Kim Clijsters

The following are events that happened this week in tennis history. Look out for the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY due out later this year from New Chapter Press (www.newchapterpressmedia.com)
March 8
1986 – Ken Flach and Robert Seguso give the United States a 2-1 lead over Ecuador with a 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win over Andres Gomez and Ricardo Ycaza in the Davis Cup first round in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
1985 – The United States plays its first Davis Cup tie in Japan and takes a 2-0 lead over the Japanese as Eliot Teltscher defeats Kaoru Maruyama 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 and Aaron Krickstein defeats Shozo Shiraishi 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in the Davis Cup first round in Kyoto, Japan.
1981 – Needing to sweep the final two matches to avoid a first-round upset by Mexico, Roscoe Tanner and John McEnroe respond without losing a set, defeating Jorge Lozano and Raul Ramirez, respectively, to give the United States a 3-2 win over Mexico in the first round in Carlsbad, Calif. The win is the first for U.S. Captain Arthur Ashe.
1987 – Miloslav Mecir upsets world No. 1 Ivan Lendl 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 in the final of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
1992 – Michael Chang defeats Andrei Chesnokov 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.,
1995 – Two-time champion Jim Courier loses in the second round of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., falling to No. 34–ranked Carlos Costa of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-3. Said Courier, “Losing is never easy, but I’m at a stage right now where I feel I can handle it.”

March 9
1986 – Jimmy Arias defeats Raul Viver 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the fifth and decisive match as the United States defeats Ecuador 3-2 in the Davis Cup first round in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
1980 – In what eventually becomes Tony Trabert’s last Davis Cup tie as U.S. captain, John McEnroe is defeated by Guillermo Vilas 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to clinch Argentina’s 4-1 victory over the United States in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1971- No. 1 seed Rod Laver wins his opening round match at the Australian Open, defeating Colin Dibley 7-5, 6-3, 6-1. Defending champion Arthur Ashe needs five set to overcome Australian Ray Ruffels 6-4, 6-1, 6-7, 0-6, 7-5.
1991 – World No. 5 Guy Forget upsets top-ranked Stefan Edberg 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Jim Courier also advances into the final, defeating Michael Stich 6-3, 6-2.
March 10
2006 – The senior tennis circuit returns to the United States for the first time since 2001 as the Outback Champions Cup Series begins in Naples, Fla., as Mats Wilander defeats Aaron Krickstein 2-6, 6-2, 10-2 in the opening round robin match of the series. Tour co-founder Jim Courier defeats Mikael Pernfors 6-2, 6-2. in the final match of the day, Pat Cash surprises John McEnroe 2-6 7-6(5), 10-6 in the Super Tie-break.
1971 – No. 1 seed Rod Laver is upset by Mark Cox 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 in the third round of the Australian Open in Sydney. No. 3 seed and fellow Australian John Newcombe is also upset, losing to Marty Riessen 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6.
1991 – Twenty-year-old Jim Courier, ranked No. 26 in the world, wins his second career singles title, defeating No. 5 ranked Guy Forget 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “To win it – and it sounds like a cliché – but it’s a big honor for me,” said Courier.
1996 – In her second tournament in her second comeback attempt in professional tennis, Jennifer Capriati routs Shi-Ting Wang of Chinese Taipei 6-0, 6-0 in 43 minutes in the second round of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
March 11
1991 – Steffi Graf’s record reign of 186 weeks as the No. 1 ranked players comes to an end as Monica Seles overtakes Graf as the No. 1 player. Seles would hold the No. 1 ranking for a total of 178 weeks during her career.
2001 – Jan-Michael Gambill of Spokane, Wash., became the first American in six years to win singles and doubles titles in the same event, capturing both at the Citrix Tennis Championships in Delray Beach, Fla. Gambill, 23, defeats Xavier Malisse of Belgium, 7-5, 6-4, in the singles final, for the second singles title of his career Gambill pairs with 18-year-old Andy Roddick of Boca Raton, Fla., to win the doubles title over Thomas Shimada, a Philadelphia-born Japanese national, and Myles Wakefield of South Africa, 6-3, 6-4, in the final. Pete Sampras, at the 1995 Stella Artois Grass Court Championships at Queen’s Club, London, was the last American to win singles and doubles in the same event.
1990 – Thirteen-year-old Jennifer Capriati’s debut tournament comes to an end as she is defeated by Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 7-5 in the final of the Virginia Slims of Florida in Boca Raton, Fla. “It’s been the greatest week of my life,” said Capriati of her first WTA tournament. “It was exciting just to make the finals…I was tired at the end.”
1971 – Arthur Ashe defeats Cliff Drysdale 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open played at White City, Sydney, Australia.
2006 – In one of the most stunning and disastrous reversals of fortune, Michael Chang, playing in his “Champions” circuit debut at the Outback Champions Series – Naples event in Naples, Fla., leads Mikael Pernfors 6-0, 5-0 in a round robin match, only two lose two games in a row and then ruptures his left Achilles tendon running for a drop shot. Chang is taken off of the court in a stretcher and loses the match 0-6, 2-5, ret., and is forced to withdraw from the competition.
1990 – Stefan Edberg defeats Andre Agassi 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (6) in nearly three-and-a-half hours in the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
2007 – Roger Federer’s bid to break Guillermo Vilas’s record of 46 straight wins in men’s tennis ends in his opening round match at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Federer, the No. 1 player in the world, is stunned by No. 60 Guillermo Canas of Argentina 7-5, 6-2, ending his match win streak at 41. `He just kept the ball in play and moving me around,” Federer said. “He put me away when he had to. He played the perfect match. The right guy won.” Canas who was reinstated into professional tennis after serving a 15-month suspension due to breaking the ATP’s banned drug policy, was a “lucky loser” entrant into the event after losing in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. Said Canas, “It’s my first Masters Series after I start again and to beat the world No. 1 and to play like this is great for me.” Said Federer of the blown match win streak, “Sooner or later it had to happen, so it’s OK. It’s no problem.”
March 12
1989 – Ivan Lendl wins his 75th career singles title, defeating Stefan Edberg 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Eagle Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz.
1997 – Pete Sampras loses his first match in the 1997 season, losing to Bohdan Ulirach of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5), 7-5 losing his opening match at the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Said Sampras who started the year 17-0, “It was pretty ugly. I just made error after error. … I was missing a lot of groundstrokes, normal shots; I just wasn’t very comfortable out there.”
1971 – Margaret Court needs only 32 minutes to defeat fellow Australian Lesley Hunt 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals of the Australian Open in Sydney, Australia. Court requires only 10 minutes to win the first set of the match. Thirty-six-year-old Ken Rosewall defeats Tom Okker 6-2, 7-6, 6-4 to advance into the men’s singles final.
1996 – Chanda Rubin ends the second tournament in the second comeback of unranked Jennifer Capriati, defeating the 19-year-old 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
1996 – Carlos Costa of Spain, ranked No. 38 in the world, upsets reigning Australian Open champion Boris Becker 6-3, 7-5 in the second round of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.
1995 – Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi set up a dream final in the Newsweek Champions Cup by registering semifinal victories over Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker respectively. Sampras defeats Edberg 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, calling Edberg, “one of the classier guys I have ever played” following the match, while Agassi defeats Becker 6-4, 7-6 (4).

1993 – Thirty-year-old Tracy Austin is defeated by Stephanie Rottier of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
March 13
1987 – Aaron Krickstein overcomes a vocal Paraguayan home crowd to defeat Hugo Chapacu 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to help the United States to an early 1-0 lead over Paraguay in the Davis Cup first round tie in Asuncion, Paraguay. Paraguay ties the score at 1-1 when Victor Pecci defeats Jimmy Arias 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
1971 – Evonne Goolagong advances into a Grand Slam final for the first time in her career, defeating Winnie Shaw of Scotland 7-6, 6-1 in the semifinals of the Australian Open in Sydney, Australia. Defending men’s singles champion Arthur Ashe defeats Bob Lutz 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in the men’s singles semifinals.
1996 – Playing his second match as the world’s No. 1 ranked player, Thomas Muster is defeated in his opening round match at the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., losing to Adrian Voinea of Romania 6-3, 7-5. “For me, being No. 1 is maybe the same as Pete (Sampras) winning Wimbledon six times in a row,” said Muster of his No. 1 status. “It’s a personal thing, a dream come true.”
1995 – In their 14th career match-up and re-match of the Australian Open men’s singles final six weeks earlier, Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi 7-5, 6-3, 7-5 in a sun-down final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., avenging his loss in Australia. “If we battle for the next 10 years, it will be great for the game,” said Sampras. “It’s different when I play Andre. It’s like two heavyweights going at it.”
2007 – Defending champion Maria Sharapova serves up 13 double faults – and loses her No. 1 ranking – in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 loss to fellow Russian Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Calif. Sharapova actually served for the match at 6-4, 5-4, but loses seven straight games to lose the match and surrender the top ranking to Justine Henin.
March 14
1988 – Andre Agassi is named to the U.S. Davis Cup team for the first time in his career. Agassi, 17, is named to play against Peru in the first-ever Davis Cup zonal match for the United States.
1987 – Ken Flach and Robert Seguso overcome a two-sets-to-love deficit, bad line calls, and objects thrown from the stands to defeat Victor Pecci and Francisco Gonzalez 5-7, 9-11, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to give the United States a 2-1 lead over Paraguay in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Asuncion, Paraguay.
1971 – Margaret Court and Ken Rosewall win singles titles at the Australian Open at White City in Sydney, Australia. Court defeats first-time Grand Slam finalist and fellow Australian Evonne Goolagong 2-6, 7-6, 7-5 to win her nation’s national championship for the 10th time in the last 12 years. Rosewall defeated defending champion Arthur Ashe 6-1, 7-5, 6-3, benefiting from 13 Ashe double-faults. Court’s title was her sixth straight Grand Slam women’s singles title on the heels of her 1970 Grand Slam.
1994 – Andre Agassi defeats Boris Becker 6-2, 7-5 in the third round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla. Down 2-6, 0-2, Becker hands his racquet to ball-girl Stephanie Flaherty who plays a point with Agassi and gains mini-celebrity status at the tournament.
1999 – One day after defeating Gustavo Kuerten to clinch the world’s No. 1 ranking, Carlos Moya is defeated by Mark Philippoussis 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “To be No. 1 and then win the title on top of that would have been the perfect beginning, but today he’s better than me so that’s it,” said Moya after the match.
1996 – Steffi Graf needs two hours and 44 minutes to fight off a bad back and defeat Lindsay Davenport 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the semifinals of the State Farm Evert Classic in Indian Wells, Calif. “Every match she plays, there is something wrong with her,” said Davenport. “but even when she is so hurt, she always plays real well.”
March 15
1987 – In one of the strangest Davis Cup matches in U.S. history, 285th-ranked Hugo Chapacu defeats Jimmy Arias 6-4, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 9-7 in five hours and five minutes. Chapacu is unable to convert a match point at 5-4 in the third set, but comes back from a 1-5 fifth-set deficit and saves three match points to win a force a fifth and decisive match between the United States and Paraguay.
1996 – Both Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi lose chances of recapturing the No. 1 ranking in the world from Thomas Muster of Austria with quarterfinal losses at the Newsweek Champions Cup. Paul Haarhuis stuns world No. 2 Sampras 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-1, while Agassi, ranked No. 3, loses to Michael Chang 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. Sampras summed up the lost opportunity to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking, buy simply saying, “C’est la vie.”
1998 – Temperamental Marcelo Rios of Chile loses a second-set tie-break in 32 points – the only set he would lose all week – and wins the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif., defeating Britain’s Greg Rusedski 6-3, 6-7 (15-17), 7-6 (4), 6-4. Said Rios of his reputation as one of the meanest players in tennis, “I’m nice sometimes. In Chile, there’s even a lot of kids who want to be like me.”
1999 – Carlos Moya becomes the No. 1 player in the world, replacing Pete Sampras in the top spot on the ATP computer. Moya only holds the ranking for two weeks before Sampras reclaims the top spot.
2001 – Controversy erupts at the Tennis Masters Series in Indian Wells, Calif., as Venus Williams pulls out of her scheduled semifinal match against younger sister Serena Williams because of an injured right knee. Wrote Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, “This last-minute development left officials angered and mystified, raising the persistent question of credibility. Timing was one issue, as the withdrawal was announced only four minutes before the match was to have started. Some fans among the crowd of 11,767 asked for refunds and ESPN was stranded and resorted to showing the earlier semifinal between Martina Hingis and Kim Clijsters.”
March 16
1987 – In a match completed at 2:35 am, Victor Pecci of Paraguay defeats Aaron Krickstein 6-2, 8-6, 9-7 to give Paraguay an unbelievable 3-2 upset of the United States in the Davis Cup by NEC first round in Asuncion, Paraguay.
1988 – Gabriela Sabatini fights off three set points in the first set and defeats 14-year-old newcomer Monica Seles 7-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla.
1992 – American qualifier Robbie Weiss, a former NCAA singles champion from Pepperdine University ranked No. 289 in the world, registers one of the biggest ranking upsets ever in men’s tennis, defeating No. 2 ranked Stefan Edberg 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round of the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla. Said Edberg following the match, “Robbie played a good match. I played a poor match.”
1996 – Steffi Graf wins her 96th career singles title in her first tournament appearance in 1996, defeating Conchita Martinez 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) in the final of the State Farm Evert Cup in Indian Wells, Calif.,
March 17
1978 – John McEnroe and Peter Fleming make their Davis Cup debut as a doubles team, defeating Ivan Molina and Orlando Agudelo 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 giving the United States an insurmountable 3-0 lead over Colombia in the Davis Cup first round at the Cleveland Skating Club in Cleveland, Ohio.
1927 – U.S. President Calvin Coolidge conducts the draw for the 1927 Davis Cup competition on the front lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C.
1992 – John McEnroe receives no luck of the Irish in what becomes his final match ever at the Lipton Championships in Key Biscayne, Fla., losing to Richard Krajicek 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round.
1996 – In a final played with on-court temperatures surpassing 110 degrees, Michael Chang defeats No. 68th ranked Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 to win the Newsweek Champions Cup in Indian Wells, Calif. “Today I could actually feel the heat coming through the soles of my shoes,” said Chang following the match. “They announced 110 degrees, but I was told it was 130 degrees, they just didn’t want to scare anybody.”
2001- Booed as she entered the court for her final round match against Kim Clijsters at the Tennis Masters Series –Indian Wells, Serena Williams withstood the harsh fan and media allegations of match-fixing, by defeating Clijsters 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Fans reacted harshly to the Williams family after Venus Williams had abruptly withdrawn from her semifinal match with Serena Williams the day before. “In the beginning, I was a little shocked,” Serena said. “Then I was like, ‘Wow, this is getting old. Move on to something new…I prayed to God just to help me be strong, not even to win, but to be strong, not listen to the crowd.” The withdrawal and aftermath came on the heels of tabloid story in the National Enquirer stating that Williams father Richard had fixed the 2000 Wimbledon semifinal between the two sisters.
2007 – Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia wins her second Pacific Life Open championship in Indian Wells, Calif., – and her second career title – defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-4 in the women’s singles final. “I think all the best things in life are worth waiting for, moments like this,” Hantuchova said, who won her first title in Indian Wells five years earlier. “I guess all the hard work and everything I had to go through makes the victory that much sweeter.”