Clijsters Wins Eastbourne, Nadal Says Wimbledon a Goal
Posted on June 19, 2005
Pou Scooped, Ancic and Llodra to Final at ATP 's-HertogenboschFrenchman Michael Llodra kept his hopes of defending his ATP 's-Hertogenbosch title alive Saturday with a tense 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-3 win over wildcard Mark Philippoussis to advance to the final of the Dutch grasscourt event.
"You have to play very solid on grass to be strong mentally," said Llodra, perhaps referring to Philippoussis who double faulted twice in one game to give up the crucial break in the third set. "Since January I've been playing good but I didn't win so many matches. I lost my confidence during the claycourt season and after that it's tough to come back and be positive."
In the final the Frenchman will be an underdog against No. 3 seed Mario Ancic, who dropped 24 aces on Czech Jan Hernych in a 6-4, 6-4 win.
"I was close to reach(ing) the final here last year, losing in the semifinals in the third set to Guillermo Coria," Ancic said. "This year I've played pretty good tennis and I'm satisfied with the way I'm playing."
For Ancic the final will be an opportunity to end his career title drought, losing his two previous final-round appearances at '05 Scottsdale and '04 Milan, while for Llodra a win would be his first since 's-Hertogenbosch a year ago.
Gasquet Wins Maiden Title at ATP Nottingham
French breakout player Richard Gasquet gave himself a 19th birthday present Saturday with his first career title on the lawns at Nottingham, easily handling No. 8 seed Max Mirnyi 6-2, 6-3.
It was the first title in his third career final for Gasquet, who previously came up short in finals at '05 Hamburg and '04 Metz.
"Its a very special moment for me, especially to win on my birthday," Gasquet said. "It's very satisfying to know that I can play as well on grass as on clay."
Gasquet joins Cedric Pioline (1999) and Sebastien Grosjean (2000), who he replaces next week as the No. 1-ranked Frenchman on tour, as the only Frenchmen to have won titles in Nottingham.
Following the final the likable giant Mirnyi orchestrated a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Gasquet in his on-court speech.
"Getting to the finals is a positive and getting a lot of grasscourt matches is always great," said "The Beast" Mirnyi. "At the same time I'm happy for our new upcoming player Richard Gasquet to come and win this title on his birthday. I'll analyze and move on, next week is another week and I'll look to improve."
In the doubles final No. 2 seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram defeated top seeds Simon Aspelin and Todd Perry 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 for their second title of 2005.
Clijsters Grows Grass Title at WTA Eastbourne
Kim Clijsters won her third title of the year Saturday on grass at the WTA stop in Eastbourne, wearing down Russian qualifier Vera Douchevina 7-5, 6-0 in under an hour, sending a message to the rest of the field for Monday's start at Wimbledon.
"It feels great to win here," said Clijsters, who missed the grasscourt season last year with a wrist injury. "It's especially nice to be here considering everything that happened last year with my wrist."
Clijsters came back from a break down in the first, with the inexperienced Russian fading in the second.
"I've definitely been feeling a lot more comfortable with my game on grasscourts this week as the tournament's gone on," Clijsters said. "It was a good decision to come here a week early after the French. I was very disappointed how I played there (choking a 6-1, 3-1 lead against Lindsay Davenport) and I think it also motivated me a lot to do well here."
For Douchevina the week included her first Top 10 win over Amelie Mauresmo and her first WTA Tour final.
"It was very interesting to play my first final today and play against a good player like Kim," Douchevina said. "I started very well but I felt tired when the first set got to 5-all and I think all the eight matches (including qualifying) I've played in the last week have caught up with me."
In the doubles final the top-seeded team of Raymond/Stubbs won their first title of the year in their second final with a 6-3, 7-5 win over the No. 3-seeded Russian tandem of Likhovtseva/Zvonareva.
Koukalova Breaks Title Jinx at WTA 's-Hertogenbosch
The sixth time proved the charm for Czech Klara Koukalova Saturday in the grasscourt final at 's-Hertogenbosch, with the No. 8 seed defeating unseeded countrywoman Lucie Safarova 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 for her career-first title in her sixth final.
"I was a little bit nervous in the first set and did not play well at the beginning," said Koukalova on getting a rein on her choking ways to eventually fight back in three sets. "This is my sixth final and I really wanted to win."
The 18-year-old Safarova was shooting for her second career title after winning earlier in the year at Estoril, but failed to take care of her serve through the second and third sets.
Koukalova tried to give it away in the end, finally converting match point on her eighth try.
"I had so many match points, and I just couldn't do it," Koukalova said, eventually channeling Lleyton Hewitt to get the win. "By the fourth one I was telling myself if you don't get this, I'm going to be very mad. Come on!"
Safarova was competing in only her fifth WTA Tour main draw.
"Of course I'm a little disappointed that I didn't win but I think I had a really good week and I'm happy with the way I played here," Safarova said. "I played well in the first set but then Klara started to play better and her serve improved. I got a little tired and just wasn't able to give my best in the end."
In the doubles final No. 3 seeds Anabel Medina Garrigues and Dinara Safina defeated unseeded Iveta Benesova and Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(11), fighting off three match points to win their first title in their fourth final this year.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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If (Andre) Agassi retires, as many expect, after the US Open, the U.S. Davis Cup team could lose its qualifying match in Belgium, on clay, in September and wind up out of the World Group for 2006."...Why is the New York Times' Chris Clarey writing stories on short players having no chance in women's tennis just as Justine Henin-Hardenne is climbing back to her rightful No. 1 position on the WTA Rankings? Boredom? Bad intelligence? Can't find the WMDs? How about a story on tall players who simply batter the ball with sleepy repetition dominating the sport (Davenport, Sharapova)?...Forget the American contingent of Lindsay Davenport and the flagging Williams sisters, Justine Henin-Hardenne says her biggest obstacle at Wimbledon will be Belgian countrywoman Kim Clijsters: "Kim can play very good tennis on grass, it's probably her favorite surface. She is going to be very dangerous. I have a lot of respect for Kim, she is a great player and will win a grand slam title one day." 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