Injuries Hit Again at WTA Toronto; 3 No. 1s in Cincy Semis
Posted on August 20, 2005
Federer, Roddick, Hewitt Into ATP Cincinnati SemifinalsWorld No. 1 Roger Federer didn't look his sharpest, but cruised into the semifinals Friday at the ATP Masters Series-Cincinnati, defeating unseeded Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour.
"I'm No. 1 in the world, so I don't want to give away wins just like that, as presents," Federer said. "I want to make sure when I'm playing, I'm on, and when I'm not feeling well, I don't play. Like in Montreal I didn't feel like I was ready yet. So I'm very happy to see that when I come here, I feel like I'm ready."
In the semifinals the Swiss will face unseeded American wildcard entrant Robby Ginepri, who routed a knee-addled and frustrated No. 4 seed Marat Safin 6-2, 6-3 in under an hour.
"I didn't practice for one month and a half and I played three matches in a row and today I felt really, really tired on the court," said the racquet-smashing Safin, his knee covered by an ice bag after the match. "I couldn't move properly and I couldn't find my game. My timing was not there. So it's really difficult to play against any player."
In the other semifinal Saturday No. 5 seed Andy Roddick, who came back from a set down against unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, will face No. 3 seed Lleyton Hewitt who routed No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-2, 6-3.
Youzhny was up a set and on serve in the second until he tried to take Roddick's head off with a passing shot, which brought the fired-up American out of his funk and saw the Russian wilt in the third.
Scheduled for the Saturday semis are (1) Federer vs. (WC) Ginepri (Fed won their only meeting at the 2001 US Open), (3) Hewitt vs. (5) Roddick (the Aussie has won six of their seven meetings), and in doubles Frenchmen (6) Llodra/Santoro vs. Zimbabwe's (4) Black/Ullyett, and (3) Knowles/Nestor vs. (2) Bjorkman/Mirnyi.
"He definitely plays well in the States," said Federer of Ginepri. "Probably if you look at his results he's had most of them here. He's beaten Marat, who I think is one of the best players in the world. Yeah, so I definitely have to watch out even though I think it's a good draw, you know, to play against him...He's definitely hot, and hope I can cool him down."
Injury Downs Petrova, Belgians Advance at WTA Toronto
Injury struck again Friday at the WTA stop in Toronto when No. 6 seed Nadia Petrova was forced to retire in the third set of her match with No. 2 seed Amelie Mauresmo after suffering the tour's injury-du-jour, a pectoral muscle strain which has also sidelined players Maria Sharpaova and Ana Ivanovic.
Petrova trailed 6-4, 5-7, 0-2 at the time of the injury.
"It's unfortunate that the match had to end this way," Petrova said. "I have felt a little soreness and tightness since last week. I think it might be because of the three weeks of not playing matches. Today was very humid outside and the balls were a little heavier. I had to put extra force in my shots."
Mauresmo was one of three former No. 1s advancing into the semis with No. 4 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Vaidisova), and No. 7 seed Kim Clijsters (d. (14) Pennetta 0-and-1) also posting wins.
"This was a difficult match for me tonight," Henin-Hardenne said. "Nicole played very well -- she played like a Top 10 player tonight. We had a lot of good rallies. I'm happy to win the match."
Also into the semis was struggling No. 9 seed Anastasia Myskina, who defeated Gisela Dulko in straight sets.
"I didn't think that Gisela played smart with me today," said Myskina, hindered by a sprained ankle. "Definitely, the drop shot was the key, but she didn't use it. She didn't really move me around the court. Usually she plays a lot of angles, but not today really...At the beginning of the year, I was losing a lot of easy matches. I was really in bad condition. But now I'm feeling much better."
On tap for the Saturday semifinals are (7) Clijsters vs. (9) Myskina (the Belgian leads the career meetings 6-3), and (2) Mauresmo vs. (4) Henin-Hardenne (tied 3-3).
The doubles semifinals will be (4) Hantuchova/Sugiyama vs. (6) Groenefeld/M.Navratilova, and (8) Asagoe/Garbin vs. (3) Martinez/Ruano Pascual.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
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