Venus, Clijsters Into Stanford Semis; Agassi Struggles at L.A.
Posted on July 30, 2005
Top Seeds Agassi, Hrbaty Struggle Into Semis at ATP L.A.Top-seeded Andre Agassi fought off a second-set slump Friday against unseeded Paradorn Srichaphan at the ATP stop in Los Angeles, eventually subduing the free-swinging Thai 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to move into the semifinals.
Late in the second set Agassi chucked in some key doubles faults and unforced errors to hand Srichaphan the set.
"You expect to struggle, you expect to make some bad decisions out there on the court and some wrong shot selection and that sort of thing and not execute confidently when you really need to loosen up and let it go," said Agassi on returning to the tour after an eight-month injury hiatus due to his nerve/back issue. "But I haven't had too much of that. I'm very pleased with how I felt coming out here, even starting with the first round."
No. 2 seed Dominik Hrbaty also struggled into the semis, fighting off seven match points in the second set to defeat unseeded Brazilian Ricardo Mello 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-2.
Mello led the tiebreak 6-1 before the wheels came off.
"You have to be really tough not to think about that and fight again a whole set from the beginning," said Hrbaty on saving the match points in the second set. "When I went back to 6-6, I believe I can win this match."
Two unseeded players also advanced into the semis in Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela (d. Malisse) and Luxembourg's Gilles Muller (d. Ginepri).
Saturday's line-ups in L.A. will be (1) Agassi vs. Juan Ignacio "The Spitting Snake" Chela (Agassi leads career meetings 2-0), (2) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty vs. Muller (first meeting), and in the doubles semis, Kerr/Parrott vs. (WC)Leach/MacPhie, and (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. (4) Erlich/Ram.
Coria Crushes Ferrero at ATP Umag
No. 2 seed Guillermo Coria continued his dominance over No. 7 seed and former No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero Friday on the clay at Umag, spanking the Spaniard 6-3, 6-0.
It was the third consecutive win for Coria over Ferrero.
"I feel good and I think I'm on the right track," Coria said.
Former No. 1 and No. 6 seed Carlos Moya (d. (4) Ferrer in three) also moved into the semifinals, joined by No. 5 Jiri Novak (d. Dlouhy, bagel in the first) and No. 8 Filippo Volandri (d. (3) Robredo from a set down).
On court Saturday in Umag are (8) Volandri vs. (2) Guillermo "El Mago" Coria (first meeting), and (5) Novak vs. (6) Moya (tied 5-5).
Gauchos Gaudio, Zabaleta March Into ATP Kitzbuhel Semis
Two Argentines advanced to the semifinals Friday at the ATP stop in Kitzbuhel when former French Open champ and No. 3 seed Gaston Gaudio (d. (6) Youzhny in three) and unseeded Mariano Zabaleta (d. (5) Lopez) scrambled to wins on the red clay.
Also into the semis were (7) Nicolas Massu (d. (WC) N.Lapentti in three), and unseeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (d. (15) Hanescu).
"This was one of the toughest matches I have ever played," said Massu who weathered court temperatures reaching 122 degrees. "I am glad I am through...Everything hurt, my legs, my arms, my back."
Lining up for the Saturday semifinals are (7) Massu vs. Fernando "Hot Sauce" Verdasco (Massu leads 2-1 with Hot Sauce winning their most recent meeting on clay), and Zabaleta vs. (3) Gaudio.
Venus Into Semifinals at WTA Stanford
No. 2 seed Venus Williams advanced into the semifinals Friday at the WTA hardcourt stop in Stanford, navigating a first-time meeting with Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-3 at the Bank of the West Classic.
"She came out and gave it everything she had," said Venus, who received encouragement from sister Serena and father Richard in the player's box. "I just stood my ground. She's one of those players who likes to rally all day while I prefer the short points."
Jankovic attempted to extend the rallies but was surprised at the brutality of the American's baseline game.
"Some of her points were amazing," the 20-year-old Jankovic said. "She reached everything. Sometimes I was really shocked. I thought I could do something but I couldn't do anything. It was like I wasn't there on the court."
Others into the semifinals were (3) Patty Schnyder (d. Benesova), (4) Kim Clijsters (d. Hantuchova), and with the upset, unseeded German comer Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. (6) Dechy).
On tap for the semifinals are (3) Schnyder vs. (2) Venus (American leads career meetings 5-0), and Groenefeld vs. (4) Clijsters (first meeting).
Top-seeded Smashnova, Two Un-seeds Into Semis at WTA Budapest
Two seeded upsets put two unseeded players into the semifinals Friday at the WTA claycourt stop in Budapest.
No. 84-ranked Spaniard Laura Pous Tio, in the midst of her breakout year, reached her second WTA semifinal for 2005 with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) win over No. 2 seed Katarina Srebotnik. Also into the semis was unseeded Colombian Catalina Castano who ousted No. 7 seed Martina Sucha 6-4, 6-3.
Seeds into the semis were (1) Anna Smashnova (d. (WC) Kapros, bagel in the second), and (4) Jelena Kostanic (d. Sanchez Lorenzo from a set down).
"I was lucky Aniko had to play three hours (on Thursday), so she was really tired," Smashnova said.
Saturday's match-ups on the red dirt are Castano vs. Pous Tio (P.T. leads career meetings 1-0), and (1) Smashnova vs. (4) Kostanic (Smashnova leads 2-1, all on clay).
X-CORRECT
A quote attributed to di-10S in the latest BoardWatch was actually the thoughtful rendering of tennisbabe. Please accept our research intern's apology, after he was subsequently beaten to within an inch of his life with a T-2000...The WTA stop in Carson/L.A. starts on Aug. 8.
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