Ljubicic Shoots for 2nd Straight Title, Vaidisova for Third
Posted on October 16, 2005
Blake, Thai to Tussle in ATP Stockholm James Blake's late-season form continued Saturday at the Stockholm Open, with the American dropping 17 aces on Belgian Olivier Rochus in avenging a recent Davis Cup loss to advance 6-4, 6-3 into the final.
"He really gives you no free points," Blake said. "He plays defense unbelievably well. If he has a weakness it probably has to be his serve so I knew I was going to get my looks at that. Being down a break I tried not to panic. I got my chances and took advantage of that and then just kept rolling."
Blake has won 19 of his last 22 matches.
In the final the No. 6 seed will face unseeded Thai Paradorn Srichaphan, who fought back from a set down to defeat Italian Davide Sanguinetti 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. For Srichaphan the win was revenge for a five-set loss at the US Open.
"I was really close to beating him last time in the US Open," the Thai said. "It was a long match in five sets and I was really close. Today he was serving for the match in the second set and I just went for it and it seemed to work at the end. It will mean a lot to me if I can win this again. It's already nice to be in a final. To play James Blake, I've played him a couple of times and most times in a final so it will be great to play him."
Blake leads the head-to-head with the Thai 3-1, with their last meeting Blake's title in the final at Long Island in 2003.
The doubles final will be (1) Paes/Zimonjic vs. Aussies (2) Arthurs/Hanley.
Kiefer Faces Yet Another Russian for ATP Moscow Crown
No. 6 seed Nicolas Kiefer navigated one Russian threat Saturday in the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, defeating qualifier Igor Kunitsyn 6-2, 6-4 -- now one more stands between him and the championship.
"I just want to focus on the final, I played four last year and lost them all," Kiefer said. "I played Andreev before and beat him, but it will be a different story here. He plays at home and I will have no more than two supporters in the crowd."
The German will now take on No. 7 seed Igor Andreev, who survived the all-Russian battle with wildcard Dmitry Tursunov 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
"Just to be there in the finals it means a lot to me and hopefully I can do well tomorrow," Andreev said. "I played very well on some important points in the second set, then he got a little bit down in the third set. He was winning the match and everything turned around."
Kiefer leads the career head-to-head with Andreev 2-1, with the Russian gunning for his third title of 2005.
The doubles final will feature unseeded defending champs Andreev/Davydenko vs. the Belarus/Russian tandem of Mirnyi/Youzhny.
Ljubicic, Ferrero Fight for ATP Vienna Title
Two players hoping for late-season surges moved into the final Saturday at the ATP stop in Vienna, with (7) Juan Carlos Ferrero (d. (3) Stepanek) and (4) Ivan Ljubicic (d. (5) Robredo) posting straight-set victories.
Ljubicic stretched his win streak to 11 matches after a title last week in Metz, and is 1-4 in finals this year.
"To have reached the final in a big tournament like this without losing a set is a great performance," Ljubicic said. "Today I felt much better on the court than in the beginning of the week. I think I have recovered a bit physically."
Ferrero will be looking for his first title in two years.
"I think practicing indoors at home in my academy has helped me a lot," Ferrero said. "It has giving me a lot of rhythm and I came here playing good tennis. It was difficult to return his serve today, but I got a lot of serves back."
Ljubicic has won two of his three career meetings with Ferrero.
"It's going to be a tough one tomorrow because it will be best-of-five," Ljubicic said. "The better player will win, there is no luck involved in a best-of-five match. There will be a lot of tennis and there are no secrets. I will do my things and he will do his."
In the doubles final, top seeds Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor will face No. 2 Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram.
Russians Routed in Semis at WTA Moscow
The two remaining Russians at the Kremlin Cup were sent to the sidelines Saturday when No. 3 seed Mary Pierce defeated unseeded Dinara Safina 7-6(2), 6-3, and unseeded Italian Francesca Schiavone routed No. 4 seed Elena Dementieva 6-3, 6-1.
Safina was coming off a three-set win over world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, which appeared to take its toll on Marat Safin's younger sister in the semifinals.
"I had hard time adjusting to this surface," said Pierce, who trailed 1-4 in the first set. "I was not confident enough at the beginning of the match but after I got up 4-1, I felt more comfortable...I tried to make her run a lot to make her tired and that tactic seemed to work."
Schiavone's upset victory followed wins earlier in the week over Amelie Mauresmo and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
"I was able to follow my game plan today and it worked," Schiavone said on topping Dementieva. "The score may look like it was an easy match but it's misleading because in every rally I was trying to figure out how to put pressure on her. In the end I was successful and I am so happy to be in my first Tier I singles final."
Pierce won her only meeting with Schiavone last year on clay in Fed Cup play.
The doubles final will be (1) Black/Stubbs vs. (2) Raymond/Stosur.
Petrova, Vaidisova in WTA Bangkok Final
It will be the veteran seeking her first career title against the teen going for three in a row Sunday at the WTA stop in Bangkok where No. 1 seed Nadia Petrova will square off against Nicole Vaidisova.
Neither player had an easy time of it Saturday, with Petrova forced to come back from a set down against Italian Antonella Serra Zanetti, and Vaidisova doing likewise against No. 3 seed Gisela Dulko, triumphing in a third-set tiebreak.
Petrova struggled with the heat, while the Czech Vaidisova recorded her 14th consecutive singles win.
"I'm going to go out there and play my best game tomorrow," said Petrova, 0-3 in career finals with a penchant for choking championships. "I'm not putting any pressure on myself to win the title. If I don't do it here, I'll have the chance to do it somewhere else I'm sure. I'm not going to have that on my mind."
Petrova won her only meeting with Vaidisova last month at the US Open.
DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER
Read what tennis industry insiders read each morning to get the latest news, insight and opinion on pro tennis. Get the Tennis-X Daily Dish in your e-mail in-box, even before it's posted on the web, by signing up for the net's most complete daily e-newsletter at http://www.tennis-x.com/subscribe.php
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Zina Garrison announced she is launching a Hurricane Katrina relief effort with Venus Williams, "Tie Together For Action" involving the sale of shoelaces to raise money...From the Herald Sun: "Lleyton Hewitt has taken aim at former best friend Andrew McLeod over the Adelaide football star's move to block the tennis ace releasing a DVD. Hewitt yesterday called the legal action "mystifying," saying McLeod had long known about the DVD and had not raised any concerns previously. But Hewitt added that he still considered the Crows midfielder a friend and hoped they could overcome the dispute. McLeod lodged a Federal Court injunction on Friday to stop Hewitt distributing the DVD Lleyton Hewitt: The Other Side and is seeking damages. The row centers on Hewitt using footage from the pair's tour of the Northern Territory in October 2004. In his claim, McLeod states he and Hewitt visited sacred sites, witnessed Aboriginal events including bushwalking in restricted areas, dancing and fishing. Hewitt did not ask for permission from traditional landowners or the land council to use restricted segments in filming, he alleges. But a spokesman for Hewitt hit back yesterday, saying the footage involving McLeod was just one part of the DVD."...Maria Sharapova, sitting out Zurich next week, will likely lose the No. 1 ranking to either Lindsay Davenport or Kim Clijsters...From The New Statesman: "At home, in India, [Sania] Mirza is a role model and an icon, her fame locating her somewhere between Bollywood and the mass adulation that surrounds the Indian cricket team. She is celebrated as much for her attitude and fashion sense (she wears a nose-ring and "librarian" glasses) as she is for her talent. She evidently enjoys the attention and delights in confounding expectations of exactly how a young Muslim woman from the subcontinent should behave. At Wimbledon, she wore a T-shirt bearing the slogan: "Well-behaved women rarely make history"; at the US Open in September, where she lost in the quarterfinal to the Russian sensation Maria Sharapova, her T-shirt read: "You can either agree with me, or be wrong.""...Rafael Nadal on entering the Masters Series-Madrid with a 1-2 record: "I want to cap the season with a good performance here in Madrid and improve on my results in previous years. I want to get even with this tournament. I've never found my form here and that's why I've prepared more carefully this time. I'd love to win the event. The center court is beautiful and the atmosphere is always great. Of the tournaments I've got left to play this year I think this is the one where I've got the best chance of winning. But I don't consider myself the favorite because of the missing players. There are still 40 of the best players on the circuit playing in the tournament."...Brit-Scot Andy Murray on Roger Federer, speaking to The Scottsman: "I don't know if it is just because Federer is so nice or because I played doubles against him before, but he wasn't intimidating. He sets such high standards, and he plays well when he needs to. People as good as him can do that. He's got the best forehand but he doesn't have a massive serve, although he places it well. He moves great, he can do everything -- he can serve and volley, he can play hard from the back, he can chip and charge. The hardest part was not knowing what he was going to do next. But there was nothing that I thought 'Jesus, I could never match that'."