Tennis-US Open

[Donny]

Andre Agassi advanced to the semis with a 3 set win over Guillermo Corria.

The Roddick/Nalbandian clash looks to be a ripper. The winner earns a spot in the final.

[Donny]

Kim Clijsters defeated Lindsay Davenport to enter the final.

She will play the winner of the Capriati/Henin-Hardenne match.

[HAL]

Oh I get it. undergoing treatment for the cancer will play the winner of the CapriatiHenin-Hardenne match.

[Donny]

Capriati chokes in semi
From correspondents in New York
September 6, 2003

JENNIFER Capriati choked away a dream chance to reach her first US Open final, squandering opportunity after opportunity before finally losing to a cramping Justine Henin-Hardenne

US sixth seed Capriati served for the match in the second and third sets here Friday and was two points from victory on Henin-Hardenne's serve in both sets. But Capriati sprayed errant shots time after time to rescue her rival, and lost 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).

"When I came off the court I felt like the whole world was coming down on me, like my heart was being ripped out," Capriati said. "It's pretty hard to put into words after that kind of defeat."

The 27-year-old American was unable to put away pivotal points when it mattered most, blowing a 5-2 lead in the third set and a 5-3 in the second after rallying from a 4-1 deficit to capture the first set.

"I definitely had the match in my hands," Capriati said. "It was my match to win. I guess I beat myself."

Six-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and her powerful sister Venus had met in six of the prior eight Slam finals but were absent here with injuries, giving Capriati a golden opportunity that she squandered.

"It hurts. It's very disappointing. But what can I do. That's just the way it went," Capriati said. "I didn't let up too many times. I lost momentum only a couple times when I was in position to win, at the finish line there."

Capriati confessed it could be the sort of defeat that lingers a lifetime.

"Some losses could stay with you forever," she said. "You want to keep these things in your memory, to learn for next time.

"The next few days, it's going to be hard to look at it as just a match. Down the road, how I feel about it, yeah, it's just a match.

"Worse things can happen. Before I might have been more devastated. Instead of looking at myself as a failure for not winning, I look at it as giving all I had, showing a lot of heart. I am only human."

Second seed Henin-Hardenne advanced to an all-Belgian final Saturday against top-ranked Kim Clijsters, who eliminated US third seed Lindsay Davenport 6-2, 6-3 in the other semi-final.

Henin-Hardenne need intravenous fluids afterward to treat cramping in her left leg.

"You have to give her credit the way she stayed in there," Capriati said. "I gave it all I had and she did too and for whatever reasons I didn't win. I still think it's a positive thing for me and for the future."

Seeing her rival cramp raised the tension for Capriati.

"It was just getting pretty overwhelming out there. I started looking at her thinking, 'I've got to close out this match for sure, she's cramping' and the crowd was into it and the whole situation and I just lost complete focus.

"Everything went off. I tried my shots just weren't the same. I was just so pissed off. It wasn't that I was losing. I couldn't believe what was going on out there."

Two points from defeat on Capriati's serve in the ninth game of the second set, Henin-Hardenne broke back to 5-4. She slid within two points of losing again on her serve but rallied to hold and level the set.

Henin-Hardenne broke again to lead 6-5, then silenced what had been a raucous crowd ready for victory by holding at love to force a third set.

"I wish I would have won," Capriati said. "If not for me at least for them."

Henin-Hardenne broke Capriati to open the third set, then Capriati won the next four games for a 4-1 edge. Both held to put Capriati ahead 5-2 and on the verge of victory.

Two points from victory in the eighth game, Capriati pushed Henin-Hardenne through four deuces as the Belgian's leg cramps began. But Henin-Hardenne held and then broke Capriati again as she served for the match, pulling within 5-4.

"You can learn, but when you get into the situation, you dont know what's going to happen," Capriati said. "Your emotions, you can't control. It's almost like a crisis situation. You just mentally tell yourself things over and over what you are going to do. But really you don't know what you're going to do."

Again Capriati was two points from a triumph on her rival's serve, but Henin-Hardenne leveled and both held to the tie-breaker.

Capriati swatted four errant forehands and a backhand to fall behind 5-1 and sent another backhand long to give the Belgian a 6-2 edge.

Two errant backhanded by Henin-Hardenne gave Capriati hope, but she netted the last point to end it after three hours and three minutes.

A heartbroken Capriati ignored her rival at the net, hurried to the locker room and wept with her family and actor-boyfriend Matthew Perry.

"That's what the locker room is for," she said. It helps to have my family around, showing their love for me, telling me it's just a match."

Lost on Capriati in the moment was the building drama, easily the most exciting moments of the rain-filled fortnight.

"Maybe I should have throught of that more at the end. That would have helped me relax," she said. "It was thrilling for me. It's an adrenaline rush being out there. It brings out the best tennis in me, and the worst too.

"A true champion can come through that kind of defeat. I still thrive on this kind of match. I do want to come back and try it again."

[Donny]

Henin-Hardenne wins US crown
September 7, 2003

A RESILIENT Justine Henin-Hardenne beat error-prone Kim Clijsters 7-5, 6-1 for the U.S. Open championship Saturday night and won her second Grand Slam title of the year.

Henin-Hardenne flattened her Belgian countrywoman in 81 minutes, less than 18 hours after sitting dehydrated on a table in the trainer's room at the U.S. Open receiving intravenous fluids.

Late Saturday afternoon, she was on a practice court, trying to gauge whether she was fit enough to play in her first U.S. Open final a few hours later.

Henin-Hardenne proved she was in a sell-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, fighting off two set points in the first set, and otherwise being in control. Of course, that was nothing compared to the 10 times she was within two points of losing to Jennifer Capriati in their thriller of a semifinal which finished in the wee hours Saturday.

Against Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne won nine of the last 10 games and broke serve six times, including in the last game, which ended with a clean volley winner.

It was a rematch of the French Open final, which Henin-Hardenne also won in straight sets. She now leads the tour with seven titles in 2003, one more than No. 1-ranked Clijsters, and moves up to a career-high No. 2 in the rankings, sliding past the injured Serena Williams.

Clijsters stays atop the rankings, despite falling to 0-3 in major finals - the only woman to reach No. 1 without a Grand Slam title. She was tentative all night, with 30 unforced errors in the first set alone and a final total of 40, twice as many as Henin-Hardenne.

The past two U.S. Opens had all-Williams finals, and either Serena or older sister Venus had won each of the previous four championships. But both sisters missed this tournament.

For large stretches, the level of play Saturday night was less than stellar. Indeed, with all the break points (16) and double-faults (six) and poorly played groundstrokes, it was beginning to resemble one of the early Williams-Williams major finals.

Henin-Hardenne, who's 21, had a pretty good excuse if she wasn't at her absolute best.

She left the National Tennis Center at 2:40 a.m. Saturday, two hours after finishing off the three-hour semifinal victory over Capriati. Henin-Hardenne needed intravenous fluids for dehydration that made her left leg cramp late in that match.

Normally, she would have had more time to prepare for the final, but the women's semifinals were pushed back a day to Friday night because of the rain which disrupted the tournament schedule.

Against Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne took her time between serves, bouncing the ball a few extra times to buy some seconds to rest.

Henin-Hardenne pretty much sealed the title and $1 million prize by breaking to 3-0 in the second set with a full-sprint backhand lob which curled over Clijsters. Henin-Hardenne kept jogging and raised a fist in the direction of the guest box, where her husband, coach and personal trainer Pat Etcheberry were sitting.

It's Etcheberry whom the 1.66-meter, 56-kilogram (5-foot-5 1/2, 125-pound) Henin-Hardenne credits with building her strength and fitness, allowing her to compete with the best in the world.

That still doesn't make her a household name in the United States: A representative of the main tournament sponsor called her "Christine" while presenting the champion's trophy and check during the on-court postmatch ceremony.

Both Belgian finalists have come a long way since growing up 15 miles (24 kilometers) apart in a nation of 10 million people. They have known each other since they were little kids, although they couldn't communicate at the start: Henin-Hardenne spoke French, Clijsters spoke Flemish.

Playing much the way she did at Roland Garros, where she lost 6-0, 6-4, Clijsters got off to a terrible start.

Henin-Hardenne jumped out to a 3-0 lead by winning 12 of the first 15 points, thanks to Clijsters' nine unforced errors in that span. Clijsters finally won a game with help from Henin-Hardenne, whose double-fault made it 3-1.

And Clijsters evened things at 4-4 when Henin-Hardenne gave up another break by dumping a forehand into the net.

Clijsters held to 5-4 with a wonderful sequence where she blocked an overhead with a reflex backhand, then reversed course and swept into the doubles alley to stretch for a clean forehand winner. It was a rare moment of beautiful tennis.

But she had the two set points in the next game and couldn't convert, stymied in part by Henin-Hardenne's first clean winner off her backhand, which John McEnroe has called the prettiest shot in all of tennis.

That began a run of seven consecutive games for Henin-Hardenne, who used a great return to set up a backhand down the line to break to 6-5, then held to win the first set when Clijsters put a forehand in the net.

Clijsters never recovered. Henin-Hardenne was too determined to let her.

[Donny]

Ferrero in final as No.1
From correspondents in New York
September 7, 2003

JUAN Carlos Ferrero claimed the world No.1 ranking with a 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-4 triumph over previously top rated Andre Agassi today that advanced the Spaniard into his first US Open final.

French Open champion Ferrero is assured of taking over the top spot in the ATP rankings regardless of what else happens here after eliminating Agassi, the reigning Australian Open champion and an eight-time Grand Slam winner.

"To be number one, it's a special day for me," Ferrero said. "I worked a lot for this number one. I'm really happy to be number one. It's my first time and I'm going to work really hard to stay number one."

Third seed Ferrero advanced to Sunday's championship match against the winner of a later semi-final between Argentina's 13th-seeded David Nalbandian and US fourth seed Andy Roddick.

Ferrero, never past the fourth round here in four prior attempts, called the victory his greatest ever on a hardcourt surface.

"I think I did the perfect match," he said. "I'm playing very good on hardcourts. I think they don't know me because I haven't played so well here. This time I think they'll know me pretty good.

"I think right now, it's my time."

Ferrero became only the second Spaniard to reach number one, after Carlos Moya owned the spot for two weeks in March of 1999, and reached his first Grand Slam final outside the red clay of Roland Garros.

"I'm really happy for both things," Ferrero said. "I couldn't play so well here before. Finally I think I'm doing like I want."

The final will be Ferrero's fourth match in as many days, an unprecedented Grand Slam tennis marathon caused by four days of rain that prompted officials to cram together the last rounds with no rest days to keep a Sunday final.

"I feel a little bit tired but I think I'm going to be OK," Ferrero said. "I have a lot of hours to improve."

The endurance test figures to take a toll, but the thrill of achievement will help Ferrero find the strength, Agassi said.

"I'm sure it's not easy," Agassi said. "He'll be all right. He's one match away. If there's ever a time to find a little extra, it will be tomorrow."

Agassi, 33, was the oldest man to be ranked number one and the American would have been the second-oldest US Open men's champion after Australian Ken Rosewall, who won the 1970 title at age 35.

Agassi, one of only five men to win every Slam singles title at least once, failed in his bid for a ninth Slam crown. He won US Open titles in 1994 and 1999 but lost here in four other finals, including to Pete Sampras last year.

"I thought I did everything pretty well except serve in the first 2 1/2 sets," Agassi said. "I wasn't getting any free points on my serve. He was just taking care of his business better than I was.

"He had the freedom to take more chances with the groundstrokes. By the time I was getting into the match I was already down two sets.

"Just a little too big of a hill to climb."

Showing no feet of clay, Ferrero won six hardcourt matches for the first time in his career to become the first Spaniard in a US Open final played on a hardcourt surface.

"He's number one in the world. He has worked hard for it," Agassi said. "He's done it on clay. He's done it on hardcourt."

The only Spanish US Open champion was Manuel Orantes in 1975, the first of three years the event was played on clay. That is the only Slam title outside of the French Open won by a Spaniard.

Agassi watched contemporaries Pete Sampras and Michael Chang retire during the fortnight but has no plans to follow them into the sunset.

"Something would have to change drastically for me not to be back," Agassi said. "Hard as it is for me to admit it, I'm probably going to suck it up and do it again."

Wife Steffi Graf and son Jaden Gil will help Agassi ease his disappointment.

"It's disappointing," Agassi said. "I got outplayed. I'll need to work on getting better. You remember your matches. I'll remember this one for sure. Hopefully (it) just don't last quite as long. You have the art of distraction with kids at home."

Ferrero, 23, rose to 3-1 lifetime against Agassi, whom he also beat in last year's French Open quarter-finals and ATP Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Agassi raised his game in the third set, breaking Ferrero's final two service game. But in the fourth, Agassi rescued three break points in the seventh game but could not do so again in the ninth.

"All of a sudden he broke me at love and he was just a sprint away," Agassi said.

Serving for the match, Ferrero fell behind 15-40. But Agassi squandered his break point chances, sending one forehand wide and another into the net.

Ferrero saved a third break point with a backhand winner and won two points later when Agassi sent a forehand long to fall after two hours and 36 minutes.

"I was thinking he was going to be so strong in the fifth," Ferrero said. "I knew I had to try to win in four and I did it well."

For the match, Ferrero fired 51 winners to 47 for Agassi while his 32 unforced errors were five fewer than Agassi, who hit 12 aces to Ferrero's 10.

[Donny]

Andy Roddick will play Ferrero in the final.

He beat David Nalbandian (6-7 (4/7), 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-1, 6-4) in a 5 setter.

Should be a great match.

[Donny]

Todd Woodbridge continues his incredible record in Grand Slam doubles. he and partner, Bjorkman will contest the final against raging local favourites, the Bryan twins.

Semi results:

Bob Bryan-Mike Bryan (USA x2) bt Mark Knowles-Daniel Nestor (BAH/CAN x3) 6-3, 6-0

Jonas Bjorkman-Todd Woodbridge (SWE/AUS x4) bt Michael Llodra-Fabrice Santoro (FRA x6) 7-6 (7/2), 6-1

[Donny]

Roddick wins US Open
September 8, 2003

ANDY Roddick won his first Grand Slam title, firing 23 aces and 46 winners past Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero for a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 victory in the US Open men's singles finals.
: first Major title

The 21-year-old American climbed into the stands at Arthue Ashe Stadium in the moments after his victory, sharing a congratulatory hug with his family after fulfilling his life's dream with the triumph.

In a battle of overpowering serves, Roddick used a forehand winner to deny Ferrero on a break point in the third game of the first set, then broke him in the next game and went on to claim the first set with an ace after 28 minutes.

Neither man mustered a break point in the second set, setting up a tie-break in which Roddick sent a forehand wide to give Ferrero a 2-1 lead.

But Ferrero fired four errant forehands in the next five points and Roddick finished the set with a forehand winner to seize control of the match, their first.

Ferrero saved three break points in the sixth game and Roddick rescued a pair in the seventh game. But in the eighth, Ferrero committed his first double fault of the match to hand Roddick another break and he served out to win in one hour and 42 minutes.

Fourth seed Roddick won his 19th match in a row, the longest streak on the ATP tour this season, and is 27-1 since a Wimbledon semi-final loss.

Roddick is 37-2 since joining forces with new coach Brad Gilbert after a first-round French Open exit.

Joining Stefan Edberg as the only former US Open boys champions to win the men's crown, Roddick became the eighth different Slam champion in as many events, matching the longest such streak in Slam history.

[Donny]

Roddick wins US Open
September 8, 2003

ANDY Roddick won his first Grand Slam title, firing 23 aces and 46 winners past Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero for a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 victory in the US Open men's singles finals.
: first Major title

The 21-year-old American climbed into the stands at Arthue Ashe Stadium in the moments after his victory, sharing a congratulatory hug with his family after fulfilling his life's dream with the triumph.

In a battle of overpowering serves, Roddick used a forehand winner to deny Ferrero on a break point in the third game of the first set, then broke him in the next game and went on to claim the first set with an ace after 28 minutes.

Neither man mustered a break point in the second set, setting up a tie-break in which Roddick sent a forehand wide to give Ferrero a 2-1 lead.

But Ferrero fired four errant forehands in the next five points and Roddick finished the set with a forehand winner to seize control of the match, their first.

Ferrero saved three break points in the sixth game and Roddick rescued a pair in the seventh game. But in the eighth, Ferrero committed his first double fault of the match to hand Roddick another break and he served out to win in one hour and 42 minutes.

Fourth seed Roddick won his 19th match in a row, the longest streak on the ATP tour this season, and is 27-1 since a Wimbledon semi-final loss.

Roddick is 37-2 since joining forces with new coach Brad Gilbert after a first-round French Open exit.

Joining Stefan Edberg as the only former US Open boys champions to win the men's crown, Roddick became the eighth different Slam champion in as many events, matching the longest such streak in Slam history.