The week in tennis at a glance

Bob Greene
Tuesday 25 July 2000 00:00 BST
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STARS Germany's Anke Huber beat Spain's Gala Leon Garcia 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, Poland.

STARS Germany's Anke Huber beat Spain's Gala Leon Garcia 7-6 (4), 6-3 to win the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, Poland.

Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden won the Energis Dutch Open by beating Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Israeli Anna Smashnova upset Belgian Dominique Van Roost 6-2, 7-5 to win the Sanex Trophy in Knokke-Heist, Belgium.

Franco Squillari of Argentina won the Mercedes Cup by defeating countryman Gaston Gaudio 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Chile's Marcelo Rios beat Argentine Mariano Puerta 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-3 to win the International Championship of Croatia in Umag, Croatia.

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SPEAKING "I surprised myself today. I thought I could win another title, but never, ever on clay." - Magnus Gustafsson, after winning the Dutch Open on clay.

"They have a lot of advantages. We're playing on their surface right after Wimbledon, on clay in this heat. This is tailor-made for them." - John McEnroe, on Spain's Davis Cup team.

"Personally, I think that he was angry about (Pete) Sampras and (Andre) Agassi (not playing Davis Cup against Spain). It's a difficult situation, but I think he is feeling awful for that. Perhaps more than the defeat." - Javier Duarte, Spanish Davis Cup captain, about John McEnroe skipping the mandatory post-match news conference following Sunday's final match.

"It was unlucky. It hadn't rained all week." - Gaston Gaudio, after a rain break at the start of the fourth set gave eventual winner Franco Squillari a much needed rest.

"If I played my father, I would try to beat him." - Carlos Moya, on his competitive drive.

"It is good for the country that they have come together. The pair will instill a lot more confidence for India in the Olympics." - K.P. Kashinath, vice president of the Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association when he heard that Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi would play doubles together again.

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SPEECHLESS After his team suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat, United States Davis Cup captain John McEnroe left with his players just minutes after the final match, skipping a mandatory post-match news conference.

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SYDNEY-BOUND Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the world's top doubles team before they split, are reuniting in order to represent India in the Sydney Olympics. Bhupathi's father, Krishna, said the 1999 Wimbledon and French Open doubles champions have also decided to compete in the World Doubles tournament, which will be held in December in India. Currently, both are nursing injuries. They two split up over Bhupathi's coach, Enrico Piperno.

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SENIOR CHAMP Magnus Gustafsson is showing signs of getting better with age. The Swede won his 14th ATP Tour title when he beat Raemon Sluiter of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Dutch Open. It is the 33-year-old Gustafsson's first title since Copenhagen last year, when he became the oldest winner on the ATP Tour since Ivan Lendl won the Tokyo Indoor in 1993.

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SAXON KING Argentina's Franco Squillari has this thing about German tournaments. Squillari beat fellow Argentine Gaston Gaudio to win the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, his third career title. His other ATP Tour crowns have also come in Germany - in Munich in 1999 and this year, when he successfully defended his title.

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SACRE BLEU Nathalie Tauziat plans to appeal her controversial omission from the French Olympic team. The 32-year-old Tauziat was left off the team after she published her autobiography critical of some of her teammates, although French Tennis Federation officials said the selection was made strictly on current form.

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SACKED Richard Lewis was ousted as director of tennis of the Lawn Tennis Association following Britain's shocking Davis Cup loss to Ecuador.

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SANCHEZ-VICARIO-VEHILLS Although Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was married on July 21 to Joan Vehills, the Spanish star will keep her maiden name for her tennis appearances.

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SWEDE STEPS DOWN Thomas Hallberg of Sweden is retiring after more than 30 years in tennis. The International Tennis Federation Davis Cup consultant was a member of the Swedish Davis Cup team from 1961-63. He joined the ITF in 1984 as director of men's tennis before becoming director of Davis Cup. During his 16 years, the number of nations playing Davis Cup has grown from 61 to 136.

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SITES TO SURF www.atp-turnier-kitzbuehel.com/ www.fst.sm/ www.mercedes-benzcup.com/ www.bankofthewestclassic.com

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Tournaments This Week

ATP TOUR $700,000 Generali Open, clay, Kitzbuhel, Austria $350,000 Tennis International of San Marino, clay, San Marino $325,000 Mercedes-Benz Cup, hard, Los Angeles

SANEX WTA TOUR $535,000 Bank of the West Classic, hard, Stanford, California.

SENIOR TOUR Nuveen Masters, clay, Chicago

Tournaments week of July 31

ATP TOUR $2,450,000 Tennis Masters Series-Canada, hard, Toronto

SANEX WTA TOUR $535,000 Acura Tennis Classic, hard, San Diego

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