[ROTTERDAM]Escude Wins Thriller, Top Two Seeds Advance
Two blockbuster match-ups in Thursday's second round at the ABN AMRO World
Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam saw two-time defending champion Nicolas Escude
take out two-time champion Richard Krajicek in a third-set tiebreak, while
Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated countryman Marat Safin in three tight sets to win
the battle of the Russian tennis stars.
Escude pulled out of last week's Open 13 tournament in Marseille with a
strained right hamstring and said in Rotterdam that the muscle still felt
tight. But he was in good enough condition to last through a 2 1/2 hour match
with the former Wimbledon champion to keep his hopes alive of becoming the
first player ever to win three consecutive ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
titles.
Meanwhile, veteran Yevgeny Kafelnikov showed that his younger countryman
Marat Safin still can learn a thing or two from him. Kafelnikov came back
from being down a set and broke Safin in the final game of the match to take
the third set 6-4. It was the first time the Davis Cup teammates had played
in nearly a year in a half and the first ATP match victory for Kafelnikov
over Safin in nearly four years.
Another developing story at the ABN AMRO is local favorite and Rotterdam native
Raemon Sluiter, who advanced to the quarterfinals in his hometown event for
the first time in his career with a three set win over Finland's Jarkko
Nieminen. After losing the second set, Sluiter won a marathon 12-minute game
to open the third set and took control from there, winning 7-6(7), 2-6, 6-3.
Another three-set winner was top seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero, who saw Jonas
Bjorkman take a one set lead before coming back to take the last two sets and
the match.
And Max Mirnyi moved into his first ATP quarterfinal of the year when Ivan
Ljubicic had to retire from their match with an injured index finger on his
right playing hand. That makes two consecutive tournaments from which the
powerful Croatian has had to retire, having stopped in his match against Roger
Federer in the first round in Marseille with a sore right shoulder. Federer
today defeated Fabrice Santoro 6-0, 6-4.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Juan Carlos Ferrero: "In the second set I was able to play my tennis and
found the way to win the match."
"He broke me at 5-3 but sometimes you need to stay relaxed in tennis and wait
for the break to come -- which for me came in the very next game."
"In my academy in Spain, I have built an indoor court and play a lot there. I
now have more experience on the surface and quite enjoy it, especially as I
had the good results last year. Reaching the Tennis Masters Cup final in
Shanghai has definitely given me a lot of confidence on this surface."
"I may be the first seed here but I know I have to play very well here to
beat some of the indoor specialists like Federer and Safin."
Nicolas Escude: "It's a good win today... very, very good. He was playing so
well."
"When I was serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, he produced two
amazing backhands. I would rank Richard Krajicek as a top player on indoor or
fast courts for sure. I can hardly touch his service games. Sometimes he loses
his concentration and makes some bad mistakes which is why I think I won the
match."
"I am a little bit tired physically. Sometimes I made a really good serve but
foot faulted. I also tend to make a lot of double faults when I can't push off
my feet enough."
On playing Grosjean
"I hope it will be the same result as here last year against him, only this
time that it won't be so close. I saved match points last year. We are going
to try our best to win and make a great match to watch for the spectators."
On his winning streak
"I am feeling good. It's magic here. I hope I can achieve the same as
Kafelnikov in Moscow -- he won there five times in a row. I'm going for my
third consecutive title here."
Jonas Bjorkman: "I think I would have put him under some pressure if I could
have made it 5-5 in the second set when I was serving at 4-5. Instead, he
broke my serve and really got the momentum of the match behind him.
Simultaneously, I started serving really badly."
"It is a good sign when you are feeling your body having played many
consecutive matches. Everyone is hoping to get a lot of matches in."
"I am very happy how I can work the top guys. If I had been serving better,
I would have maybe come away with a win. Even though I lost the match, I am
very pleased with the way I played the first two sets. In the end, he played
better than me."
"In the last couple of years, I was struggling to find my singles game. You
need to get all the things to fall together at the same time. I have great
people surrounding me now and that really helps my game."
"I think it is important for the whole game for more players to compete in
both doubles and singles. Playing doubles and singles at a tournament is just
a question of your mentality. You have to take the right mental approach and
dedicate yourself to all the matches."
Sebastien Grosjean: "He started really well. He was hitting the ball hard and
wasn't missing. He was also returning well, which put pressure on my service
games. I then started to serve better. At the beginning, it was tough to miss
a few points. By taking the first set I broke his morale a bit."
Roger Federer: "I'm very happy with my performance today. I played really
aggressively but I know it can't always work. I like taking risks and it's
good when things go my way. It was in tough in the second though... there's
always some kind of danger of slipping up especially when you win the first
set so easily."
About meeting Schalken "It's the third time I'm playing him in Holland. The
spectators will want revenge for the Davis Cup loss for sure."
Richard Krajicek: "There were a lot of emotions on the court. I have never
waved good bye to the crowd for so long after I lost a match. The support
of the spectators tonight was incredible. Even though I lost, it was a
beautiful score for me."
"I was always trailing in the match. I am very impressed.. Escude has a
beautiful chance to win the title again."
"After the match, I took a long time to do a TV interview because this is a
very special moment for me. The end of an era. For years I saw the tournament
as a player, but this time I view it from a tournament director's perspective
for the first time. On Saturday, I will accompany Stan Franker in a days work
of a tournament director."
"I feel I am going to working in a beautiful team at this tournament. I am
deeply sad about Wim's death. Even though I have a very good relationship
with Stan Franker, I miss Wim sorely."
"I will be playing now until the US Open, I am looking forward to being a
tournament director here. I want to try and get an American or an Australian
to this tournament... only time will tell."
Raemon Sluiter: "I was very, very, very happy. Nieminen put a lot of pressure
on me. I fought hard to win the first set. Having lost the second, the
Rotterdam crowd carried me through the third to take the match."
"Nieminen is a beautiful player. His ground strokes are so fast. We have
similar styles of play."
"The Rotterdam tournament is very special for me. I feel so at home here.
Well, I am at home here."
FRIDAY PREVIEW
Roger Federer will be taking on Dutch No. 1 Sjeng Schalken in the opening
match on Friday. Federer has won nine singles matches in a row and does not
seem to be fatigued from his strenuous schedule the past two weeks. He
dispatched veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro in straight sets Thursday and
says that playing alot of matches "is a good problem to have." Sjeng Schalken,
meanwhile, had the benefit of an extra days rest, having played his second
round match Wednesday night against Belgium's Olivier Rochus. The two have
never played indoors before, but the last time they met in Holland was during
the grass court season in 2002 with Schalken winning in three sets.
If history is any indication than no quarterfinal opponents are closer matched
indoors than Raemon Sluiter and Juan Carlos Ferrero. In their last and only
match-up to date, Sluiter defeated Ferrero in a Davis Cup tie in Eindhoven,
Holland, in five sets -- three of which went to a tiebreak. Sluiter, a native
of Rotterdam, is certain to have the crowd in his favor once again.
Nicolas Escude rode his semifinal win over Sebastien Grosjean last year to
victory, coming back from a set down to beat his Davis Cup teammate and then
going on to defeat Tim Henman in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament Final.
He'll try to do the same on Friday, but in the quarterfinals this time.
Grosjean and Escude were France's singles players in their first round
victory over Romania two weeks ago, but now find themselves on opposite
sides of the net.
And lastly, Belarus' Max Mirnyi faces Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The two have played
on six previous occasions.
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1.最新消息是，Safin有可能『又』要fire掉新教練Denis...〈八卦，純八卦〉
2.MM和老卡的對戰紀錄是老卡4-2領先。
--
我是一隻小火雞，
快樂的生活在沙皇的農城裡~~
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