BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Patrick Rafter lunges for a ball hit by Todd Martin.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
| ZOOM |
|
MASON -- Patrick Rafter finally dropped a set.
But not a match.
The 25-year-old Australian, who hasn't lost in two weeks, continued on a roll Thursday night, rallying to defeat American Todd Martin 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Great American Insurance ATP Championship.
Rafter, No. 3-ranked and fifth-seeded, won his first Mercedes Super 9 tournament last weekend in Toronto. The defending U.S. Open champion is 23-7 on hardcourts this year.
"I'm feeling good about things at the moment," Rafter said. "I can move well on this surface. And when I move well, I play well. It's as simple as that."
Martin looked strong at the start, jumping ahead 3-0 in the first set, which he controlled.
"He usually comes out blasting," Rafter said.
However, Rafter got better as the match went on. And Martin got frustrated late.
Down 4-2 and tied 30-30 in the third set, Rafter returned a Martin drop shot. Then Martin's return nicked off the net cord and landed in. Martin was set to raise his hand to his foe in apology.
But Rafter lunged and returned the ball into the open court to go up 30-40. Martin playfully tossed his racket across the net at Rafter.
Martin reacts after losing a point.
(Steven M. Herppich photo)
| ZOOM |
|
"He all of a sudden turned into Carl Lewis and scooped it up and got a winner," Martin said. "It was a big point, and we both knew it. It was going to be bad luck for him, and it turned out to be bad luck for me." Rafter went on to break serve and go up 5-2. Martin knew he was done. He slammed his racket across a net pole on his way to the changeover, drawing a code violation. He badly damaged his racket and expects to be fined.
"Nobody enjoys laying it all on the line for a couple hours and all of a sudden it all falls apart," he said later. "The amount of pressure Pat put on me throughout the match built up to the point where it forced a few errors out of me."
"That isn't him," Rafter said. "I think he probably didn't realize how hard that thing was."
It took close to two hours for Rafter's fourth victory against Martin since last August, when Martin returned from a layoff following elbow surgery. All four matches have gone to the maximum amount of sets.
"I think he's a little fed up with that," Rafter said, "and that's understandable." Martin is 0-6 this year against top-10 players.
Petr Korda, celebrating Thursday's win, takes on Rafter today.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
| ZOOM |
|
Rafter today faces third-seeded Petr Korda, who came back to defeat Goran Ivanisevic 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 earlier in the day. Korda's father always told him to fight until the last point. That kind of advice is important to recall when you find yourself trailing 5-2 in the third set of any match, let alone against a hard-serving opponent.
That's where Korda was Thursday.
Ivanisevic, who had beaten Korda seven of 10 previous meetings, was up three games in the final set, needing just one more game to advance to the quarterfinals.
But Korda went on a roll. He continued playing aggressively. He won five consecutive games for the victory. "I'm gonna fight until I die on the court," Korda said.
ATP PAGE
