ARAG ATP WORLD TEAM CUP, MAY 20, 2003
Aussies Sweep Americans
Spain-Czech Republic tie hangs in the balance
Jiri Novak saved three match points to defeat Carlos Moya and set up a
thrilling climax to the Czech Republic-Spain tie at the ARAG ATP World
Team Championship in D餷seldorf. The tie will be decided Wednesday morning
by the doubles rubber, which was postponed due to fading light on Tuesday.
Novak, who also saved one match point to defeat Moya when they last met at
Tennis Masters Madrid last October, defeated Moya 4-6, 7-6(5) 6-2. The Czech
saved two match points at 5-6, 15-40 in the second set and then another
later in the same game.
Earlier in the day Alex Corretja gave Spain a 1-0 lead when he defeated
Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-4. Corretja claimed just his third win of the clay swing.
Australia surged to an unbeatable 2-0 lead over the USA when big-serving
Wayne Arthurs defeated Todd Martin 7-6(4), 7-5. Lleyton Hewitt had earlier
defeated James Blake 6-3, 6-3 to claim his second win of the tournament, and
his fifth straight win against Blake. Australia completed a 3-0 whitewash when
Arthurs and Wimbledon junior champion Todd Reid defeated Mardy Fish and
Graydon Oliver 6-4, 6-2.
Earlier on day three, Chile claimed a 2-1 victory in their tie with Germany
when Fernando Gonzalez and Nicolas Massu defeated Michael Kohlmann and Rainer
Schuettler 1-6, 6-2, 6-0.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Lleyton Hewitt: "I was glad that my match ended before the rain started. Due
to the weather conditions, the balls are heavy and the court is rather slow.
However, all players have to deal with it. I was happy with my game and played
even a notch better than against Jiri Novak. I was moving well and played
different shots. Today you could tell that playing on clay courts requires
patience and I had more patience than James."
James Blake: "I am really disappointed because I can play much better. I have
to learn to get a grip on my problem, which is patience. Lleyton obviously had
more patience; he also has more experience and is a top player, which is not
an excuse for my loss. I hope to play better in the next match, because I
really want to win a point for the US team."
Todd Martin: "As close as the match was, Wayne outplayed me fairly
significantly throughout the match. He had tons of break points. He
controlled his service games very well, which he always does. I had my
chances. I fought really hard throughout the first set, got to the point
where I was up 2-0 and have this pretty easy shot to go up two breaks. I
played a couple of loose points there and I掭 in the dogfight. Missed an
easy volley at 4-all. I felt like I almost won the set, but I lost the
tie-breaker."
Carlos Moya: "In the third set, I was dwelling on the three match points for
too long and he also played very well."
Fernando Gonzalez: "That was a crazy match. We clearly lost the first set and
then won the two following sets safely. At first I had problems with my serve
on this slow court, but then I improved from game to game. We also started to
team better. I thought that today Rainer did not play very well."
Nicolas Massu: "We had neither practiced nor played many doubles before,
therefore we had some problems during the first set. During the initial phase
Michael Kohlmann played very well; you could tell that he is a doubles player.
Although we have won, we don't want to look too far ahead. We are
concentrating on Argentina tomorrow."
Rainer Schuettler: "At the beginning of the second set we gave away some
important points and we had a chance for a break. Unfortunately we did not
succeed. In the third set of the match it was the same situation. We could
not get into our game. Both Chileans played very well from the baseline; they
had better returns and passing shots."
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說起來，20年，也差不多是法國人再度獲勝的好時機哪…
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