Coria Retirement Puts Djokovic in ATP Amersfoort FinalPosted on July 23, 2006 Third-seeded Novak Djokovic will contest his first ATP-level final against No. 4 seed Nicolas Massu in the Mercedes Cup final on Sunday.
Djokovic advanced when his semifinal opponent, top-seeded Guillermo Coria, retired with a right shoulder injury, while trailing the Serbian 6-2, 1-0. Meanwhile, Massu overcame Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo of Spain, 6-1, 6-3 for a place in his fourth clay-court final of the season. While double Olympic gold medallist Massu captured his sixth career title at Costa do Sauipe (d. A. Martin) in February and was also a runner-up in Vina del Mar (l. to Acasuso) and Casablanca (l to. Bracciali), Djokovic has been making progress up the INDESIT ATP Rankings. Having started the year at No. 78, the 19-year-old is now No. 36 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings on the back of reaching the Zagreb semifinals and quarterfinals at Roland Garros and Rotterdam. Djokovic holds a 23-11-match record in 2006. In his first championship match, Djokovic will take on Massu, currently No. 37 in the INDESIT ATP Rankings, for the first time. Massu, who beat Raemon Sluiter for the 2003 Amersfoort title, holds a 32-17-season record. On Sunday the 26-year-old will look to earn his seventh career title in his 14th final. -- ATP |
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