Sharapova, Clijsters Face Off in Miami Final Saturday

Posted on April 2, 2005

Federer Holds Off Agassi, Faces Nadal in ATP Miami Final

Andre Agassi got tight when it counted, while Roger Federer tightened things up when it counted.

That was the story Friday night at the Nasdaq-100 Open in Miami where world No. 1 Roger Federer recorded his seventh consecutive win over the former No. 1 and six-time Miami champion with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Agassi put in a sterling effort in the first set until his service game at 4-5 when he made four unforced errors, including missing a sitter passing shot, clipping a groundstroke off the tape and wide, and missing a routine crosscourt forehand.

"I didn't make too many bad decisions out there," Agassi said. "You can play a quality match, but he has the ability at any given moment to play spectacular tennis and break something open, break a set open. That's what happened at 4-5, and when I didn't convert on any chances at 3-all in the second, you know. He did the same thing in the next game. I missed some first serves and, boom, he took advantage of it."

Federer time after time served his way out of trouble, and cracked Agassi's baseline veneer with a wide array of topspin and slice to open up the court for some complimentary net play.

The win extended Federer's streak to 21 match wins amidst a 31-1 start, the best since John McEnroe began the 1984 season at 39-0.

"He's playing levels above everybody else -- he's proved that for a while now," Agassi said. "I don't know how long, 46-1 since the Open. It's crazy."

In the final Federer will face No. 29 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain, who defeated unseeded countryman Dave Ferrer 6-4, 6-3.

Nadal said he gained confidence by working his way into the tournament after coming off two claycourt titles.

"Here, I begin the tournament, the first matches, a little bit nervous against (Rainer) Schuettler," said Nadal, who extended his win streak to 15 matches. "The second match is not easy against (Fernando) Verdasco. He was play very good the first match against (Andy) Roddick. I only try play my best tennis and fight every match. I am very happy with my tennis, no, because I am improve every day. I think today is not my best match, but against (Ivan) Ljubicic and (Thomas) Johansson, especially, I play very, very good match."

At 18 years of age Nadal is the youngest Miami finalist, eclipsing Agassi who reached the final as a 19-year-old in 1990. No Spaniard has won in Miami, with Sergi Bruguera reaching the final in 1997, and Carlos Moya in 2003.

"I am not scared for the final," said Nadal of his best-of-five Sunday meeting with Federer, who he beat in their only other meeting last year at Miami.

In doubles semifinal action Friday, No. 3-seeded Jonas Bjorkman/Max Mirnyi upset top seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 6-7(3), 7-6(3), 7-5.

In women's doubles semifinal play, the No. 3-seeded team of Svetlana Kuznetsova/Alicia Molik ousted top seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez 6-4, 6-3.

Scheduled for Saturday in Miami is the women's singles final in Clijsters vs. (2) Sharapova (Clijsters leads career series 2-0), and the men's doubles final in (3) Bjorkman/Mirnyi vs. (2) Black/Ullyett.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Andre Agassi on his approach to the French Open last year, playing only one claycourt warm-up at St. Poelten: "No, no, it was a terrible call I made. I mean, I was beside myself. I'm not the kind of person that does well without matches. I can do well without practice; I can't do well without matches. I need to get relaxed out there and remind myself how hard I work to make it seem easy at times. It's not easy for me to remember that when I've been away for six weeks."...Has anyone ever seen anything like what ESPN pulled in the U.S. after the Roger Federer-Andre Agassi match Friday night when, faced with leftover air-time, they re-ran the last few games of the match again? To borrow a net abbreviation, WTF? Was that in case one of the 100,000 viewers went to the kitchen for a beer and missed a point? Ground-breaking stuff ESPN, did an intern lose the backup tape of the Agassi-Taylor Dent match, or Federer-Tim Henman? How about throwing on some doubles like the good ol' days? Or anything besides the match we JUST SAW...Maria Sharapova sharing the contents of her purse: "I don't have a Chihuahua yet, but I have my cellphone, and I have my iPod, and I have John Grisham, and I have sunscreen if anyone needs some, and I have a Sharpie." How did John Grishaw fit in there? Har har...Kim Clijsters is the first unseeded player to reach the Miami final in the tournament's 21-year history...Shamil Tarpishchev, Russia's Fed Cup captain, told Reuters that Maria Sharapova has until next week to let him know whether she will be playing Fed Cup: "She received a firm offer to join our squad for a first round tie against Italy on April 23-24. It's basically very simple. She must say yes or no before April 10 when I will announce the team. So we'll just wait and see what happens and take it from there."...Michael Cunningham writing for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova took turns singing the fuzz off the ball Thursday, until, eventually, one player crushed one into the net or out of bounds and the other player won the point. Isn't that really what women's tennis is now? Big women with big strokes seeing who can hit the ball hardest between the lines? First one to 30 unforced errors loses? I was reminded of this because Martina Hingis, retired since 2002, was at the Nasdaq-100 Open on Thursday. I think it's a shame there's no room for players like her anymore on the WTA Tour....It's not that I dislike power tennis. These are fit players playing at a high level, and it is impressive to see the pace they can put on the ball. It's just that I would like to see something different once in a while among the top players. At some point all those powerful strokes chip away at the subtleties of the game, which is what attracted me to women's tennis in the first place. Now there is little use for things like playing the angles, being patient and attacking the net."...Brad Gilbert blogging on his website: "I couldn't believe how loud Maria (Sharapova) and Venus (Williams) were screaming in their match yesterday, my wife was next door and she called home to make me turn the TV down. I'm going to stick with Kimmy (Clijsters), who smoked (Amelie) Mauresmo for her lucky 13th win in a row. KC's ability to retrieve and mix things up will give Maria trouble...I wish Andre (Agassi) was getting a crack at (Roger) Federer during the day. It will be a duanting (sic) task for AA, as Club Fed has already corrected himself after two shaky matches earlier in the event. Watch for Roger to bring his game up another notch...I can't see anything stopping (Rafael) Nadal from reaching the first hardcourt Masters Series final of his career; certainly not David Fererr (sic) whose 5-8 record on the year will be the equal as his height after the match. If Nadal can continue to scoop up points outside of the claycourt events then he can finish the year in the number two spot. With no points to defend in the upcoming clay court season Nadal should crack the top five by the end of Roland Garrors (sic). I expect big things from this kid." Hey Beej, we have freelance editors for hire, call us...The Connecticut estate of Ivan Lendl is for sale, listed for $25 million, someone spot us some cash.