Monday, August 19, 2002
Blake outlasts Srichaphan for first tour title
Tennis roundup
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — James Blake won his first ATP Tour title Sunday, beating Paradorn Srichaphan 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
Blake, the 22-year-old American who upset Andre Agassi in the semifinals, broke Srichaphan's serve to tie the second set 3-3, and took the tiebreaker when Srichaphan's backhand shot sailed long.
Srichaphan had the first opportunity in the third set with three break-point chances in the fourth game, but Blake saved them all. Blake then broke Srichaphan in the fifth game, winning with a forehand volley, to take the lead for good.
“Just beating Andre Agassi would be an incredible week,” Blake said. “But to do that and to follow it through with a win is great.”
Srichaphan fought through a difficult opening service game and on-court temperatures of about 110 degrees before breaking Blake twice to take the first set.
“I was really confident in the first set,” Srichaphan said. “I had chances in the second tiebreaker when I was up 3-1 but he hit top serves and big forehands and I made a few mistakes, and the second set was his.”
Blake, the sixth seed who lost in two previous finals this year, improved to 3-0 lifetime against the 14th-seeded Srichaphan. The winner earned $111,600.
“Having been so close two times, where it came down to a couple of points, I knew the feeling too well and I didn't want to feel it again,” Blake said. “To see that last ball fly out was exciting.”
Blake has come along way since his first trip to the tournament when he served as a practice partner for another player.
“I didn't feel like I belonged at this level,” Blake said. “In those four years a lot has changed.”
Capriati loses to Mauresmo in Montreal final
MONTREAL — Amelie Mauresmo beat Jennifer Capriati 6-4, 6-1 Sunday in the final of the Rogers AT&T Cup, a hardcourt tuneup for the U.S. Open.
The seventh-seeded Mauresmo earned $182,000 for her eighth career WTA Tour title and second of 2002.
“I just wanted to play a few matches and get my game in order and see how I'm doing against the best players,” Mauresmo said. “I guess it went pretty well.
“The main thing is to be ready for the U.S. Open.”
Serving at 4-4 in the first set, Mauresmo won two points on serves the second-seeded Capriati argued were out and took a 5-4 lead. The Frenchwoman then took the set by breaking Capriati's serve when a backhand flew wide.
Capriati took the close calls as an indication that it was not her day.
“When you're trying hard and balls like that are taken away, you think: Why should I try when it's going to be like that?” Capriati said. “But I bounced back in the next game.
“It was just that one game. I got upset and maybe it was a downward spiral from there. Everything felt like it wasn't going my way, no matter what I tried to do. I didn't find a rhythm and with the wind, it was a mess out there.”
Mauresmo broke again to go ahead 3-1 in the second set, and once more for a 5-1 edge.
Capriati's $92,000 runner-up check moved her past $6 million in career earnings. She has lost in the final of the Canadian tournament three times and won it in 1991.
Mauresmo, now 3-3 against Capriati, also won their meeting in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Rusedski's hard serve carries him to RCA title
INDIANAPOLIS — Greg Rusedski's T-shirt read 149 mph, a reminder of the booming serve that once placed him among the world's top tennis players.
Rusedski is serving notice he's back.
On Sunday, Rusedski's serves hit speeds as high as 132 mph as he rallied for a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spain's Felix Mantilla to win the RCA Championships title.
“I feel great, I have had no knee problems,” Rusedski said after winning his second title of the season. “I'm fit, I'm strong and I'm excited about the (U.S.) Open coming up.”
Rusedski's preparation for the U.S. Open has been nothing short of amazing. In two weeks, Britain's Rusedski, ranked No. 41, has defeated each of the world's top three players — Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, Russia's Marat Safin and Germany's Tommy Haas.
He beat top-ranked Hewitt in straight sets Thursday and Haas in three sets Saturday just to reach the RCA final. He beat Safin a week earlier in the Masters Series in Cincinnati.
He also had to win matches on five consecutive days to win the RCA title, the 12th of his career.
That stretch had Rusedski smiling and feeling healthy again after a two-year battle with injuries knocked his ranking, once as high as fourth, to as low as 69th.
“This gives me a lot of confidence going into the Open,” said Rusedski, a U.S. Open finalist in 1997. “I don't think there are a lot of guys who can say they've beaten the top three players in the world the last two weeks.”
He won Sunday the way he usually does: with a strong serve, by winning long baseline rallies and with strong net play.
Mantilla was no match, losing to Rusedski for the first time in three meetings between the two players. Mantilla is 9-10 in championship matches.
“It's crazy,” Mantilla said. “If he's playing like he did against me, he's going to be tough to beat the next two weeks.”
Rusedski, seeded 14th, blew the unseeded Mantilla away with first serves that consistently reached speeds higher than 110 mph and second serves that were only a bit slower. He had 16 aces, including one to close out the eighth game of the final set after he had fallen behind 40-0. Mantilla finished with one ace.
Rusedski went to the net 69 times, winning 41 points while Mantilla won only 4-of-7.
Even 60 unforced errors couldn't stop Rusedski, who complained to the chair umpire about calls two times and tossed his racket after he lost the tiebreaker 8-6 on a ball he thought sailed long.
No problem.
Rusedski settled down in the second set, rarely losing a point on serve and taking advantage of three break points in the seventh game, winning on a crosscourt smash.
“I think the seventh game is the most important game in a set,” he said. “That's certainly a place where you have to have a lift and I lifted well there today.”
Rusedski broke in the seventh game of the third set, too, taking control of the match.
But up a break and armed with a 4-3 lead in the final set, Rusedski stumbled a bit. He lost the first three points to Mantilla, then battled back with an overhead winner and net winners before closing out the game with — what else? — an ace.
Mantilla battled back from a match point to win the next game, but Rusedski served out the match at love, ending it with a winner down the line.
“I think I can mix it up between a slice and flat,” Rusedski said of his serve. “I can change speeds and that's what the key is, keeping them off balance and being able to back it up with my volleys.”
Fish rallies to beat Golovanov in final
NEW YORK — Top-seeded Mardy Fish overcame a loss in the first set to beat Russia's Denis Golovanov 1-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the final of the GHI Bronx Tennis Classic on Sunday.
“I came out flat and wasn't moving my feet in the first set,” Fish said. “Once I changed my strategy, I went on a roll.”
Ashley Harkleroad beat Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-1, 6-3 in the women's final for her second career victory.
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Blake outlasts Srichaphan for first tour title
