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| June 14, 2003 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1424 |
Agassi reaches last four, regains number one spot
LONDON, June 13: Andre Agassi blasted into the semifinals of the Stella Artois Championships on Friday, recapturing the world number one ranking along the way.
The 33-year-old’s 6-4 7-5 win over Xavier Malisse vaulted him to the top of the rankings after Lleyton Hewitt had earlier lost at Queen’s Club for the first time in four years.
“It feels amazing to accomplish it at this stage in my career,” the American said after becoming the oldest world number one. “When you go out there you are always trying to be the best.”
Wimbledon champion Hewitt dropped to number two when he fell in the quarterfinals to Sebastien Grosjean 6-3 6-4.
The Australian had been gunning for an unprecedented fourth straight title here but instead suffered his first Queen’s loss since 1999.
Back in 1999 it was grasscourt maestro and winner of seven Wimbledon crowns Pete Sampras who had beaten him.
This time it was a French baseliner more comfortable on hard courts and clay courts than turf.
Grosjean will next meet Britain’s Tim Henman. The three-times finalist beat France’s Anthony Dupuis 6-1 6-4.
Hewitt’s defeat denies the Wimbledon champion vital match practice before he opens the defence of his crown in just over week.
Despite relinquishing his ranking, Hewitt may still be seeded one for Wimbledon as the tournament is the only one which reserves the right to deviate from the ATP’s entry system ranking list.
Organisers also take a player’s grasscourt record over a number of years into account.
Either way, the Australian is not too bothered.
Agassi needed just 61 minutes to grab the top spot again this year. He had toppled Hewitt for a fortnight in April to become the oldest world number one since rankings began in 1973.
Malisse, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, could not keep up with the American’s pace on a scorching centre court.
Agassi will next face the winner of Andy Roddick and Taylor Dent.
Quarterfinal results:
Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Taylor Dent (U.S.) 6-3 7-6 (7-3); Tim Henman (Britain) bt Anthony Dupuis (France) 6-1 6-4; Andre Agassi (U.S.) bt Xavier Malisse (Belgium) 6-4 7-5; Sebastien Grosjean (France) bt Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) 6-3 6-4
HALLE (Germany): Roger Federer beat Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui 7-5 7-6 to reach his second successive Halle Open semifinal but said he still needed to improve his game before the start of Wimbledon.
The top-seeded Swiss, bidding for his first grasscourt title, let slip a 3-0 lead in both sets but recovered his poise to set up a meeting with Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who ousted third seed Jiri Novak.
Frustrated after allowing El Aynaoui back into the match twice, Federer said: “It should have been easier but all in all I am happy with the match.
Federer lived up to his top billing as he grabbed a 3-0 lead in the opening set. But the Moroccan, who admitted he had been ‘killed’ by Federer in their last meeting, held serve and broke back for 3-2.
The pair then stayed on serve until the 12th game, when the Swiss broke again to take the set.
The pattern was repeated at the start of the second set as Federer stormed to a 3-0 lead, only to be broken back — thanks partly to a superb shot from between his legs by El Aynaoui.
This time the Moroccan held serve right through to force a tiebreak, but Federer stepped up his game to take it 7-3.
Federer, who has decided to practice at Wimbledon next week instead of playing another tournament, will be one of the favourites for the All England Club title, even though conditions appear to favour baseliners than serve and volleyers.
Youzhny, who has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in each of the last two years, outplayed third seed Novak 6-4 6-4.
After taking the first set, Youzhny raced to a 3-0 lead only to allow Novak to level at 3-3.
But another break in the seventh game gave Youzhny the mental edge and he kept up the momentum to secure his place in the last four.
Nicolas Kiefer, runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov last year, kept German hopes alive as he beat Czech Radek Stepanek 7-5 6-3.
Kiefer showed signs of his best form as he claimed his third successive win for the first time since Halle last year.
His semifinal opponent will be Frenchman Arnaud Clement, the eighth seed, who ousted Slovakian Karol Kucera 7-5 6-7 7-6 in an epic battle lasting three hours, 22 minutes.
Clement served for the match at 5-4 in the second set while Kucera served two double faults on his first two match points in the deciding set.
The Frenchman saved two more match points before taking the tiebreak 8-6 to clinch victory.
Quarterfinal results
Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) b Jiri Novak (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-4; Arnaud Clement (France) bt Karol Kucera (Slovakia) 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6); Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) bt Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) 7-5 6-3; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Younes El Aynaoui (Morocco) 7-5 7-6 (7-3)
BIRMINGHAM, England, June 13: Quarterfinal results at the $170,000 Edgbaston Open WTA tennis tournament on Friday:
Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (Thailand) 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4); Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) bt Maria Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela) 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-2); Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) bt Stephanie Foretz (France) 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3; Maria Sharapova(Russia) bt Elena Dementieva (Russia) 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.—Reuters
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