It was the ATP Tour Kids' Day on Thursday at the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic. Or what I prefer to call the "noisiest day of the tournament." While I am glad to see kids getting some exposure to tennis, this special day often seems nothing more than a day off from school. The girls seem more interested in catching up with the latest gossip, the boys throwing around tennis balls, and all of them stalking any male that looks like a tennis player for an autograph. I am sad to report that this year I was not asked for my autograph. As it turned out, the kids were not just a large percentage of the spectators today, they were also doing pretty well on the court. The hottest teenager on the tour, Lleyton Hewitt, scored a comeback victory over Chris Woodruff in the last day session match of the day. Here is a look at two other matches from today.

Having upset Patrick Rafter in the first round, Juan Carlos Ferrero was looking to knock off his second one-week #1 wonder of the tournament. Ferrero was impressive with his accurate pass shots against Rafter so I was looking forward to see what he could do against a player who would not be at the net nearly as often. Ferrero is an unassuming looking player. He even fooled some autograph-seeking kids, who cried out "I told you he was a player!" when he walked onto the Grandstand Court this morning. Practically unheard of before a match, Ferrero was gracious in signing some tennis balls for kids while waiting for Moya to arrive to the court. The 20-year old Spaniard has a couple of nicknames: "Mosquito" due to his physique (or lack thereof I assume) and "Chavalito" or "little kid" among his fellow countrymen. Moya warmly greeted Ferrero upon his entry onto the court.

Moya won the toss and elected to receive. Moya opened the match with three unforced errors giving Ferrero a quick 40-0 lead on his first service game. A couple of forehand errors on Ferrero's part tightened the game but he eventually prevailed thanks to a backhand error by Moya. Moya continued his error-prone ways in his first service game with Ferrero breaking on a Moya forehand that landed in the net. Ferrero showed he could not just hit winners off his forehand when he held his second service game with a backhand volley to Moya's backhand and then hit another backhand volley for a winner. Even this early in the match, Moya was openly disgusted with his performance often muttering to himself in Spanish. Moya did hold his serve but was still one break behind at 3-1 Ferrero. The crowd was impressed with the hard hitting match between the two Spaniards and gasped at times when Ferrero would unleash one of this forehands. Ferrero broke Moya's next service game at his first break point opportunity for a 5-1 lead. Serving for the first set, Ferrero showed a little nerves allowing Moya to get his first break chance against him. But an overhead smash followed by a service winner let Ferrero get a relatively easy 6-1 first set lead.

Ferrero started tentatively in the second set. Three unforced errors allowed Moya only his second hold of the match. Ferrero quickly went down on his first service game with a forehand error and a double fault, but four consecutive Moya misses evened the set at 1-1. Despite Ferrero's drop in intensity from the first set, Moya dropped his next service game with a double fault on break point. Just returning to the Tour from a back injury, Moya's serve clearly was not back to the caliber it was last year when he was closing in on the #1 ranking. Moya's first serve had good speed on it, but he often just spun in his second serves with an abbreviated motion. Ferrero noticed and stood just inside the baseline for the majority of Moya's second serves. With this first break of the second set, Moya violently slammed his racquet to the ground. The players held their serves over the next serve. Moya had a rare easy service game to hold for 3-2, but struggled and allowed Ferrero a second break chance opportunity in the seventh game but eventually held for 4-3. Perhaps inspired by this performance, Moya challenged Ferrero on his next service game. Moya hit a beautiful drop shot winner during this game. One wondered why either player did not employ this strategy earlier in the match. Both players had been slugging often from far beyond the baseline, that a drop shot would almost certainly always be a winning shot. Even the linespeople behind the baseline noticed how far back the players were hitting their groundstrokes as they often had to duck for cover as both players, especially Moya, came within inches of them. Two Ferrero errors gave Moya the break back for 4-4. The players held their serves for the remainder of the set, and then it was time for a tiebreak.

During the tiebreak, both players expended a tremendous amount of energy and effort. The players were hitting their "groundies" as hard as ever and both consistently grunted for the first time in the match. Here is how the tiebreak unfolded:

M: Ferrero hits a forehand winner on the 14^th stroke of the rally. Ferrero 1-0.

F: Moya takes Ferrero wide with a forehand and Ferrero's forehand land in the net on the 9^th shot. 1-1.

F: Moya drop shots Ferrero, Ferrero gets its angled crosscourt, Moya replies with a forehand, Ferrero twirls around for a backhand volley, Moya hits a forehand pass winner. Moya 2-1.

M: Moya comes into net and hits a forehand volley, Ferrero hits a forehand passing shot on the 9^th stroke. 2-2.

M: Moya hits deep to Ferrero's backhand, Ferrero replies with a lob, Moya hits overhead winner. Moya 3-2.

F: Moya's backhand service return lands in the net. 3-3.

F: On the 12^th shot of the rally Moya's forehand floats long. Ferrero 4-3.

M: A Moya backhand goes way wide on the 3^rd shot. Ferrero 5-3.

M: A Moya forehand winner on the 3^rd shot. Ferrero 5-4.

F: A forehand down the line winner for Ferrero on the 3^rd stroke. Ferrero 6-4.

F: A Ferrero forehand lands just outside the baseline on the 9^th shot. Ferrero 6-5.

M: Moya's forehand lands in the net following Ferrero's service return. Ferrero 7-5.

Another impressive victory for quickly rising Ferrero. The young Spaniard clearly did not have a letdown from his first round win over Rafter or facing his "elder" and more accomplished countryman.

The day session crowd was buzzing with anticipation for this match. Often "marquee" players are scheduled for night matches at the Franklin Templeton, so it was a rare daytime treat to see the #1 player in the world during the week. The stands were packed to near capacity as Agassi and 31-year old Clavet walked onto the court. Agassi was greeted with thunderous cheers and he acknowledged them with waves to all sides of the court. The two players had not met each other in many years with Agassi winning all three career meetings. Two of the meetings were decidedly lopsided in the American's favor (a 6-2, 6-1 win at the 1992 Scottsdale tournament, and a 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 victory at the 1995 French Open). With these facts in front of him, your mild-mannered reporter decided it was a great time for some lunch. After an artery-clotting feast of chicken tenders and fries, I ducked into the media tent before heading off to the Stadium Court. I glanced at the scoreboard and saw 5-1, my timing for lunch could not have been better! But then at second glance, I saw that it was 5-1 Clavet. I quickly proceeded to the Court cursing my stomach, which granted at this time, was no longer growling.

I arrived to see Clavet close out the first set 6-1 in a speedy 22 minutes. Agassi held his opening service game and I began to wonder what I had missed in the first set. Fortunately, it did not take long to figure out. Clavet held for 1-1 but Agassi's next service game was pure disaster and probably a good indication of what must have occurred during the first set. Agassi went up 30-0 but after that it was all unforced errors. A forehand hits the net for 30-15. A forehand sails long for 30-30. Agassi hits a backhand winner for 40-30. Another forehand sails long for deuce. Agassi lazily comes to net and hits a backhand into the net for Advantage Clavet. Another Agassi forehand long for the break at 2-1. The crowd wildly tried to get Agassi back into the match, but clearly the #1 player did not appear to have the game to do it today. In the seventh game of the second set, Clavet earned the second break of the set in a game that was as equally as horrendous on Agassi's part as I described above. Clavet aced Agassi for the match. A stunning 6-1, 6-2 win in just 49 minutes.

Being a veteran of many Agassi press conferences (wins and losses), I can honestly say I have never seen Agassi the way he was in today's post match meeting with the media. Agassi just had a blank look on his face and saying he was stunned is perhaps a great understatement. He clearly had trouble explaining the match perhaps because he could not believe what just happened. He stated that he "forgot days like this were possible" after a year that has seen some of his greatest successes. He echoed other players in saying that it was very difficult transitioning between day and night matches here in Scottsdale. He credited Clavet for his effective lefty serve, shots with a lot of spin, and basically "defense getting it done today."

Of course, the Clavet post-match interview was the exact opposite. The beaming Clavet stated that this ranked as his best match "on paper" having never scored a victory over currently #1 ranked player in the world. Clavet said he was not discouraged over his 0-3 record versus Agassi, he felt he could win the match but was just surprised that it occurred in this fashion. When asked when he thought he had the match won, Clavet smiled and said "on match point." With Agassi and Rafter in the same quarter of the draw, the tournament is now guaranteed an unseeded semifinalist. Clavet will take on his countryman, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in the quarterfinals on Friday.

If the Agassi loss was not enough, the Franklin Templeton was dealt a second promoter's nightmare when Pete Sampras withdrew from the tournament citing back problems. Sampras was scheduled to play Alex Correjta in the second round on Thursday night. Ironically, at last year's tournament it was Sampras who lost in the second round (to eventual champion Jan-Michael Gambill) and Agassi withdrew with an injury in the middle of a semifinal match.

With both sides of the draw torn wide open today, it is anybody's guess who will go on to win the tournament. The quarterfinal pairings are set for Friday and they are (in draw order): Clavet versus Ferrero, Rios (#3) versus Hewitt (#6), Henman (#5) versus Lapentti (#4), Albert Costa (#7) versus Corretja.