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| April 20, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 17, 1424 |
Coria upsets Moya to meet Ferrero in final
MONTE CARLO, April 19: Argentine Guillermo Coria upset Carlos Moya 7-6 6-2 at the Monte Carlo Masters on Saturday, preventing the Spaniard from meeting compatriot Juan-Carlos Ferrero in a repeat of last year’s final.
Earlier, Ferrero, the defending champion, dismissed American Vince Spadea 6-3 6-4 to win his 11th successive match in the principality.
Coria, suspended for six months for nandrolone in 2001, confirmed his great form since the start of the year to reach his fifth career final, his second this season.
Coached by 1989 Monte Carlo champion Alberto Mancini and named Guillermo after three-times winner Guillermo Vilas, Coria took sweet revenge over Moya, who had beaten him in the Buenos Aires final earlier this year.
Moya, winner here in 1998, seemed to have the upper hand in the first set, but Coria saved five break points in the 11th game and the former world number one suddenly lost his momentum in the tiebreak which the far more consistent Coria won 7-3.
The loss of the set seemed to demolish Moya’s game and spirit and the former French Open winner quickly found himself 1-5 down after a series of blunders.
Moya had to be content with saving four match points before bowing out.
“The five break points I saved at the end of the first set were the key,” said Coria.
“We’re going to discuss the final with Alberto (Mancini). He won his so this is kind of special,” he added.
Sunday’s final will be only the second encounter between top seed Ferrero and Coria, the Spaniard having beaten the Argentine in three sets in last year’s French Open.
Against Spadea, Ferrero, unbeaten on clay this season, imposed his experience and baseline consistency during a 78-minute match in which both players struggled to hold serve.
Overall, there were 11 breaks of serve in 19 games.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the final again since this is a very important tournament for me,” said Ferrero after a match played under a cloudy sky for the first time this week.
The Spaniard, the first defending champion to reach the final in Monte Carlo since Austrian Thomas Muster in 1996, said the return of the clay-court season was always a relief for him.
“It’s a matter of confidence. When I’m back on clay and feeling well physically, then everything comes naturally and I’m very hard to beat,” he said.
Spadea, the first American in the last four for 11 years, felt the weather change, making the court heavier and slower, had made a big difference.
“It was not a court or a match to hold serve. And against such a solid clay-court player, it’s hard,” he said.
Semifinals results: Guillermo Coria (ARG) bt Carlos Moya (SPA x2) 7-6 (7/3), 6-2; Juan Carlos Ferrero (SPA x1) bt Vince Spadea (USA) 6-3, 6-4.
AMELIA ISLAND (Florida): The top three seeds made light work of their opponents at the Bausch and Lomb Championships on Friday as Justine Henin-Hardenne, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati all cruised into the last four.
They were joined by 10th seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who also enjoyed an easy win over fourth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
The top-seeded Henin-Hardenne had the most difficult time, needing 80 minutes to defeat sixth seed and former champion Monica Seles 6-2 6-4.
Henin-Hardenne, who defeated the American for the third straight time after losing their first four encounters, arrived at the event fresh from a victory over world number one Serena Williams — her first loss of the season — in the final of the Family Circle Cup last Sunday.
It was the second title of the year for the 20-year-old Belgian, who takes on Dementieva in Saturday’s semifinals.
A dominant Dementieva needed just 46 minutes to oust an error-prone Hantuchova 6-0 6-1.
By reaching her second semi-final of the season, Dementieva took advantage of 28 unforced errors to beat the 19-year-old for the fifth time in seven meetings.
Davenport breezed through a 6-1 6-1 romp over seventh seed Patty Schnyder in a minute less than it took Dementieva to advance.
The second-seeded American was practically perfect in maintaining her dominance over Schnyder, recording 32 winners with only eight unforced errors in her sixth win in their seven matches.
In her three matches this week, Davenport has dropped just five games.
Davenport will square off against fellow American and third seed Capriati who crushed 12th seed Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-0 in a night match.
Capriati’s is running into good form after struggling with eye problems earlier in the year after having off-season surgery to remove sun spots.
She has advanced to at least the semi-finals in four straight tournaments.
Davenport is 8-2 lifetime against Capriati, winning their last meeting in three sets at Indian Wells last month.
Quarterfinal results (prefix number denotes seeding): Elena Dementieva bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-0 6-1, Jennifer Capriati bt Lisa Raymond 6-2 6-0, Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Monica Seles 6-2 6-4, Lindsay Davenport bt Patty Schnyder 6-1 6-1—Reuters
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