Peng Pongs Clijsters; Davenport, Serena Pull from L.A.
Posted on August 6, 2005
Roddick, Blake Seek All-American Final at ATP WashingtonTop-seeded Andy Roddick came from a set down Friday to beat Croatian Ivo Karlovic 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-4 to advance to the semifinals at the ATP stop in Washington.
Roddick, once the tiebreak king with his blistering Babolat delivery, is a pedestrian 19-16 in tiebreaks in 2005, and 0-2 this week in Washington.
"I don't think my serve compares to his serve," said Roddick who had 19 aces to Karlovic's 29. "At least you can get a racket on mine."
Roddick double faulted to give away the first-set breaker, but as the match went on stayed stronger on serve than the spotty Croat.
"It wasn't a whole lot of fun out there," Roddick said. "I tried to at least hit a volley, make him work a little bit. And that started to work a little. His percentage dropped later, so I was getting a look at his second serve."
In the semifinals Roddick will face No. 13 seed Paradorn Srichaphan, who defeated unseeded Peruvian Luis Horna 6-4, 7-5.
"I felt like I was moving well even in the heat," said Srichaphan upon reaching his first semifinal since January. "Both of us were taking our time between each point because it was very hot."
Also into the semis was resurgent unseeded American James Blake (d. Clement) and No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych (d. (WC) Reynolds in two tiebreaks).
On tap for the Saturday semis are (1) Roddick vs. (13) Paradorn "The Thai Fighter" Srichaphan (A-Rod leads career meetings 5-1) and Blake vs. (10) Berdych (first meeting), and in doubles (4) Knowles/Stepanek vs. (2)Black/Ullyett, and in the night match (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. (3)Bhupathi/Damm.
Coria, Monfils Into ATP Sopot Semifinals
No. 3 seed Guillermo Coria quelled a late rally from No. 7-seeded Russian Igor Andreev Friday at the ATP stop in Sopot, moving into the semifinals with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win.
It was the ninth consecutive match win for Coria after a victory on grass versus Australia in Davis Cup play, and the claycourt title last week in Umag.
"I had the match under control until 5-2 in the second set," Coria said. "Then Andreev started playing very well, hitting incredible shots. At that point, the level became very equal and I'm happy to be through."
French teen Gael Monfils romped into the semis with a 6-3, 6-3 upset win over No. 8 seed Victor Hanescu.
Also into the semifinals were two unseeded players, with Italy's Potito Starace capitalizing on his earlier upset of former No. 1 Carlos Moya with a comeback 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 6 seed Jose Acasuso, and Germany's Florian Mayer defeating Fin Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 6-2.
"I feel good mentally and physically and am happy about having reached my first semifinal in 2005," Starace said. "I want to reach the final and it would be great to win the tournament."
Saturday's semifinal line-up on the dirt is Mayer vs. (3) Guillermo "El Mago" Coria (the Argentine punished him 1-and-1 earlier this year on clay in Dusseldorf), and "You Say" Potito Starace vs. Gael "Force" Monfils (Starace won in straights on clay earlier this year at Stuttgart).
Peng Shocks Clijsters at WTA San Diego
China's Shuai Peng stunned No. 7 seed Kim Clijsters 6-4, 6-4 in their first tour meeting Friday night at the WTA stop in San Diego.
Also into the semis were No. 6 seed Mary Pierce (d. (5) Schnyder), and two unseeded Japanese players in 30-year-old Ai Sugiyama (d. Karatantcheva 1-and-2) and Akiko Morigami (d. Chakvetadze).
"Patty is a great player, she always puts up a great fight against me," said Pierce who powered past the Swiss in straight sets. "The key for me is to be aggressive and play my game."
For Morigami it is her second semifinal in three weeks.
"It's great for Japanese tennis," Morigami said. "Maybe it will inspire more kids (in Japan) to play tennis."
Saturday's semis will be (6) Pierce vs. Peng (Pierce won their lone career meeting earlier this year in Rome), and Sugiyama vs. Morigama in an all-unseeded all-Japanese meeting (Sugiyama leads 2-0).
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