Wins quarterfinal nearly 24 hours after starting the match against Roger
Federer.
Albert Costa joins countryman Carlos Moya in the semifinals of the NASDAQ-100
Open.
In a match that started after 2pm on Thursday and finished at 12:30pm on
Friday afternoon, Albert Costa, the reigning champion at Roland Garros,
downed Swiss star Roger Federer in a match interrupted by rain Thursday
evening.
The two had battled under cloudy skies throughout the afternoon on Thursday.
Costa won the first set in a tiebreak, but Federer evened the match at one
set all. After the players traded service holds, Federer broke to go up 5-4
and then found himself at match point on two occasions.
But Federer netted a forehand and saw Costa hit a sizzling return on the
other point, as Costa broke back. As the skies grew darker, rain started
to fall.
Play continued under a light rain until Chair Umpire Norm Chryst made the
decision that the court was not suitable for play.
The score was one-set all, 5-6, deuce with Federer serving. "It was really
slippery, ten seconds later it was raining hard. So it was a good decision,
" said Costa.
When the players came back out on Friday at noon, both had warmed up
extensively on Stadium Court. Costa came out firing, but missed a
hard-hit forehand. Federer then aced Costa to force the tiebreak.
"In the morning before the match there's not much you can do, all you
can do is warm yourself up as best as possible and just hope," said
Federer. "I was able to get it to the tiebreak pretty easily."
No player was up by more than two points at any time during the tiebreak.
Federer went up 6-5 on serve, but Costa fought off the match point in a
long rally.
After Costa lost his first match point at 7-6 on Federer's serve, he
clinched it when Federer hit an approach in the net.
"I didn't think my ball was so good -- I made like a little dropshot.
It wasn't so good," said Costa of match point. "We are nervous and I
made like this and Roger tried to hit it down the line and he hit it
in the net. You ever know. Maybe he hits the net and it goes over.
Today it was like heads or tails."
WIth the win Costa joined countryman Carlos Moya in the semifinals,
the first time two Spaniards have made the semifinals here in the
tournaments 19-year history. No Spanish player has ever won this event,
although Sergi Bruguera reached the final in 1997, losing to Thomas Muster.
Costa has proven before that he can play on hard courts. In 1997, he reached t
he quarterfinals of the Australian Open (l. to Sampras) and had his best
previous result on a hard court Tennis Masters Series event, reaching the
semifinals in Cincinnati. He has also reached the quarterfinals indoors at
the BNP Paribas Masters in 2000.
More recently, Costa qualified for the year-end 2002 Tennis Masters Cup
Shanghai, notching a win over Marat Safin and nearly qualifying for the
semifinal.
In Miami, Costa has been hitting the ball with more power and precision
on hard court then he has in a while and he is unafraid to approach the
net and finish off the point in an attacking manner.
He next plays Andre Agassi, against whom he is just 1-3.
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