[Munich]Battle of the 21-Year-Olds As Federer Takes on Nieminen
Battle of the 21-Year-Olds As Federer Takes on Nieminen in Munich Final
Top-seed Roger Federer aims for his third title on 2003.
Top seeded Roger Federer and No. 8 seed Jarkko Nieminen both scored
comprehensive wins in the semifinals of the BMW Open by Credit Suisse in
Munich. Nieminen took on Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first semifinal, where the
Russian had to retire in the beginning of the second set with a neck injury he
sustained earlier in the week. After having traded breaks five times in the
first set Nieminen closed out the set 6-4, lost his serve in the opening game
of the second set before Kafelnikov had to call it a day
after 49 minutes.
In the second semifinal the Swiss No. 1 Roger Federer defeated Austrian friend
Stefan Koubek 6-2, 6-1 in 55 minutes. Federer was in command during the entire
match and won 10 of the 11 last games of the match from 2-2 in the first set,
including the last five games of the second set.
Federer is aiming for title number seven, and third of 2003, while Nieminen is
hoping to win the first crown of his career in his fourth try.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Nieminen: “This is not the way I wanted to win the semifinal. I feel really
sorry for him. To win three tough matches and then have to retire is very sad,
but sometimes sport is like this.”
“I noticed that he couldn’t serve like he normally does. He also retired
against me in the doubles so I knew he had some problems.”
About the final
“I’m very happy to be in the final. Tomorrow will be my fourth final and I
will try to win my first title. I feel really good for the final.”
Kafelnikov: “I felt ok this morning but something happened to my neck in the
middle of the first set. It’s the same injury, which I had earlier in the
week.
“It’s disappointing to retire but I’m injured so there is nothing to do.
I’ve been playing well this week.”
Federer: “I had to work hard. The match was closer than the result. I tried
to make as few errors as possible on my returns.”
“He also had some chances and I had some luck today. I’m happy that I could
close out the match at 5-1, when playing a friend there’s always a risk that
he can come back. We know each other games really well.”
About the final
“I’m looking forward to the final. I have to watch out, he [Nieminen] is a
dangerous player on clay. He looks confident, you can see that on the way he
is hitting the ball. It doesn’t surprise me that he has reached the final.”
Koubek: “I started the match playing well. It was a good match in the
beginning. I had a lot of chances in the second set. I knew I had to risk more,
and then I started to miss more as well. He had one chance and took it and
finished off the match.”
“He played well on the important points. He took every opportunity he got
and that’s why the match went so fast. He was the better player today. It’s
no shame to lose against Roger when he is playing like he was today.”
“I played well this tournament, I beat a couple of good players. I have more
confidence now than in the beginning of the week.”
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老卡，你最好不要是因為睡覺"落枕"扭到...-____-
期待Roger奪取今年第3冠:)
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