Furious Charge Towards WTA Championships; MS-Paris Draw Suffers
Posted on October 29, 2005
Roddick Advances to Santoro Semi at ATP LyonAndy Roddick lived up to his top seeding Friday at the ATP stop in Lyon, dropping 13 aces and never facing a break point in passing No. 7-seeded Croat Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic 6-4, 6-4 for a place in the semifinals.
"I played a good match yesterday but I definitely played a great match today," Roddick said. "Mario and I always have close matches. I came into this tournament not having won too many matches in the last two months but I feel I've found my form back here this week."
Joining Roddick in the semifinals was a crowd-pleasing three unseeded Frenchmen in Fabrice Santoro (d. Spadea), Gael Monfils (d. (Q) Gicquel), and Sebastien Grosjean (d. O.Rochus), all in straight sets.
"He really started out unbelievably to lead 4-1 but I knew that my shots were going too short and that I had to start hitting deeper which I managed to do," Monfils said in conquering his countryman Gicquel. "From then on I think I returned well, had some good passing shots and it's good to get through in straight sets. It will be great to play Sebastien in the quarterfinals tomorrow."
Saturday's semifinal match-ups will be (1) Roddick vs. Santoro (the American won their only meeting in 2000 in three sets) and Grosjean vs. Monfils (first meeting).
"He's always great fun to watch," said Roddick on facing Santoro. "I don't know if there are two more opposite styles of play on tour. It's going to be the battle of the opposites tomorrow."
Kiefer Ousts Top Seed at ATP St. Petersburg
Former Top 5-ranked German Nicolas Kiefer took a giant step toward possibly finishing the year within the Top 20, Friday at the St. Petersburg Open ousting top-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-1 to move into the semifinals.
"It's never easy to play Russians in Russia," Kiefer said. "I'm just glad there are no more Russians left here."
Also on the upset tip was Czech Robin Vik who mounted a comeback from a set down to defeat No. 4 seed and defending champion Mikhail Youzhny 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Davydenko was troubled by hand and shoulder pain, while Youzhny had back pain carrying over from Madrid.
"In the first set, when I did not feel pain, the result was like it should be," Youzhny said. "In the second set, I felt pain when I was serving at 1-0 and my play changed."
No. 2 seed Thomas Johansson displayed his return-of-serve prowess in dismantling the serve-and-volley game of No. 7 seed Greg Rusedski 6-2, 7-6(6), and No. 8-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kenneth Carlsen.
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are (5) Kiefer vs. Vik (first meeting), and (8) Verdasco vs. (2) T.Johansson (Spaniard won their lone meeting on clay in 2004).
Murray Runs Out of Gas in Three at ATP Basel
Three three-setters in a row proved too much for Brit-Scot wildcard Andy Murray Friday at the ATP stop in Basel, with the teenager running out of gas 6-1 in the third against No. 4 seed Fernando Gonzalez.
"I'm happy with the two wins I had here but not with the way I played," Murray said. "I'm not doing so well in the rallies. But I suppose it's a good sign when you're beating Top 50 players without playing your best tennis."
Other players into the semifinals were (2) David Nalbandian (d. Srichaphan), (5) Dominik Hrbaty (d. Vliegen from a set down), and unseeded Marcos Baghdatis (d. Acasuso from a set down).
Saturday's semifinal line-up will be (4) Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez vs. (5) Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty, and (2) David Nalbandian vs. Marcos "Bombs Over" Baghdatis.
The doubles semis will be Wimbledon champs (4) Huss/Moodie vs. (2) Black/Nestor, and (1) Bryan/Bryan vs. Calleri/Gonzalez.
Petrova, Schnyder Into Semis at WTA Linz
Russian No. 3 seed Nadia Petrova (d. (WC) Bammer in three) and No. 4-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder (d. (6) Hantuchova) continued their charge Friday toward qualifying spots for the WTA Championships, posting wins to advance into the semifinals at the WTA stop in Linz.
"I was playing very aggressively and wasn't missing much, but in the second set she really improved," Petrova said. "She wasn't missing anything. It was like playing against a wall. She's also very quick and she was getting to nearly every ball."
No. 8 seed Ana Ivanovic advanced with a straight-set win over No. 9 Tatiana Golovin, and Czech Kveta Peschke edged Japan's Ai Sugiyama from a set down.
Saturday's semifinal match-ups are Schnyder vs. Ivanovic (Swiss leads career meetings 3-0), and Petrova vs. Peschke (Petrova leads 2-0).
Ivanovic vs. Schnyder is a rematch of the Zurich semifinals last week.
"I think the court here is a little different than the one in Zurich," Ivanovic said. "Last week the court seemed to take a lot more of the spin, which helped her, but I think the surface here may help me. It's my second semifinal in two weeks, but this week I want to go one round better and reach the final."
Clijsters, Krajicek Advance at WTA Hasselt
With Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova idle this week, top seed Kim Clijsters continued her bid Friday toward staying in the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking, defeating unseeded German Julia Schruff 6-2, 6-3 to advance into the semifinals at the WTA stop in Hasselt.
In the semifinals the Belgian will face No. 4 seed Dinara Safina, who came back from a set down to edge No. 8 Katarina Srebotnik 7-6 in the third.
Also into the semis were (3) Francesca Schiavone (d. Stosur), and unseeded Dutch teen Michaella Krajicek (d. (2) Dechy).
Saturday's match-ups are (3) Schiavone vs. Krajicek (first career meeting) and (1) Clijsters vs. (4) Safina (the Belgian has won all four meetings without dropping a set).
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