[DUlrich1227]

Agassi, Nadal Win, Gaudio Set on Stunned at US Open

20-year-old off-the-radar American Brian Baker provided the shocker of the opening day Monday at the US Open, straight-setting No. 9 seed Gaston Gaudio 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-2.

The American wildcard entered the event with a 1-2 win-loss record this year at tour events, spending much of the year at challenger-level minor league tournaments without winning a title.

"I think I've always had it in me," said Baker who spent three months on the sidelines earlier this year with a wrist injury. "I just haven't quite been able to put it together for a whole match. Ever since I was a little kid, you always dream about being Top 10 in the world and winning a Grand Slam. I know that's a long way away right now, but hopefully with a lot of hard work, getting a little bit better, maybe I can accomplish those things down the road."

Gaudio, who has repeatedly stated his desire to qualify for the year-end Masters Cup, currently hovering neat the bottom of the Top 10 rankings, could not hide his disappointment in his post-match conference.

"He was serving he was serving pretty good today," said a testy Gaudio. "And then from the baseline, I thought that he I thought that I was like I can take advantage of that, but I couldn't do it, you know. Like he was playing pretty good from the baseline, too. So serving good and playing good from the baseline, I think I couldn't do I didn't get any opportunity to break his serve or anything."

Seeded winners on the day were (2) Rafael Nadal (d. (WC) Reynolds), (7) Andre Agassi (d. Sabau), (8) Guillermo Coria (d. Mantilla), (10) Mariano Puerta (d. (Q) Okun, bagel in the fourth), (13) Richard Gasquet (d. A.Martin in five), (14) Thomas Johansson (d. Zabaleta), (18) Ivan Ljubicic (d. (Q) Summerer), (19) Tommy Robredo (d. (Q) Bracciali in four), (23) Jiri Novak (d. D.Norman), (24) Mikhail Youzhny (d. Mayer, dropping only 3 games), (29) Tommy Haas (d. (Q) Luczak in four), and (32) Tomas Berdych (d. Kohlschreiber).

Nadal, the tour's blooming metrosexual, debuted Monday for his match in Nike's version of a Spiderman costume, with a skin-tight virtually-painted-on red sleeveless top and black shorts.

"The last two years when I was coming here, I was playing very, very bad...but the worst moment in the year (was) when I come to the US Open," said Nadal, last year spanked by Andy Roddick in straight sets. "I think now is a little bit different, no?"

Agassi addressed the crowd after rolling Sabau in straight sets.

"That's an amazing thing," said Agassi on his 20th US Open appearance. "I've been through a lot of things in my life. A lot of things have taken me away from the lines of a tennis court. But it's never taken me away from here. Twenty years here feels better than 19, so thank you."

Other un-seeds into the second round were Croat "Dr." Ivo Karlovic (d. Fish in four), Chile's Nicolas Massu (d. (WC) Gambill), waffle Xavier Malisse (d. Hernych), Swede Robin Soderling (d. Chela in four), Russian Igor Andreev (d. (Q) Elseneer), France's Cyril Saulnier (d. Tipsarevic in four), American wildcard Scoville Jenkins (d. (Q) Bastl in five to set up a meeting with Nadal), and Brazil's Ricardo Mello (d. Monaco in four).

"A lot of energy from the crowd," Jenkins said after edging Bastl, the man who beat Pete Sampras at Wimbledon. "I've dreamed about going five sets at a Grand Slam all my life. I just thought: 'This is a great time. Just take it one point at a time.'"

Two qualifiers also advanced into the second round, with Swedish Jonas Bjorkman (d. Behrend, bagel in the third) and Italy's Giorgio Galimberti (d (WC) Young) posting wins.

"I'm very disappointed Donald (Young) went down one and two," USA Network commentator John McEnroe said of Young's effort in the final two sets of his match, with the 16-year-old discouraged and tanking to get off the court after losing a first-set tiebreak. "You get the feeling he didn't fight hard."

On tap Tuesday on the men's side are (1) Federer vs. Minar, (28) "Grinning" Greg Rusedski vs. Blake, (4) Roddick vs. Muller, (12) Henman vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco, (30) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi vs. Gimelstob, (11) Nalbandian vs. Bogomolov Jr., Pavel vs. Murray, Ginepri vs. Guillermo "G-Lo" Garcia-Lopez, (20) Ferrero vs. Clement, (26) Feliciano Lopez vs. Volandri, Weiner vs. Spadea in an all-American, (31) Moya vs. Llodra, H.-T. Lee vs. (22) Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, Zib vs. (6) Davydenko, Peter "Nuclear" Wessels vs. Christophe "Coch" Rochus, Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp vs. Phau in an all-German, Gael "Force" Monfils vs. Djokovic, Moodie vs. (21) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, Goldstein vs. Kuerten, Kiefer vs. Vanek, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan vs. El Aynaoui, Wawrinka vs. R.Ram, Tursunov vs. Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis, O.Hernandez vs. Grosjean, Montanes vs. Hanescu, "You Say" Potito Starace vs. Schuettler, Nieminen vs. Beck, Mathieu vs. Capdeville, Sanguinetti vs. Wayne "The Serving Machine" Arthurs, Vik vs. (27) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, Serra vs. Koubek, Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro vs. Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and N.Lapentti vs. (16) Stepanek.

Defending champ Kuznetsova Stunned in Opener at US Open

Svetlana Kuznetsova found out that defending a Slam title can be a "bych," with the No. 5 seed and defending US Open champion making a first-round 6-3, 6-2 exit Monday to fellow Russian Ekaterina Bychkova.

"I was ready, but I wasn't at my best," said Kuznetsova, whose confidence was flagging even before suffering a back injury a couple weeks ago. "Now nobody will disturb me about this. Nobody will say nothing to me. I'll just relax and take some time off, I guess, and just prepare for the next events."

Otherwise known as the "Pete Sampras circa 1991"-way of dealing with the slam pressure.

Showing no signs of her recent pectoral muscle injury, top-seeded Maria Sharpova spanked Greece's Eleni Daniilidou 6-1, 6-1 to advance.

"I haven't played a lot of matches, so I'm just trying to get used to the conditions, the stadium, the wind, playing under the lights for the first time in a while," Sharapova said. "When you're out for a little while, first match you're a little tentative. The injury, you don't know how it's going to be. So far it's OK."

Other seeded winners Monday were (4) Kim Clijsters (d. (Q) Muller 1-and-2), (8) Serena Williams (d. (Q) Chan), (9) Nadia Petrova (d. Birnerova), (10) Venus Williams (d. Fujiwara), (18) Ana Ivanovich (d. Lee-Waters), (20) Daniela Hantuchova (d. Pin), (25) Francesca Schiavone (d. Kostanic), (26) Nicole Vaidisova (d. Peschke), (30) Ai Sugiyama (d. A.Bondarenko from a set down), and (33) Vera Douchevina (d. (Q) Dabek).

"I'm feeling really good," Serena said, falling behind 1-3 to the 16-year-old Chan before pulling it out. "I'm just I'm not feeling too much pain out there at all...I didn't get tired at all, I think I just started out flat. Maybe I was thinking about something else. I just was really flat. I knew it. I was like, 'Serena, get more pep in your step.' Once you got down, I just got a little more footwork. I was just flat for some reason."

Say "flat" more.

Serena wore $40,000 chandelier earrings during the match, but took them off during the first set when troubles arose.

"Well, one fell, and so I didn't put it on tight enough because I was rushing to go out," Serena said. "So I was hoping it wouldn't fall, but I knew in the back of my mind it would, and it did. I was like, 'Okay, I'll just put them on earlier in my next match.'"

Four other seeds made exits Monday at the hands of American wildcard Shenay Perry (d. the back-from-illness (14) Molik), Italian Maria Camerin (d. (21) Safina in three), American Laura Granville (d. (22) Farina Elia), and German Julia Schruff (d. (28) Pennetta in three).

Three qualifiers orchestrated upsets to move into the second round in Croatian Ivana Lisjak (d. Loit from a set down), Argentina's Maria Emilia Salerni (d. (WC) Kirkland 7-6 in the third), and Fin Emma Laine (d. Peng from a set down). Where has China's Peng gone?

Apparently when Kim Clijsters tags you as a future Top 10 player, the crushing weight of expectations can be hard to bear.

Among the remaining torrent of unseeded players into the second round were Colombia's Catalina Castano (d. Jidkova) and Fabiola Zuluaga (d. (WC) Harkleroad who retired down 0-9 with respiratory problems), American Lisa Raymond (d. (Q) Kremer in three), Israel's Shahar Peer (d. Domachowska), Czech Michaela Pastikova (d. Grande in three), France's Marion Bartoli (d. Strycova, bagel in the second), Madagascar's Dally Randriantefy (d. (WC) Gambale), Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi (d. Mamic from a set down), Japan's Aiko Nakamura (d. Irvin), Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. Pous Tio), India's darling Sania Mirza (d. Washington in three), China's Jie Zheng (d. Benesova 6-0 in the third), and Aussie Nicole Pratt (d. Morigami who retired in the third with injury).

On tap Tuesday at the US Open are (7) Henin-Hardenne vs. Ondraskova, Li vs. (2) Davenport, Vinci vs. (3) Mauresmo, (6) Dementieva vs. the Forest Hills winner Safarova, Sesil "The Mouth" Karatantcheva vs. Shaughnessy, Santangelo vs. (12) Pierce, Garbin vs. (19) Likhovtseva, Diaz-Oliva vs. Mattek, Ruano Pascual vs. (23) Golovin, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Haynes, Martinez vs. (11) Schnyder, (15) Dechy vs. Beltrame in an all-French, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova vs. King, Razzano vs. Spears, Llagostera Vives vs. Linetskaya, Kutuzova vs. (29) Chakvetadze, (13) Myskina vs. Tanasugarn, Craybas vs. Jamea "Action" Jackson in an all-American, (24) Asagoe vs. Cohen-Aloro, (31) Groenefeld vs. Brandi, Amy "Joltin' Joe" Frazier vs. Gullickson in an all-American, Antonella Serra "Nevada" Zanetti vs. Parmentier, Gagliardi vs. Maleeva, Sun vs. Stosur, Smashnova vs. Kloesel, Sucha vs. Bammer, Foretz vs. (27) Dulko, Srebotnik vs. Hsieh, (17) Jankovic vs. Chladkova, Cho vs. Parra Santonja, Fedak vs. Glatch, and (32) Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem.


NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Guillermo Canas is in New York with girlfriend/player Maria Emilia Salerni, however the US Open will not let him on the grounds: "It's very ugly. He is no criminal," commented Carlos Moya. "This is beyond of what it should be. I didn't even know that rule existed. It's insane. Allowing him to see his girlfriend's matches wouldn't hurt anyone."...Weather permitting, look for Rafael Nadal-Scoville Jenkins Wednesday night, and Roger Federer Thursday night on the US Open schedule...Akiko Morigami left her match with Nicole Pratt in tears and a wheelchair Monday -- this from The Age: "After taking a medical timeout for treatment while trailing 2-0 in the second set, Morigami called for the trainer again after falling behind 3-0. By the time it was 5-0 to Pratt, Morigami was crying, struggling to breath and declining to drink -- which was worsening her cramps -- as the trainer urged her to stop for fear that continuing may endanger her heart. Astonishingly, though, the Japanese player limped back on court but could barely walk or serve as she dropped her serve to love and promptly sought the 10-minute break permitted under the WTA's rules before the deciding set. She had won the draining first set that lasted almost an hour and a half 7-0 in a tiebreak -- When Morigami finally agreed to quit her distress became so great she began to hyperventilate and needed a wheelchair to take her from the court and an intravenous drip."...All five matches on Ashe went straight sets with nary a tiebreak played Monday...Hurricane Katrina is expected to make her presence felt as early as Tuesday afternoon in New York, and it could hang through Thursday with wet weather -- but at least the weekend looks good...Time for USA Network to set up a Court 4 cam -- though nice effort with the shoulder camera to catch the end of the fifth set between Scoville Jenkins-George Bastl...Donald Young has yet to win a set in seven career ATP matches, and he's yet to play in a challenger this year -- anything wrong with that picture?...Razvan Sabau once finished as the No. 1 junior in the world...Does Ivo Minar go to Yevgeny Kafelnikov's barber? Watch the match and you be the judge (unless he just got a haircut)...In an effort to keep Ashe full in the evening (we guess), the US Open is no longer scheduling "not before" 7pm matches...Nice touch from the USTA having the Ashe winners hit signed balls into the crown following wins on Monday...Someone get USA Network's Al Trautwig a tennis player pronunciation guide -- you're not covering the Tour de France on OLN anymore where butchering names in the norm...Have the ESPN viewing numbers for the US Open Series been overinflated? Last week from Jane McManus at The Journal News: "The US Open Series tennis matches are averaging a 0.3 this year on ESPN, or just under 300,000 homes."...Lindsay Davenport on delaying her retirement: "I work way harder now than at any point in my career, off the court, and I feel like that, all of a sudden, came into play quite a bit. I enjoy it more now. I don't know if that's because I came to the realization that I might be without it soon, or came to the realization that I better enjoy the last few years, however long they last."...Serena Williams on strengthening her knee problem with physical therapy since pulling out of Toronto in her second match: "I just kept strengthening every day. I didn't take a day off. It was really time consuming. That was the number one, two, and three priority for me, was to just keep strengthening my leg. That's what I was able to do. I just needed a little more time not too much more, but just a little more and I was able to get that."...Serena on grunting: "When I was younger I used to love Monica Seles, she was like my role model. I loved her game. I loved her grunt. So my grunt is kind of like hers a little bit where it's like a double grunt, instead of just like one long one, it's like two of them. I don't know why I grunt. Grunting actually is a way of breathing. That's how I'm breathing out instead of going -- I'm actually grunting to get the air out."...Svetlana Kuznetsova became the fourth defending women's champ to lose in the first round of a slam in the Open Era after Steffi Graf (Wimbledon in 1994), Jennifer Capriati (2003 Australian Open), and Anastasia Myskina (2005 French Open)...Nice pre-walk-on-the-court interviews by USA Network in their coverage of the Open, ESPN needs to take a hint on that and other innovations in their coverage...Ouch, John McEnroe leading off USA Network's coverage saying he thinks Marat Safin will have a difficult Open -- a day after Safin pulled from the tournament. Time to kick some USA Network intern ass, tell those kids to keep you up-to-date as you're in and out of the studio...Razvan Sabau was 5-4 in tour play this year entering his match with Andre Agassi...Where is that "Andy's Mojo" commercial where Andy's Mojo gets up while Andy sleeps to beat Roger Federer?...The American women among the Top 20 have each entered about 14 tournaments, on average, this year, while the 10 Russians and Eastern Europeans among the Top 20 have competed in an average of about 21 tournaments each...Justin Gimel"blog" has backed off in his blogging for SI.com, after first shooting from the hip on controversial topics such as women's tennis showing too much skin, his latest entry is a bland tribute to how great Andre Agassi is and how great James Blake's win was at New Haven. C'mon Justin, blog something we already didn't know...From The Telegraph: "(Tim) Henman has requested a late start for his first-round match against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. "It is frustrating to say the least," Henman said. "Having had a problem with my stomach, I think my body has ended up compensating for it and my back has stiffened up as a result. I haven't been able to practise as much as I would have wanted. It's not the best way to prepare but I have to simply try to take the positives out of the situation and try to deal with it as best I can.""...Roger Federer: "I would like to be loved, to have fans around the world. I had a moment last year when I felt people always wanted me to lose because I was winning too much. Now I think differently about that. Maybe losing in the Australian, but fighting and fighting, showed I was human. In Paris when I lost I felt the fans were for me. Those losses were so important to me. They made a difference in how fans see me and how I see the game."...Outgoing ATP CEO Mark Miles will be "roasted" tonight at The Tavern on the Green in NYC...From New York Newsday: "If it seems like Maria Sharapova is everywhere, you're not imagining things. Canon yesterday unleashed some 20 Sharapova look-alikes around hotspots including Grand Central Station, Times Square, Rockefeller Center and Flushing Meadows. The willowy blondes are passing out hand-held fans to help visitors keep cool; the stunt is a follow-up to Sharapova's "Maria Was Here" ad campaign. In addition, two billboards of Sharapova have sprouted alongside sections of the Long Island Expressway. No word on where the Lake Success-based biz found the supply of 6-foot-2 Russian women, but we're guessing Brighton Beach."...Tennisreporters.net's Matt Cronin on Svetlana Kuznetsova's hasty exit: "Kuznetsova had very little interest in winning points of any kind. She knew coming into the tournament that she had virtually no chance of winning because she hasn't learned to contend with the pressure of being a recognized elite player. A few weeks ago, she spoke of having nothing left in the tank mentally, of how confused she was as to why, and how much she dreaded the expectations that come along with being a player who has reached the top of the mountain. "This year I've wanted to go out and play like the US Open champion," said Kuznetsova. "I put too much pressure on myself and tried to be too good.""...Xavier Malisse has been left off the Belgian Davis Cup team that will face the U.S. in the qualifying round in September, leaving the Roach Brothers, Olivier and Christophe Rochus in charge with U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe looking for the bug spray on the red clay...From the New York Times: "Recently, however, Serena has blurred the line between reality and entertainment. She and Venus produced a reality show, "Venus and Serena: For Real," to mixed reviews this summer. Serena was not pleased when the directors suggested she take a nap in one episode because appearing lazy would draw more laughs."...From Keep Media: "The sport also has made big inroads in showbiz, with Woody Allen's "Match Point" -- one of the splashes at Cannes this year -- promising to help us forget last fall's Paul Bettany-Kirsten Dunst dud "Wimbledon." Also, celebs like Alec Baldwin, Matthew Perry and Bill Murray, as well as Hollywood execs like Brad Grey and Jeffrey Katzenberg, have long been drawn to the Open. "I've definitely noticed a lot more glitter," says Jim Rosenthal, head of New Line's TV division and an Open regular. "There's always been crossover, but lately there's been much more." Arlen Kantarian, CEO of the United States Tennis Assn., has drawn on his background running Radio City Music Hall and marketing pro football to boost the entertainment quotient of the event: Jumbotron screens fill the grounds; musical acts like Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw and James Taylor perform. The USTA's parties on finals weekend at Mojito Restaurant and Bar are always a coveted ticket. Last year, the Olsen twins were among attendees. "We've set out to create a sports and entertainment spectacle," says USTA spokesman Chris Widmaier."