Rochus Chops Down Karlovic at ATP NottinghamPosted on June 17, 2005 No. 7 seed Olivier Rochus withstood a barrage of aces to stop the run of one of the hottest grasscourt players on tour, Ivo Karlovic, downing the Croat 7-6(0), 6-7(3), 6-4 to advance into the semifinals at the ATP stop in Nottingham.
"You know you just have to play the ball, not the player," said Rochus, who weathered 26 aces to beat Karlovic for the third straight time. "It doesn't matter if he's 10 foot tall, 5 foot tall or 1 foot tall, you still have to hit the ball and that is what I thought about today." No. 4 seed Richard Gasquet also demonstrated his grasscourt acumen with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 win over No. 6 seed and defending champion Paradorn Srichaphan. "Getting to the semifinals is a great feeling," said Gasquet, who ascended to the No. 1-ranked French position with the win on the ATP Rankings over countryman Sebastien Grosjean. "I came into this week without any expectations, just hoping to get some matches before Wimbledon, so it's a great feeling." Also into the semis were No. 5 Taylor Dent who for once watched an opponent get injured when No. 2 seed Thomas Johansson retired in the second set with a groin pull, and No. 8 Max Mirnyi who straight-setted unseeded Dane Kenneth Carlsen. Saturday's semifinal match-ups at "The Not" are (4) Gasquet vs. (5) Taylor "Acci-" Dent, and (7) Olivier "The Roach" Rochus vs. (8) Max "The Beast" Mirnyi. |
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