ABN AMRO WORLD TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Rotterdam
FEBRUARY 19, 2004
Henman & Federer to Meet in Rotteredam QF Blockbuster
Roger Federer claimed a career-best 16th consecutive match victory at the ABN A
MRO World Tennis Tournament on Thursday when he defeated Andrei Pavel 7-6(2), 7
-5 to set up a blockbuster quarterfinal showdown with Tim Henman. Federer eclip
sed his previous 15-match winning streak set in 2003 (Halle, Wimbledon and the
Gstaad final). His current streak began with his unbeaten run to the Tennis Mas
ters Cup title in Houston last year.
Henman, who defeated Federer en route to the BNP Paribas Masters title in Paris
at the end of last season, won his eighth consecutive indoor match with a 6-2,
6-4 win over Czech qualifier Tomas Cakl. Henman improved to 16-6 in Rotterdam
and is now looking to reach the semifinals for the sixth time in seven years.
Sixth seed Lleyton Hewitt disposed of Sweden's Thomas Johansson in a tight 7-6
(6), 7-6 (3) battle to move on to a quarterfinal match-up with third seed, Germ
an Rainer Schuettler. Hewitt has won 11 of his 12 matches this season, losing o
nly to Federer in the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
Finland's Jarkko Nieminen overpowered Albert Costa 6-2, 6-1, denying the Spania
rd a quarterfinal berth. Nieminen moves on to a first meeting with defending ch
ampion Max Mirnyi.
Mirnyi outlasted Russian hopeful Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(3), 7-6(1). Mirnyi will
attempt to become the fourth player to win back-to-back Rotterdam championships
(Nicolas Escude, Stefan Edberg, and Arthur Ashe).
Dutchman Raemon Sluiter defeated fellow Dutchman and seventh seed Sjeng Schalke
n 6-3, 6-4. This win matches Sluiter's best tournament result of 2004, as the D
utch player reached the quarters in Auckland a month ago, losing to Jiri Novak.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Ferrero: “I didn’t play my best tennis today but I’m winning matches and I’
m in the quarterfinals. It’s not easy to play on an indoor court and to play D
utch players in front of their home crowd three times in a row.
“He [Van Lottum] was very motivated playing in front of his crowd and he playe
d a great match. I didn’t expect [a scoreline] like this, but sometimes it hap
pens.”
Henman: “It’s certainly always good when you win. It’s a pleasing win; I did
n’t feel too confident and I was struggling a bit with my timing. I think gett
ing off to such a good start was positive for me. It’s a good sign when you wi
n 6-2, 6-4 and feeling that you can play a lot better.”
About playing Federer in the quarterfinals
“It’s probably the toughest challenge in tennis right now because he hasn’t
lost any matches for a considerable amount of time. If you look at the events h
e has won, they don’t get any bigger that the Masters Cup and the Slams. It’s
always fun to play Roger when he is on the top of the game.”
Nieminen: “I think I changed tempo very well today and I played very well on a
ll the important points. The first games were very tight and I almost won all o
f them. I was relaxed when leading 5-1 in the first set and then it was easy to
continue.”
“I feel very good on the court at the moment. I feel very confident and I’m l
ooking forward to tomorrow.”
Hewitt: “It was a tough match. I probably played the bigger points a little bi
t better at times. He played extremely well for not having played a lot of matc
hes lately. He is a class player and knows how to play the big points well.”
“I didn’t take it easy out there today; it was kind of a dog fight out there.
I sort of went up a notch when I needed to in the tie-break and on the big poi
nts.”
Mirnyi: “We were very even until the second set tie-break. I maintained the mo
mentum and I’m happy to win today. I’m dictating play and I believe in my gam
e and my ability.”
“This is where I won my first title and it is certainly one of my favourite to
urnaments. I like the surroundings, the spectators and the speed of the court.ꄊꠊFederer: “I had chances to win easier today but in the end all that counts for
me is the win. I was not as happy with my game like yesterday or other days
but the most important is that I win those matches too.”
“I gave the chance to get into the match and he took it. He got the rhythm and
started to serve better; that made the match much tougher than it could have
been.”
“The thing I did well today I thought was when it got important I could raise
my game and it’s got a lot to do with my confidence. To close it out with a
good game was a nice finish.”
About playing Henman
“I’ve got a very bad record against him. I lost five and won once; the one
time I won he gave up after a set so he’s really the last guy who beat me in
an official tournament in Paris Bercy. I hope he didn’t start the streak
[winning streak of 16 matches] and is going to end it. We’ll see what happens
but I’m looking forward to this match because it’s always interesting to play
him.”
Sluiter: “Sjeng did not start very well. I was very confident with my own game
. When I play another Dutch guy I don’t show my emotions out of respect for my
opponent. We all go along very well and we really hope for each other to play
his best tennis. On the other hand, of course I was very happy to win this matc
h. This is a very important victory for me.”
Schalken: “I did not play well. This was not a nice evening of tennis for me.
Almost every ball went out and I could not concentrate.”
“This tournament will still be on my wish list of possible events to win. One
year I hope that I can play my best tennis here and see what can happen then.”
QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW
Roger Federer and Tim Henman both take impressive winning streaks into their qu
arterfinal match. Federer is riding a career-best 16-match winning streak datin
g back to his Tennis Masters Cup Houston victory last November. Henman has won
his past eight indoor matches, dating back to his triumph in his final outing o
f the 2003 season at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
Lleyton Hewitt also brings some impressive numbers to the table in his quarterf
inal match against German Rainer Schuettler. Hewitt is 11-1 on the year; his on
ly loss coming against Federer in the fourth round of the Australian Open. In c
ontrast, Schuettler endured a horror 0-3 start to the season before Rotterdam a
fter finishing the 2003 season at a career-best No. 6 in the INDESIT ATP Entry
Ranking.
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It's nice to be important but it's more impotant to be nice"
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