Peng Feels Pain at WTA San Diego, Venus Pulls from Stockholm

Posted on August 7, 2005

Roddick Serves Way Into ATP Washington Final v Blake

Andy Roddick lost only an amazing four points on serve and dropped 13 aces on Paradorn Srichaphan to advance 7-6(4), 6-2 into the final Saturday at the ATP hardcourt stop in Washington.

Roddick added another to the "win" column of his shaky tiebreak record for 2005, and says he feels he is turning a corner approaching the US Open.

"I feel like I'm in a groove," Roddick said. "I feel like I've turned the corner to playing well. I hit the ball well, got it doing what I wanted."

Srichaphan said he was without a clue on the Roddick serve.

"In my opinion, Andy is hard to read on his serve," Srichaphan said. "It is tough to tell if he will go wide or to the 'T.' His wide serve was very good today. I then had to concentrate on my serve. He just played better on the important points."

Roddick will be shooting for his fourth title of the year in the final Sunday when he faces unseeded countryman James Blake, who ousted No. 10 seed Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-3.

"I've been playing pretty solid all week," said Blake who entered the event ranked outside the Top 100. "I was happy to get through the way I did. I'm just happy to get back to the final, and there's no pressure on me tomorrow against Andy. He's one of the top players in the world, and I'm just going to go out and play and have fun."

Roddick has won all seven career meetings with Blake.

The doubles final will be (1) Bryan/Bryan (d. (3)Bhupathi/Damm in two tiebreaks in the semifinals) vs. (2) Black/Ullyett (d. (4) Knowles/Stepanek who received a walkover due to Stepanek's back injury).

Blake says anything will go in the final.

"He's a good friend, and those are always interesting matches," Blake said. "We're friends, but tomorrow we're going to want to go out and beat each other's brains in. On the court, we're both professionals and want to win the title."

Coria Upset, Monfils in Final at ATP Sopot

Guillermo Coria's plan to Hoover-up some claycourt points before the onset of the U.S. ATP Masters Series events hit a snag Saturday when the No. 3 seed was outlasted 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the semifinals by unseeded German Florian Mayer.

Mayer improved his career record to 2-1 over Coria.

In the final the Argentine will square off against French teenager and former No. 1-ranked junior Gael Monfils, who came from a set down to defeat fellow unseeded Italian Potito Starace 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Monfils and Mayer have never faced each other, and the winner will walk away with their career-first ATP title.

The doubles final will be (3) Arnold/Prieto vs. (4) Fyrstenberg/Matkowski.

Pierce Seeks First 2005 Title in Final at WTA San Diego

30-year-old Mary Pierce blasted past a sluggish Shuai Peng 6-2, 6-2 Saturday in the semifinals at the WTA stop in San Diego, putting herself in position for her first title of 2005 after her previous-best runner-up effort at the French Open this year.

"She's a dangerous player if you let her play, so the key the ball was hitting the ball hard and deep, staying aggressive and trying to come forward," Pierce said. "I had a couple of return games I was really happy with, staying down and hitting through the ball. In important moments I served well and that was key."

Peng looked listless, lacking the footwork and consistency she showed the previous night in shocking Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals.

"I was really tired after playing almost four hours last night," said Peng, who competed in the doubles after beating Clijsters Friday. "My energy didn't come back. My fitness is getting better, but I need to do more."

It is the first appearance in the San Diego final for Pierce since 1998 when she lost to Lindsay Davenport.

In the final Pierce will face fellow 30-year-old unseeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama, who defeated countrywoman Akiko Morigami, who retired trailing 4-6, 3-4 with injury.

Sugiyama leads the career meetings with Pierce 6-4.

X-CORRECT
Ai Sugiyama beat Svetlana Kuznetsova earlier in the week at the WTA stop in San Diego.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Saturday at San Diego was the first time two Japanese players had ever faced each other in the semifinals of a WTA Tier I event...Venus Williams has pulled from next week's WTA stop in Stockholm citing the flu...David Higdon, senior vice president of communications for the ATP, tells USA Today that the injury bug is more "perception than reality" on the men's tour, citing that the Top 10 players played an average of 18.8 tournaments and 69 matches in 2004, the lowest total since 1990. Too bad that unlike the WTA, the ATP is still cash-poor and doesn't have a year-end bonus pool for the top players that they can subtract from to encourage players not to skip events...Why has Tommy Haas pulled from the Masters Series-Canada? Ankle injury?...Tim Henman speaking to The Guardian on getting back on track: "I can assure you I am still totally dedicated to my career and completely motivated. There is a large number of factors that contributed to the disappointments of the first six months and one of them was not playing enough. I've got a great schedule now through Montreal and Cincinnati before the US Open and then Bangkok and Tokyo before returning for Madrid, Basle and Paris."