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| October 12, 2003 | Sunday | Sha'aban 15, 1424 |
Belgians to clash for number one spot
FILDERSTADT (Germany), Oct 11: Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne will battle not only for the Filderstadt Grand Prix title on Sunday, but also for the number one ranking after both earned straight-set semifinal victories.
Defending champion and world number one Clijsters overcame stiff first-set resistance before breezing past unseeded Mary Pierce of France 7-6 6-0.
She will face second seed Henin-Hardenne after her fellow Belgian beat unseeded Russian Elena Bovina 6-2 6-4.
Henin-Hardenne, who beat Clijsters in both the French and U.S. Open finals, will take over from Clijsters as the world number one if she wins the final.
Clijsters will remain at number one if she retains her title.
Results: Kim Clijsters (Belgium) bt Mary Pierce (France) 7-6 (7-2) 6-0; Justine Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) bt Elena Bovina (Russia) 6-2 6-4
VIENNA:Wimbledon champion Roger Federer will meet Carlos Moya in the final of the CA Trophy after the Spanish second seed overcame Britain’s Tim Henman 7-6 7-5 on Saturday.
Top seed Federer sidestepped Max Mirnyi 6-2 7-6 in the day’s first semi-final to leave himself just one match away from his sixth title of the year and second in a row in Vienna.
Moya, who has been beaten by Federer in both their previous encounters, is looking to boost his chances of qualifying for next month’s prestigious Masters Cup in Houston.
Against big-hitter Mirnyi, Federer unleashed a cocktail of stinging serves and irretrievable returns to pound his opponent into submission.
The Swiss, who is the most prolific winner on the ATP Tour this year with 66 match wins, charged through the first set and surrendered just one point on his serve to Mirnyi.
“I really served and volleyed well and had a good start in the first set,” the 22-year-old said.
But Mirnyi, who beat Federer in Rotterdam for a maiden title in February, found his rhythm in the second set and began to put pressure on him from the net, forcing a tiebreak.
“I really had to concentrate to make my first serve because he puts pressure on the second when he likes to hit and come in to the net,” Federer said of his towering 196 cm tall (6 ft 5in) adversary.
“I think my superiority from the baseline was ultimately the key.”
Moya had a much tougher battle against Henman, champion here three years ago.
The Briton was the more aggressive in the first set, charging the net at every opportunity and punching volleys past the 1998 French Open champion.
Moya then found his blistering forehand and started firing winners past Henman, wrapping up the tie-break with the loss of just one point.
In the second set, former world number one Moya was a break down early on but held his nerve to ultimately get the better of the attacking Briton.
“I think I was very lucky. He had lots of chances in both sets,” Moya said.
Semifinal results:
Carlos Moya (Spain) bt Tim Henman (Britain) 7-6 (7-1) 7-5; Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Max Mirnyi (Belarus) 6-2 7-6 (7-2)
TASKHENT OPEN
Results from the sixth day of the WTA US$140,000 Tashkent Open tennis tournament on Saturday:
Semifinals: Saori Obata (JPN) bt Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SWI) 7-5, 6-3;
Virginia Ruano Pascual (SPA) bt Arantxa Parra (SPA) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7/3).—Reuters
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