Henin, Clijsters Produce Another All-Waffle Final at Oz Open
Posted on January 30, 2004
Without either of the Williams sisters about, the women's semifinals went according to plan Thursday at the Australian Open, with the top-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne and No. 2 Kim Clijsters advancing to yet another all-Belgian final.Henin-Hardenne rolled first-time slam semifinalist and No. 32 seed Fabiola "The Fabulous One" Zuluaga 6-2, 6-2 in the first semifinal, while Clijsters played through her ankle injury with the 6-2, 7-6(2) win over No. 22 seed Patty "The Swiss Miss" Schnyder, who was appearing in her first slam semifinal.
"It's been a difficult tournament for me. It was new being the top seed," H-H said. "But the situation changed in the quarterfinals and I feel better and better. Now I have to improve my level again if I want to win the title."
Both Belgians reached at least the semifinals at all four majors last season, with Henin-Hardenne beating Clijsters at the French and the US Open. This is the first Aussie Open final for both players.
"Both Kim and I are getting familiar and used to this situation," H-H said. "Kim has a lot of fans. I have, too. And one more time, it's just amazing...it's just something crazy for a little country."
The Belgians have played 17 times thus far in their careers, with Clijsters holding a 9-8 advantage, including a win in their last match-up. Clijsters, still looking for her first slam win, can steal the No. 1 ranking with a win Saturday in the final.
On tap today is the women's doubles final in (1)Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Russian mouthful (4)Kuznetsova/Likhovtseva.
JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE vs. KIM CLIJSTERS
Clijsters leads 9-6
2001 Indian Wells, Hard, CLIJSTERS 6-1 4-6 3-6
2001 French Open, Clay, CLIJSTERS 6-2 5-7 3-6
2001 's-Hertogenbosch, Grass, HENIN-HARDENNE 6-4 3-6 6-3
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2002 Sydney, Hard, CLIJSTERS 6-7(6) 2-6
2002 Australian Open, Hard, CLIJSTERS 2-6 3-6
2002 Rome, Clay, HENIN-HARDENNE 7-5 6-2
2002 WTA Championships, Hard, CLIJSTERS 2-6 1-6
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2003 Sydney, Hard, CLIJSTERS 2-6 3-6
2003 Antwerp, Carpet, CLIJSTERS 2-6 6-7(3)
2003 Berlin, Clay, HENIN-HARDENNE 6-4 4-6 7-5
2003 French Open, Clay, HENIN-HARDENNE 6-0 6-4
2003 's-Hertogenbosch, Grass, CLIJSTERS 7-6(4) 0-3 ret.
2003 San Diego, Hard, HENIN-HARDENNE 3-6 6-2 6-3
2003 US Open, Hard, HENIN-HARDENNE 7-5 6-1
2003 Filderstadt, Hard, CLIJSTERS 7-5 4-6 2-6
In the first men's semifinal Thursday, unseeded Marat Safin squelched a furious comeback from No. 4 seed Andre Agassi, outlasting the former No. 1 7-6(6), 7-6(6), 5-7, 1-6, 6-3.
"I don't have the words to describe what I'm feeling now," said Safin, who came into the event ranked No. 86 on the ATP Rankings. "I don't have anything inside me."
It was the second consecutive five-set win for the big Russian, who knocked out world No. 1 Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. This is the first tour appearance of 2004 for Safin, who missed much of the latter half of last year with his wrist in a cast.
Agassi, the top performer at the Australian Open in terms of titles and winning percentage in the modern era, had his 26-match winning streak in Melbourne snapped with the loss. Agassi had two set points before losing the first set tiebreak, and another set point before losing the second set tiebreak. Agassi broke late in the third set and rode it out, Safin tanked the fourth set after Agassi jumped to a 4-1 lead, but then the Russian came out strong early in the fifth.
"Marat played at an incredibly high level, and I forced him to play at that level the whole time," said Agassi, who was broken serving at 1-2 in the fifth. "Sometimes you just need a little luck at the right time -- I had chances that went away." The famed Safin temper surfaced only briefly during the match, avoiding the racquet-smashing meltdowns that have sabotaged past big-stage efforts.
Agassi entered the match with a 3-1 career record against Safin. The Russian has been an American-killer in Oz with wins over Brian Vahaly, Todd Martin, James Blake, Roddick, and now Agassi, and will face the winner of Friday's Roger Federer-Juan Carlos Ferrero semifinal.
In the doubles semifinals, the top-seeded Bryan brothers ran through (3)Bjorkman/Woodbridge 6-1, 6-2, and defending champs (5)Llodra/Santoro beat (9)Etlis/Rodriguez 6-2, 7-5.
Today's lone men's action features the second men's semifinal in (2)Federer vs. (3)Ferrero.
ROGER FEDERER vs. JUAN CARLOS FERRERO
Tied 3-3
2003 Tennis Masters Cup, Hard, Federer 6-3, 6-1
2003 Madrid TMS, Hard, Ferrero 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
2003 Rome TMS, Clay, Federer 6-4, 4-2, ret.
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2002 Tennis Masters Cup, Hard, Federer 6-3, 6-4
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2000 US Open, Hard, Ferrero 7-5, 7-6, 1-6, 7-6
2000 Auckland, Hard, Ferrero 6-4, 6-4
TENNIS-X AUSSIE OPEN OPEN ERA TOP 10
Andre Agassi is the top player the Australian Open has seen in the Open Era (since 1968), surpassing Guillermo Vilas from the slam's "less competitive" era, with only one Aussie on the list (through Jan. 29, 2004, min. 20 matches):
1. Andre Agassi (USA) 44-4 .917
2. Guillermo Vilas (ARG) 23-3 .885
3. Stefan Edberg (SWE) 56-10 .848
4. Mats Wilander (SWE) 36-7 .837
5. Pete Sampras (USA) 45-9 .833
6. Ivan Lendl 48-10 (USA) .828
7. Jim Courier (USA) 35-8 .814
8. John Newcombe (AUS) 30-7 .811
9. Johan Kriek (RSA) 25-6 .806
10. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) 28-7 .800
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Having played more than 15 hours of tennis, Marat Safin sure didn't look very tired during his win over Andre Agassi. Sir, please pee in this cup. Must have been all that fishing...Marat Safin hit 33 aces and ZERO doubles faults against Andre Agassi...Can anyone name an exciting women's match from this event? We can't...It's an all-waffle final for the third time in the last four slams...Marat Safin defeated Pete Sampras in the American's final Aussie Open match. Did he just do the same to Andre?...In Grand Slam play, Marat Safin is an incredible 51-1 after winning the first set, and 27-0 when leading by two sets...Roger Federer has won his last 10 matches, dropping just three sets during the streak...Steffi Graf looked like she was about to cry during the Andre Agassi-Marat Safin match...Marat's box didn't feature any of the "Safinettes" this year, rather the Russian opted for Mom, coach Dennis Golovanov, trainer Walt Landers, A.A. buddy Gary and new hottie "friend" Dascha...Did you know that in Rod Laver Arena a front row ticket costs the same as a last row ticket? Many seats are first-come first-serve and tickets for the final are $120 AUS or so. That's front row for $100 (USD) for a Slam final. Try and get that at the US Open, you'll be laughed out of line in a New York minute...Juan Carlos Ferrero's groin injury is shaky for the semis...The '80s group Tears for Fears has come out with a new album after performing together for the first time in more than a decade in early October at Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for Children benefit in Las Vegas.