Roddick Dogged Again by Nemesis Federer Who Faces Agassi in Masters Cup FinalView Comments (1) | View Discussions
Posted on November 17, 2003
 Andre Agassi did his part Saturday at the Tennis Masters Cup, but an all-American final was averted when world No. 1 Andy Roddick fell again to his biggest age-group nemesis.
Agassi, seeking to become the oldest year-end champion at 33 years of age, outlasted Rainer Schuettler 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.
"Stats are stats. My age is irrelevant to me when I'm on the court," Agassi said."The tennis speaks for itself. You can't bluff your way through anything." The German won the first set, but the tide turned when Schuettler's racquet flew out of his hand while serving in the first game of the second set, and he went on to lose the next eight games.
Roddick's big-serving game was blunted yet again 7-6(2), 6-2 by rival Roger Federer, who now leads the American 5-1 in their career head-to-head.
"He was reading the game a lot faster than me," Roddick said. "The guy has more natural flair and talent for the game than most -- than anybody, really...I'm upset that I lost, but I'm relieved that the year's over. I'm going to kind of chill out for a little while now."
The best-of-five final will be a rematch of the earlier round robin encounter, arguably the best match of the tournament, where Federer prevailed 7-6 in the third set tiebreak after Agassi held multiple match points.
"A guy like Roger doesn't allow you to just lay off shots," Agassi said. "He has firepower from a lot of different points." Federer will finish the year at No. 2 if he bests Agassi in the final.
In the doubles final, the top-seeded Bryan brothers beat Frenchmen Llodra/Santoro in a five-set thriller 6-7(6), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 for their first year-end title, cementing their year-end No. 1 team ranking. It was the fifth title of the year for the twins, while the Frenchmen dropped to 1-6 in finals for 2003.
UNDEFEATED YEAR-END SINGLES WINNERS
Roger Federer needs just one more win to secure the No. 2 year-end ranking and add his name to the year-end champions who won without dropping a match in the history of the round robin format:
2001 Lleyton Hewitt
1993 Michael Stich
1987 Ivan Lendl
1986 Ivan Lendl
AID FOR CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE VICTIMS
Tennis fans have been asked to help victims of the devastating California wildfires by donating their empty cans of tennis balls. Volunteers will fill the cans with items such as toiletries, gift cards and small gifts to help victims of the fires. The fires charred nearly 750,000 acres of California wilderness and left an estimated $10 billion in destruction, claiming more than 3000 homes. Please send your empty cans to volunteer Mary Gray, 16520 Dartolo Rd., Ramona, CA 92065, USA
NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
Roger Federer says he will skip the ATP events before the Australian Open for the exhibition gravy train: "I'm playing an exhibition in Hong Kong, then Kooyong, then I'm going to play Australian Open."...Lots of post-match interview editing going on this week by the ATP before those transcripts get posted to the web, want to take out all that negative stuff, accentuate the positive...How goofy does it look to see Masters Cup tournament promoter Jim "Mattress Mac (Whack)" McIngvale standing up clapping for the American players, appearing spastic in the stands, and wearing an American flag shirt during the international event?...Cliff Drysdale of ESPN U.S. says Andy Roddick has the best serve he's ever seen, better than even Sampras'. Well Cliff, we can think of at least 14 reasons why Pete's serve is better than Andy's...Is there any doubt that Federer is a far superior player than Roddick. Federer has dropped just three sets to the American in six matches...Following his win Friday, Carlos Moya said he will hang in the U.S. until next Wednesday and then head for the Davis Cup finale...U.S. fans, has anyone seen that Mercedes-Benz AMG commercial during the matches? That commercial gets more airtime than the on-court tennis action...How important is the Tennis Masters Cup in Texas? It's so important that the Dallas Morning News didn't even bother to send a reporter to cover the event during the round-robin.
View Comments (1) | View Discussions
|
|
|
Quick Links
