Federer Faces Agassi at Dubai; Molik Upsets Mauresmo
Posted on February 26, 2005
Federer, Agassi Do Double Duty in DubaiOnly two of the four ATP Dubai quarterfinals were completed Friday due to rain, meaning world No. 1 Roger Federer and former No. 1 Andre Agassi will have to win two on Saturday to reach the final.
No. 5 seed Tommy Robredo ended the run of unseeded Nicolas Kiefer in straight sets in the first quarterfinal, followed by hot-handed No. 8 seed Ivan Ljubicic handing No. 3 Tim Henman a straight-set defeat.
Henman led 2-0 in the second set, but after a rain delay was swamped by the Croatians big serving and ground game.
"It was really, really difficult," said Ljubicic, who weathered seven rain delays for the win. "We stopped I don't know how many times. It was really difficult to get an rhythm but I'm really pleased to get through this one. It's really nice to be in the semis again...Tim was making some unusual mistakes, obviously it wasn't easy even for him to play here."
The top-seeded Federer was rained out against No. 7-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, and the No. 4-seeded Agassi's match was postponed with No. 6-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.
Saturday's schedule on the Dubai hardcourts is (4) Agassi vs. (6) Davydenko, (1) Federer vs. (7) Youzhny, (8) Ljubicic vs. (5) Robredo, then the Federer-Youzhny winner vs. the Agassi-Davydenko winner.
Update: In early Saturday play at Dubai, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer both won their rain-delayed quarterfinal matches and will face each other later today in the semifinals.
Seeds Spadea, Baby Mario Into Semifinals at ATP Scottsdale
No. 2 seed Vincent Spadea continued his mastery of countryman James Blake 7-6(6), 6-1 in quarterfinal play Friday at the Tennis Channel Open in Scottsdale, moving one step closer to successfully defending his lone career ATP title.
Blake performed the throat-clutcher in the first-set tiebreak, coming back from a 2-6 deficit but eventually double faulting to hand Spadea the set.
"I was up a break and had a set point serving at 5-3 (in the first set), then I got broken," said Spadea, who has now beaten Blake five straight. "I just hung in there and mentally I bounced back and it was see-saw in the tiebreaker. He's coming back from a rough year, and I developed a game plan that's working."
In the semis Spadea will face No. 3 seed Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic, who rolled past Giovanni "Little L." Lapentti 6-1, 6-4.
"It took me a while to get used to the conditions, coming from indoors the last two weeks, along with the time change," Baby Goran said. "I'm happy to be in the semifinals."
Also into the semis were unseeded players Christophe "The Roach" Rochus (d. Sanguinetti) and Aussie serving machine Wayne Arthurs (d. Glenn "I.C." Weiner).
"I won't change my game plan against him," said Arthurs on facing the scampering Roach. "He hits the ball softly and he knows how I play so it should be a competitive match."
Spadea won his lone meeting with Baby Goran in 2002, while Arthurs and The Roach will meet for the first time.
Today's doubles semifinals in Scottsdale will be Oliver/Parrott vs. (2) Arthurs/Hanley, and (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. Ancic/Coetzee.
Nadal, Montanes Construct All-Spanish Final at ATP Acapulco
No. 8 seed Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal stopped the Cinderella run of Argentine wildcard Mariano Puerta 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals at the ATP stop in Acapulco, setting up the championship match against Spanish countryman Al Montanes.
It was the ninth consecutive claycourt win for Nadal, who last week won the Brazil Open in Costa Do Sauipe.
Puerta had previously upset Spaniards Carlos Moya and Felix Mantilla en route to the semis.
"Rafael is a young kid with a lot of energy," said Puerta, going to the old-man card. "I was coming off two previous matches that were very, very hard."
Montanes reached the final by outlasting Argentina's Agustin Calleri 7-6(3), 1-6, 7-6(4).
Nadal has beaten Montanes twice on the challenger circuit, but they have never faced-off in tour-level play.
"In the finals, there is no favorite," Nadal said. "One day I will lose to Montanes. I just hope it's not on Saturday."
The Acapulco doubles final will be all-unseeded in Spaniards Ferrer/Ventura vs. Czechs Vanek/Zib.
Molik Ends Mauresmo No. 1 Bid at WTA Doha
Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, bidding to win her second consecutive title and regain the No. 1 ranking from Lindsay Davenport, was cold stopped 7-6(11), 6-1 Friday by No. 4 seed Alicia Molik in the semifinals at the WTA event in Doha.
Molik, who lost to Mauresmo last week in the Antwerp semifinals, weathered a five-hour rain delay to roll the weary-looking Frenchwoman in the second set.
"I always expected myself to make it through the weekend here," boasted the confident Aussie, taking a page from the Williams sisters. "I am not surprised to see myself in the final...I was so comfortable that I could have played another two sets out there."
In the final Molik will face No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova, who cruised past unseeded Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-4.
"I am excited to be in the final," the 17-year-old Sharapova said. "I am happy with my game and form and I am looking forward to playing Alicia in the final. I am confident that I will play well."
Both players will be shooting for their second title of the year, with the Russian leading their career meetings 2-1.
Molik will also be competing in the doubles final in Doha, pairing with Italian Francesca Schiavone as an unseeded pair against the No. 2-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
Injured Pennetta Keeps Clay Streak Alive at WTA Acapulco
Italy's Flavia Pennetta won her eighth straight claycourt match Friday at the WTA stop in Acapulco, defeating unseeded American Lilia Osterloh 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 to gain the semifinals.
It was Pennetta's 13th straight win on clay overall stretching to 2004.
Pennetta took an injury time-out after the second set to receive treatment for a leg injury.
"My leg was very bad, for a minute there I couldn't move," Pennetta said. "Now it hurts a lot. We are going to do one more treatment session for tomorrow."
Also into the semis was No. 5 seed Dally Randriantefy (d. (3) Loit), unseeded Ludmila Cervanova (d. Parra Santonja), and unseeded Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti (d. Castano).
Saturday's match-ups on the dirt in Acapulco are (1) Pennetta vs. Ant. Serra Zanetti in an all-Italian, and (5) Randriantefy vs. Cervanova.
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