Sunday, August 18, 2002
Blake overpowers Agassi to reach Legg Mason final
Rusedski, Mantilla reach RCA final
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — James Blake overpowered top-seeded Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
“I had the fight, I just didn't have the goods,” said Agassi, a five-time winner in the tournament. “He took it to me.”
Blake, seeded sixth, will play 14th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan, who beat fifth-seeded Marcelo Rios 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
One night after Agassi came back from a set down to beat Thomas Enqvist, Blake found himself serving to close out the match at 5-2.
“That 5-2 changeover was the longest changeover of my life,” said Blake, winless in two finals this year. “I did start thinking that Andre Agassi was on the other side of the net.”
Agassi broke Blake's serve to get to 5-3, but Blake held his serve and took the match with a forehand winner, something Enqvist failed to do the night before.
“When I left here (last night) Thomas was up a set and a break,” Blake said. “As soon as I got back from dinner I got a phone call that said I was playing Agassi. That's all I wanted to know, I didn't want to know exactly what happened.
“That's always a possibility with him if you let him get a second life. There's that possibility of him tearing through somebody and luckily I didn't let him do that tonight.”
Blake broke Agassi in the second game of the match on his way to a 3-0 lead. From that point, Blake hit winner after winner — 25 in all — to overpower Agassi from the baseline.
Srichaphan, who upset Agassi in the second round at Wimbledon this year, made it a day of upsets.
Srichaphan, who had 18 unforced errors in the first set, broke Rios twice in the second and three times in the third to reach his first final in the United States.
Rios won 28 points in the opening set, but just 30 points in the final two sets. Srichaphan lost just one point on serve in the second set.
“I think he was moving slower than he was in the first set,” Srichaphan said. “Maybe the heat go to him,” Srichaphan said.
“I got a bit tired,” Rios said. “He was playing good, and I was trying to save my body for a third set.”
Rusedski, Mantilla reach RCA final
INDIANAPOLIS — Britain's Greg Rusedski knocked off another top player in the RCA Championships on Saturday, reaching the final with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Tommy Haas.
Rusedski, seeded 14th, will face unseeded Felix Mantilla of Spain, a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 winner over ninth-seeded Rainer Schuettler of Germany in the night semifinal.
Ranked 41st in the ATP Entry System, Rusedski beat top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt on Thursday. Last week, Rusedski defeated top-ranked Marat Safin in the Masters Series in Cincinnati.
“The last two weeks, I've beaten the No. 1, 2 and 3 player in the world, so I'm playing well,” Rusedski said. “I felt like I started the summer hitting the ball well, but I just couldn't put it together to win a few matches.”
Rusedski made his move in the second set, breaking the German's serve in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead. Haas, troubled by pain in his right elbow, double-faulted twice in the game and 10 times in the match. Rusedski had just three double-faults.
Rusedski broke the double-faulting Haas again for a 2-1 lead in the third set, then broke him again in the final game.
Haas battled back from triple match point to go ahead a point, but dumped a forehand into the net, was long on a forehand service return and then watched Rusedski flick a backhand passing shot for the winner.
Schuettler appeared to be in control in the night match after winning the second set, but Mantilla recovered by putting 85 percent of his first serves in play in the final set and double-faulting just once in the match. He also saved nine of 13 break points, including five in the second game of the first set.
“In all the critical moments, I'm playing well,” Mantilla said. “That means all the confidence is back.”
Mantilla broke Schuettler in the fifth game of the third set, then held service.
“He made a break. I didn't,” Schuettler said. “He took a chance. I didn't.”
Capriati reaches final when Dokic quits with knee injury
MONTREAL — Jennifer Capriati reached the final of the Rogers AT&T Cup on Saturday when Jelena Dokic retired because of a knee injury while trailing in the second set.
Capriati was ahead 7-6 (5), 4-0 when Dokic told the chair umpire she couldn't continue in the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 26.
“I was on a roll and it was almost at the end when she retired,” Capriati said. “It was important to get that first set in. It was intense. That was the match, right there.”
The second-seeded Capriati will face seventh-seeded Amelie Mauresmo of France, a 6-2, 7-6 (3) winner over eighth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
Capriati won the tournament at 15 in 1991, and was the runner-up last year in Toronto.
“It would mean a lot to win here. Maybe not as much as coming back to win a Grand Slam title, but it's up there,” Capriati said. “I've always played well here. I have a great opportunity and, going into the U.S. Open, it would mean a lot for my confidence.”
Dokic, seeded third, had the trainer work on her knee while trailing 3-0 in the second set. Back on court five minutes later, the Yugoslav player barely moved while losing a service game.
“I'm entered next week (in New Haven, Conn.), but it depends on how I feel,” Dokic said. “I'm taking it day by day now. I wouldn't hesitate to pull out. I'd rather be good for the U.S. Open.”
Mauresmo beat Capriati in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
“I won't play the same as at Wimbledon because it's a totally different surface,” Mauresmo said. “I know it will be a difficult match. But she knows what I'll do and I know what she'll do.”
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Blake overpowers Agassi to reach Legg Mason final
