Agassi Eliminates Ferrero to Stay Alive at Tennis Masters Cup and Help Roddick to No. 1
Posted on November 14, 2003
ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
Who says Andre Agassi is over the hill? Not Juan Carlos Ferrero, who was eliminated from semifinal contention by the former No. 1 American in a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 thriller Wednesday at the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. A fired-up Agassi broke a racquet in frustration at one point during the match, but held his cool in the third set. "No, I don't remember (when last breaking a racquet)," Agassi said. "It has happened. In Washington it happened once. I mean, I have the ability to self-inflict. I hit the racquet on myself without thinking twice sometimes, which isn't good."
The win allowed Agassi, who bounced back after failing to convert match points against Roger Federer in his first match, to stay alive in the round robin Blue Group in his quest to reach the semifinals. And of course Agassi's win secured the No. 1 Ranking for Andy Roddick. Roddick becomes just the 13th player to finish at the top spot, and at 21 years of age, he's also the second youngest to accomplish the feat. "I'm incredibly honored to finish the year as No. 1, but I'm probably more proud to be the sixth American ever," Roddick said. "It's hard to reflect on what a year this has been, but I'm incredibly fortunate to be playing at home in the United States. To be able to share all of this with my friends and family is better than I could have ever imagined."
Added Andre on the new No. 1: "Andy had No. 1 in his hands the whole week, so regardless if I beat Ferrero or not, it was going to be up to him to solidify it. So, you know, glad I could help."
In the day's other singles match, Roger Federer reversed an 0-5 head-to-head mark against David Nalbandian by steamrolling the Argentinean 6-3, 6-0 and securing himself a spot in the semifinals. "I just thought he didn't play as good as the previous matches," Club Fed said. "I thought every time he played me, he came up with some unbelievable shots. Today was just a few. Today, he just couldn't really find his rhythm." Federer improved to 2-0 in his round robin group while Nalbandian, who said he wasn't bothered during the match by his ongoing wrist injury, dropped to 1-1 and is still in the hunt for a semi berth. "I think Roger play a very good match, almost perfect," Nalbandian said. "The court was so fast today, it was hot. That's helping him a little bit so...was a little difficult and a strange feeling for me."
Masters Cup Singles Standings
Red Group:
(1)Andy Roddick 1-0 win-loss (2-1 sets)
(6)Rainer Schuettler 1-0 (2-1)
(4)Guillermo Coria 0-1 (1-2)
(7)Carlos Moya 0-1 (1-2)
Blue Group:
(3)Roger Federer 2-0 win-loss (4-1 sets) *qualified for semis
(5)Andre Agassi 1-1 (3-3)
(8)David Nalbandian 1-1 (2-2)
(2)Juan Carlos Ferrero 0-2 (1-4) *eliminated from semis
Fans got their money's worth during the doubles at the Masters Cup Wednesday, with both matches ending with a third set tiebreak. No. 4 seeds Knowles/Nestor secured themselves a semifinal berth by edging No. 2 seeds Bhupathi/Mirnyi 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(4). "Obviously, having two match points in the second set, it's easy to, you know, maybe get a little bit down," said Knowles after the win. "But we stayed up, knowing that we played well. I had to credit those guys for coming back in the second set. We fought till the very end and it worked out for us." In the other match, No. 5 seeds Arthurs/Hanley outlasted No. 8 seeds Etlis/Rodriguez 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). Though Etlis/Rodriguez lost, they advance to the semis, with the best record in sets/head-to-heads of the three teams in their group tied with a 1-2 win-loss record (beating out Bhupathi-Mirnyi and Arthurs-Hanley).
Masters Cup Doubles Standings
Red Group:
(1)Bryan/Bryan 3-0 win-loss (6-3 sets) *
(6)Llodra/Santoro 2-1 (5-3) *
---------------------------
(3)Bjorkman/Woodbridge 1-2 (4-4)
(7)Damm/Suk 0-3 (1-6)
* Qualified for semis
Blue Group:
(4)Knowles/Nestor 3-0 win-loss (6-2 sets) *
(8)Etlis/Rodriguez 1-2 (3-4) *
---------------------------
(2)Bhupathi/Mirnyi 1-2 (3-4)
(5)Arthurs/Hanley 1-2 (3-5)
* Qualified for semis
On court today in singles and double at the Masters Cup are Roddick vs. Schuettler (German leads career head-to-head 2-1, including two wins this year on hardcourt), Coria vs. Moya (Moya leads 2-1, all on clay, a must-win match for both players), Agassi vs. Nalbandian (first-time meeting, with the winner into the semifinals), and the first of the doubles semifinals in Knowles/Nestor vs. Llodra/Santoro (K/N lead head-to-head 3-1, with the Frenchman collecting their only win this year in the Aussie Open final).
NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Former No. 1 Aussie Pat Rafter says he won't be attending the Australia vs. Spain Davis Cup final: "I don't look to go because I want to get away as much as I can from tennis a bit still," Rafter told Fox Sports. "I just want to divorce myself from it all for a while."...Andy Roddick has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking at 21 years of age, a feat Andre Agassi accomplished only once over his illustrious career; Bob and Mike Bryan clinched the year-end No. 1 team ranking in doubles...With Roddick's rise to No. 1, Brad Gilbert becomes the first coach to lead two different players to the year-end No. 1 ranking...While Aussie Mark Philippoussis is the alternate at the Masters Cup, he's not sitting on his ass eating Twinkies: "I'm getting some good training sessions under my belt whether I play or not, just using this to get ready for the Davis Cup. It's great training. I hope no one gets hurt but if it happens for me to play I'll be ready."...WTA CEO Larry Scott is in spin mode on L.A.'s poor attendance and why the WTA Championships should be on the move: "The initial strategy was this event should move from time to time. It is the crown jewel of the tour circuit. We have different constituents in different parts of the world that need to be served. Being in L.A. is not the ideal time zone for our European television broadcast partners, as an example." How come no one shows up to watch the "crown jewel"? We think you've got your jewels mixed up, your two most precious are named Serena and Venus...Venus Williams finished the year ranked No. 11, the first time she is out of Top 10 since March 1998...Here begins the media hammering of WTA CEO Larry Scott: "Just when you thought WTA CEO Larry Scott would be a better leader than his predecessors Moe and Curly, he comes out to Los Angeles and embarrasses the tour," writes the Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun...Say Tata: Thai star Paradorn Srichaphan has ended his short-lived romantic relationship with singer Tata Young because of public pressure, his mother Ubol said in the Bangkok Post.