Gonzalez, Henman Bounce U.S. Stars
Chilean stuns Agassi, Brit knocks off Roddick in pair of third-set tiebreak
thrillers.
The fireworks were flying in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C. on Saturday,
and by the time the dust settled at the semifinals of the Legg Mason Tennis
Classic, American powerhouses Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick had been impeached
out of the draw by Chile's Fernando Gonzalez and Great Britain's Tim Henman,
respectively, in classic thrillers that were both decided by third-set
tiebreaks.
The ball-smashing Gonzalez, seeded fourth, earned a win that he called his
best ever by rebounding from a set-and-a-break deficit, climbing back from 0-2
in the second to defeat top seed and World No. 1 Agassi by the final scores of
3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). After surrendering a 4-2 lead in the third set by being
broken for 5-4, Gonzalez clinched the win in the third-set tiebreak by crushing
two backhand winners. Afterwards, Gonzalez called the win the best
of his career; indeed, it moves him into his first final of 2003 and his first
career hardcourt final - all three of his career titles (2000 Orlando, 2002
Vina del Mar & Palermo) have come on clay. Agassi failed in his bid to win a
record sixth Washington title, and dropped his his 2003 hardcourt record to
21-2.
British favorite son Henman the 10th seed, stunned No. 2-seeded Roddick, 1-6,
6-3, 7-6(1), saving a match point at 4-5 in the third set. The 20-year-old
American opened the decisive third-set tiebreak with an ace, but the Brit
rolled to the next seven points as Roddick committed a string of errors off
the ground. Leading up to the tiebreak, Roddick had lost just five points on
his serve in the entire third set.
For Henman, the win represents a major breakthrough on his road back
from shoulder surgery last November. He missed the Australian Open to
begin 2003 - the first Grand Slam he did not play in since Roland Garros in
1995 - and proceeded to lose six of his first eight matches of the season.
He rediscovered his form on the British grass, however, reaching the
semifinals at Queen's Club in London and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon
(losing to Sebastien Grosjean on both occasions), but this week represents
his first ATP final since the 2002 Pacific Life Open at Indian Wells.
Roddick, 2001 champion in Washington, failed in his bid to capture his fourth
title in his last six starts (after winning in St. Poelten, London/Queen's
and Indianapolis), and dropped his record since beginning to work with coach
Brad Gilbert to a still-outstanding 18-2.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Gonzalez: "When I came to the net after, and we shook hands, I said to
Andre, 'This is a dream come true for me.' I don’t know why I said it, but
it’s really what I thought."
"Andre gives you too much pressure. When you miss the first serve, he goes in
and attacks you. He doesn’t let you play so sometimes you have to change and
make him play where he doesn’t like to play. So I try to make him come to
the net and do different things."
On whether this is the biggest win of his career: "I think it is.
This one and the one where I beat Sampras. I really enjoy this moment,
because I grew up watching Agassi and Sampras. I was happy just to be on the
court with Andre and now I beat him so I'm double-happy.
On double-faulting on his first match point in the third set, 5-3 40-30: "Of
course I was nervous but I want to go for my shots. I don’t want to let him
go for his, that’s why I served very fast for the second serve."
Henman: "It was a great match to play. I didn’t make the best of starts, and
against someone of Andy’s style, it’s really important that you just
concentrate on your own serve. I made a few unforced errors and he was hitting
the ball heavily from the baseline. Having said that, I lost the first set and
I wasn’t unduly concerned but I knew I had to dig my heels in and raise my
game in the second set and that’s pretty much what I did.... Against Andy,
the harder you serve, the better he returns. My serving was definitely the
best it’s been all week. But also I used a lot of variety to make sure he
wasn’t getting a rhythm."
"From pretty early on in the third set, I thought we were looking at a
tie-break. And once I got there, I did feel pretty relaxed and I didn’t feel
like I had anything to lose at that stage. Andy decided to play aggressive
and I said to myself if I get an opportunity, I’m coming in. I’m going to
make him hit some passes. Forced him to miss a shot. But again, serving, I
think I hit only first serves in the tie-break and played a faultless
tie-break. He aced me on the first point and I won the next seven."
On his recovery from shoulder surgery: "Things have changed. I’ve
had a difficult 12 months with injury and now I feel healthy again, I feel
ready to pick up from where I left off, before I was hurt."
Agassi: "I didn’t run out of gas. He came up with the big shots at the very
end. I’d had the match under my control and the game he broke back in the
second, he played three drop shots, two of which were off second serve. I’d
hate to go sleep at night counting on that shot, but he played them really
well and I have to give him credit. He got back into the set and he played a
great game to break me for the set."
"I thought I had a lot of opportunities in the third. I felt like I was close
to breaking the match open. But with him, the match can turn around so
quickly, because he plays some of the most low-percentage shots and you're
convinced he’s going to miss, then all of a sudden he makes a few at the
wrong time and you’re in trouble. I was lucky to get back into the match
there, played a good game, worked hard and had chances at 5-5 but just
couldn’t put it away."
On the steamy conditions: "The humidity tonight, you kind of expect
that. I went through seven shirts out there and 12 wristbands. (If I’d won
tonight) I would have had a hard time getting my laundry done in time for
the final."
On the Gonzalez-vs-Henman final: "I think Tim has a good game for him, but
Gonzalez has a game which if he’s on, he’s going to give a hard time to
anybody."
Roddick: On the third-set tie-break: "He came out big. He hit a huge forehand
on the second point. He just played flawless tennis. He got around my second
serves and was able to come in on it, which he hadn’t really done the whole
match. He hit the ball big and he played the service points well. He played a
very, very clean tie-breaker."
On his match point against Henman: "He gave me an absolute gift to get to
match point. It wasn’t great return but it was decent return. I got it into
play. He hit a pretty good volley. I didn’t really have much of a look at a
pass. I was half a step away from giving that passing shot a serious look.
But credit to him to be able to hit a volley like that, matchpoint down."
"I’m not too discouraged. I still know I’m playing great tennis and going in
the right direction."
FINAL PREVIEW
**Henman Fast Facts**
Tournament Highlights: This is Henman's second appearance in Washington.
In 1999, he reached the Round of 16, falling to Jan Kroslak. En route to the
final, he defeated American Paul Goldstein in the second round, Nikolay
Davydenko in the third, No. 3 seed Paradorn Srichaphan in the quarterfinals
and No. 2 seed Andy Roddick in the semifinals, saving a match point in the
third set.
2003 In Review: This is Henman's first final of the year. The 28-year-old
Briton reached the semifinals at the Queen's Club in London (l to Grosjean)
and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, once again falling to Sebastien Grosjean.
Has a 17-10 record for the year. Missed the Australian Open while recovering
from shoulder surgery.
Miscellaneous: Has won nine career ATP titles. He won his last title last year
in Adelaide. Henman has reached the Wimbledon semifinals four times. Last year
, he finished in the Top 10 for the fourth time in five years, but underwent
arthroscopic shoulder surgery in London on Nov. 14
**Gonzalez Fast Facts**
Tournament Highlights: The 23-year-old Chilean is playing here for the fourth
time. Last year, he fell to Guillermo Coria in the second round. This is the
first year he's advanced past the second round. En route to the final, he
defeated Julien Benneteau, Mario Ancic, Max Mirnyi in the quarterfinals and
top seed Andre Agassi in the semifinals.
2003 In Review: This is his first final of the year. He reached the
semifinals in Stuttgart last month, falling to Robredo. He also reached the
quarterfinals at Roland Garros, TMS Hamburg, Estoril and Acapulco. He was
instrumental in helping Chile win the World Team Championship in Dusseldorf,
winning all four of his singles matches.
Miscellaneous: Gonzalez blazed into the spotlight last year, winning titles
in Vina del Mar and Palermo, reaching the final in Basel and the semifinals
at the Tennis Masters Series event in Cincinnati. Last year, the No. 1 Chilean
jumped 118 positions in the ATP Champions Race. He ended the year with an
Entry Ranking of 18 and in 17th place of the ATP Champions Race.
DOUBLES FINAL PREVIEW
Sunday's doubles final at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic will be a battle of
first-time pairings: Chris Haggard and Paul Hanley against Yevgeny Kafelnikov
and Sargis Sargsian. South African Haggard and Australian Hanley has proved
successful this week in Washington, as well as a bit lucky - advancing to the
final when American star Andy Roddick (partnered with Brian Vahaly) withdrew
following his singles semifinal loss to Tim Henman. Hanley, the No. 15-ranked
doubles player, has won three titles this year - Sydney with former partner
Nathan Hanley, along with Rotterdam and TMS-Rome with Wayne Arthurs. Haggard
has reached three finals with as many partners, winning Adelaide with Jeff
Coetzee and losing finals at Barcelona with Robbie Koenig and Amersfoort with
Andre Sa.
Russian star Kafelnikov and Armenia's Sargsian notched a big win for their
first-ever match as a pair this week, a first-round upset of No. 2 seeds
Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett. In addition to winning two Grand Slams and
achieving the World No. 1 ranking in singles, Kafelnikov has been one of the
most successful doubles players of the last decade, winning 26 doubles titles
including four Grand Slam and six Tennis Masters Series doubles wins. This
year he won the TMS-Indian Wells doubles event with Wayne Ferreira, and
reached finals at Roland Garros (w/Haarhuis) and Stuttgart (w/Ullyett).
Sargsian reached his third career doubles final earlier this year at St.
Poelten, teaming with Nenad Zimonjic (l. to Aspelin/Bertolini), but is still
in search of a first career doubles title.
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