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GSTAAD (Switzerland), July 13: Argentine Gaston Gaudio sat down to talk finals-day strategy Saturday with newly arrived coach Martin Jaite after securing a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) place in the final of the 600,000-dollar Swiss Open.
The 23-year-old from Buenos Aires barely beat the mountain rain which arrived at this VIP resort village shortly after he completed a semi-final comeback in two hours, 23 minutes over Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.
Jaite, who won the title here a dozen years ago, flew in from Argentina, originally planning to join his pupil for next week’s Amsterdam ATP event.
But his arrival at the conclusion of the match allowed the pair a later chance to leisurely map out Sunday strategy in the comfort of their hotel, while eighth seed Alex Corretja of Spain and Czech qualifier Radek Stepanek waited out the weather.
Gaudio is looking to become the third from his nation to win the Gstaad title after Guillermo Vilas (1974 and 1978) and Jose-Luis Clerc in 1982.
Gaudio lost the first set but wasted no time in rallying from a break down in the second. Squaring the match under threatening skies, he took the final set into a tie-breaker and collected the win with a fifth ace.
The highest-ranked player left in the tournament, Gaudio has won 20 of his last 22 matches on clay.
Ljubicic had found his big serve a valuable weapon until he ran into the Argentine, still managing 16 aces.
Since the first round, when he beat eighth seed Juan Chela of Argentina, losing serve three times, the big Croatian had not faced a break point and dished out 21 aces in the quarter-finals against Spain’s Galo Blanco.
Corretja, who won the title here in 1998 and 2000, has never faced Stepanek, who has been more often on the doubles court than in singles.
The outsider reached the third round at Wimbledon and the semi-finals at Munich.
Corretja has yet to drop a set at one of his favourite venues, where he celebrated the healthy mountain life by taking a milk bath for photographers with best friend and French Open champion Albert Costa.
NEWPORT (Rhode Island): Michael Llodra of France changed his vacation plans and spoiled the chance of an all-American semi-final Friday in the $381,000 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
Llodra, the seventh seed, moved into his first semi-final of the season with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 win over Mardy Fish in the grasscourt ATP Tour tournament on Friday.
He advanced to play top seed James Blake, who overpowered Justin Gimelstob, 7-5, 7-5, in the other quarter-final.
The first prize of $51,00 would make the shortened vacation even more enjoyable.
Quarterfinals: James Blake (USA x1) bt Justin Gimelstob (USA) 7-5, 7-5; Michael Llodra (Fra x7) bt Mardy Fish (USA) 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.
Palermo WTA results
Quarterfinals: Mariana Diaz-Oliva (Arg x6) bt Lubomina Bacheva (Bul) 6-4, 6-1; Paola Suarez (Arg x1) bt Celine Beigbeder (Fra x8) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3; Vera Zvonareva (Rus x5) bt Ekaterina Syssoeva (Rus) 6-0, 6-4; Henrieta Nagyiova (Svk x2) bt Nadejda Ostrovskaya (Blr) 6-4, 6-2.
(Semifinals):
5-Vera Zvonareva (Russia) beat 1-Paola Suarez (Argentina) 7-5 retired; 6-Mariana Diaz-Oliva (Argentina) beat 2-Henrieta Nagyova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-3
Casablanca WTA results
Quarterfinals: Patricia Wartusch (Aut x6) bt Maria Elena Camerin (Ita) 0-6, 6-4, 6-4; Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Ludmila Cervanova (Svk x4) 6-3, 3-0, abandon; Klara Koukalova (Cze) bt Petra Mandula (Hun x3) 6-2, 6-2; Gisela Dulko (Arg) bt Zsofia Gubacsi (Hun x7) 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
Baastad ATP tournament Saturday (x denotes seeded player):
Semifinals: Younes El Aynaoui (Mar x2) bt Tommy Robredo (Spa x4) 6-2, 6-2; Carlos Moya (Spa x3) bt Agustin Calleri (Arg) 6-4, 6-2.—Reuters/AFP
