Federer, Moya Win at Masters Cup; Forget Rips Mauresmo for Bailing on Fed Cup
Posted on November 18, 2004
Masters Cup Wins for Federer, Moya Between RainsEnding after midnight due to rain delays, Roger Federer finally put his second round robin match in the books early Thursday morning at the ATP Tennis Masters Cup in Houston, defeating Lleyton Hewitt for the fifth consecutive time 6-3, 6-4.
The win was Club Fed's 20th in a row over a Top 10 opponent, but was viewed by only 500 or so fans who stayed late to brave the rains and area tornadoes.
"I played a good match, obviously not as good as at the US Open," said Federer, referring to the final where he fed the Aussie two bagels. "It's a tough second match after a long time, you know, to be at the same level like at the finals of the US Open."
In the earlier match Wednesday Carlos Moya defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-3, 6-4 in a battle of French Open winners on hardcourt, ending the Argentine's chance of reaching the semis.
Moya saved some early break points in the opening set, slowly finding his footing.
"It was very important because I wasn't playing very well at the beginning," Moya said. "And then I could hold my serve, and right after that I broke his serve. Then I start to play better and better. I think today I served very well and my forehand was very good, so I think that that was an important moment, to save those break points."
Moya also threw tournament organizer Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale a bone in regards to the rain in Houston and no indoor facility for the event.
"The weather, there's nothing they can do. It's bad luck," Moya said. "It's not the organizers' fault. They put a lot of money in. They made a great effort."
The win for Moya snapped a four-match losing streak, but things aren't looking up for the Spaniard, who went into worship-mode at the prospect of facing Federer.
"I have to forget who I'm playing with, just play my match and enjoy it," Moya said. "It's not often you get to play one of the best players ever."
The three doubles scheduled for Wednesday were all rained out.
On tap today in Houston is Coria vs. Henman with the loser facing elimination from the semis (Coria leads career head-to-head 3-1, including their only hardcourt meeting), Roddick vs. Safin (tied 2-2) in a battle of two players who will likely both advance to the semis out of the Blue Group, and Federer vs. Moya in a must-win for the Spaniard to stay alive for a semifinal berth.
Look to see if Club Fed has the killer instinct to put away Moya (who he has beaten in all four of their meetings) after already qualifying for the semifinals.
Scheduled for the doubles round robin are Bryan/Bryan vs. Bhupathi/Beast (to finish, Bryans lead 5-4 in the first), Black/Ullyett vs. Malisse/Rochus with the winner into the semifinals, and Knowles/Nestor vs. Damm/Suk.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
After failing to talk Amelie Mauresmo into playing the Fed Cup semifinals, French captain Guy Forget ripped her in the sports daily L'Equipe: "I can't believe she did this...Until the last minute I tried to make her change her mind but the answer was negative...What frustrates me is that the Fed Cup is no longer a target for her. I'm not interested in leading a squad of players who turn up when they feel like it." Is the Fed Cup a target for any of the top players besides Russia, who have 10 or so players to choose from? After the French Federation's unhappiness with Forget, and Mary Pierce earlier in the year saying she would pull too if Mauresmo didn't play, Forget may soon have plenty of time on his hands to pursue playing on the senior tour...Despite her ab injury, Serena Williams still played her Wednesday night exhibition in Chicago, part of her and sister Venus' McDonald's Williams Sisters tour for charity. The exhibition tour hits The Palace in Detroit tonight: "I was born in Saginaw, and I still have a lot of family there," Serena told the Knight Ridder news service. "It will be a crazy crowd because you know they are all going to be there, some rooting for me and some rooting for Venus...When we first talked about doing this tour, Detroit was one of the first cities that popped into my head. There is no professional tournament in Detroit, and no one has seen us play in person. We hope, at the end of the day, us going there will help Detroit get a tournament. We hope to also influence kids to pick up rackets and want to play tennis." ESPN will film the exhibition as part of a program about the Williams sisters and their tour...The ATP and WTA Tour announced that Sport Media Publishing Inc., whose publishing imprint is SPORTClassic Books, will publish the Official Guide to Professional Tennis 2005, the joint media guide first published last year as part of the ATP and WTA Tour's "One Game" initiative...Roger Federer is 20-0 against Top 10 opponents going back to last year's Tennis Masters Cup and 12-0 in finals going back to last year...Carlos Moya has finished in the Top 10 and won at least 55 matches for the third straight year...The Age speculates that due to his talk show and family commitments, John McEnroe is unlikely to be part of Channel Seven Australia's commentary team at next year's Australian Open, possibly opening up a job for Jim Courier...Currently in vogue: Saying you don't care after earlier saying you did. See: Lindsay Davenport on finishing No. 1 after losing in round robin play at the WTA Championships, with the possibility of Amelie Mauresmo getting the year-end No. 1; then Amelie Mauresmo on possibly finishing the year No. 1 at the WTA Championships, saying she felt no pressure because she had already been No. 1 earlier in the year and that's what was important. Always takes some of the sting out of it to pretend you didn't want it in the first place.