Puerta sneaks past Davydenko into final
Puerta sneaks past Davydenko into final
By Andrew Bogush
Friday, June 3, 2005
Mariana Puerta clearly has a flair for the dramatic. The 26-year-old is
headed to his first career Grand Slam final after his second straight
come-from-behind five-set victory.
The lefty, ranked 37th in the world, awaits Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal
in Sunday's French Open final after a 6-3 5-7 2-6 6-4 6-4 defeat of 12th-
seeded Nickolay Davydenko in front of a capacity crowd in Court Philippe
Chatrier on a muggy Parisian afternoon. Puerta is the third Argentine in
two years and the tenth unseeded male to play for the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
Just like his quarterfinal tilt with compatriot Guillermo Canas, Puerta
Friday took the first set rather impressively, only to lose his form and
end up down two sets to one. But once again he found his game, while
Davydenko slumped, and pulled out the victory.
When the draw came out two Fridays ago, a confident Puerta predicted a run
to semi-finals as long as he got by Ivan Ljubicic, the 13th seed, in the
first round. Few others shared that confidence, however, since Roland Garros
is just his third Tour-level event since last summer and because he had never
passed the third round here before. But Puerta, playing true clay court
tennis, has now made good on his word and then some.
He needed some help from Davydenko, though, to do so. The Russian, who
celebrated his 24th birthday Thursday, recovered from losing the first
set on the strength of his first serve and smartly aggressive play. From
1-2 in the second through 3-1 in the third, Davydenko held seven consecutive
times, losing just six points along the way.
But like his last match against Spaniard Tommy Robredo, Davydenko's level
dropped after winning the third set. His first serve no longer as dominant
a weapon, Puerta dug deeper into points and rediscovered his range on his
groundstrokes. And just as he did against Robredo, Davydenko stumbled Friday
with victory on the horizon, unable to hold at 4-2 in the fifth, and this
time it cost him.
Puerta ran off the final four games of the match, clinching his trip to the
final with a penetrating inside-out forehand approach that Davydenko barely
touched.
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