Hewitt Advances to Third Consecutive Final, Thai Fighter Upset

Posted on August 29, 2004

Lleyton Hewitt reached the final of the ATP stop in Long Island Saturday when his unseeded opponent, Russian Dmitry Tursunov, retired with a back injury trailing 3-6, 0-1.

"I was surprised that he stopped playing," Hewitt said. "My first set was solid, and winning on break point put extra pressure on him.

Hewitt will be playing in his third consecutive final after winning the title in Washington last week and finishing runner-up in the Masters Series-Cincinnati the week prior. He has won 14 of his last 15 matches, with a 32-5 record this year on hardcourts.

"I am happy with my play going into the Open," Hewitt said. "After last year's Open, I changed my game a little and the results speak for themselves."

In the other semifinal the tournament went off track when Peru's No. 9 seed Luis "Me So" Horna upset two-time defending champion and No. 4 seed Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan 7-6 in the third.

"I think I worked really hard in the first set and maybe I just used too much energy," The Thai Fighter said. "It's a shame not to have a chance to win three years in a row but it was a great match, he just played a little better than me."

It will be the first meeting between Hewitt and Horna. The doubles final will be (3)Allegro/Kohlmann against Frenchmen Dupuis/Llodra.


US Open Men's Preview
Both world No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Andy Roddick will be looking to make up for disappointing performances at the Athens Olympics next week at the 2004 US Open, where the pressure will be square on the defending champion American.

Roddick needs to retain the US Open title for even a slim chance of catching Federer in the race to the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking. Roddick has had a tough time following up his amazing 27-1 U.S. hardcourt record from 2003, this year posting a 16-3 record during the summer swing entering the Open.

The "Roger & Andy Show" could be preempted by two former No. 1s that have been turning back the clock this summer on the hardcourts in Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt.

Here is a look at how the four quarters of the men's draw fell for the 2004 US Open:

Top Quarter
Seeds: (1)Roger "Club Fed" Federer, (6)Andre "The Boss" Agassi, (10)Nicolas "Chilean Gold" Massu, (16)Andrei Pavel, (21)Taylor Dent, (24)Ivan Ljubicic, (25)Jiri Novak, (31)Fabrice "The Original Magician" Santoro
Floaters: Hyung-Taik Lee, Jarkko Nieminen, "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter, Florian "Oscar" Mayer, Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri

The Draw Gods smiled on world No. 1 Roger Federer Wednesday, with an opener against claycourter Al Costa, a third round against the weaponless-yet-annoying (31)The Original Magician, and a fourth round against either (16)Pavel or (24)Ljubicic, neither of whom have seen the latter rounds of a tournament in some time. Costa beat Federer in three sets on the dirt at Rome earlier this year and on hardcourts last year, but that's before Club Fed became Club Fed. Federer and Costa are tied at 2-2 in their career meetings. Former champ Agassi, the second-highest seed in the quarter, has a tougher road with Babolat-wielding countryman Baby Courier in his opener, then the up-and-coming Oscar Mayer likely in the second round. Worth watching will be the Chilean gold medal winner (10)Massu to see if he has shaken off his brutal run at Athens and can take advantage of his nice draw. Other first round testers for the seeds include (31)The Original Magician vs. U.S. veteran Todd "Let's Play Five" Martin (T.M. leads meetings 3-1), (24)Ljubicic vs. the underrated H.-T. Lee in a first-time meeting, and (16)Pavel vs. Nieminen in a first-timer. If Fed and The Boss can find their games early, there is no reason they shouldn't be able to navigate this weakest section of seeds and floaters for a quarterfinal meeting.

Second Quarter
Seeds: (3)Carlos Moya, (5)Tim Henman, (9)Gaston Gaudio, (15)Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, (19)Nicolas Kiefer, (22)Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, (26)Mardy "Silver" Fish, (27)Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic
Floaters: Alexander "My Serve Has" Popp, Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, Juan "The Principality" Monaco, Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson, "Grinning" Greg Rusedski, Cyril Saulnier, Max "The Beast" Mirnyi, "Dr." Ivo Karlovic, Irakli "Freak Show" Labadze

Call this the "Floater Quarter," with enough dangerous un-seeds to give fits to the cluster of "B"-level seeds joining Moya and Henman. Moya has quite a nice road with the American Brian "The Butcher, the" Baker, then the winner of (WC)Delic vs. qualifier, with Moya's first potential seeded meeting against the struggling (27)Baby Goran. If Henman holds his current form (and mindset), look for him to make an exit during the first three rounds when he faces the giant-serving "Dr." Ivo, then potentially the brilliantly-erratic Freak Show, then either (26)Silver Fish or The Beast. That's not a fun time in NYC, book that early super-saver air fare. Other tough first-rounders of note are (27)Baby Goran vs. the pesky Olivier "The Roach" Rochus, the back-from-injury (9)Gaudio vs. countryman The Principality, and un-seeds Grinning Greg vs. the giant-killing Saulnier. Anything goes in this quarter, with Moya likely facing his first test in the fourth round against (15)The Thai Fighter or (22)The Dominator, and (26)Fish or a floater advancing to face the winner of that.

Third Quarter
Seeds: (4)Lleyton Hewitt, (8)David Nalbandian, (12)Sebastien "The Skateboard Kid" Grosjean, (14)Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (17)Juan Ignacio Chela, (20)Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten, (30)Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez, (32)Jonas Bjorkman Floaters: Mikhail Youzhny, Tommy Haas, Olivier "All We Need is Just a Little" Patience, Robin Soderling, Nikolay Davydenko, Mark "Scud" Philippoussis, Wayne Ferreira

Lots of tough veterans and a handful of veteran and up-and-coming floaters make this a dicey section. You would say (8)Nalbandian, a semifinalist last year in an epic loss to Roddick, was a favorite with an easy draw had he not missed most of this summer with injury. (4)Hewitt has a potentially tricky draw with the South African vet Ferreira in his opener (career series tied 2-2, with Wayne's World winning their last hardcourt meeting), and in the second round either Hicham Arazi (who won their lone meeting) or the unpredictable Dane Kenneth Carlsen. Usually unpredictably bad. Other tough openers are (32)Bjorkman vs. Olympic Federer-killer Tomas Berdych, (12)Grosjean vs. countryman Patience, and (14)Gonzo vs. Soderling (who won their only meeting). Potential second round match-ups include (12)Grosjean vs. Haas, and Scud vs. the Gonzo-Soderling winner. If Hewitt can step over his opening round tripper, look for the Aussie to face...virtually any pick of Haas, Grojean, Gonzo or Guga. Going way out on a limb here, roll the dice.

Bottom Quarter
Seeds: (2)Andy "A-Rod" Roddick, (7)Juan Carlos Ferrero, (11)Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, (13)Marat "The Tank" Safin, (18)Tommy "The R." Robredo, (23)Vince "Vincenzo" Spadea, (28)Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson, (29)Guillermo Canas Floaters: Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, Thomas Enqvist, Nicolas Escude, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal

Not a bad draw for the defending champ A-Rod, who after he blows the bedazzled junior wildcard Scoville Jenkins off the court in the first round will likely face an intriguing first-time match-up against The Prodigy who, while an almost guaranteed eventual Roland Garros winner, is also no slouch on hardcourt. But not a good draw either -- in the third round A-Rod could face (29)Canas, who he has lost two of his three encounters with. The confidence-less defending champ (7)Ferrero hopes he can reach the third round where he will be staring into the service cannon of (28)The Jackhammer in what could be his exit, if not sooner. Other tough openers are (13)Safin vs. Enqvist (does Marat have any interest?), and (18)Robredo vs. the fast-court specialist Escude of France. The top half will open up with the outing of Ferrero, while a Roddick vs. Canas third round and Roddick vs. Safin fourth round would bring fair value to the over-priced Open ticket.

The Swedish/Aussie combo of Jonas Bjorkman/Todd Woodbridge are the defending doubles champions, in last year's final edging the American Bryan brothers in three sets.

Returning singles champions in this year's field are Roddick (2003), Hewitt (2001), Safin (2000), and Agassi (1999,'94). Expected returning doubles champs are Bjorkman/Woodbridge (2003), Mahesh Bhupathi/The Beast (2002), and Zimbabwe's Wayne Black/Kevin Ullyett (2002).

Bovina Ends Two-Year Title Drought at WTA New Haven
No. 7-seeded Russian Elena "Lina" Bovina ended a two-year title drought Saturday at the WTA stop in New Haven, defeating No. 8 seed Nathalie Dechy 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 in the not-made-for-TV final.

The Russian and Frenchwoman were left to clean up the mess after stars Maria Sharapova and Jennifer Capriati were upset earlier in the week, much to the dismay of CBS executives broadcasting in the U.S.

Bovina, with the Russian-factory lanky-Maria Sharpova-type body and the Jasper Parnevik-type flipped-up bill on the baseball cap, outlasted Dechy in brutal humidity that saw both players take a 10-minute break after the second set per WTA rules for high heat or humidity.

"I was very happy," Bovina said. "I was happy for Nathalie, too, because she had a great week. She beat good players. And it's great for her, too, because she's been struggling a little bit lately. To me it's perfect because we had a great match and she's my good friend."

Bovina's other two career titles came at Warsaw and Quebec City.

In the doubles final, (2)Petrova/Shaughnessy edged (3)Navratilova/Raymond 7-6 in the third for their tour-leading sixth title of the year.

Likhovtseva Ends Seven Year Title Drought at WTA Forest Hills
Top-seeded Russian Elena Likhovtseva took advantage of the weak 16-player field at new WTA stop in Forest Hills this week, beating No. 4 seed Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2 in Saturday's final for her first title in seven years.

Likhovtseva's last title came in 1997 at Gold Coast, and Forest Hills is the third of her career. The event had no doubles final.

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