Safin Pulls From Masters Cup; Petrova Tries to Break Title Jinx
Posted on October 30, 2005
Roddick, Monfils Serving Display for ATP Lyon FinalAndy Roddick will play his fourth Frenchman in five matches Sunday when he squares off against unseeded teen Gael Monfils in the final at the ATP stop in Lyon.
The American gained the final with a 6-4, 7-6(5) win over unseeded Fabrice Santoro, with Monfils defeating veteran countryman Sebastien Grosjean 6-4, 7-5.
"Nobody plays like him," said Roddick of the slicing-and-dicing two-handed Santoro, who was on the receiving end of 23 aces from the American. "It's a little different because you have to change what shots to expect. He can hit touch shots from anywhere on the court so it's a lot different than most players. He's very smart with the way he plays his points and uses his energy. He was serving and volleying a lot, which made the points shorter."
Monfils said it was difficult facing one of his childhood heroes.
"It was hard at first to play against him as I've always respected him," Monfils said. "I knew I had to be careful not to watch him play but to just play my own tennis. He was a bit more aggressive in the second set and put more pressure on, but I felt stronger physically after all the long points."
The doubles final will be Frenchmen (1) Llodra/Santoro vs. Coetzee/Wassen.
Roddick says the final against Monfils will be like looking in a mirror.
"He plays just like me," Roddick said. "He's very exciting, he'll be pumped up and angry on the court and do his whole thing. I remember the first time I was watching him at Wimbledon last year and I saw this guy serve and I said, 'Who is that?' They said, "He's No. 1 in juniors.' I'd heard his name before but I'd never seen him play. I said 'I've seen that serve before, it looks familiar...'"
Baghdatis Ousts Nalbandian to Gain ATP Basel Final
20-year-old Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis gained his career-first ATP final Saturday at Lyon with a shocking 6-2, 7-6(3) win over No. 2 seed David Nalbandian.
"I just went on court playing my game, not doing any mistakes or giving any easy points away," Baghdatis said. "For me the game is a bit like chess, you just try to solution of how to beat the other guy. That's what excites me about the game."
In the final the Cypriot will face No. 4-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez, who blitzed No. 5-seeded Dominik Hrbaty 6-0, 6-3.
For Baghdatis the challenge in the final will be not running out of gas after a week of main draw matches and the previous weekend of making it through the qualifying.
"I think I have enough energy left to win one more match," Baghdatis said of the best-of-five final. "I'll try not to get stressed, because I think it will be tough."
After the singles final, Gonzalez and Argentine Agustin Calleri, who defeated the top-seeded Bryan brothers in three sets in the semis, will take on No. 4 seeds and Wimbledon champions Huss/Moodie in the doubles final.
"I was born to be a champion," Baghdatis said. "My father wanted so much for one of his sons to be a champion. My brother also played tennis but was in a car accident at 15. So now I take his steps."
Tojo, Kiefer in ATP St. Petersburg Final
Sunday's final at the St. Petersburg Open will pit No. 2 seed Thomas Johansson (d. (8) Verdasco in three sets in the semis) against No. 5 Nicolas Kiefer (d. Vik in straight sets).
"I'm standing in front of a door now, I just have to open it," said the former Top 5-ranked Kiefer, now closing in again on the Top 20. "I don't care against who I'll be playing, I just want to win. It's going to be tough anyway. The season is almost over now and I really want to take everything out of my body and do my best during the last few days of the year."
Johansson, like Kiefer, will be shooting for his first title of the year.
"I got a good start, but unfortunately I lost my temper in the second set," Johansson said on downing the Spaniard Verdasco. "It's always nice to be in the final. The last time I played in a final was a year ago in Stockholm."
Johansson and Kiefer have split their six career meetings.
The doubles final will be (1) Bjorkman/Mirnyi vs. Austrians Knowle/Melzer.
Petrova Tries Title Jinx Breaker at WTA Linz
Russian Nadia Petrova will take her shaky 0-4 career record in finals into the WTA Linz championship Sunday against another player vying for one of the final spots at the year-end WTA Championships in Swiss Patty Schnyder.
A win by Schnyder in the final would almost guarantee her a spot in the year-end championship according to WTA calculations, while a win by Petrova would put the big-match choker label behind her, and lift her into a favored position entering the final week of regular-season play.
In the semifinals the No. 3-seeded Petrova defeated Kveta Peschke 6-3, 6-4, and the No. 4-seeded Schnyder beat No. 8 seed Ana Ivanovic 7-5, 6-2.
"I would love to win my first title here," Petrova said. "It's the end of the season and it would make me so happy if I could win, and finish the year on a high like this and play in Los Angeles in the WTA Championships. It would be great motivation for me to do even better next year."
It may be the Russian's easiest title shot thus far with Schnyder injuring her hand during her semifinal when a thrown racquet bounced back and cut her hand, requiring treatment and pain killers to finish the match.
"It was a pretty stupid thing to do, but also very unlucky," Schnyder said. "I was in a lot of pain after it happened, and I needed a pain killer and some treatment to keep playing. It's nothing severe -- I'll be fine for my match tomorrow. I just need to take care of it."
Schnyder leads the career meetings with Petrova 4-2.
Clijsters Takes 7-0 Record v Schiavone in WTA Hasselt Final
Francesca Schiavone will be at a severe disadvantage in competing for her first career title Sunday at the WTA stop in Hasselt, lining up against Kim Clijsters who is in the running to finish the year at No. 1 on the WTA Rankings.
Schiavone is 0-4 in career finals, and 0-7 career against Clijsters.
In the semifinals Clijsters pounded Russian Dinara Safina 6-0, 6-1, while the Italian Schiavone outlasted Dutch teen Michaella Krajicek 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Schiavone has lost to the eventual champion at all five of the finals she has contested, losing to Lindsay Davenport at Bali, Filderstadt and Zurich, to Clijsters at Luxembourg and to Mary Pierce at Moscow.
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