Youzhny Wins First 2004 Title at ATP St. Petersburg
Posted on November 1, 2004No. 4-seeded Mikhail Youzhny rolled unseeded Karol Beck of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2 for his first title of the year in front of the Russian homecountry fans Sunday at the ATP stop in St. Petersburg.
"It wasn't that easy a match," Youzhny said. "In the beginning of the second set, I was 0-30 down on my serve and it could have gone the opposite way. I was lucky to make early breaks."
Youzhny will move into the Top 30 after his win over Beck, who was appearing in his career-first ATP final and spent too much time trying to amp-up his play instead of sticking to his patient ground game.
"I was trying to play aggressively but it didn't work," Beck said. "I was making lots of mistakes and Mikhail was also quicker."
Youzhny was playing in his second final this year after losing to Marat Safin at Beijing.
The No. 2-seeded French duo of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra won the doubles, beating unseeded Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty and Jaroslav Levinsky 6-3, 6-2.
"We are very happy about this title," said Llodra, who has qualified for the Masters Cup Doubles with countryman Fabrice Santoro. "We played together once this year, in Adelaide and reached the final. We told each other that we needed to win a tournament together and now it is done."
"It wasn't that easy a match," Youzhny said. "In the beginning of the second set, I was 0-30 down on my serve and it could have gone the opposite way. I was lucky to make early breaks."
Youzhny will move into the Top 30 after his win over Beck, who was appearing in his career-first ATP final and spent too much time trying to amp-up his play instead of sticking to his patient ground game.
"I was trying to play aggressively but it didn't work," Beck said. "I was making lots of mistakes and Mikhail was also quicker."
Youzhny was playing in his second final this year after losing to Marat Safin at Beijing.
The No. 2-seeded French duo of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra won the doubles, beating unseeded Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty and Jaroslav Levinsky 6-3, 6-2.
"We are very happy about this title," said Llodra, who has qualified for the Masters Cup Doubles with countryman Fabrice Santoro. "We played together once this year, in Adelaide and reached the final. We told each other that we needed to win a tournament together and now it is done."