FRANKLIN TEMPLETON TENNIS CLASSIC
Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.A.
MARCH 7, 2004
Spadea Breaks Through For First Title in 223rd ATP Event
No. 4 seed Vincent Spadea outlasted No. 7 seed Nicolas Kiefer 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3
in two hours and 44 minutes to capture his first career ATP title. It was the
longest final on the ATP circuit this season. Spadea, playing in his 223rd care
er ATP level tournament, was appearing in his third overall final, the first si
nce August 1999 in Indianapolis (l. to N. Lapentti).
Spadea served for the match at 5-4 in the second set and was two points away (3
0-all) from the title before Kiefer broke and then won the tie-break 7-5. Kiefe
r was on the verge of taking control of the match when the German had three bre
ak points on Spadea's serve (0-40) in the first game. But Spadea won five strai
ght points and saved another break point in his next service game. The decisive
break came in the eighth game as Spadea broke and then served out the match at
40-love.
Spadea saved seven of nine break points in the match, including all four in the
third set. Kiefer only had a 47 percent first serve mark and he double faulted
eight times while hitting nine aces.
Spadea, who came into Scottsdale with an 0-4 career mark at the tournament, is
the third first-time winner on the ATP circuit this year, joining Antony Dupuis
(Milan) and Joachim Johansson (Memphis).
Kiefer was appearing in his second straight ATP title match after reaching his
first U.S. final in Memphis two weeks ago. The 26-year-old German was looking t
o capture his seventh career ATP title, the first since Hong Kong in October 20
00.
In the doubles final, No. 4 seeds Rick Leach and Brian MacPhie defeated South A
fricans Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard 6-3, 6-1. The 39-year-old Leach is the o
ldest ATP doubles winner since 40-year-old Sherwood Stewart won in Orlando in M
arch 1987. It was Leach's fourth career title in Scottsdale (1987, 1989, 1996,
2004) and the first for MacPhie in Scottsdale. It was also the first title toge
ther for Leach-MacPhie. They were finalists in San Jose last month and Coetzee-
Haggard reached their second straight final. They were runner-up in Memphis two
weeks ago.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Spadea: (on winning his first ATP title) "Yeah, it's cool. I never realized and
maybe my focus wasn't to do these kinds of things, but maybe it was. I'm going
to have a different mentality from now on. I thought just being on the tour
was fun. I didn't know there were so many rewards. I am very excited and it's
a great win for me笋 better late than never thing. "
"I didn't think there was that much of a monkey on my back. I didn't think
there was that kind of pressure, like I had been to so many finals and it was
getting ridiculous. But I was a former top 20 player and you can't find many
players that have reached that level without having a title."
"To win a title, to beat Andy and James along the way, and looking comfortable
to close it out, and then having to dig as deep as I've ever had to dig and to
finish it off is wonderful. I have to look in the Thesaurus for a better word
to say."
Kiefer: "If someone would have told me that I would have been in the two finals
, I would have taken it straight away. I'm disappointed because I had so many
chances to win and I didn't. I felt he was tired and didn't feel so good but
I didn't take enough chances against him."
Leach: "I really can't believe it and I was happy when we got to the final in S
an Jose last month. I started the year ranked 94th and I'm playing as much as I
can. The goal at the beginning of the year was to get in the Top 50 and win a
title. And now I'm just about to get both of them. I love the game and that's w
hy I keep playing. I never thought I would play this long and my body has held
up pretty good."
MacPhie: "We feel good on the court together and we're glad to still be out her
e playing. It's pretty cool to win one with him and especially since he's 39 ye
ars old. We've been playing well together and it's great Ricky decided to come
back this year."
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