Boutter is making his ATP Tour main-draw debut. In May, he played in the French Open,
reaching the second round.
Sixth seed Magnus Larsson, coming off an appearance in the U.S. Open quarterfinals,
battles another French qualifier, Stephane Huet.
Three other Frenchmen are taking part in opening-round play today as Sebastein Grosjean
battles countryman Arnaud Clement and qualifier Lionel Barthes squares off against
German Christian Vinck.
The tournament's top seed, Britain's Greg Rusedski, will face Germany's Marc-Kevin
Goellner on Wednesday.
Rusedski accepted a wild-card entry to become the top seed and is looking to snap a
seven-month title drought. He reached three ATP Tour finals in the first three months of
the year but struggled throughout the claycourt season, then suffered a left-ankle
injury in a Wimbledon tuneup.
After returning to action almost two months later, Rusedski endured three five-set
matches at the U.S. Open, losing in the third round to Siemerink. Last week, Rusedski
won his singles match in Davis Cup World Group qualifying as Britain edged India, 3-2.
Double fans, might have noted with interest that Paul Haarhuis has teamed up with Jan
Siemerink, in the doubles competition, and they are seeded third. Is the tradition of
the "Flying Dutchmen" to be continued in this way, after Haarhuis' regular partner,
Jacco Eltingh, retires at the end of the year.
U.S. Open finalist Mark Philippoussis of Australia, who lost to Kiefer in last year's
final, is not entered. First prize is $54,000.
Well and here are some first round results:
ATP TOURNAMENT IN TOULOUSE: 400.000 $
FIRST ROUND:
Sargis Sargsian (ARM) - 6 7
Lionel Roux (FRA) 3 6
Andrei Medwedew (UKR) - 6 6 6
Jean Baptiste Perlant (FRA) 4 7 4
Marc Rosset (SUI) - 4 6 6
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) 6 2 3
Jan Siemerink (NED/2) - 6 6 (GO JAN!!!)
Guillermo Canas (ARG) 4 3
Lionel Barthez (FRA) - 7 6
Christian Vinck (GER) 6 2
Stephane Huet (FRA) - 7 7
Magnus Larsson (SWE) 5 5
Arnaud Clement (FRA) - 7 4 6
Sebastien Grosjean (FRA) 6 6 4
Well I haven't been able to find this Homepage neither..can anybody help me?? :(
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$ SECTION 2: ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS AND MORE!! $
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OK..let's see if there's some tennisnews shall we??
************************** TENNISNEWS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ************************
IRVING, Texas -- Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe 6-7 (2), 6-2, 11-9 in a tumultuous
final at the PricewaterhouseCoopers Champions senior tennis tournament Sunday.
It was Connors' fourth tournament title of the year and netted him $40,000.
McEnroe took home $25,000 and still has a 100-point lead on Connors in the
Nuveen Masters Point Standings.
It was the 41st meeting between the Connors and McEnroe and featured vintage
play and behavior from both.
In between service winners, McEnroe sparred with chair umpire Myron Krueger,
glared at the linespeople and jawed back and forth with the capacity crowd of
2,827. He served 14 aces, but overall his serving percentage was a low 50 percent.
For his part, Connors glared at McEnroe, blasted service returns and, at one point,
walked off the court. When the match was over, the two old foes left the court
without shaking hands.
************************** TENNISNEWS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ************************
PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Former tennis star Martina Navratilova, who returned to her
native Czech Republic for an exhibition match, said Saturday her life after retiring
from professional tennis was a "holiday."
"The less I do, the better," Navratilova said in a live interview with the public
Czech TV Saturday. "My life is a holiday."
Navratilova her activities include snowboarding, golf, basketball, diving, and also
walking her dog.
Commenting on current tennis, Navratilova said she likes to watch the likes of
Martina Hingis and others who are "fierce enough."
"These days, players have to be better athletes," she said. ``But I still think with
nostalgia about the old times, when people like John McEnroe played."
Navratilova, who hails from a village outside Prague, defected from
Czechoslovakia in 1975 and obtained American citizenship.
************************** TENNISNEWS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ************************
Notes & Quotes
In the player council meeting held during the U.S. Open, Todd Martin was elected Player
Council president, replacing Alex Corretja. Marcelo Filippini was elected
vice-president.
The MaliVai Washington Foundation Gala, held September 14-15, raised $75,000 USD to help
the Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida. The event, hosted by MaliVai Washington,
included a dinner and auction on Monday night followed by a tennis program on Tuesday
morning and golf in the afternoon. Among those taking part were Jim Courier and Todd
Martin, former NBA All-Star Doc Rivers, three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Nancy
Hogshead and NBC Wimbledon studio host Ahmad Rashad.
The President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, was visiting Israel last week on a historic
first-time visit, but still wanted to feel part of the action back home in Tashkent at
the President's Cup tournament. A special effort was thus made by Israel's Channel 5 who
flew over a team to broadcast the opening ceremony and feed back 20 minutes of footage
to Israel.
Also in Tashkent last week, several retired Russian cosmonauts, who used to be regular
visitors to the MIR space station in the 1980s, were able to hit with ATP Tour players
Lars Burgsmuller, Rainer Schuttler, Nir Welgreen and Vadim Kutsenko, as well as
tournament director Ian Froman. After some exciting on-court moments, the eventual
winners were cosmonaut Alexander Srebrov and Schuttler.
***** DEDICATED TO MY FRIENDS OUT THERE: THEIR HOMEPAGES AND OTHER STUFF!! ************
This is a NEW section in my report..dedicated to my friends out there..a section with
their homepages, so FRIENDS..if you want your page to be here, just give me the site and
I will add it to the list OK?? Here we go..
1. LARA'S GORAN PAGE! INCLUDING my reports AND picture, so for all of you out there who
haven't seen me yet, check it out..just go here:
http://www.luckonline.net/tennis/index.htm
2. Sign up for Agoori's Aranxta Newsletter: s97...@dpc.kfupm.edu.sa
A preview at this URL: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/9480/index.html
3. Marshy's Aranxta Sanchez Fanpage: http://members.tripod.com/~CMSTRONG/index.html
4. Ahn's Homepage...it's worth checking:
http://www.angelfire.com/al/anhhomepage/index.html
5. Darren's SRI Ranking System: http://www.aaii.oz.au/staff/darren/SRI/tennis.html
6. Josephine's Magnus Norman Page: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/5106/
7. Caz and Countess' Graf and Sanchez Fapage:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Bleachers/7462/
8. Prips's Mirjana Lucic Page: http://www.mirjanalucic.com
9. Steve's Tennissite including quiz: http://www2.one.net.au/~marshy/index.html
10. Drazen's Mirjana Lucic page: http://www.lucic.com
11. Kristen's TennisSite: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Stadium/1477
12. Myst's Tennis Lobby: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Arena/4535/
13. Sam Settle's Tennis Site: http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/zola/206/index.htm
14. Gigi's Tennis Rally Page: http://www.TennisRally.com
15. Another awsome Tennis Site: http://www.btinternet.com/~tennis.net
16. Andre's Aranxta Sanchez Page: http://members.tripod.com/~Salams/Index.html
17. Caz's Magui Serna Page:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Bench/3769/AtGrandSlamEvents.html
18. Kulli's Dominique Van Roost Page: http://www.bmf.ee/kylli/index1.html
Well so much for now...if you feel left out, just give me a ring sorta speak and I will
add you to the list! :)
******************************* THAT'S IT FOLKS!!! ************************************
Well so much for today...did ya enjoy it?? GREAT! It was my pleasure..once again! :)
Don't forget to check out the pictures, jokes and soundfile aye?? :)
"Till next time...take care of yourself...and eachother!! "
Jerry Springer
Wouter, your buddie from....YES you guessed it right.. the Netherlands!! LOL!! :)
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% "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" %
% Wout's Motto %
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% And remember....TENNIS: "IT'S ALL GOOD!!" %
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