※ [本文轉錄自 Tennis 看板]
作者: DavisCup (DC) 看板: Tennis
標題: [情報] Ljubicic, Escude Reach Final
時間: Sat Jan 10 19:08:55 2004
http://www.atptennis.com/en/newsandscores/news/2004/doha_friday.asp
DOHA-QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN
JANUARY 9, 2004
Ljubicic, Escude Reach Final
Ivan Ljubicic won a crucial third-set tie-break to defeat No. 7 seed Tim Henman
and advance to the final of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open. Ljubicic stopped Henman
from reaching the final for the third time in Doha and broke the Briton's nine-
match win streak. It was their third meeting. Both of their previous meetings
took place in Rotterdam, with Henman winning the first match in the semifinal
in 2002 and Ljubicic gaining his revenge in the first round 12 months later.
The 24-year-old from Croatia reached four semifinals in 2003 in Milan, Dubai,
Bangkok and Basel before finishing the year at No. 41 in the ATP Champions
Race.
Henman served for the first set at 6-5, but got broken back and lost the tie-
break. Henman ws 5-2 up in the third-set tie-break, then lost five points in
a row and the match.
Back from injury, French wild card Nicolas Escude also secured a place in the
final by defeating Agustin Calleri in straight sets. Playing in his first
tournament since Wimbledon, Escude is starting the 2004 season strong after
battling with a hip injury.
In the doubles final, Martin Damm and Cyril Suk defeated wild cards Andy
Roddick and Stefan Koubek, winning their second consecutive doubles title in
Doha. Roddick and Koubek were playing together for the first time. Damm and
Suk last year won titles in 's-Hertogenbosch and Kitzbuehel as a team.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Henman: "It’s a tough match to lose. We both played a lot of good tennis and I
had some good chances."
"When you play someone who is serving that well you have to take all your
chances."
"It’s a disappointing loss, but there is a lot of positive to take away from
this to the practice court."
Ljubicic: "I didn’t feel that I was playing as well as I did yesterday. Tim
is a different player coming in on everything."
"I have to be honest, I didn’t feel like the better player but one player has
to win."
"He doesn’t give you any time to prepare your shots. Tomorrow I have a similar
match. It’s perfect preparation for tomorrow."
"I’m happy, it’s my second career final. It’s a beautiful feeling."
Calleri: "I played bad today. I served bad and he played well. He also served
and volleyed very well. I was a little bit nervous, that was my problem. I
couldn’t move my legs."
"It’s the first week of the year and I reached the semifianals. I’m happoy to
start so good."
Escude: "I feel pretty good. It’s the first tournament of the year and after
six months without competition. It’s a perfect week
I’m in the final and I will try to win it."
Damm: "We’re happy to defend the title in such a good field. We played really
well, we didn’t drop a set and played great all week. It couldn’t be any
better."
Suk It feels good. Especially after the fall where we just couldn’t finish off
the matches. It’s a great motivation to start the year like this, especially
at my age."
FINAL PREVIEW
In Saturday's final at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday, French wild card
Nicolas Escude meets Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic for the third time in their
careers. The Frenchman has won both previous meetings, in Moscow in 2002 on
carpet and in Rotterdam in 2001 on hard courts. Escude has never dropped a
set during his victories over the Croat.
Escude is playing his first tournament since recovering from a hip injury that
had ruled him out of action since Wimbledon. This will be his sixth career ATP
final (3-2).
Escude is playing in Doha for the third time. He reached the semifinals in 2001
, falling to Bohdan Ulihrach 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(9).
Ljubicic will be playing his second ATP final. He won his first career title in
Lyon in 2001. Last year, he reached the semifinals at four events in Milan,
Dubai, Bangkok and Basel. He also reached the quarterfinals in TMS Roma,
allowing him to end the year No. 41 in the ATP Champions Race.
The winner of the tournament will be the first leader of the ATP Champions Race
2004.
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Escude 加油 ^^
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