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By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
RODDICK BEATS A SUBSTANTIAL CLAY COURTER IN ROME: Andy Roddick stepped on former Roland Garros champion Gaston Gaudio 6-1, 7-6(8), in what was his best win on clay since beating Ollie Rochus in Davis Cup. Oh, wait, that's right, Gaudio says he might retire after he flames in Paris, so maybe it's not that substantial of a win. Nonetheless, for Roddick, any clay-court win is a good one and he has a hell of a draw until the semis. "This is my most challenging surface, so if there was ever a time to beat him and be a little proud, I guess it's on this surface," said Roddick, who will face Juan Ignacio Chela. DAVYDENKO GETS OVER ON SAFIN: It looks like Niky D. has finally overcome his mental cramps against Russian legend Marat Safin and scored a tight 7-6(4), 7-5 win over him in Rome. That's great news for Davydenko, who if healthy, will be a semifinal threat in Paris. That's an awful result for Safin, who can't even score what should be routine psychological wins anymore. Anyone who doesn't think he'll consider retirement at year's end is kidding themselves. NADAL IS DIZZY, WILL FACE YOUZHNY: The 20-year-old Spaniard extended his clay-court winning streak to 73 matches with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Italian wild card Daniele Bracciali and then said his head wasn't right. "I felt a bit dizzy and it was difficult for the first eight games but after that it was fine," Nadal said. Wooziness is about the only thing that will stop Rafa from claiming his third Italian Open in a row. His next opponent is Mikhail Youzhny, who has won their last two meetings, but Rafa will retrieve a lot more of the Russian's cannon forehands on clay than he does on hard.
DJOKOVIC THE FLAVOR OF THE LAST 2 MONTHS: Novak wins TMS Miami and Estoril and now Johnny Mac is touting him as the third best player on tour. On Wednesday in Rome, he outlasted Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and will face Marcos Baghdatis in what should be terrific test of his fitness. ROME FLAMERS: James Blake's rough year continues as he fell to Nicolas Massu. Estoril finalist Richard Gasquet went down 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-4 to Filippo Volandri. Oh well, there's always Hamburg in the rain. MAURESMO IMPRESSIVE IN BERLIN: Out since early March due to injury, Amelie Mauresmo made a winning return and bested Zi Yan 6-3, 6-3. She'll face Julia "I ended Kim Clijsters' career" Vakulenko in the next round. Let me be the first to pop the question (winner gets a free one-year subscription to TennisReporters.net … go to our forum to make your prediction) – in which French Open round will Mauresmo go down this year? HINGIS, OTHER SEEDS FARE WELL: On a busy day in wet Berlin, most of the top seeds fared well, including Svetlana Kuznetsova (who beat tour mom Sybille Bammer 6-1, 7-5), Martina Hingis (a win over the lesser Bondarenko sister, Kateryna) and Jelena Jankovic, who survived Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. This is a put-up tournament for the slumping Martina II. SAFAROVA UPSETS CHAKVETADZE: Guaranteeing herself a column on foxpsorts.com (who knows what I would have written had she lost), Lucie Safarova upset Anna Chakvetadze 6-4, 6-4. The Czech has a final-round appearance written all over her. No. 13 Shahar Peer and No.14 Li Na went down, showing their less-than-stellar form off hard courts.© TennisReporters.net 2007
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