Federer, Roddick Advance, Venus Stops Clijsters
Posted on February 19, 2005
Untouchable Federer Into Semifinals at ATP RotterdamWorld No. 1 Swiss Roger Federer became the only seeded player to move into the ATP Rotterdam semifinals Friday with a 7-5, 7-5 win over No. 6 seed Nikolay Davydenko.
"He made me work very hard, it was a close match," said Federer, who fought off two break points while serving for the match. "I'm very happy to be through to the semis. It could have been a very different results, it could have gone the three sets."
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Three un-seeds joined the Swiss in the semis in Croatians Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic (d. (3) Henman in two tiebreaks) and Ivan Ljubicic (d. Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan, coming from a set down), and Swedish veteran Thomas Johansson (d. Stepanek).
Ljubicic accused The Thai Fighter of breaking into a "victory dance" after earning a break point in the second set of their match, which fired up the Croat.
"I thought that if he could dance, so could I," Ljubicic said. "Let's say I found extra motivation right there. I got some energy, which I used to win the match."
Saturday's semifinals line up as (1) Federer vs. Baby Goran (Ancic won their only meeting at 2002 Wimbledon), and Ljubicic vs. T.Johansson (Croat leads career meetings 3-0).
The doubles semifinals will be (1) Knowles/Nestor vs. (3) Suk/Vizner, and (4) Erlich/Ram vs. (2) Black/Ullyett.
Roddick, Haas Head for Another Meeting at ATP Memphis
Top-seeded Andy Roddick dropped 22 aces on unseeded fellow American Robby "Baby Courier" Ginepri Friday at the ATP stop in Memphis in a 7-6(7), 7-6(2) win to advance into the semifinals.
"I was playing in the tiebreaker to hopefully get through and give myself a chance to compete tomorrow," said Roddick, who twisted his ankle mid-match and said he may pull from the semis. "I don't really know if I could've gone much more."
Also into the semis were seeds (2) Tommy Haas (d. (5) Xavier "X-Man" Malisse) and (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Dupuis in two tiebreaks), and un-seed Kenneth Carlsen (d. Gambill).
"I feel like I can finally pick up the speed again on my serve without feeling any problems, and I think especially against someone like Xavier who stands back pretty far," said Haas who had four aces. "It's important to get a few free points, and I think it worked good today."
Saturday's line-up is (8) The Beast vs. (2) Haas (German leads career meetings 7-0) and (1) Roddick vs. Carlsen (A-Rod leads 1-0), and in the doubles semis, Americans (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. Aussies (3)Arthurs/Hanley, and (4) Aspelin/Perry vs. (2) Bjorkman/The Beast.
Nadal, Mello in All-Spanish Final at ATP Costa Do Sauipe
No. 6 seed Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal came back from a set down Friday to defeat homecountry favorite Ricardo Mello "Yello" 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the ATP stop in Costa Do Sauipe, Brazil, to reach his first final since Sopot on clay last August.
In the final Nadal will face Spain's Al Martin, who ended the Cinderella claycourt run of Aussie qualifier Peter Luczak 6-2, 6-3.
Martin will be shooting for his first title since 2001 Mallorca. It will be the career-first meeting between Nadal and Martin.
The doubles final will be (3) Cermak/Friedl vs. Acasuso/Gonzalez King.
Venus Ends Clijsters' Comeback at WTA Antwerp
Former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo led the top four seeds into the semifinals Friday at the WTA stop in Antwerp.
Mauresmo needed to come back from a set down to defeat No. 7 seed Patty Schnyder 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
"At the start my legs were not responding so well," Mauresmo said. "Patty was playing well and put me under pressure right away. In the second set I moved better and could control the match better. I am satisfied with the third set, I was almost at my best."
No. 3 Venus Williams ended the comeback run of unseeded Kim Clijsters, winning the battle of former No. 1s 6-2, 6-3.
"Today I did not play well," Clijsters said. "But the most important thing to me was to have no trouble at all with my left wrist this week, and it was the case. I did not suffer from it at all. I am sure that my game will fall into place in the future. I do not know when I will get back to my best level, but it's not so important. To me, it is essential to feel fit again."
Venus said that even with Clijsters not at he best, she had the advantage of learning from their past meetings.
"I know her game well and that was an advantage," Venus said. "It is so nice to see her again. It is hard to comeback...I am sure that she will be her old self soon."
Also into the semis were (2) Anastasia Myskina (d. (Q) Srebotnik) and (4) Alicia Molik (d. Klara "Kouky" Koukalova).
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (1) Mauresmo vs. (4) Molik (Mauresmo leads career series 2-1), and (3) Venus vs. (2) Myskina (American leads 2-1).
Top-seeded Zvonareva Into Final at WTA Memphis
Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva (d. fellow Russian (8) Linetskaya) and (3) Meghann Shaughnessy (d. (7) Vaidisova in two tiebreaks) advanced to the final of the WTA stop in Memphis on Friday.
Zvonareva has won two of her three meetings with Shaughnessy, with all three going three sets.
Top Two Zuluaga, Pennetta Into Semifinals at WTA Bogota
Top seeds (1) Fabiola Zuluaga (d. Castano in an all-Colombian) and (2) Flavia Pennetta (d. (5) Strycova) each dropped only three games Friday to gain the semifinals at the WTA claycourt stop in Bogota.
Argentine wildcard Clarisa Fernandez won two matches Friday to gain the semis, defeating No. 3 seed Emilie Loit in a match delayed by rain Thursday, then easing past unseeded Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi in straight sets.
Spanish qualifier Lourdes Dominguez Lino rounded out the semis, defeating Czech Eva Birnerova in straight sets.
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (1) Zuluaga vs. (Q) Dominguez Lino, and (2) Pennetta vs. (WC) Fernandez.
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The ATP and the Pacific Life Open announced that Roger Federer, Marat Safin, Tim Henman, Guillermo Coria, Gaston Gaudio, David Nalbandian and others will unite for a special charity exhibition event during the Masters Series-Indian Wells designed to benefit UNICEF and other worldwide tsunami relief efforts. "In Australia in January, the players were talking about what we could do as a group," Federer said. "I'm delighted that we will come together to play in this unique event designed to raise funds for tsunami relief efforts. It's an important cause and the night will be a very enjoyable one for the fans who come watch." Charlie Pasarell, tournament director of the MS-Indian Wells, said: "The Friday night session at Indian Wells has traditionally been a 'Salute to Heroes,' so this event fits in perfectly with that theme. Everyone has been impressed at how quickly the players and tournaments responded to the crisis in Asia, and we're pleased to host this special event at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden to help raise additional funds. It should make for a very memorable night."