Federer Conquers Johansson, Shaky Play to Advance to ATP MS-Canada Final Against Roddick

Posted on August 1, 2004

World No. 1 Roger Federer, who struggled through a semifinal against Fabrice Santoro with spotty play Friday, took it down another level against unseeded lucky loser Thomas Johansson Saturday in the semifinals at the Masters Series-Canada but in the end did what champions do -- he won.

Federer, who has appeared undefeatable with three titles in his last three events, struggled mightily in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Johansson, shanking balls and looking up questionably at girlfriend/manager Mirka Vavrinec in the stands, but in the end managed to get a handle on his game and ride out an early break in the third. After the match Federer said he was "exhausted" but would press on.

"It took me some time to get the rhythm, I'm lucky I got it eventually," Federer told ESPN after the match. "I missed quite a few chance at love-30 (on his serve), I'm going to have to improve on that for the final tomorrow...I would like to see Andy Roddick in the final tomorrow, let's bring it on."

Federer will today meet the No. 2-seeded Roddick, who in his later semifinal dispatched of unseeded Nicolas Kiefer of Germany 7-5, 6-3.

"It's gonna be great," Roddick said. "I can't wait. We seem to bring out pretty good tennis in each other. I owe him one from Wimbledon."

Federer has won six of his seven meetings with Roddick.

In Saturday's doubles semifinals, Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes d. Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor 6-4, 6-4, and Jonas Bjorkman/Max "The Beast" Mirnyi d. Michael Llodra/Fabrice Santoro 7-6(2), 7-6(2).

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEWS
The hot-handed Lindsay Davenport reached the final of the WTA hardcourt stop at San Diego Saturday with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russian Elena Dementieva.

The No. 4-seeded American is shooting for her third straight championship in as many weeks in California after titles at Stanford and LA.

Davenport jammed her knee serving at 5-3 after Dementieva hit a ball behind her that caught Davenport in an awkward position.

"At 5-4, it was hurting when I landed on my leg," Davenport said. "It looks like very little swelling. I tested negative on the really important spots on my knee. I feel lucky. It could have been a lot worse."

In the final Davenport will face another Russian in Anastasia Myskina, who won a marathon over countrywoman (12)Vera "Warren" Zvonareva 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(15).

Davenport has won both of their career encounters, not counting the Hopman Cup exhibition earlier this year which Davenport also won.

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
"I've got the world on a string! I'm sittin' on a rainbow!"...Kim Clijsters has pulled from the US Open as she continues to recover slowly from wrist surgery. The 21-year-old underwent surgery for a cyst on her left wrist in June, and has not played an event since May. "Kim is officially pulling out of the US Open," read a statement on her website. "The risks of re-injury are too great. Her left wrist is still healing. The muscle on her left wrist is still inferior to that on her right wrist which is why it needs to be built up in the next few weeks." Clijsters is now targeting a return for Sept. 27 at a minor event in Hasselt, Belgium....15-year-old U.S. prodigy Donald Young is reportedly close to signing deals with Head and Nike: "When I was nine, and no one else would sponsor me, Head was really good to me," Young told ESPN after making his USTA challenger debut this week, a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 first-round loss to No. 218-ranked Dusan Vemic at the Lexington Challenger...Roger Federer on playing the unorthodox Fabrice Santoro: "He's a righty, but he plays forehand like a lefty so the ball comes to you as a backhand, like a slice. It's tough to take chances off the line. My advantage against him is I'm serving better than he does. That always gives me time to actually relax."...Now how did the USTA decide to go with that tenniswelcomecenter.com TV ad which starts with that guy whispering something apparently so obscene to a woman in a bar that she takes a swing at him?...What was the weird ESPN crowd shot of Max Mirnyi's dad playing with his younger son's inner thigh yesterday in the stands? Was that our imagination? What is going on over there in Belarus? Whatever it is it needs to stay in Belarus...Notables competing in the Masters Series-Cincinnati qualifying this weekend are "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Greg Rusedski, 15-year-old American prodigy Donald Young, and Aussie serving machine Wayne "Someone Please Make Me Retire" Arthurs...Another taped match by ESPN of the Andy Roddick-Nicolas Kiefer match at the MS-Canada. That is ridiculous, ESPN is showing NHRA (drag racing!) Qualifying while the match is being played live, then they slap on the tape? The ATP's top level of event, with Andy Roddick playing, thrown on tape for a drag race. And that will happen as long as U.S. tennis fans let it, without calling or e-mailing ESPN and letting them know. When the last time you saw a football, baseball, or hockey game tape-delayed for a drag race? That blows ESPN, especially when according to the NHRA website, that drag racing broadcast was a tape job...How painful is that Elena Dementieva service toss to watch? Hey Elena, give us a call, we have a couple coaches on staff, we could fix that within a week...Anyone catch the "Beyond the Glory" on Pete Sampras on FOX SportsNet late last night? That was good stuff...Anastasia Myskina said she would apologize to Maria Sharapova after critical comments attributed to her in a Russian publication: "I really respect Maria. It said I didn't respect her as a tennis player. I think she's a great person."...Lindsay Davenport also won at Stanford, LA, and San Diego in succession in 1998 before going on to win the US Open.