IDEA PROKOM OPEN
SOPOT August 3, 2003
Coria Matches Muster Record (節錄)
Argentine wins third consecutive tournament without dropping a set!
Argentine Guillermo Coria became the first player in seven seasons to win
three ATP titles in three consecutive weeks when he defeated Spaniard
David Ferrer 7-5, 6-1 to win the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot. Coria has won 15
straight matches without dropping a set, equaling the record 2003 season
winning streak set by Roger Federer.
Coria's three titles in three weeks (Stuttgart, Kitzbuhel, Sopot) matches
a feat last achieved by Thomas Muster in 1996 (Estoril, Barcelona, Monte
Carlo). Coria has now captured four titles in 2003, also winning Tennis
Masters Hamburg. He is third in the ATP Champions Race and is on track to
qualify for Tennis Masters Cup Houston for the first time.
Coria now holds a 38-5 record on clay. While winning 32
straight sets, he only lost a total of 67 games in three weeks (19 in
Stuttgart, 23 in Kitzbuhel, 25 in Sopot). In addition to his title runs in
2003, Coria reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at Roland Garros (l to
Verkerk) and the finals of Tennis Masters Monte Carlo (l to Ferrero) and
Buenos Aires (l to Moya).
The last Argentine player to win four titles in a year was Martin Jaite
in 1989 (Stuttgart, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Itaparica).
In Sunday's final, Coria raced to a 4-0 lead and had a break point to
make it 5-0. Ferrer held serve for the first time to make it 4-1. At 5-2,
Ferrer broke Coria's serve and won the next three games to make it 5-5. The
Argentine then broke back and held serve to take the first set 7-5. Coria
began the second set by immediately breaking Ferrer's serve.
Playing at the Idea Prokom Open for the first time, Coria scored
victories over Victor Hanescu, Christophe Rochus, Olivier Mutis in the
quarterfinals and Luis Horna in the semifinals before defeating Ferrer in
the final.
Ferrer, a 21-year-old from Valencia, Spain was competing at the Idea
Prokom Open for the second time having lost in the first round to Christophe
Rochus in 2002. En route to the final this year he defeated qualifier Bohdan
Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in the first round, upset No. 4 seed
David Nalbandian from Argentina in the second round before defeating Sweden's
Andreas Vinciguerra in the quarterfinals and countryman Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo
in the semifinals.
Prior to competing at the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, the Spaniard made
two other quarterfinal appearances in 2003 in Auckland (l to Hrbaty) and in
Umag (l to Moya). He is now 17-20 on the year.
The Spaniard burst onto the scene during the 2002 season, reaching the
final in just his second ATP event (Umag) and winning a title in his fourth
ATP outing (Bucharest). He also picked up four Challenger titles and surged
more than 150 places to finish No. 59 in the ATP Entry Ranking, earning a
career-high $137,051 for the season.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Coria:"I'm really glad that I managed to win the third title
in a row. I thought it would be easier to beat Ferrer, but I had to give my
best, especially in the first set. In the beginning he made many mistakes,
but just when I started to feel confident he started to relax and play much
better. When he managed to score from 1-5 to 5-5, I still knew that I was
going to win the match. I tried to force Ferrer to play my tennis."
Ferrer: "I was playing against one of two best clay court
players in the world. It seems to me that what the people saw on centre court
was a nice show and the crowd liked it a lot. Maybe I feel a little
disappointed about the score, but on the other hand, Guillermo is
unbelievably patient and consistent player. My fitness and physical shape
were my problems. He was just faster and stronger than I was. Anyway, I'm
proud and glad to get to the final here. I will come back to Sopot next year."
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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 218.162.62.247
※ 編輯: andalucia 來自: 218.162.62.247 (08/04 22:49)