Moscow

[MariaV]

Teresa said:

Same thing I though about the pictures, habibi looks so sad and disappointed, they are some of the saddest pictures I have seen in a long time.

Yeah Teresa, sad! Doesn't help any more, does it!

[Myke]

Ok he lost.... At least I got to see him lose, thanks to MIEK! ;D Not the most ideal picture, but at least I saw something.

[MariaV]

From Reuters
______________
Top seed Safin bundled out of Kremlin Cup
Wed 13 October, 2004 21:42

By Gennady Fyodorov

MOSCOW, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Top seed and home favourite Marat Safin was bundled out of the Kremlin Cup, losing to unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6 4-6 6-3 in the second round on Wednesday.

The former world number one, who survived a first-round scare against his doubles partner Max Mirnyi on Monday, finally ran out of steam against 74th-ranked Stepanek.

After losing the opening set on a tiebreaker, the Russian fought back in the second to force a decider. But the resilient Czech broke Safin's powerful serve twice in the final set and wrapped up the match in 2-1/2-hours.

The defeat dented Safin's chances of qualifying for the year-ending Tennis Master Cup in Houston, but the 2000 U.S. Open champion was still optimistic.

"I still have three tournaments left in Madrid, St Petersburg and Paris, so I think I have a good chance," said Safin, who is trying to regain his old form this season after an injury-plagued 2003.

Safin's Davis Cup team mate, Igor Andreev, started the day well for the Russians as he upset fourth-seeded American Vincent Spadea 6-4 4-6 6-4 in their first round match.

Eight-seeded Russian Nikolai Davydenko advanced to the quarter-finals with a 6-2 6-4 victory over last year's Kremlin Cup finalist Sargis Sargsian of Armenia.

Second seed Joachim Johansson of Sweden also moved safely into the last eight, beating unseeded Frenchman Cyril Saulnier by the same score.

Italy's seventh seed Filippo Volandri edged Swede Robin Soderling 3-6 6-1 7-6 in a first-round battle between two of the hottest players on the tour.

Volandri, who meets Britain's Greg Rusedski next, earned the ATP Player of the Month honours for September while Soderling won his first title last Sunday in Lyon.


BRUSHED ASIDE

On the women's side, Svetlana Kuznetsova brushed aside Czech qualifier Michaela Pastikova 6-2 6-2 to set up a possible quarter-final meeting with fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, who she beat in last month's U.S. Open final to win her first grand slam title.

"It would be nice to face Elena once again, even though the centre court is a bit slower here than it was in New York," fourth-seeded Kuznetsova said. "It may give Elena a bit of an edge because I won't be able to hit so many winners against her this time."

Dementieva takes on Croatian qualifier Sandra Mamic, who crushed former French and Australian Open champion Mary Pierce on Tuesday, in her second round match on Thursday.

Earlier, Dinara Safina outlasted Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 1-6 6-3 in a see-saw first-round clash between two Russian teenagers and will now face world number two Lindsay Davenport.

The American could regain the world's top spot from Amelie Mauresmo if she beats Marat Safin's younger sister in a second-round match on Thursday.

France's Mauresmo withdrew from the $2.3 million tournament in Moscow after injuring her left thigh in Sunday's Grand Prix final in Filderstadt against Davenport.

[MariaV]

One more article for Jiat's "wonderful" morning!
______________________
Tennis Week

Stepanek Stuns Safin In Moscow

Photo By Susan Mullane By Alberto Amalfi
10/13/2004

With his home crowd behind him and a favorable draw ahead, Marat Safin could have turned the Kremlin Cup into his own homecoming celebration. Today, Radek Stepanek crashed the party and showed the guest of honor the door.

The 25-year-old Czech toppled the top-seeded Safin, 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to his first ATP quarterfinal since Stuttgart in July. Stepanek, who evened his record at 24-24 on the year, will play eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko for a semifinal spot.
It was another disappointing Moscow result for Safin, who has sometimes pressed to perform well in his hometown. Safin has exited in the opening round in five of his nine Kremlin Cup appearances, but was resilient in scoring a 6-7(8), 7-6(2),7-6(1) win over Max Mirnyi in Monday's opening round.
The ninth-ranked Safin took a 2-0 lead before Stepanek rallied to seize four straight games. Safin broke back in the 10th game to get back on serve and the pair played into the tiebreak. Hitting timely shots, Stepanek took the tiebreak, 10-8.
In the second set, Stepanek double faulted to donate serve and a 4-3 lead to Safin. The 2000 U.S. Open champion held onto the break to eventually even the match.
Stepanek, who broke Safin's serve four times in 11 opportunities, scored the crucial break midway through the third set and made the break stand to en route to the two hour, 30-minute victory.
U.S. Open semifinalist Joachim Johansson, seeded second, had little trouble in dismissing Cyril Saulnier, 6-2, 6-4.

[annie]

... nothing to say...

[Perri]

Everybody is so sad here. Me too. I'm also worried why he looked so tired from the very beginning of the tournament? ?? Does anyone of you know anything about it? To be frank, I doubt his results in Madrid.

[sirius]

from the stats, i'd say it's got sth to do with his first serve. again.

UEs were ok. points won were pretty close. i couldn't really see the vid and of course, as vass and maria would know, i went to bed after the first set. but form the first set, i'd say he had a bit of problem holding serve.

ah well...madrid then

[MariaV]

If you'd ask the impression - yeah, he didn't serve great for his standards (but then - didn't return either!) but the the 1st serve % is not that bad, the fastest and av speeds are all good, better than Radek. Radek just could read and return Marat's a tad better than vice versa I guess, Marat said he was more mentally than physically tired from last 2 matches which is understandable. He just couldn't get that last concentration in the end to prevail at the decisive points. Yeah, no point to overanalyze for a dumb blond like me, Peter was there so I hope they can analyze and keep on working!

[zita]

thanks, evryone for keeping me updated.
hope he recovers well.

[Vassily]

He didn't play his game and that's why he lost. he might have played too safe and not aggressive and that's enough to lose.

[Perri]

Vass, I think it's only natural that he wanted to play safe given all the easy shots missed. It's difficult for one to play agressively if his condition is not good.

[MariaV]

Perri is right Vass, he was too tired mentally (and physically probably still too after 2 difficult matches) to play aggressively and impose his game and once he started missing and saw Radek returning so well he wasn't confident in his game.

[sirius]

marat and max withdrew from the doubles match against radek and friedl...so...walkover...

[Vassily]

The reason he was tired was because he couldn't finish the previus matches quick enough. Doubles is okay, but the rest is not good.

Something is wrong. He's not a top player in the world anymore because when the top players are playing not at their best they still find a way to win over a lower ranked player.

[sirius]