Federer Pounds Injured Roddick in ATP Bangkok Final

Posted on October 4, 2004

Andy Roddick couldn't seem to decide whether his injury had a part in the outcome of his 6-4, 6-0 loss to world No. 1 Roger Federer in the final at the ATP stop in Bangkok Sunday, but the result was the same -- another win for Federer, who now beaten the American in eight of their nine career meetings.

"I hurt my elbow yesterday against Marat Safin, but I don't think that made a difference," said Roddick, who later added, "I was playing with half a deck of cards and I have a bad record against Roger with a full deck of cards, so it was a little disappointing."

Roddick grimaced as he received treatment from the trainer for his arm during the second set.

"Roger's been beating people all year," Roddick said. "I came out and gave it a shot, but when I went back to the room yesterday, I started to feel something in one of the tendons in my elbow. I probably just strained it, but it made it pretty tough out there. I gave it the best shot I could, but once I got broken in the second, I definitely didn't feel too good about my chances."

Federer joined Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe as the only players to win 12 consecutive singles finals.

"When I came here, I didn't know what to expect," said Federer, who won his 10th title of 2004. "I took it easy after the US Open and was just hoping for a good tournament, and now I've won another one, so that's really fantastic. I didn't believe I could somehow reach 10 this year, and it just keeps on going."

Roddick had trouble with his serve from the onset, double faulting twice in the first game but saving his serve with five aces, holding off three break points. Federer eventually broke to go up 4-3 in the first, then the wheels came off the A-Rod Express, with the American losing eight of the next nine games.

Federer is the fifth player to win 10 titles in one season in the past 20 years, joining John McEnroe (13 titles in 1984), Thomas Muster (12 in 1995), Ivan Lendl (11 in 1985, and 10 in 1989), and Pete Sampras (10 in 1994).

Roddick dropped to 4-4 in finals this year and 15-8 record in career finals, and is now 1-6 career when facing the world No. 1-ranked player.

In the doubles final Federer failed to make it a sweep, losing with countryman Yves "Allegra" Allegro to Americans Justin "Time" Gimelstob and Graydon Oliver 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. It was the second title of the year for the Americans after Beijing.

"It's not every day you get to play the best player in the world, Roger Federer," Gimelstob said. "So this is a nice win. We've only played the US Open and two Asian events, so it's been a great start as a new team. This is my 12th doubles title, which is now more than my girlfriend (WTA Tour doubles specialist Corina Morariu)."

Czech 19-Year-Old Berdych Wins First Title at ATP Palermo

No. 8 seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic defeated crowd-favorite Italian and No. 5 seed Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-3 Sunday in the final at the claycourt ATP stop at Palermo.

The 19-year-old is the first Czech winner of 2004, and had never previously reached further than the quarterfinals at an ATP event.

Both Berdych and Volandri will move into the Top 40 on the ATP Rankings.

"It's an unbelievable feeling to win my first ATP title," Berdych said. "I have won other tournaments before, like challengers, but everything is bigger and more important at the ATP level. I will fly home tonight and will take the next couple of days off so I can celebrate with family and friends."

In other words, break out the Pilsner Urquell Original Golden. Berdych went for his serve in the match from the onset, looking to keep the points short.

"The key in the final was my serve, I had to serve well not to get into too many rallies with Volandri who is better than me from the back of the court," Berdych said. "I was calm before the match, I never really have problem with nervousness before a big match."

In the Saturday doubles final, Arnold/Hood defeated Etlis/Rodriguez 7-5, 6-2 in the all-Argentine final to successfully defend for their third title of the year.

Canas Rolls Burgsmuller for ATP Shanghai Title

No. 3 seed Guillermo Canas took just 57 minutes to win his third ATP title of the year Sunday with a 6-1, 6-0 thumping of unseeded German Lars Burgsmuller in the final of the ATP stop at Shanghai.

Canas won back-to-back claycourt titles in Stuttgart and Umag in July, and with the Shanghai hardcourt win is now 3-0 in finals this year, and 6-6 for his career.

"This year was amazing, winning three titles," said Canas, who sat out much of last year with a wrist injury. "I have never done this before to win three titles in one year, but I still have work to do to get better because I want to get back to the top. My goal is to be in the Masters next year, and if I play like this week I can do it but it will be tough."

In the doubles final No. 2 seeds Palmer/Vizner edged Americans Leach/MacPhie 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(11) for their second title of the year.

Bovina Chokes, Dementieva Wins First 2004 Title at WTA Hasselt

Elena Dementieva shed her bridesmaid image Sunday at the WTA stop in Hasselt, defeating fellow Russian Elena "Lena" Bovina in a see-saw 0-6, 6-0, 6-4 match for her first title of the year in her fourth final.

"I'm very happy to win my first title of the season today after being so close in the other finals," Dementieva said. "The score may seem strange, but we both played very well, but maybe not at the same time. It's a very special memory for me, I remember all my finals clearly and this is a great moment."

Dementieva was presented with her trophy by Kim Clijsters, who retired from her semifinal match against Bovina after re-injuring her left wrist, likely ending her 2004 campaign.

In the third set Bovina jumped out to a 4-1 lead and held two break points on Dementieva's serve, but could not close. For the choke cherry on top of the choke sundae, Bovina also let Dementieva out of a 0-40 hole in the final game.

Dementieva is now 4-7 career in finals, and Bovina falls to 3-2.

"I played very well in the first set, continuing where I left off last night, but I took my foot off the gas at the start of the second," Bovina said. "That was a little bit of a mistake because Elena's such a great fighter that once you let her into the match it's very difficult. In the third set, from 4-1 she mixed it up a little better, hit the ball deeper and I started feeling a little tired from hitting the ball hard in the longer rallies earlier."

In doubles final, Jennifer Russell and Mara Santangelo claimed their first WTA Tour title in their first final with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Marta Marrero.

Li Delights Chinese with First Title at WTA Guangzhou

Qualifier Na Li became the first Chinese woman to ever win a WTA title Sunday at Guangzhou, defeating unseeded Slovak Martina Sucha 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

Chinese women were previously 0-6 in WTA finals between 1995-98.

"I'm trying to keep a balance and not to get too excited about winning today," Li said. "I was nervous out there at the beginning and eager to win for the crowd...My goal is to break into the Top 100."

Sucha is now 1-2 in career finals.

"I was feeling a little tired and was slow, slower than I should have been," Sucha said. "She was moving faster and deserved to win. I knew she was playing well, she has beaten a lot of good players this week."

In the doubles final, No. 2-seeded Olympic champions Ting Li/Tian Tian Sun defeated Yang/Yu 6-4, 6-1 in the all-Chinese championship for their second title of the year.

Sharapova Wins in a Walk at WTA Seoul

As expected, with no other players ranked in the Top 30 in the event, Maria Sharapova won the 'Maria Sharpova Open,' or as it was otherwise known, the Hansol Korea Open Tennis Championships Sunday with a 6-1, 6-1 pasting of No. 100-ranked Marta Domachowska.

The Seoul title is Sharapova's third of the year, and she raises her career record to 5-0 in finals.

"This is the first time playing three tournaments in a row, but I feel really good," said Sharapova, who reportedly received a $300,000 under-the-table fee to play at Seoul, more than doubles the winner's prize money. "I think I played well this week. Hopefully I'll take that on to next week (Tokyo), play better and win there. As I get older, I'll have to learn to make the adjustments to different tournaments, different conditions. To compete with the Top 10 players, there are a lot of things I have to improve on."

For Domachowska it was her first tour final.

In the doubles final the Korean team of Cho/Jeon won their first WTA title, beating the Taipei tandem of Chuang/Hsieh 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

ATP Preview: Massu Leads Indoor Field at Lyon

Olympic gold medalist Nicolas "The Golden Child" Massu heads the indoor field this week at the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon, joined by seeds Rainer "Shine" Schuettler, former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, the Euro-Roddick Joachim "Pim-Pim" Johansson, Tommy "The R." Robredo, Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, Vince Spadea, and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic.

Tough first-rounders include (6) The Dominator vs. Xavier "X-Man" Malisse, (3) Ferrero vs. Sargis "Sarge" Sargsian, (5) Tommy The R. vs. Sweden's Robin Soderling, (4) Pim-Pim vs. Argentine comer Juan "The Principality" Monaco, and (7) Spadea vs. Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri in an all-American.

Former champions in the field are Schuettler (2003), France's Paul-Henri Mathieu (2002), Croat Ivan Ljubicic (2001), and French veteran Arnaud Clement (2000).

On court Monday in Lyon are Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez vs. Davydenko, X-Man vs. (6) The Dominator, Ljubicic vs. (WC) Clement, and A.Costa vs. Bjorkman.

ATP Preview: Hewitt Top Seed at Middling Tokyo Event

Former No. 1 and current No. 3-ranked Aussie Lleyton Hewitt heads the 48-player field in Tokyo, joined by top seeds David Nalbandian, Andrei Pavel, Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, Jiri Novak, Guillermo Canas, Taylor Dent and Thomas "Tommy the J." Johansson.

The 16 seeds receive first-round byes, but potential second-round matches of marginal interest are (7) Dent vs. Mark Philippoussis, and (10) Hyung-Taik Lee vs. Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs.

Former champs in the field are Kenneth Carlsen (2002), Hewitt (2001), and Pavel (1998).

On court Monday in Tokyo are Lu vs. Levy, Garcia vs. (WC) Suzuki, Philippoussis vs. Zib, Ulihrach vs. Okun, and Bogomolov Jr. vs. Tipsarevic.

WTA Preview: Filderstadt Still Strong After Losing H-H, Serena, Capriati

The WTA stop in Filderstadt this week has a strong field with six Top 10 players, but fell beneath all-star status over the weekend with the withdrawals of three former No. 1s in last year's runner-up Justine Henin-Hardenne (mystery illness), Serena Williams (knee) and Jennifer Capriati (back). Last year's winner, Kim Clijsters, is also out with injury.

World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo will get the chance to prove her worth as the top seed, joined by American Lindsay Davenport, Russians Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama.

The top four seeds receive byes, but a few early-round matches of interest remain in (1) Mauresmo vs. Patty "Handshake" Schnyder second round, (5) Dementieva vs. Karolina "The Spreminator" Sprem second round, (4) Kuznetsova vs. countrywoman Bovina second round, (6) Zvonareva vs. countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva (winner to potentially face Mary Pierce), (3) Myskina vs. Top 25 Nathalie Dechy or Maggie Maleeva second round, (7) Petrova vs. Daniela Hantuchova second round, and (2) Davenport vs. Top 20 Alicia Molik or Francesca Schiavone second round.

Former champs in the field are Davenport (2001) and Pierce (1993).

WTA Preview: Sharapova Open Moves from Seoul to Tokyo

Top 10-ranked Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova, competing for her second consecutive week in a field without another Top 30 player, leads the seeds at the WTA stop in Tokyo, joined by Tatiana Golovin, Shinobu Asagoe, Kristina "You're a Fine Girl" Brandi, Meghann Shaughnessy, Nicole Pratt, Klara "Kouky" Koukalova, and No. 8 seed Arantxa "Not That Arantxa" Parra Santonja, who is ranked outside the Top 50.

Sharapova and Golovin receive first-round byes, with first round match-ups of marginal interest including (3) Asagoe vs. Tanasugarn in an all-Asian, (6) Pratt vs. another "next Russian" Evgenia Linetskaya, Obata vs. (WC) Fujiwara in an all-Japanese, and a potential second-round meeting between (2) Golovin and Czech teen sensation Nicole Vaidisova.

Former champions in the field are Sharapova (2003) and Jill Craybas (2002).

On court Monday at Tokyo are (WC) Fujiwara vs. Obata in an all-Japanese, Kleinova vs. (4) Brandi, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Mashona "Little Sis" Washington, (7) Kouky vs. Sequera, and Kurhajcova vs. Jidkova.

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