Nadal Wins 27th Consecutive on Clay, Venus Under Pressure
Posted on July 9, 2005
Nadal Straight-Sets Ferrero at ATP BastadIn what save for the luck of the draw should have been the final, top-seeded French Open holder Rafael Nadal defeated former French winner Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 6-3 Friday in the quarterfinals at the ATP claycourt stop in Bastad.
"I played good on the important points," said Nadal, who has now won all three meetings with Ferrero. "You look at the scoreboard and it says 6-3 6-3, but the match was very tough. It was my best match in the tournament so far. I played with good determination."
It was the 27th consecutive claycourt win for Nadal.
Also into the semis was another Spaniard in (3) Tommy Robredo (d. (6) Youzhny from a set down), joined by two unseeded Czechs in Tomas Berdych (d. Zabaleta) and Jiri Vanek (d. O.Hernandez).
Saturday's semifinals line up as (1) Nadal vs. (3) Robredo in an all-Spanish first meeting, and Berdych vs. Vanek in an all-let-me-write-you-a Czech first tour meeting. In doubles the semifinals are (1) Aspelin/Perry vs. Bjorkman/J.Johansson, and (3) Acasuso/Prieto vs. Monaco/Nadal.
Gaudio Survives Racquet-Breaking Tantrum at ATP Gstaad
No. 2 seed and former French Open champ Gaston Gaudio struggled to a three-set win Friday at the ATP claycourt stop in Gstaad, defeating Italian qualifier Andreas Seppi 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(5) to advance into the semifinals.
After screaming and smashing his racquet through a 1-6 second-set loss, the Argentine got it together in the third before, serving for the match at 5-4, a foot-fault call rattled him to the point of dropping serve and forcing the match to a deciding tiebreak.
"It's the first time that's ever happened to me," said Gaudio, who then almost blew a 6-0 lead in the breaker, closing it out at 7-5. "I was a little surprised at how he fought back, it did make me wonder if I was ever going to win."
Unseeded Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka thrilled the home crowd by advancing into the semis with a straight-set win over qualifier Frantisek Cermak, while unseeded qualifier Razvan Sabau (d. Starace after getting bageled in the first set) and No. 7 Nicolas Massu (d. Horna) also advanced.
On tap for the Saturday semis are (7) Massu vs. (2) Gaudio (Gaudio leads career meetings 4-3, with Massu winning their most recent meeting in 2004), and (Q) Sabau vs. Wawrinka (first meeting).
Rain Stops Completed Matches Friday at ATP Newport
Rain kept any matches from being completed Friday at the ATP stop in Newport, with the only result in Weslie Moodie leading Michal Mertinak 5-4 on serve when rain suspended play for the day.
Jim Courier, Jana Novotna, Yannick Noah and Butch Buchholz will be enshrined in the Tennis Hall of Fame today.
Scheduled for Saturday are (3) Rusedski vs. Dupuis, Moodie vs. Mertinak (to finish), (7) Goldstein vs. (2) Spadea, and Moodie or Mertinak vs. (3) Rusedski or Dupuis.
Venus Must Win Three for U.S. to Reach Fed Cup Final
Following the withdrawal of Lindsay Davenport from this weekend's U.S. Fed Cup semifinal in Russia due to a back injury sustained at Wimbledon, Russia is now the favorite to edge the Americans and advance to the final, despite the opposition of Wimbledon champion Venus Williams.
The Russians have created a temporary claycourt in Moscow's Olympic Stadium for the event, with Davenport's large shoes being partially filled by Fed Cup rookie Mashona Washington, chosen over Jill Craybas by U.S. captain Zina Garrison.
"I'm competitive and I believe our team can win," said Garrison, who has a flair for the oddly-generic sound bite. "This whole team has got guts and strength."
Not of a competitive nature was Venus' sibling Serena, who took a pass on the Fed Cup after her early-round debacle at Wimbledon.
Venus will be tested on the red dirt in the first match of the day Saturday by former French Open champ Anastasia Myskina, who has recovered her form after a traumatizing illness suffered by her mother.
"I have won the Kremlin Cup here twice, I won the Fed Cup for Russia last year, I have played a lot of good matches," said the rejuvenated Myskina. "I'm really happy we're playing here."
Elena Dementieva, last year's Roland Garros runner-up who will be the overwhelming favorite in the second singles match Saturday against Washington, is just relieved to not be facing two current or former No. 1s.
"Now it will be a bit easier for us," Dementieva said. "The (Wimbledon) winner and the runner-up in one team -- it was too much."
Without Davenport and with the 29-year-old rookie Washington, Venus will likely have to win both her singles matches, and the doubles with Corina Morariu, to carry the U.S. into the final.
"We almost had it all," said Venus of her teaming with Davenport. "We had the best singles players, and the best doubles team with Corina and Lindsay, but I still think we have a strong team. I feel that nothing can stop the US as long as we have our hearts into it."
In the second semifinal in Aix-en-Provence, the French "Dream Team" of former No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo and the hot-handed Mary Pierce face the underwhelming Spanish singles squad of Anabel "Funky Cold" Medina Garrigues and Nuria Llagostera "Pancho" Vives.
"I feel good, and I'd like to set the tone tomorrow," said Mauresmo on facing Medina Garrigues, who she is 2-0 lifetime against. "I'm really happy to be back in the team, and I hope we can leave Aix as the winners, as this would give us the opportunity to play a very exciting final at Roland Garros."
Llagostera Vives comes into the conflict with the advantage of beating Pierce on clay a few months back at the WTA stop in Charleston.
Spanish captain Miguel Margets remains optimistic.
"We all really believe in our chances of scoring an upset," Margets said. "The playing conditions suit us well, although the strong winds will not make it easy."
French captain George Goven says the Spaniards will need less talk and more walk to reach the final, an unlikelihood considering their history.
"We will be the favorites since we beat them twice in our last two ties," said Goven, who took over from Guy Forget.
France also beat the U.S. in the final at Moscow in 2003 to clinch their second title.
"We must not forget we are No. 1 in the ITF teams standings," Goven said. "The girls know they start as favorites. They are ready to deal with the situation."
The U.S. is 17-9 in Fed Cup finals, while Russia is 1-4.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
On Monday in Bastad, Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal spent three hours on a photo shoot for Vogue that will run in September...Jana Novotna, an inductee this week into the Tennis Hall of Fame, on seeing women players actually coming to the net: "I think little by little it will come back in time if we have more players like Justine (Henin-Hardenne) who are just all-around players and they have nice variety. When I do watch women's tennis, if I see someone come to the net, I'm jumping in front of the television. I say, 'Yes! That's the way to go.'"