Clement Keeps French Hopes Alive; Bjorkman Makes Another Marseille Run
Slovak Dominik Hrbaty ousted fourth-seed Max Mirnyi, 6-3, 7-6(10), en route
to his third semifinal appearance of the year. Hrbaty boosts his singles
record to 15-2 and looks to capture his third tournament in 2004 following
victories at Adelaide and Auckland. The Slovak will play Swede Jonas Bjorkman
in the semifinals.
Robin Soderling expelled fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez in the pair’s first
meeting, 7-6(5), 6-3. Soderling, who is 57th in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking
but will likely break his career-high of 53 next week, faces seventh-seeded
Arnaud Clement in the semis. The two have never played before.
Marseille’s last remaining seed, Frenchman Arnaud Clement, outplayed
Spaniard Alberto Martin in the quarters, 6-3, 6-2. Clement’s match versus
Robin Soderling will be his first semifinal appearance of the year, following
a quarterfinal appearance at Sydney.
Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman defeated Switzerland’s Marc Rosset, 7-5, 6-3, in the
pair’s first meeting since 1996 in Halle, Germany. Bjorkman’s win ended
Rosset’s hopes to win Marseille a fourth time after winning in 1993, 1994
and 2000. Bjorkman now faces Slovak Dominik Hrbaty in the semifinals, the
Slovak leads their rivalry 2-1, but lost to Bjorkman last year in Marseille.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Soderling: "It was a strange kind of first set, he played better than me and
I was very lucky to win it. Then in the second he got the break and from 0-3
down I started to play a lot better, served better and did not miss that
much. I was more waiting for him to make the mistake, and I think that was
the key actually. I should have done it from the beginning."
Was Joachim Johansson's win in Memphis an inspiration for him? "Maybe not
for me but I think it is very good for Swedish tennis because it hasn't been
not very popular the last four-five years and now it's almost every day
always in the news, in the newspapers and TV. I hope this could help young
kids to start to play tennis again and we can have the same good players as
when we had Wilander and Edberg and those guys playing."
Clement: "This is a tournament I would like to win before the end of my
career. I played a final here in 1999 but it seems like a long time ago. I'm
very happy to be through to the semifinals, in Marseille, on this court,
playing good tennis, I only have reasons to be happy so far this week."c
"The score was 6-3 and 6-2 but it does not reflect the closeness of the
match. In the first set he had more chances than I did, I converted my only
break point and he had four or five which I saved. After the first set, I
felt I was the better player."
"I don't know Soderling very well, I saw him play a few games against Scud
(Nicolas Escude) at the Australian Open. I need to call Scud because he won
in straight sets there."
Bjorkman: "I started slow today. It was a lot warmer on Centre Court and I
did not feel the same contact with the ball as I didlast night and did not
extrenmely well last night so it's always hard to come back and play at the
same level. Marc came up strong and I had to fight my way back into the
match."
"It felt good. I'm very pleased with the win. I played well here last year
and hopefully I can continue to do even better this year."
Hrbaty: On his early season success "I like to play in Australia because of
the surface they have. Pretty solid, high bounces. And I always practice very
hard before the start of the season so maybe that's why I always play well
and have good results there. I came to Marseille and I knew I had two
quarterfinals here before and when you come to a tournament like this you
know you can make it again. I am happy to be playing well this week."
Comparing his game now to when he was No. 12 in the world "I have improved my
serve, I try to place it well rather than hit aces. Also I am more consistent
from the back of the court, I don't go for winners all the time like I used
to."
SEMIFINAL MATCHES
Seventh seed and French favourite, Arnaud Clement, and Swede Robin Sodering
will meet in Saturday’s opening semifinal. The two have never faced each
other before, and the Frechman is looking to win his first title in Marseille, having captured ATP titles in the French cities of Lyon (2000) and Metz (2003).
Clement is 12-1 in his last three tournaments on home soil. Clement’s best
result at Open 13 came in 1999 when he lost in the finals to Fabrice Santoro
of France, 3-6, 6-4, 4-6. Clement’s record improves to 8-4 on the year, and
the Frenchman looks to reach his first tournament final of 2004. Soderling is
looking to win his first career title -- his best result in an ATP tournament
came in 2003 at Stockholm when he lost to American Mardy Fish in a three-set
final.
In the day's second semifinal, Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman is looking to book a
place in the Marseille final for the second consecutive year. Last year in
Marseille, Bjorkman scored a lucky break when Nicolas Escude had to withdraw
from their semifinal match due to injury, but this year Bjorkman will face a
tough test in Dominik Hrbaty.
Hrbaty has won two ATP titles to start the 2004 and is 7th in the INDESIT ATP
2004 Race. Bjorkman defeated Hrbaty in the quarterfinals last year.
http://www.atptennis.com/en/newsandscores/news/2004/marseille_friday.asp
--
無媚有清苦。
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 210.203.51.23