Robredo v Stepanek in Unlikely Hamburg Final; Hingis in Rome Final

Posted on May 21, 2006

Haas Pull Leaves Germans Hurting at ATP World Team Cup

Some last-minute changes at this week's ATP World Team Cup in Dusseldorf see James Blake joining the American team in place of Robby Ginepri, joining Andy Roddick, and the Germany's chances to defend their title taking a hit when Tommy Haas withdrew due to allergies.

This year's WTC features six of the Top 10 on the ATP Rankings, with teams in addition to the U.S. including Germany (Nicolas Kiefer, Philipp Kohlschreiber), the Czech Republic (Radek Stepanek, Tomas Berdych), Argentina (David Nalbandian, Gaston Gaudio), Chile (Fernando Gonzalez, Nicolas Massu), Croatia (Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic), Spain (David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco), and Italy (Filippo Volandri, Davide Sanguinetti).

Each round consists of two singles and one doubles match, with the top country from each round robin group advancing to the final. The Blue Group consists of the USA, Croatia, Chile and Spain, while the Red Group contains of Argentina, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy.

Sunday's opening matches will feature Germany vs. Italy in Kiefer vs. Volandri and Kohlschreiber vs. Sanguinetti, with the doubles to be announced, and Chile vs. Spain with Massu vs. Verdasco and Gonzalez vs. Ferrer, doubles to be announced.

Robredo, Stepanek in Unlikely Hamburg Final

While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal take a vacation week, the "B"-level claycourters are taking advantage of Masters Series points up for grabs, with No. 12-ranked Tommy Robredo and No. 16-ranked Radek Stepanek advancing Saturday to the Hamburg final.

Stepanek defeated unseeded Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-4, 7-6(5) to gain the final and enough points to crack the Top 10 for the first time, while Robredo edged Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic 7-5, 6-4.

"It's very difficult to read his serve," said Acasuso of the unpredictable Stepanek. "And he mixes up his game, like he plays drop shots and slow balls, he never plays two balls the same way."

Ancic rued his conservative play in the two sets against Robredo that went over two hours.

"I think he took his chances and I didn't," said Ancic of the Spaniard. "That's the story when No. 12 and No. 13 in the world play in such a big match. It comes down to these couple of points. I don't think I played anything bad. I just think he made some great passings."

Robredo has beaten Stepanek in all three of their career meetings, most recently this year at Barcelona.

The doubles final will see No. 3 seeds Knowles/Nestor, who upset the to-seeded Bryan brother in a match tiebreak in the semis, against No. 4 Hanley/Ullyett who defeated No. 5 Santoro/Zimonjic Saturday in straight sets.

Hingis Sights 1st Title in WTA Rome Final

Martina Hingis is one win away from the first title of her 2006 comeback after Saturday in Rome besting Venus Williams in a choke-fest from both players during a tension-filled 21st career meeting between the two former No. 1s.

Hingis came out flat and found herself down 0-6 before finding her range to win the second set and see Williams collapse in a heap of unforced errors in the third, logging an 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 win.

"In the first set I felt like I could cry -- I was missing my shots by a little bit and my timing was out," Hingis said after raising her career mark to 11-10 against the American. "It's amazing that I played Venus in the semifinals again eight years later -- I'm just trying to enjoy it."

After beating Kim Clijsters and Elena Dementieva, Russian Dinara Safina continued her streak Saturday with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova to set up a meeting with Hingis.

"I played her already once this year and I came out of that well, so I'm hopeful," Hingis said. "I just want to play a good match."

It is the first final of the year for Safina, oft-criticized for failing to maintain a high training regimen, especially by brother Marat Safin.

"In the second set I just said to myself 'Play it point by point' and in the end it went my way today," Safina said. "I actually didn't expect it. When I saw the draw I knew it would be tough but I've had some good results, first Clijsters, I'd never beaten her before, then Dementieva and now Svetlana. It's a dream come true."

The doubles final will feature (4) Hantuchova/Sugiyama (d. (2) Black/Stubbs in the semis, bagel in the second set) vs. (8) Peschke/Schiavone (d. (5) Medina Garrigues/Srebotnik).

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