Henman Ends Federer's Run , Takes On Roddick Today; Pierce, Sharapova Advance Quebec City



Posted on November 2, 2003

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEWHenman works his magic over Federer, again (ATP)
Roger Federer saw his year-end No. 1 hopes all but disappear Friday at the TMS-Paris, losing in straight sets to unseeded Tim Henman. "Since I was very tired, I couldn't move anymore," Fed said. "Yes, it's a disappointment. It's just the end of a very long season. It didn't end well." Meanwhile, the fresh-looking No. 2 seed Andy Roddick strengthened his year-end No. 1 hopes with a workman-like 7-5, 7-6(0) win over doubles specialist Jonas Bjorkman. "I thought I served pretty well today," said A-Rod, who threw in 19 aces against the Swede. "I don't think there's many times that you're gonna play Jonas in a point and not have a breakpoint against you. I thought that was probably the most impressive stat of the match today." Also into the semis were (14)Novak (d. (Q)Arazi), and the resurgent Andrei Pavel (d. (5)Schuettler in three). "I was just playing the excellent tennis," Novak said. "It was pretty big pressure on me after yesterday beating Juan Carlos Ferrero because I wanted to go through and I just felt a little bit of pressure. So I wanted to stay in the tournament and I was just playing the great tennis."

Today's semifinal match-ups at the TMS-Paris are (14)Novak vs. Pavel (career series tied 2-2), and (2)Roddick vs. Henman (tied 1-1). "Tim's always very tough," says Roddick of the match-up. "We played a couple times this summer. He's just got such a great feel for the game, you know. He hits -- it's tough to explain, you know. He hits low volleys great. He's very controlled with his slice. It's almost like you feel like he can hit dimes out there on the court. He has such great control. I think he's a very underrated athlete. He moves very well and is very fluid throughout the court as well. So that's a lot to deal with." In doubles, unseeded Aussies Arthurs/Hanley (d. (3)Knowles/Nestor 7-6(7), 7-6(4)) are waiting in the final for today's winner of (4)Llodra/Santoro vs. (2)Bjorkman/Woodbridge.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
One upset in the Philadelphia quarterfinals Friday, with (7)Petrova ousting (4)Rubin in a tightly-contested 7-6(5), 7-5 victory. Rubin's reward for losing is the final qualifying spot at the WTA Championships, but only if qualifier Venus Williams pulls as expected with her abdominal injury, and Petrova doesn't win the Philly title. Also into the semis were (2)Mauresmo (d. Raymond), (3)Myskina (d. Weingartner), and (5)Sugiyama (d. (9)Shaughnessy in three). "After a few games, I thought I was reading her serve very well, I got into a rhythm on returns, and I had a very good serve," said Mauresmo, who improved to 4-0 career against the American net-rusher. In the doubles, (1)Navratilova/Raymond (d. (4)Pratt/Shaughnessy) are in the final, awaiting the winner of today's semifinal of Black/Stubbs vs. Huber/Sugiyama.

Venezuela's Milagros Sequera is well on her way to becoming a household name in Canada, Thursday upsetting (6)Bartoli 6-1 in the third to become the only unseeded player into the semis at Quebec City. Seeds into the semis were (1)Pierce (d. Kurhajcova), (2)Maria "Grunt-o-tastic" Sharapova (d. Jidkova), and (4)Granville (d. Zheng in three). Today's doubles semis at the QC are Li/Sun vs. Yan/Zheng, and Callens/Tu vs. Miyagi/Reeves.

Today's Philly semis line up as (2)Mauresmo vs. (5)Sugiyama (The Frenchwoman leads the career meetings 5-0), and (3)Myskina vs. (7)Petrova in an all-Russian (Myskina leads 2-1). At the QC the semis are (4)Granville vs. (2)Sharapova (Russian leads 1-0), and (1)Pierce vs. the first-time WTA semifinalist Sequera (first meeting).

NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Venus and Serena Williams will unveil their latest clothing designs at the annual WTA Tour Charities Gala on Nov. 3 in Santa Monica, Ca. Jennifer Capriati will be one of the models. No joke. The show will open with Venus' designs from Wilson Leather, and FatCap and "other tennis stars" (nice press release WTA) will also model. Serena's Aneres designs will close the show...A win today for Jiri Novak at the TMS-Paris will clinch him the No. 9 alternate spot at the Masters Cup...A victory by Andy Roddick today over Tim Henman would mathematically eliminate Roger Federer from the year-end No. 1 ranking race...Andrei Pavel, a semifinalist today at the TMS-Paris, barely got into the draw after a late withdrawal by another player...Anastasia Myskina, Venus Williams, and Ai Sugiyama qualified for the last three spots at the WTA Championships Friday, though Venus is expected to pull with injury (as have Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams) and be replaced by Chanda Rubin, or Nadia Petrova if the Russian wins the Philly title. The three join Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Jennifer Capriati, Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva in the eight-woman field...On Tuesday in LA, Serena Williams will speak to approximately 100 kids at the Boys & Girls Club.