With the tournament finding itself off the front page of the sports section of the hometown newspaper,
organizers are keeping their fingers crossed in hopes of the still-alive possibility of an Agassi-Sampras
semifinal. Agassi has already earned a berth into the quarters with a win over Greg Rusedski last night and
will meet Chela tomorrow. Sampras will attempt to reach the quarters, a feat he has never accomplished in
four Scottsdale appearances, in tonight's featured match against his nemesis and the 1996 Franklin
Templeton champion, Wayne Ferreira. Sampras leads the series 6-5. The other already determined
quarterfinal is a not-exactly hot ticket meeting between Noam Okun from Israel and Spain's Juan Balcells.
Rainer Schuettler vs. Felix Mantilla (Second Round)
First Meeting
Having defeated the #8-seed Sjeng Schalken in the first round, Germany's Rainer Schuettler had his eyes on
reaching his fifth quarterfinal of the year in today's second round match against Felix Mantilla. Mantilla,
currently ranked #33, is looking to recapture the game the earned him a Top 10 ranking back in 1998.
Mantilla had his chances on Schuettler's first service game but was unable to fend off two consecutive 124-
mph serves to break the German. That break point chance was Mantilla's only shining moment in the first
set. The Spaniard's serve was broken three times to give Schuettler a 6-0, 24 minute opening set victory.
Mantilla won only two points on his serve in the first set.
In tennis it is never smart to count a Spaniard out and this was certainly the case in the second set. Mantilla
held his opening service game at love and waved his arms upward to encourage the crowd to increase their
applause. He held his next service game also at love and broke Schuettler for the first time to take a 3-2
lead. In the sixth game, Schuettler accomplished the crowd-pleasing between-the-legs shot but lost the
point when his next shot landed into the net. Mantilla earned another break in the seventh game and went
on to win the second set at 6-2. In a total reverse of the first, Mantilla lost only two points in this set.
With the seesaw first sets, it was difficult to figure out who would have the goods to finish the match. It
was Mantilla who would crack first, surrendering his serve at love in the fourth game of the final set.
Schuettler held easily in the next game, but Mantilla's service troubles continued. At 15-40, Mantilla hit a
nice drop shot that Schuettler was able to get back over the net. Mantilla's scrambled for the ball by his
reply landed in the net. As he argued the chair, it appeared that Mantilla believed that Schuettler had not
reached his drop shot in time. Mantilla smacked his racquet into the net, but smashed into the side poles
that flew off the net. The Spaniard received an unsportsmanlike conduct warning, while several line judges
struggled to get the disagreeable pole back into the net. With two service breaks in hand and Mantilla
unglued, Schuettler served out the match for a 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 win.
Schuettler meets another Spaniard in the quarterfinals, Carlos Moya (who has lost the cornrows and braids)
a three-set winner today over his friend, Fernando Vicente, in a late afternoon match.
Xavier Malisse (#7) vs. Andrea Gaudenzi (Second Round)
Head to Head: Malisse leads series 1-0 (2001 Milan, R32, 7-5, 6-2)
Xavier Malisse had his most successful year on the ATP Tour in 2000 where he improved his computer
ranking by over 90 spots and finished the year at the #1 Belgian for the first time in his career. But women
seem to be overshadowing his life. The tennis world's eyes seem more focused on their female stars, Kim
Clijsters and Justine Henin, rather than Malisse, who garnered more attention for dating Jennifer Capriati
than for his on-court results. Malisse's opponent today was 28-year old Italian Andrea Gaudenzi. The
physical differences when the two walked onto the court was quite apparent. It appeared a good gust of
wind could blow down the quite slim Malisse, while Gaudenzi's solid 6'0" 185 frame made him look more
like a football than a tennis player.
Gaudenzi opened the match with a service hold, while Malisse seemed restless from the outset of the
match. Malisse struggled on his opening service game, but held on saving two break chances. The players
engaged in many extended baseline rallies. After his initial struggle and despite having less speed on his
serve than his opponent, Malisse lost only three points on his remaining service games in the set. The
Belgian had three break points chances against the Gaudenzi serve and with each missed opportunity
Malisse's crankiness escalated and often lead to a racquet being bounced off the hard court. Malisse finally
broke the Italian in the 11th game of the set (which sent the Gaudenzi racquet to the ground) and served out
the set at 7-5 in 50 minutes.
Despite his lead, Malisse was still crabby on the court even when he broke Gaudenzi for a 4-3 lead.
Malisse continued to dominate on his service games as Gaudenzi seemed incapable of getting a good read
on his serve. Three of the first four Malisse service games were held at love. But Malisse's serve was
subject to some nerves. Serving for the match at 5-4, Malisse was broken for the first time of the day. The
second set would be decided by a tiebreak.
G: Gaudenzi hits a crosscourt backhand winner on the 7th shot of a rally, Gaudenzi 1-0.
M: A Gaudenzi netcord dribbles onto Malisse's side of the court, Gaudenzi 2-0.
M: Forehand unforced error lands in the net, Gaudenzi 2-1.
G: Malisse's backhand service return lands in the net, Gaudenzi 3-1.
G: A well-placed 99-mph serve from Gaudenzi, 4-1.
M: Malisse nets a backhand and sends another ball into the stratosphere and well out of the court, receives
a ball abuse warning, Gaudenzi 5-1.
M: 99-mph ace for Malisse, Gaudenzi 5-2.
G: A Malisse forehand goes long, Gaudenzi 6-2.
G: Forehand winner down the line for Malisse, Gaudenzi 6-3.
M: Another Malisse forehand winner, Gaudenzi 6-4.
M: 109-mph ace for Malisse, Gaudenzi 6-5.
G: Gaudenzi forehand goes long, 6-6.
G: Malisse hits a dropshot winner on the 26th (!) stroke of a rally, Malisse 7-6.
M: A Gaudenzi drop shot attempt hits the net cord and falls back on his side of the court, Malisse 8-6.
Malisse takes the match with a thrilling comeback in the tiebreak, winning the last six points and saving
three set points. Malisse's effort also somewhat redeemed himself with the crowd which was getting
increasingly annoyed with the Belgian's frequent racquet tossing. At 4-6 in the breaker and on his serve,
Malisse seemed frustrated by the selection of balls. With his recent ball abuse warning still fresh in mind,
someone in the crowd yelled out "There's one in the parking lot" as Malisse repeatedly rejected the balls
being sent his way. Whether Malisse heard the comment or not no one knows, but something surely
spurred him to the hard-fought second round victory.
Malisse advances to the quarterfinals where he meets the winner of tonight's match between Pete Sampras
and Wayne Ferreira.