Capriati Handed New Haven Title, Blake vs. Srichaphan in Long Island Final

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Unseeded James Blake continued his running start to the US Open Saturday at Long Island, dominating No. 7 seed Younes El Aynaoui 6-3, 6-1. In the Sunday final he will face defending champion and top seed Paradorn Srichaphan, who was equally impressive in squashing wildcard Nicolas Kiefer's hopes 6-0, 6-2. "Every ball that I hit today went exactly where I wanted," Srichaphan said. "I have a significant amount of confidence right now and that comes out on the court...I have been practicing on clay more often and that has helped me to become more accurate on hardcourt." Whatever works Paradorn. It is the second U.S. summer hardcourt final for the Thai after Indianapolis (l. to Roddick), and he hasn't dropped a set all week in Strong Island. Blake leads the head-to-head 1-0, with a win a little more than a year ago in the Washington final. The doubles final will be contested between (3)Damm/Suk and Koenig/Rodriguez. Damm/Suk are 3-1 in finals this year, with three titles on three different surfaces.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport retired in the second set at 6-2, 4-0 with her recurring foot injury Saturday at New Haven, handing No. 3 seed Jennifer Capriati her first title since the 2002 Australian Open. "Because of the way I'm playing, I feel confident now going in there (US Open)," Capriati said. "But it's a Grand Slam. It's tough. It's two weeks. I just have to take it match by match, not look ahead. I can enjoy this now, but really, after I leave here, it's 'forget about it'. It's off to New York and just concentrate on that." Capriati also received a retirement win in the semifinals against Amelie Mauresmo, and fought through two three-set wins in her first two matches earlier in the week. The championship result was Davenport's fourth consecutive loss in the New Haven final. "While I was getting (the foot) taped before the match, the symptoms were coming on just while she was taping," Davenport said. "We were kind of like, 'Well, that's funny. That hasn't happened before.' It's something that I've been dealing with for just about a year now, and something that since around April has been affecting me every day and getting worse as time goes on. It's just something that just needs to get removed at some point, and I'm just doing my best to try and delay it as long as possible. I'm on my way literally to go see the doctor at the US Open right now. We've discussed on the phone a number of possibilities, including some different types of injections you can do, stuff as well as that. I definitely do need surgery -- at this rate, probably most likely will be after the US Open. The recovery, I've heard anywhere I'd be back on the court playing a tournament from 8 to 12 weeks." In the doubles final, (1) Ruano Pascual/Suarez defeated Molik/Serna 7-6(6), 6-3 for their third title of the year, saving three set points at 3-6 in the first set breaker.

ATP OPEN ERA ASIAN TITLE WINNERS
Paradorn Srichaphan is attempting to win his fourth ATP title at Long Island today. Below is a look at the number of ATP titles won by other Asian players in the Open Era (since 1968):

16--Vijay Amritraj (IND)
8--Ramesh Krishnan (IND)
3--Paradorn Srichaphan (THA)
1--Shuzo Matsuoka (JPN)
1--Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR)
1--Leander Paes (IND)

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
The men's qualifiers into the main draw at the Open are Moodie (RSA), Soderling (SWE), Abel (GER), Benneteau (FRA), Ivo "I Beat Lleyton" Karlovic (CRO), Tipsarevic (SER), Mahut (FRA), Vacek (CZE), Karanusic (CRO), Salzenstein (USA), Thomas "Tennis-X Bottom 10 No. 1" Enqvist (SWE), Tursunov (RUS), Galimberti (ITA), Kohnschrieber (GER), J.Johansson (SWE), and Delgado (PAR)...Qualifiers on the women's side were Kostanic (CRO), Kapros (HUN), Vaskova (CZE), Jidkova (RUS), (WC)Lastra (USA), Kirilenko (RUS), Castano (COL), Gehrlein (GER), Douchevina (RUS), Beygelzimer (UKR), Sun (CHN), Sequera (VEN), Santangelo (ITA), Drake (CAN), Poutchek (BLR), and Salerni (ARG)...29-year-old Thomas Enqvist qualified, finally looking like he is coming into form after an injury toward the latter part of 2002. Over the last couple years his injuries have included being out for three months after undergoing surgery on his right ankle to remove a small bone chip in 1998, surgery on his right foot in 2000, then last year struggling with the right shoulder...The qualifier Enqvist also fell into a sweet section of the draw (Moya's)...Look's like the Andy Roddick-Tim Henman first-round match-up will hold at the Open, as another seeded player has yet to withdraw. Al Costa appears okay while Chela seems fine after his stomach virus...Among Anna Kournikova, Chanda Rubin, Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi, who would win a "Hit the target with you backhand" contest? Well, Saturday during Kids Day, unofficially it was Roddick. Check it out on CBS Sunday from 12:30pm to 2pm...Rumor is top half of the men's draw to be played Monday, including Hewitt-Hanescu Monday night.