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| October 6, 2002 | Sunday | Rajab 28, 1423 |
Carlsen outlasts Srichaphan to meet Norman for trophy
TOKYO, Oct 5: Denmark’s Kenneth Carlsen advanced to the final of the Japan Open on Saturday, outlasting rising Thai hope Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) to move a step closer to his second tour title.
In the other semifinal, Swedish qualifier Magnus Norman disposed of American Vincent Spadea 6-4 7-6 (7-4), winning himself a chance to grab his first title following a hip injury last year.
The 29-year-old Carlsen prevailed in the clash of two hard-hitters with some powerful passing shots in the tie-breaks, while Paradorn’s big guns, which downed world number one Lleyton Hewitt in Friday’s quarter-final upset, failed him.
“Today, I missed a lot of shots because I was trying to go close to the line because he’s a quick player from the back...I tried to finish it off too early, so I was kind of rushing myself,” Paradorn told a news conference.
Carlsen served his way out of sticky moments, stacking up 11 aces in all, against six by the eighth seed Paradorn.
The 111th-ranked Dane saved three break points when he was down 40-0 in a second-set match with three consecutive aces.
Sunday’s final between Carlsen and Norman will be a match-up between two comeback players.
Carlsen, who has been on the tour for 10 years, had to sit out for 19 months following two operations on his shoulder in 2000.
Norman, a former world number two, has also suffered badly over the last two seasons with a hip injury and had to qualify, seven matches in eight days to reach the final.
But he said his performance was now close to his peak.
In the women’s semifinals, Silvija Talaja of Croatia breezed past American Sara Taylor 6-3 6-4, while number two seed Tamarine Tanasugarn was upset by American Jill Craybas 6-4 4-6 6-4.
MEN:
Magnus Norman bt Vincent Spadea (U.S.) 6-4 7-6 (7-4); Kenneth Carlsen bt Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5)
WOMEN:
Jill Craybas (U.S.) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-4 4-6 6-4; Silvija Talaja bt Sarah Taylor 6-3 6-4
DAVENPORT FACES MALEEVA
MOSCOW: Lindsay Davenport of the United States, seeded third, eased into the final of the WTA section of the 2.24-million-dollar Kremlin Cup here Saturday with a 6-3, 6-4 win over South Africa’s Amanda Cotzer.
Davenport, who missed the major part of the season after undergoing surgery on her right knee in January, booked her third final in six events this season to record her 12th win over Coetzer in 15 head-to-head meetings.
On Sunday Davenport, who made the final in her first appearance here, will face unseeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, who outclassed the fifth seed Amelie Mauresmo of France in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, to make her third final here.
But Maleeva, currently ranked 23 in the world, picked up steam and replied with a couple of breaks to level at 3-3 before she broke Mauresmo again in the 12th game, winning the first set in 57 minutes on the sixth set point.
In the second set Maleeva, the winner of two titles here in 1994-95, broke early to build a 3-0 lead.
Maleeva could have closed the match when she served while leading 5-3 and 40-15 but world number seven (WTA) Mauresmo survived two match points to reduce the arrears.
Later Sjeng Schalken upset second seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-2 6-4 in the semifinal Saturday to stop the Russian’s bid to win his sixth consecutive title.—AFP
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