THE SCOOP: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7

A mixed bag: from music to the mountains
Chang reflects; Switching identities: Andre says no thanks;
Federer mourns close friend; Family vacations are different

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

FROM CINCINNATI – The most exciting thing for Andy Roddick about his 6-4, 6-3 second round victory at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters over Nicolas Kiefer wasn’t that his parents, Jerry and Blanche, had traveled from Boca Raton and were on hand for the win. After all, there were much more intriguing dignitaries in the house – members of the Dave Mathews Band, including Dave, himself.

The rock band is in Cincinnati as part of their concert swing and took a swing by the tennis to watch Roddick play this afternoon. This was not the first close encounter that Roddick has had with one of his favorite bands – he swindled his way backstage when the band was recently in South Florida.

Following his win, Roddick headed up into the stands and sat with the band as they watched Wayne Arthurs upset Pete Sampras 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

"I have been a big fan of the Dave Matthews Band for a long time," Roddick said. "I was lucky enough to see them play in South Florida a few months back and managed to get backstage then. It was great to have them out here and I'm pumped they caught my match. If the schedule works out I hope I can take in their act tomorrow night."

Supposedly, Roddick was keen to head to the upcoming concert on Thursday night and even requested the band add their hit – #41 – to the play list for the concert, especially for him. Unfortunately for Roddick, he was put on the tennis play list for Thursday night in a third-round match against Wayne Ferreira.

Play fast Andy and you might make the encore, where #41 could be on tap.

Chang reflects
Michael Chang, who won his first back-to-back matches on tour since reaching the Washington D.C. semifinals last August here in Cincinnati, says he doesn’t understand John McEnroe’s statement in his new biography that he loved competing and loved winning, but didn’t necessarily love playing tennis.

“I can’t say that I can really relate to that,” said Chang, who beat third-seeded Tommy Haas in the first round and Fernando Vicente in the second round.“I love getting out there and playing, whether it’s at this level, this caliber, or even if it’s just bumping the ball around with friends back home. I enjoy tennis in all different aspects.”

Chang also revealed that he’s not particularly shocked that of the heavyweight American foursome of his generation – Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier and himself – that Courier, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is the only one still not in the game.

“Kind of yes, kind of no,” said Chang, when asked if he was surprised that Courier was the first to retire. “I think with Jim’s personality, he worked really hard and I think, maybe, in some aspects I think he overworked. Jim was really just a workhorse. I think that if you wanted to, he could have played a few more years and done very, very well. I think Jim got to the point where he just wanted to move on to other things. Jim is a very talented person. He has got his music and now he’s playing on a celebrity golf tour, playing pretty well. But maybe he didn’t enjoy it a much as he had in the years that he was playing. All and all, you look at his career, he’s accomplished a lot and a very successful one at that.”

Switching identities: Andre says no thanks
Speaking of rivalries in the game, specifically his own with Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi had some interesting comments following his quick 6-0, 6-2 victory in 55-minutes.

“As far as what would be the best for the game, my feeling is that a rivalry is not something you create,” Agassi said. “It’s a result of many things coming together. It’s quite a special thing to have that in your career, so I couldn’t even imagine the opportunity of having something quite like that again.

“Pete and I have always been two different people. If either of us woke up as the other one, we would probably go back to sleep praying it was a dream.”

Federer mourns close friend

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

Notably upset about the death of his good friend and former coach, Australian Peter Carter, in a traffic accident while on vacation in South Africa, Roger Federer didn’t fare very well here at Cincinnati, losing to Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in three-set first-round match.

Carter, who was the Swiss Davis Cup coach, was an instrumental figure in Swiss tennis and was awaiting a Swiss passport and was likely to become the Swiss Davis Cup captain.

Federer, who won a first round doubles match with partner Wayne Ferreira, has withdrawn from the competition. Word is he’s left Cincinnati to attend Carter’s funeral.

Family vacations are different
Vacations in the mountain, and mountain-oriented activities, are a favorite pastime of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek. But as the Dutchman’s discovered, family life tends to take a toll on some of your passions.

It turns out that wife, actress Daphne Decker, and kids Emma and Alec, prefer the beach to the trees.

“I love to compete,” said Krajicek, who returned to the tour in June after 20 months on the sidelines nursing injuries. “And I like sports in general. There was a wild time – not anymore, now I have a family. My favorite holiday was go to the mountains in Austria and work out, go cross-country skiing on the Glacier in the morning and cycling and running and weights in the afternoon and that was my holiday. I like that. That was for me a great holiday.

“Yeah, now with family it is a little bit different. My wife doesn’t feel like going to the mountains and neither do my kids. So we go to the beach. I was in Mallorca – now I rented a bike and I got a triathlete to come over from Holland and we worked out, went cycling every day for two and a half hours, so it was good.”