Gasquet, Mathieu, Haehnel and Morrison Advance to Semifinals
OPEN DE MOSELLE
Metz, France
October 15, 2004
Gasquet, Mathieu, Haehnel and Morrison Advance to Semifinals
Richard Gasquet kept his undefeated record against players younger than
him by defeating the No. 1 junior the world, Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-1 in one
hour and 33 minutes. Monfils started strong and broke Gasquet's serve at
1-1 and was up 3-1. Gaasquet came back and to 3-3 and broke Monfils' serve
at 6-5 to close the first set, Gasquet sprinted to the finis line and got
to a 5-0 lead. Monfils won his serve to get on the board before finally
succumbing to the 2002 no. 1 junior.
With the win, Gasquet improves to 12-14 and will look to advance to his first
ATP semifinal against American Jeff Morrison. Monfils finishes his ATP debut
with a positive 2-1 record and could jump into the top 300 in the INDESIT
ATP Entry Rankings after starting the week No. 368.
Paul-Henri Mathieu confirmed his full recovery from a wrist injury early in
the year by upsetting No. 1 seed Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (2), 6-2 in one hour and
37 minutes. Despite the 10 aces and no break points faced in the first set
from Ljubicic, the 22-year-old Frenchman kept his composure by winning the
first set and staying on top of his opponent throughout the second set. He
is now 10-7 and will try to advance to his first semifinal of the year
against qualifier Jerome Haehnel.
In the last match of the day, the only quarterfinal without a Frenchman
involved, American Jeff Morrison continues his rise in the rankings with
a solid win over Spaniard Alex Corretja 7-5, 6-4. With the win, the
101th-ranked American improves to 13-11 and looks to improve his ranking
last year (144).
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID:
Gasquet: " Today I was able to keep my concentration throughout the match
and I am very pleased because this is was a good match. I am very happy to
be in a semifinal again [Buenos Aires 2004]. The first set was tight, he
started off very well and I tried to break his rhythm by serving and coming
to the net. I fought on every ball and it paid, I broke him back and was
able to win this first set.”
On his next match: "No matter who I play next he will be a tough opponent.
I am hopping I can reach my first career final here, this would be great."
Mathieu : "This was a great match, I stayed focused until the end. Ivan
[Ljubicic] served so well in the first set, it was impossible for me to
do anything. Against a player like him you have very few opportunity to
break him, and you need to be ready at any time."
Monfils: " He was better than me today. I don't regret anything apart from
the passing shot I barely missed on abreak point in the first set. Other
than that, Richard was better than me today. This was a good tournament
for me."
SEMIFINAL PREVIEW
Paul-Henri Mathieu will face Jerome Haehnel for a spot in the final. The
two Frenchmen come from the same region in Alsace but have never faced in
any event prior to this semifinal match. Bouncing back from an injury
earlier this year, 22 year-old Mathieu will try to advance to his first
semifinal of the season. He has reached the quarterfinals in Washington
(l. Agassi) and Bucharest (l. to Acasuso). He is currently 9-8 this year
and ranks 130th in the INDESIT ATP 2004 RACE. Mathieu had played in only
seven ATP events coming into Metz, due to a wrist injury, which forced
him out for seven months. He posted an impressive five-set victory over
Carlos Moya to give France a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup semifinals played
two weeks ago in Alicante, Spain.
After winning three matches in the qualifying, Haehnel comes off
straight-set wins over No. 3 seed Jose Acasuso and qualifier Marc
Gicquel to reach his first ATP quarterfinal. Haehnel has played
mainly at the future and challenger level with success by reaching
the finals in Germany F2 and France F3 futures as well as Lugano (l.
to Calatrava). In one of his only two appearances in tournaments
other than futures and challengers, the 24-year-old Frenchman posted
a big upset over No. 9 seed Andre Agassi in the first round of Roland Garros.
The second semifinal will feature young French sensation Richard Gasquet squaring off against Jeff Morrison for the first time in his career. Gasquet, who entered as a wild card, comes off a solid victory over the 2004 junior champion Gael Monfils I the quartefinals to reach the semifinals of an ATP event for the second time this year. In the clay courts of Buenos Aires, Gasquet posted wins over Verdasco, Calleri and Massu before losing to Coria in the semifinals. Currently 109th in the INDESIT ATP 2004
Race, Gasquet is 11-14 in 2004 (only 0-2 in 2003) and will look to improve his 2003 ranking (93rd). Gasquet lost in the first round in this tournament last year.
Morrison comes off a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Jeff Morrison to reach his second semifinal of the year. He has reached the semifinals in Los Angeles (l. to Kiefer) and the quarterfinals in Newport (l. to Rusedski). Morrison is 12-11 this year and ranks No. 101 in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race.
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