Puerta Survives Punishment at ATP Ho Chi Minh
Posted on October 1, 2005Top-seeded Mariano Puerta survived his second consecutive third-set tiebreak Friday at the ATP stop in Ho Chi Minh to move into the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) win over Germany's Rainer Schuettler.
"I finished this match really tired, I have pain in all my body," Puerta said. "I'll try to sleep well. Maybe tomorrow I won't play three sets."
Puerta was joined in the semis by the No. 2 and 3 seeds in Thomas Johansson (d. (5) Saulnier) and Radek Stepanek (d. (6) Monaco), along with unseeded Swede Jonas Bjorkman (d. Waske).
"Today was very tough," Johansson said. "I've played Cyril twice before and lost both times, and the last time we played three hours and 40 minutes. We have very tough matches. The first set was so much running for both me and Cyril. He hasn't felt himself the past few days, so I think he got tired in the second."
For Bjorkman it is his first singles semifinal since 2003.
"From the start of 2004 when I was No. 30 in the world, I've been struggling to play consistently, it's been very up and down and unfortunately that meant dropping in the rankings," Bjorkman said. "The last few months, I've played more singles and less doubles, and I'm playing much better."
On tap for Saturday are (1) Puerta vs. Bjorkman (Swede won their only meeting on clay in 2003), and (2) T.Johansson vs. (3) Stepanek (Swede won their lone meeting in straights earlier this year at Rotterdam).
"I finished this match really tired, I have pain in all my body," Puerta said. "I'll try to sleep well. Maybe tomorrow I won't play three sets."
Puerta was joined in the semis by the No. 2 and 3 seeds in Thomas Johansson (d. (5) Saulnier) and Radek Stepanek (d. (6) Monaco), along with unseeded Swede Jonas Bjorkman (d. Waske).
"Today was very tough," Johansson said. "I've played Cyril twice before and lost both times, and the last time we played three hours and 40 minutes. We have very tough matches. The first set was so much running for both me and Cyril. He hasn't felt himself the past few days, so I think he got tired in the second."
For Bjorkman it is his first singles semifinal since 2003.
"From the start of 2004 when I was No. 30 in the world, I've been struggling to play consistently, it's been very up and down and unfortunately that meant dropping in the rankings," Bjorkman said. "The last few months, I've played more singles and less doubles, and I'm playing much better."
On tap for Saturday are (1) Puerta vs. Bjorkman (Swede won their only meeting on clay in 2003), and (2) T.Johansson vs. (3) Stepanek (Swede won their lone meeting in straights earlier this year at Rotterdam).