Dent-Ferrero, Novak-Philippousis Square Off in Sunday Finals, No All-Belgian in Leipzig



Posted on September 29, 2003


ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
American Taylor Dent has rebounded nicely in his first tournament since his injury at the US Open, on Saturday in Bangkok serve-and-volleying past No. 5 seed Jarkko Nieminen. In the final the No. 8-seeded Dent will face world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, who showed his hardcourt prowess with a 6-3, 6-3 win over big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic. "I was returning very well," Ferrero said. "That was important because it gave me confidence. I served well. It was a perfect match." The Spaniard will have to keep up the return game to make a dent in the American's arsenal. Get it, "dent"? Ha! Priceless. "Ljubicic served like Roddick with less speed, Dent goes more for the body all the time," Ferrero said of his opponent Sunday. "I played him last year in Cincinnati. It was a tough match which I won 7-6 in the third. He goes to the net all the time and you have to be confident and not make many mistakes. It's difficult to break his serves." Ferrero leads the head-to-head with Dent 1-0. The doubles final will be No. 4 seeds Andrew Kratzmann and Jarkko Nieminen vs. No. 3 seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.

19-year-old Swede Robin Soderling's run finally came to an end in Shanghai Saturday, stopped in straight sets in a thundering display by Mark Philippoussis. In the final Flipper will face top-seeded Jiri Novak, who rebounded from a first set tiebreak loss to outlast another big server in Aussie Wayne Arthurs. "I think for me, it is much better to play Soderling from the baseline," Novak said. "With Philippoussis, he'll be serving huge and coming to the net. But I'm the top seed and I've won four matches here and I have a lot of confidence." Novak and Flipper are tied at 1-1 in their career meetings.

In Palermo Saturday, (5)Mathieu won two matches after the rain-delayed quarterfinals, and will face off in the Sunday final against top-seeded Nicolas Massu, who bested (8)Horna in the semis. The Frenchman Mathieu beat Argentinean qualifier Diego Veronelli in three sets, then (6)A.Martin in two tiebreaks. "The key of all has been that I fought all the time," said Mathieu, who will play Massu for the first time in the final. "Even in the most difficult moments I kept on fighting and that made this difference. I think I always had the control of the match but still I had to win it and as I say keep fighting back." The doubles final will be Cermak/Friedl vs. Arnold/Hood.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
The all-waffle final was averted in Leipzig Saturday, with injury the only thing that can seemingly stop the Belgians there days. Top-seeded Kim Clijsters sprained her right ankle leading Anastasia Myskina 7-5, 4-4, forcing her to retire from the match. "I didn't want to win that way," Myskina said. "I feel really sorry." Yeah, so did Kim, as she was pounding you. Clijsters had fought off two set points to eventually break back and win the first set. "Three days ago I was walking down the stairs from the player lounge and I tripped over one step and did something to my right ankle," Clijsters said afterwards. "It didn't hurt at all, and then last night I was talking with my physical trainer Evelyn Coppens and it hurt a little for the first time. Today then when Anastasia did that wide serve on the first point of the eighth game, I slid into the shot and I felt a sharp pain on the inside of my right ankle. It was throbbing right away and I called the WTA Tour trainer. I tried to play after the taping but it was no good. This is really disappointing as I was up and close to finishing the match and I was really looking forward to trying to get to the final after losing to Anastasia in the semis here last year. It's even more disappointing to have to end the match in this manner. I'm hoping it's nothing serious and I'll be OK to play in Filderstadt in a week's time." In the final Myskina will face No. 2-seeded waffle Justin Henin-Hardenne, who jackhammered qualifier Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-0, 6-3. H-H leads the career series 3-1. The doubles final will be (1)Kuznetsova/Navratilova vs. (2)Likhovtseva/Petrova.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Juan Carlos Ferrero dropped the hint that with his hectic 2003 schedule, he may end up skipping the 2004 Australian Open: "I don't know (if I'll play). If I finish the year number one and we win the Davis Cup at the end of November, I will have done everything. Then I would find it very difficult to practise again straight away to be ready for the Australian Open." JC has never been past the quarterfinals at the Aussie Open...Australia's The Age reports that John McEnroe will attempt to play some ATP or slam events in 2004, partnering with Todd Woodbridge: "I did chat to him in the locker room at the US Open before I won that tournament," Woodbridge said. "I'm hoping to hear from him soon. He's talked about it. I'd certainly do it if McEnroe could fit it into his schedule to have a game somewhere. I think it would be great fun."...Taylor Dent's Bangkok effort this week will propel him into the Top 50 come Monday on the ATP Rankings...Chile's Nicolas Massu has beaten Peru's Luis Horna three weeks in a row...The 11th annual ADT World Team Tennis Smash Hits on Thursday raised more than $400,000. The event, held at the Longwood Club near Boston, Mass, included stars Andre Agassi, Anna Kournikova, John McEnroe and Chanda Rubin along with Elton John. Monies raised thru the event go toward the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Massachusetts Community AIDS Partnership.