Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne to Clash for No. 1; Federer Rolls; Schuettler Wins Ninth Straight

Posted on October 12, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Top seed Roger Federer continued on course to successfully defend his 2002 Vienna title. The 22-year-old Swiss edged past the hard-charging Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 6-2, 7-6(2). The win ups Federer’s record on the year to a tour-best 66-8 and keeps him in prime position to finish the year No 1. In the Sunday final, Federer will meet Spaniard Carlos Moya, who squeaked past Tim Henman 7-6(1), 7-5. Said Moya on the final: ``Tomorrow will be a very tough match. But I have every chance to beat Federer.'' Um, no you don’t, Carlos. Go back to hanging out with blonde hotties.

In Lyon, top seed Rainer Schuettler outlasted Russian Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. Schuettler, who gained a qualifying spot into Houston with his quarterfinal, has now win nine consecutive matches as the German eyes a second straight ATP title. Standing in his way will be the speedy Frenchman Arnuad Clement. The local favorite Clement put the beat down on the No. 3 seed Paradorn Srichaphan 6-2, 6-3.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
In Filderstadt, the dream final is set as the big news in tennis is that Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters will meet tomorrow for the No. 1 ranking. Both Belgians earned spots in the championship in easy fashion on Saturday with top ranked Clijsters mauling Mary "Where’s the Buffet" Pierce 7-6, 6-0, while Henin bouncing Elena Bovina 6-2, 6-4. ``I've given everything to be No. 1. But it's just another match tomorrow, it's not the end of the world,'' said Henin, who has "she’s my bitch" 5-1 record over her countrywoman this year including wins in the finals of the French and US Opens. Add Clijsters: ``I just think it's unbelievable we're both in this situation." And that you’ll finally lose your No. 1 ranking! In the doubles, Martina Navaratilova has done it again, reaching yet another WTA final this time with Cara Black. In the final, they’ll have their hands full with Nadia Petrova and Meghann Shaughnessy.

For some reason, we’ll check out Tashkent where the field is about as exciting as rain on a Saturday. Reaching Sunday’s final are Spain’s Virginia Ruano Pascual and Saori Obata of Japan. Ruano Pascual, who is seeking her first title since 1998, needed a third set tiebreaker to rally past feisty countrywoman Arantx Parra 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3). Obata topped Emmanuele Gagliardi 7-5, 6-3, to advance to her first career WTA final. Yay.

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
With his win semifinal win in Vienna, Roger Federer won his 66th ATP match of the season, most on tour. Last year Federer won 58 matches…After being plagued by injuries and poor play the first half of 2003, Tim Henman has made a nice recovery winning the Washington title and reaching the semifinals at Queen’s and Vienna and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon…Kim Clijsters has reached the semifinals at 17 of 18 tournaments this year. Put that in your Belgian beer and drink it…Henin will be seeking her tennis-leading 8th title of the year, Clijsters her 7th…This will be the first match for No. 1 since the 2002 US Open final when Serena beat Venus…Clijsters leads the head-to-head with Henin 8-6, but is 1-5 against her countrywoman this year...Among those in the Madrid Qualifying draw: Taylor Dent, Nicolas Lapentti, Dominik Hrbaty, Thomas Enqvist and Jan-Michael Gambill. That’s better than most low-level ATP events.