Roddick Meets Fish for Cincy Crown and Race Lead; Henin-Hardenne Readies for Toronto Title

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Both Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish dodged bullets Saturday at the TMS-Cincy to set up today's all-American final, and a potential second consecutive TMS title for Roddick following last week's TMS-Canada. The No. 7-seeded Roddick came back from a 1-5 deficit in the first set tiebreak against unseeded Max Mirnyi, then rode out an early break in the second set to gain the final. "It was a super tight match," said Roddick, who will rise to No. 1 in the 2003-only ATP Champions Race if he beats Fish in the final today. "It could have gone either way, and I was lucky he had one break point and I fought it off, and I had one break point and I got it. It was definitely a battle out there, and I think the level of tennis was pretty high." Fish edged (8)Schuettler in two tiebreaks in the night match, saving a set point in the second and fighting off a total of six break points. "I went in knowing that I had to serve well and hold serve, and I did that," said Fish, reaching his career-first TMS final. "We both held six times each set, and it comes down to a breaker, and sometimes those are crap shoots, and I just got the best of him today." Roddick and Fish have played twice, both this year and both on hardcourt, with each player earning a win. "This is definitely the best week that I've ever had tennis-wise, and I'm looking forward to playing a buddy," said Fish, who stayed for a time at the Roddick household when the two were juniors. "Growing up we dreamt about playing in stuff like this together and it's going to be exciting for the both of us." Roddick has won four titles this year, while The Fish is 0-2 in finals (Delray Beach l. to Gambill, Nottingham l. to Rusedski). In the doubles final, No. 7 seeds Wayne Arthurs and Paul Hanley of Australia take on No. 2 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
In Toronto, both No. 2 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne and unseeded Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya gained the final on Saturday, but not without stiff opposition. H-H outlasted Russian nemesis (9)Dementieva 6-2 in the third, while Kras edged unseeded Paola Suarez 7-5 in the third. "Maybe I will think about it next week or something, but not this week," said the 19-year-old Kras, who earlier in the week upset Kim Clijsters, handing the No. 1 her first loss all year prior to the semifinals of an event. "I think I needed that confidence because I lost it last year because of the injury. I'm really happy that I got it back." H-H leads the head-to-head 1-0, with a win in 2001 at the French Open. The doubles final will be (4)Martina Navratilova/Svetlana Kuznetsova against the unseeded team of Maria Vento-Kabchi/Angelique Widjaja. Navratilova and Kuznetsova are making their fourth final appearance of the year, and have already won three titles this year at Gold Coast, Dubai, and the Italian Open, with Navratilova seeking her record 171st career doubles title.

The WTA New Haven (see tournament preview) event, which has a Sunday start, today features Myskina vs. Pistolesi, Zvonareva vs. Taylor, and the final round of qualifying.

WTA NEW HAVEN ON TV (EST)
Wed., Aug. 20, 4-6pm, ESPN2 (tape)
Thu., Aug. 21, 1-3am, ESPN2 (tape)
Thu., Aug. 21, 1-3pm, ESPN2 (live)
Thu., Aug. 21, 10pm-midnight, ESPN2 (tape)
Fri., Aug. 22, 1-3pm, ESPN2 (live)
Fri., Aug. 22, 8-9:30pm, ESPN (live)
Sat., Aug. 23, 1-3pm, CBS (live - final)

ATP ALL-AMERICAN FINALS
The TMS-Cincy is the fourth all-American final on the ATP circuit this season:

Memphis -- Taylor Dent d. Andy Roddick
Delray Beach -- Jan-Michael Gambill d. Mardy Fish
Houston -- Andre Agassi d. Andy Roddick
Cincinnati -- Andy Roddick vs. Mardy Fish

FIRST-TIME ATP WINNERS
Mardy Fish is looking to become the ninth first-time winner on the ATP circuit this year and the first player to win his first title in a Tennis Masters final since Albert Portas won Hamburg in 2001:

Nikolay Davydenko - Adelaide
Hyung-Taik Lee - Sydney
Martin Verkerk - Milan
David Sanchez - Vina del Mar
Max Mirnyi - Rotterdam
Agustin Calleri - Buenos Aires
Julien Boutter - Casablanca
Robby Ginepri - Newport

ATP CONSECUTIVE TENNIS MASTERS TITLES
Andy Roddick is trying to join an elite list of players who have won consecutive Tennis Masters Series titles (since 1990):

Andre Agassi 2001 Indian Wells, Miami
Marcelo Rios 1999 Indian Wells, Miami
Patrick Rafter 1998 Toronto, Cincinnati
Andre Agassi 1995 Montreal, Cincinnati
Pete Sampras 1994 Indian Wells, Miami
Andrei Medvedev 1994 Monte Carlo, Hamburg
Michael Chang 1992 Indian Wells, Miami
Jim Courier 1991 Indian Wells, Miami

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Check out the intro on the ATP Long Island official website, "Tennis' Next Generation has Finally Arrived," featuring among others Tommy Haas (hasn't played this season), Jan-Michael Gambill (season in the toilet), James Blake (what have you done for us lately?), and Paradorn Srichaphan (horrible season compared to last year); time to update the site fellas...Michael Chang received a wildcard for the ugly field at Long Island which will be his second-to-last career appearance on the ATP; the struggling Gustavo Kuerten also accepted a wildcard on Friday...Juan Carlos Ferrero (who would have been the top seed) has pulled from Long Island with a non-specific "injury;" used to be "zero pointers" to a player's ranking and heavy fines for pulling from events at the last minute on the ATP Tour, now a doctor's note written by your sister will suffice...Best headline this week comes from the PR people at the ATP Long Island: "Srichaphan Leads Memorable Field"...After much thought as to their crappy power plants and bars that close at 11 p.m. (not to mention a Davis Cup team comprised of career Challenger players Daniel Nestor and Simon Larose), Tennis-X has come to the conclusion that Canada sucks...Throughout the early 1980s, Long Island was an exo that featured stars such as Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Ilie Nastase and Stefan Edberg; since 1990 it has been an ATP stop, featuring the likes of Younes El Aynaoui...Next week at Long Island, No. 2-seeded Gustavo Kuerten will face the hot-handed Mardy Fish in the opening round...Ashley "The New Anna" Harkleroad is still dealing with an elbow injury, but will play at New Haven next week: "I've had good doctors helping me," she told the Hartford Courant. "I've been practicing a lot in Miami. I feel pretty strong going in. I'm pretty fit. I've been working hard."...What's up with the ESPN-Cincy commercials for Warsteiner, which is the Budweiser of German beers, and not in a good way for you U.S. beer drinkers...Venus Williams has the honor of the shortest run at No. 1 with 11 total weeks...Andy Roddick at 19-1 is attempting to become the first player to win 20 matches during the ATP North American summer hardcourt circuit leading into the US Open since Andre Agassi went 20-0 in 1995. Roddick's coach Brad Gilbert is the only other player in the last 15 years to win at least 20 hardcourt matches going into the US Open, going 21-1 in 1989. Roddick is also looking to become the first player to win three pre-US Open hardcourt titles since Patrick Rafter in 1998….Roddick has held serve 46 of 47 times this week, and 200 out of 212 times this summer….The US Open draw will be out Wednesday.