Venus, Sharapova, Clijsters, Mauresmo in WTA Miami Semis Today
Posted on March 31, 2005
Clijsters, Mauresmo Advance to Semifinal Meeting at WTA Miami It is a wonder when an unseeded competitor can play the fearsome favorite in this high-powered age of women's tennis, but Kim Clijsters has filled the role in the short span since her comeback from wrist surgery, on Wednesday pounding No. 4-seeded Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals at the WTA stop in Miami.
"I think I was moving really well, you know, brought back those extra few shots, which made her sort of think a little bit," Clijsters said of smoking last year's French and US Open runner-up. "She went, you know, she made a few mistakes at some key situations, and it felt pretty good."
Clijsters is attempting her second title in a row after beating world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport en route to the Indian Wells crown.
In the semifinals Clijsters will face the top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo, who breezed past unseeded Serb Ana Ivanovic 6-1 in the first set, but fought down a comeback 6-4 in the second.
"She surprised me a little bit at, you know, 3-love," Mauresmo said. "She started really to hit pretty hard and everything was in. I was a little bit surprised about that. You know, I probably should have been more -- react more quickly to this situation than having to close it off at 5-4 in the second, which is always a tough situation. So, you know, just pretty happy to make it in straight sets."
For Ivanovic the situation was dealing with multiple injuries and finding herself so deep into the draw at a WTA major.
"First, actually, I twisted my ankle. On first match I also pulled my hamstring," Ivanovic said. "So it was not that good. But with bandage, it was still okay little bit. But I just -- today I just was not really concentrate 100 percent and also little bit tired."
Clijsters has beaten Mauresmo in their last six encounters and will be the favorite to progress to her second consecutive final.
On tap for Thursday are the women's semifinals in (2) Maria "Grunt-o-rama" Sharapova vs. (8) Venus (the Russian won their lone career meeting last year at Zurich), and (1) Mauresmo vs. Clijsters (Belgian leads 7-2), and in doubles action (2) Petrova/Shaughnessy vs. (5) Raymond/Stubbs, and unseeded Russians Bovina/Dementieva vs. Huber/Maleeva.
Nadal, Ferrer Make for All-Spanish Day at ATP Miami
Spanish teen prodigy Rafael Nadal advancing into the semifinals at the ATP Masters Series-Miami Wednesday, cruising past No. 25 seed Thomas Johansson 6-2, 6-4.
Speaking through a translator, Nadal explained to the press corps his strategy in his first-time meeting with the Swede.
"I feel very comfortable with my game," Nadal's translator said. "I have been playing several games lately, and I was preparing for this kind of tournament tonight. I feel comfortable with the passing shots. I used high balls and balls with a lot of topspin."
Eventually Nadal broke out his own rough English to describe his hardcourt success on the eve of his favorite claycourt campaign.
"I like the claycourt, but I am playing good in the hardcourt now, outdoor hardcourt," Nadal said. "I was play good in Australia. I won three matches. Last year I was the final in Auckland. I can play good in these courts. I like the same these courts like clay. I think I play a little bit better now in clay, but I play good in this court. I like."
You don't need to be fluent in Spanish to figure that out.
Last year's run in Miami saw Nadal record wins over Goran Ivanisevic and Roger Federer before falling to Fernando Gonzalez.
Unseeded Spaniard David Ferrer was the other winner on the day, ending an 0-2 career record on hardcourts against No. 26 Dominik Hrbaty by out-boring the Slovak, keeping the ball in play and coaxing out errors from the usually-backboard-like baseliner.
"Hrbaty is a rock," said Ferrer, who was handed two double faults in a row in clinching the first set, apparently not talking about the Hrbaty serve. "It would be easier for me to play defensively, just keeping the rhythm, keeping the play...I depend on my legs. My legs are a big strength. I depend on being physically active."
The error-prone Hrbaty made 48 unforced to Ferrer's 18 off the ground.
Advancing into the doubles semifinals were (2)Black/Ullyett (d. Erlich/Ram 7-6 in the third), (3) Bjorkman/Mirnyi (d. (5) Bhupathi/Woodbridge), and the unseeded Russian/Slovak team of Davydenko/Hrbaty (d. Frenchmen Clement/Llodra in three).
Thursday's singles quarterfinal match-ups in Miami are (1) Federer vs. (6) Henman (the Brit leads their career meetings 6-3 but has lost the last two), and six-time Miami winner (9) Agassi vs. (31) Dent in an all-American (Agassi has won all four of their meetings since 2000), and in doubles (2) Black/Ullyett vs. Davydenko/Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty in a semifinal match, and (1) Knowles/Nestor vs. Spaniards Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez/Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal in a quarterfinal.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The Tennis Channel announced the appointment of Ken Solomon to chairman and CEO of the network, succeeding David Meister, who held the post since he co-founded the network. TTC President Steve Bellamy said "It has been my privilege to work with David on the network's launch. He moved mountains to get us up and running in an amazingly short amount of time, and to build a strong foundation from which we can continue to operate and succeed. I look forward to working with Ken Solomon and our team to take The Tennis Channel to the next level."...Amelie Mauresmo will regain the No. 1 ranking if she wins in Miami, if she beats a Top 5-ranked player in the final (if at the same time the rankings computer is not caught in a re-boot, and Jupiter remains aligned with the Orion cluster)...From the Sport Telegraph: "World No. 1 Roger Federer has revealed a novel element to his preparations for the defence of his Wimbledon title in June; a visit to Hampton Court for his first taste of real tennis, the royal, ancient and utterly dignified forerunner of that Johnny-come-lately game played amid huge hype and razzamatazz on the lawns of the All England Club each summer. On June 15, just five days before the start of The Championships, while most of his rivals will be fine tuning their games on grass in Nottingham or Holland, Federer, with a little help from former world champion Chris Ronaldson, will be manhandling a heavy, asymmetric wooden racket, thrashing solid, handmade balls over a drooping net and off the walls and wooden porches called penthouses as he attempts to master the all-important cut stroke plus arcane specialities like the giraffe, the boomerang and the railroad serve. Once he has absorbed the rudiments, the Swiss, partnering BBC sports presenter John Inverdale, will take on Ronaldson, the Hampton Court head professional and jeweller Neil Duckworth, both experienced players, in a doubles." That sounds like an injury waiting to happen...The Sport Telegraph on Tatiana "Hot Pants" Golovin: During her junior days she was known to take a pair of scissors to her skirts to make them more revealing, and for her Wimbledon Centre Court debut, a fourth-round defeat by Serena Williams, she wore what looked like a large belt. On Monday she lost a close match to Elena Dementieva in the Nasdaq 100 Open here in Miami. Fashion is important to Golovin. "My style is young, fun, a little bit sexy and a little bit sophisticated. I try to mix it up a little," she said. "I think fashion is whatever you're comfortable with. I think you decide what to wear based on what your mood is and what you feel like. My favorite designer, Christian Dior, has a large store opposite my flat in Paris. Too much of my money, far too much of it, goes in that store.""...Andre Agassi has donated $75,000 to build one of the nine planned tennis courts for Jacksonville, Florida's first Youth Tennis and Education Complex, part of the MaliVai Washington Kids Foundation...Serena says that contrary to public opinion, her matches with sister Venus are great, watchable tennis matches: "I think we've had great matches in the past. Maybe you guys (media) were so negative about it because we were winning all the time. In Australia, I barely won. That was an incredible match. Wimbledon in 2003, the last time we played each other, even though she was injured, the first two sets were incredible. I've always had a tough time getting matches against Venus."