Federer Eyes 6th 2003 Title, Ginepri Tries for First Career Win at Newport

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Gstaad top seed Roger Federer keeps riding the confidence wave since his Wimbledon win, on Saturday making easy work of claycourt veteran and No. 4 seed Gaston Gaudio to reach his third consecutive final. "I couldn't do anything in the first set, he was serving unbelievable," Gaudio said. "He made very few mistakes. He is an unbelievable player, he can adapt to any surface. It doesn't matter that he came straight from Wimbledon." On Sunday the Swiss will face (3)Novak, who dispatched of countryman (8)Stepanek, in the best-of-five dirt
final. Fed leads the head-to-head 4-3, including the last three meetings. Novak has not won a title since Gstaad two years ago. The doubles final will be Paes/Rikl vs. Cermak/Friedl. In Bastad, (2)Robredo had to finish the majority of his rained-out quarterfinal Saturday, beating Filippo Volandri, before losing to (6)Lapentti. In the final Nico will face (5)Zabaleta, who produced some monster tennis in upseeting top-seeded Carlos Moya in three sets. "This is one of the biggest wins of my career," said Zabaleta, part of the original ATP "New Balls" campaign before getting dumped due to poor results. "Moya is one of the best players in the world, especially on clay, so this was a very good win for me." Zabaleta is 4-1 lifetime vs. Nico, including the last four on clay. Not a good look for the Ecuadorian. "I'm very good friends with Mariano," Nico said. "I'm looking forward to the match and we will still be friends afterwards, no matter what happens. We go out to dinner at tournaments." The doubles final will be a stadium-emptier in (2)Arnold/Hood vs. (3)Aspelin/Bertolini. In Newport, (4)Ginepri beat Carraz in straight sets, but was denied the all-American final when (8)Melzer edged (WC)Bob Bryan 7-6 in the third. It is the first career ATP final for both players. "I've been waiting for this day for a while," Ginepri said. "You work so hard throughout the tournament. Just one more match to go."

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Ninth-seeded Dinara "Marat's Little Sis" Safina pounded the unfortunately-named Ludmila Cervanova 6-4, 6-0 Saturday and advanced to the final of the Palermo Invitational. She will face No. 4 Katarina Srebotnik, who eased by defending champ Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal. The 17-year-old Safina is seeking her second career title and first of 2003. "I'm going to kick the crap out of her in the final," Srebotnik said. Sorry, we made that up, this event is so damn boring.

SWISS FINALISTS IN GSTAAD IN THE OPEN ERA
2003 Roger Federer vs. Jiri Novak
1995 Yevgeny Kafelnikov d. Jakob Hlasek 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
1988 Darren Cahill d. Jakob Hlasek 6-3, 6-4, 7-6
1986 Stefan Edberg d. Roland Stadler 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
1980 Heinz Gunthardt d. Kim Warwick 4-6, 6-4, 7-6

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Roger Federer has won five of his nine career titles this year (and can add another today in Gstaad)...Mariano Zabaleta is 0-4 in his last four finals entering the Bastad championship match today...Newport has featured a career first-time champion in eight of the last nine finals...On Saturday at Newport, former world No. 1 Boris Becker of Germany was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame along with Francoise Durr of France, Nancy Richey of the United States and former Tennis Australia president Brian Tobin...Israel beat Zimbabwe 3-0 in their Davis Cup Euro Loser Group tie...What's up with the weather in Bastad, looks a bit chilly on TV...Word is due to a "bad back" Anna Kournikova has pulled out of all summer events, including the US Open. See ya in the fall Ms. K. Or perhaps by then it will be Mrs. K?