Davenport, Sharapova to Square Off in WTA Tokyo Final; Martinez Looking at First Title in Almost Five Years at Pattaya City
Posted on February 5, 2005
Gaudio On Course for Dirt Title at ATP Vina del MarIt was a tough day for Argentina Friday at the ATP stop in Vina del Mar, Chile, with only one of the four Gauchos in action advancing to the semifinals.
Top-seeded Argentine and current French Open holder Gaston Gaudio moved into the semifinals, defeating No. 6-seeded countryman Jose Acasuso 6-1 in the third.
"It wasn't easy, it's never easy playing with him," Gaudio said. "He had a great second set, but then he appeared to slow down."
Also into the semis were No. 2-seeded home-Chilean Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. (5) Zabaleta 7-6 in the third), Italy's No. 3 seed Filippo Volandri (d. Ramirez Hidalgo), and Spanish No. 4 seed Dave Ferrer (d. (7) Calleri).
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (1) Gaudio vs. (4) Ferrer (Gaudio leads career meetings 2-0), and (2) Gonzo vs. (3) Volandri (Italian leads 1-0).
Ljubicic Leads for First Title in 3 Years at ATP Milan
No. 2 seed Ivan Ljubicic came back from a set down to defeat No. 7 seed Karol Beck Friday at the ATP stop in Milan, attempting to win his first title since 2001 Lyon.
"I knew it would be a difficult match that was probably the reason for my slow start," said Ljubicic, who dropped 21 aces on the Slovak. "Then I tried to concentrate only on the points, only on the balls and I did well."
Also into the semis were (4) Radek Stepanek (d. (6) Schuettler in three), (5) Robin Soderling (d. (Q) Stakhovsky), and (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Behrend).
"I played a good match, Rainer was tough today. I had to be more aggressive in the third set, more serve-and-volley as it was hard to win from the back of the court," Stepanek said. "I don't care who I play now because I am in good form and I think I proved it today."
Saturday's semifinal match-ups in Milan are (4) Stepanek vs. (2) Ljubicic (Stepanek won their lone meeting in 1998), and (8) The Beast vs. (5) Soderling (the Swede won their lone meeting in three sets last year at the Masters Series-Paris).
Spadea, Novak Into Semis at ATP Delray Beach
The top three seeds, along with South African Weslie Moodie, advanced into the semifinals Friday at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, Florida.
Moodie prevailed in the all-unseeded quarterfinal against Peter "Nuclear" Wessels when the Dutchman retired at 0-5 in the first set with injury.
Seeded players into the semis were (1) Vince "Vincenzo" Spadea (d. (8) Kim in three), (2) Jiri Novak (d. (7) Carlsen), and (3) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse (d. (LL) Delgado).
"We played terrible tennis today," Novak said of the windy conditions. "It was bad conditions...But, anyway, I won and I'm in the semifinals, so I'm happy."
Kim led 3-0 in the third set against Spadea.
"I wasn't feeling like strategically I had an answer," Spadea said. "I just had to ride out whatever he was trying to do. As great as he was playing, he's not (Pete) Sampras, he's not (Andre) Agassi. Anyone can play at that level for 10 minutes, 20 minutes."
Saturday's semifinal line-up is (2) Novak vs. Moodie (first meeting), and in the night match (1) Spadea vs. (4) X-Man (Belgian leads career series 2-0).
"(Novak's) playing really good tennis," the No. 137-ranked Moodie said. "I feel like I'm playing some of my best tennis ever. The pressure's off."
Davenport, Sharapova in WTA Tokyo Final
It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the final of the WTA stop in Tokyo, with world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport and Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova advancing to the championship match.
Davenport fought off a second-set charge from No. 3-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, coming back from 1-3 down to win 6-1, 7-6(2).
"I started off well and she made a few errors," Davenport said. "I was able to serve well in the second set. The surface here suits my game, and I think that was the difference."
Sharapova likewise had an easy first set, with unseeded Shinobu Asagoe nervously dropping serve three times, before a tight second set ensued.
"The second set was very close with some really good rallies and it came right down to the end," Sharapova said after the 6-4, 7-6(3) win. "She played a really great match and is a real fighter. The points were really good."
Sharapova won her only meeting against Davenport last year in the Wimbledon semifinals in three sets.
Davenport also eased into the doubles final, unseeded with American partner Corina Morariu, when the pair received a walkover against No. 3 Elena Dementieva and Ai Sugiyama with the Russian suffering a sprained finger. In the final they will face the No. 2-seeded Slovak/Russian pair of Husarova/Likhovtseva.
Martinez Attempts to End Title Drought in WTA Pattaya City Final
No. 3 seed and former Wimbledon champ Conchita Martinez defeated Evgenia Linetskaya in the semifinals Saturday at the WTA stop in Pattaya City, with the Spaniard attempting to win her first title since 2000 Berlin.
"It didn't look so good in my first and second matches, but I'm in the final and it's a nice feeling. Every day I've played a little better," said Martinez, who led 6-1, 4-0 when the Russian retired with heat illness. "I kept her at the back and moved her a lot, and that's why she had problems with this heat I think."
In the final she will face 19-year-old German and No. 7 seed Anna Lena Groenefeld, who outlasted No. 8 Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Martinez won their lone meeting in 2003, with Groenefeld seeking her career-first title.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Lleyton Hewitt's run at the Australian Open title resulted in a huge television audience for the Sunday final around the world. Seven Network, the host Australian broadcaster, pulled in a national average of 4.04 million viewers, drawing roughly 800,000 more views than the top rated show of 2004 in Australia (Australian Idol -- The Final Verdict). During the coverage of the final the audience peaked at 4.87 million. In the United States, ESPN2 drew over 1 million viewers for it's live and re-air of the match. Live coverage of the final drew 266,000 viewers despite a 3:30 a.m. start time. The tape-delayed broadcast of the match drew an audience of 830,000 on Sunday afternoon. During the course of the Australian Open, ESPN2 added 35 hours of coverage to bring its total to 111 hours during the fortnight...Following his Australian Open win last week, Marat Safin obliged the media by conducting interviews for over two hours before finally wrapping up around 1:45 a.m. He then celebrated his second career Grand Slam win with his girlfriend Dasha, coach Peter Lundgren, former players Mats Wilander and Joakim Nystrom, and a host of friends who flew in from Moscow. He caught just four hours of sleep before heading out for a photo shoot with his trophy for the international media...Former Italian No. 1 Andrea Gaudenzi is working in Milan this week in the tournament director's office and as a commentator for both Sport Italia and Eurosport. The 31-year-old Gaudenzi, once ranked No. 18 in the world, played his last match in July 2003 just after graduating from Law School in Italy. "After stopping my professional career, I did an MBA in Monaco which I finished with full marks in July 2004. Now I am busy with my company, managing Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini and commentating for TV," Gaudenzi said. "I played professional tennis for 13 years, it was a wonderful experience, this is like my second life."...According to the industry whisper, Andre Agassi is a 90% go to play in the next Davis Cup tie for the U.S. So will he still take the giant oil-cash guarantee to play the million-dollar Dubai tournament the week before?...Since the only U.S. tennis you're getting from ESPN this month is the U.S. Davis Cup weekend, here's a sneak peek at The Tennis Channel's line-up for February: The Davis Cup story (premiers on 2/4), this week's semifinals and finals from ATP Delray Beach and Vina del Mar, the Andy Roddick Charity Jam (premiers on 2/7), Thurs.-Sun. coverage next week at ATP San Jose, semifinal and final coverage next week at Buenos Aires on the dirt, the WTA Paris final, ATP Memphis coverage Wed.-Sun., ATP Costa de Sauipe (Brazil) semifinals and final, the WTA Antwerp final, the Andy Roddick-led Serving Tsunami Relief exhibition from Houston, WTA Doha and ATP Scottsdale Thurs.-Sun. coverage, and ATP Acapulco semifinals and final. Unless like us you're without The Tennis Channel on Comcast, you're a happy puppy. Sign the contract Comcast!..Over the last eight years, either Lindsay Davenport or Martina Hingis have won the WTA stop in Tokyo...The ATP's world headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., located on the outskirts of Super Bowl host city Jacksonville, is hosting the Taste of the NFL, which last year raised $820,000. How unappetizing does that sound, ever wonder what the NFL tastes like? We haven't. The money raised was distributed to select programs of America's Second Harvest, as well as hunger-relief agencies in each of the 31 NFL cities. Giant marquees have been erected over the grass, clay and hardcourts at the ATP Tennis Club (drilling tent holes in the middle of the hardcourts, who the hell authorized that?) to cater for the 3,100 guests of the Taste of the NFL. All tickets -- ranging from $400 to $600 and $10,000 for corporate tables -- have been sold. Born at Super Bowl XXVI in Minneapolis in 1992, Taste of the NFL brings together leading chefs from each of the 31 NFL cities plus a current or retired NFL player from each city. During the past 13 years the event has raised $5.3 million for hunger-relief groups...Pat Cash, currently playing an exhibition in South Africa: "It is more relaxed. We tend to have a bit of a laugh over line calls rather than going crazy about them. The big difference is that we are a little bit slower than we used to be. We still hit the ball hard, even harder than we used to do when necessary. This is a result of the technology."...At the Masters Series-Indian Wells this year the men's final will move back to best-of-five sets...From The Age: "Newly-engaged couple Bec Cartwright and Lleyton Hewitt have sold their story to a magazine, according to a newspaper report. A source close to the couple said the deal would be worth tens of thousands of dollars. A New Idea representative would not comment on any possible agreement. "I have no information about that at the moment," she said...Rival magazines have allegedly started bidding for the first set shots of Ms. Cartwright's diamond engagement ring. The ring was reportedly bought for $200,000 from Tiffany's Jewellers in Melbourne's Collins Street during the Australian Open."...The ever-entertaining Vince "Vincenzo Rollin' in the Benzo" Spadea after beating fellow American Kevin Kim in three sets at the ATP stop in Delray Beach: "It was really unfortunate for me that I didn't capitalize on the match points. I was starting to become emotionally and physically confused. I needed a couple minutes to regroup."
Friday Dish: Davenport, Sharapova, Kuznetsova in Tokyo Semis; Jensens Join Hingis on Comeback Scrap Heap
Pavel, Ancic Ousted at ATP Milan
The ATP stop in Milan lost two top seeds Thursday when No. 1 Andrei Pavel was ousted by Germany's Tomas Behrend in straight sets, and No. 3 Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic was edged 7-6 in the third by Ukrainian qualifier Sergyi "Stakhouse" Stakhovsky.
A runner-up last year at the US Open boy's junior event, Stakhovsky is playing in only his third ATP tournament.
"I had never seen him in action," Ancic said. "He served very well and took advantage of every possible situation."
Also into the quarterfinals Thursday were (4) Radek Stepanek (d. "Dr." Ivo Karlovic 7-6 in the third), (5) Robin Soderling (d. (WC) Gael "Force" Monfils), (6) Rainer "Shine" Schuettler (d. Schalken), (7) Karol Beck (d. (WC) Seppi in three), and (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Muller in two tiebreaks).
Friday's quarterfinals line up as (Q) Stakhovsky vs. (5) Soderling, (6) Schuettler vs. (4) Stepanek, (7) Beck vs. (2) Ljubicic, and Behrend vs. (8) The Beast.
Dirt Favorites Into Quarterfinals at ATP Vina Del Mar
Reigning French Open champion and top seed Gaston Gaudio led the seeded charge Thursday at the ATP stop in Vina del Mar, Chile, handling Spain's David Sanchez in straight sets 6-4, 6-2 to move into the quarterfinals.
Others into the quarters Thursday were homecountry favorite (2) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez (d. Almagro), (5) Mariano Zabaleta (d. Ventura), and (6) Jose Acasuso (d. Flavio "Of the Day" Saretta).
On tap for the Friday quarters are (4) Ferrer vs. (7) Calleri, (1) Gaudio vs. (6) Acasuso in an all-Argentine, Ramirez Hidalgo vs. (3) Volandri, and (5) Zabaleta vs. (2) Gonzalez.
"I have played Jose (Acasuso) 10 times and it has always been tough," Gaudio said of the all-ARG match-up, "I definitely expect a complicated match this time again."
Defending Champ Mello Out, Jensens Spanked at ATP Delray Beach
No. 2 seed Jiri Novak upped his level Thursday with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber, while defending champion Ricardo Mello "Yello" was sent home by unseeded South African Weslie Moodie at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, Florida.
"I definitely played a much better match than I did two days ago, which was my first match of the season," Novak said. "Today, I was playing great at the baseline, had a good percentage on first serves and I didn't let him play."
In the quarterfinals Novak will now face No. 7 seed Kenneth Carlsen, who came from a set down to beat American qualifier Brian Vahaly.
"I think I came out poorly and made a lot of mistakes and he was playing solid," Carlsen said. "In the second set, I started to try to play more aggressively, more controlled aggressively."
Mello, who beat Vince Spadea in last year's final, was a straight-set loser against the South African Moodie.
"Losing is never fun, especially here where I played well last year," Mello said. "And there were expectations to do well again."
Also into the quarters were unseeded Dutchman Peter "Nuclear" Wessels (d. Gambill, who double faulted to choke-up a break of serve in the third), and lucky loser Raemon Delgado of Paraguay (d. (Q) Sun 6-1 in the third).
In an all-American doubles throw-back match, the American wildcard team of Kendrick/Merklein spanked the Jensen brothers 6-3, 6-0.
Friday's quarterfinal line-up will be Moodie vs. Wessels, (7) Carlsen vs. (2) Novak, (1) Spadea vs. (8) Kim in an all-American, and (3) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse vs. (LL) Delgado.
Asagoe Shocks Dementieva in WTA Tokyo Quarterfinals
The top four seeds were set for the semifinals at the WTA stop in Tokyo until unseeded homecountry favorite Shinobu Asagoe ruined the party Friday, defeating No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-4.
Moving into the semis in straight sets were world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport (d. Benesova), No. 2 seed and reigning Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova (d. countrywoman (6) Likhovtseva), and No. 3 seed and reigning US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. (8) Hantuchova in two tiebreaks).
"I put extra pressure on her second serve and I was in control on most points," Sharapova said. "I felt I could break any time. I know people are hungry to beat me after winning Wimbledon but I love beating them too."
Davenport dropped only three games in cruising past the unseeded Benesova.
"You never know on this surface what's going to happen," Davenport said. "But she threw in a lot of errors and that made the match even shorter."
Saturday's semifinals line up as Asagoe vs. (2) Sharapova (career meetings tied 1-1), and (1) Davenport vs. (3) Kuznetsova (Russian leads 1-0 with a win at last year's US Open).
Top-seeded Zvonareva Loses All-Russian Meeting at WTA Pattaya City
Top-seeded Russian Vera "The Crying Game" Zvonareva was given something to sob over Friday at the WTA stop in Pattaya City, Thailand, shocked in straight sets by unseeded countrywoman Evgenia Linetskaya 6-4, 6-2.
Joining the unseeded Russian in the semifinals were three seeds in (3) Conchita Martinez (d. Peer), (7) Anna Lena Groenefeld (d. Bondarenko), and (8) Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. Magui "Don't Call Me Maggie" Serna).
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (3) Martinez vs. Linetskaya, and (7) Groenefeld vs. (8) Ruano Pascual.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Here's a headline you don't see too often, from Australia's The Advocate: "Future bright for Australian tennis"; Australian legend Neale Fraser lays it out: "We are indeed lucky to have Lleyton Hewitt and Alicia Molik at the top of the rankings and you either have that or a lot of others ranked lower. But I'd much rather have us winning Davis Cups like a few years back and grand slams and Federation Cups than have 10 players ranked in the Top 50 to 100 and not participate in such events. Tennis here is in a healthy situation...Todd (Reid) has had a lot of encouragement but also a lot of bad luck. But I think he just needs to work a little harder, while Chris ("Penthouse" Guccione) is also an immense talent. He is a typical country boy and needs to make up his mind if he really wants to be a tennis player and maybe apply himself a bit more."...The depth-challenged Australian Davis Cup team may have to yank Scott Draper off the golf course for their upcoming tie, with Mark Philippoussis injured and youngster Todd Reid struggling with his form...Tim Henman has withdrawn from next week's ATP stop in Marseille with an ongoing back injury: "My back didn't react particularly well to my matches in Australia or the flight home, and it's been problematic ever since," Henman said on his website. "Recently it's been really stiff and I haven't been able to train or practice properly, which has been really frustrating. I've had a couple of consultations with specialists since I first experienced the problem but I felt the time was right to seek further help. I've been told that my condition is basically just down to wear and tear so there's not much I can do in terms of trying to rectify it completely. It's very much a case of trying to improve my body core stability and being much more aware of my posture both on and off the court. I've been given a number of strengthening exercises that I need to add to my daily routine. Unfortunately, given the fact that I haven't been able to train or practice properly I feel it would be foolish to try and get back on court next week in Marseille. However, I'm hopeful that if things go well I'll be able to play in Rotterdam the week after, but it's still going to be very much a case of taking it day by day in the very short term to see how my back reacts and responds to the program I've been given."...Congrats to the ATP Delray Beach website for their mid-week redesign that no longer includes a results link...Ouch, the Associated Press Friday reported in error that "(Lindsay) Davenport will next face Daniela Hantuchova, who beat U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-0, 6-2." Kuzy won that one, even the score is wrong, ouch...15-year-old junior No. 1 "The" Donald Young has received a wildcard for the ATP San Jose event...According to FOX Sports: "Safety concerns may rule out next week's Buenos Aires stop on the ATP calendar. Local authorities closed down the central court overnight after it failed to meet safety regulations. Authorities found that the centre court, at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, was not adapted to host the expected 6000 daily spectators. One stand was found to be covered by a flammable material, while no study had been carried out to ensure that the ground could hold a metal stand with 1200 spectators. Electric lighting and fire safety regulations do not meet regulations."...Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpishchev says Maria Sharapova and Anastasia Myskina have agreed to play together on the Russian Fed Cup team: "We have talked it over with Maria Sharapova's father. We solved this problem last December. There is no conflict between Myskina and Sharapova, Anastasia is ready to be on the same team with Maria."...According to Who magazine, Kim Clijsters has hooked up with countryman and model Luc Opdelocht.