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| June 2, 2005 | Thursday | Rabi-us-Sani 24, 1426 |
Davydenko, Puerta showdown in semis
PARIS, June 1: Mariano Puerta reached his first grand slam semifinal at the French Open on Wednesday, the Argentine’s return to top flight tennis complete following a nine-month anti-doping ban. The 26-year-old, who has hauled his ranking up from 440 to 37 after testing positive for the banned drug clenbuterol in 2003, outgunned compatriot Guillermo Canas 6-2 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-4.
“I can’t believe I’ve reached the semifinals, I really want to enjoy this moment,” he said.
Clenbuterol promotes muscle growth. An anti-doping tribunal determined last year that Puerta had been prescribed the drug by a doctor to treat an acute asthma attack.
The player has always denied any wrongdoing and said on Wednesday his exile had made him stronger.
“I don’t really feel bitter,” he added. “I just don’t think back ... don’t waste my energy remembering things in the past. But I think it helped me to be stronger psychologically today, since every victory for me is even more important.
“When you go through a rough period, I’m sure that it just makes you become stronger. It’s hard for people to sink you.
“Everything I went through helps me feel calmer, and it has helped me mature and overcome difficult moments.”
Puerta will next face Russian Nikolay Davydenko in Friday’s semifinal. The 12th seed beat Spaniard Tommy Robredo 3-6 6-1 6-2 4-6 6-4.
But he reached the last four the hard way.
He had to endure a tense final set decider, after being up by two sets to one as well as a break to the good at 4-3 in the fourth, and then squandered three match points in the eighth game of the deciding set before wrapping up the tie.
Davydenko was playing in his second successive Grand Slam quarterfinal, after making the last eight at the Australian Open in January, and he was the man in form having won the St Poelten warm-up event on the eve of Roland Garros.
In a nervy opening, both players exchanged breaks in the first two games but Robredo settled into a solid, baseline rhythm faster than the Russian and wrapped up the first set 6-3 after 39 minutes.
But Davydenko is used to uphill climbs in Paris having to recover from losing the first set in his second round match with Olivier Rochus and fourth round meeting with 2004 runner-up Guillermo Coria to get this far.
He reduced his error count and broke the Spaniard three times in the second set to take it 6-1 in just 28 minutes to level the contest.
Davydenko was quickly on top again in the third set as Robredo, who had put out another Russian, third seed Marat Safin in the fourth round, struggled with his timing and his first serve.
Davydenko raced to a 3-1 lead which soon became 5-2 as the Spaniard’s game began to fall apart and the Russian sealed the set when the bewildered Robredo hit long.
The Russian then recovered from a break down to lead 4-3 in the fourth set but Robredo hung on and reeled off the next three games to take the set and level the contest after 2hr 28min.
The 23-year-old Robredo, however, was in trouble straightaway in the decider when his brittle service was exposed again by the Russian who enjoyed a break in the first game.
A fired-up Robredo was back on level terms at 2-2 courtesy of a whipped, backhand pass but the Russian then edged ahead with another break at 4-3 as both men began to tire.
Davydenko held on for 5-3, when his opponent carelessly ballooned an easy forehand, and then carved out three match points, all of which were gallantly saved by the Spaniard in the eighth game.
The Russian then saved two break points and went to his fourth match point which he converted when Robredo skewered a backhand wide of the line after 3hr 18min of action.
Davydenko outlasted Robredo in a tight five-set tussle.
In the top half of the draw, world number one Roger Federer will face fourth seed Rafael Nadal.
Both Puerta and Canas learned their trade on the slow clay courts of Buenos Aires, and a long, tough test of patience and stamina was expected. Neither player disappointed.
Ninth seed Canas had been the favourite but on the Roland Garros centre court there was nothing to separate the former junior team mates.
For five sets the energetic Canas scurried and chased, shovelling the ball back with his compact, economic strokes.
Puerta, a runner-up in the boy’s singles here in 1995, threw everything at his opponent, his looping left-handed shots finding ever-more acute angles before Canas cracked for the last time.
The 27-year-old ninth seed simply ran out of ideas.
“I think if I could go back and change something, I’d change Puerta,” he laughed.
“I was disappointed. I think disappointed is the right word. My expectation was to be in the semi-finals, and it was a very tough battle between the two of us.
“I think I did everything I could do to be in semi-finals.
“When the match ended, well, I think I felt disappointment, some small disappointment.
“But, you know, it’s a tennis match and somebody has to lose.”
“The key was to run, to run for every ball,” the Russian said. “It was so tough. Robredo played so well but I managed it.”
Wednesday’s results men’s singles quarterfinal: Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) bt Tommy Robredo (Spain) 3-6 6-1 6-2 4-6 6-4; Mariano Puerta (Argentina) bt 9-Guillermo Canas (Argentina) 6-2 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-4.
Women’s doubles (quarterfinals): Cara Black/Liezel Huber (ZIM/RSA) bt Li Ting/Sun Tiantian (CHN/CHN) 6-3, 6-4; Corina Morariu/Patty Schnyder (USA/SUI) bt Lisa Raymond/Rennae Stubbs (USA/AUS ) 6-4, 6-3; Nadia Petrova/Meghann Shaughnessy (RUS/US) bt Shinobu Asagoe/Katarina Srebotnik (JPN/SLO) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
Mixed doubles (quarterfinals): Daniela Hantuchova/Fabrice Santoro (SVK/FRA) bt Liezel Huber/Kevin Ullyett (RSA/ZIM) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Martina Navratilova/Leander Paes (USA/IND) bt Corina Morariu/Jared Palmer (USA/USA) 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3.—Agencies
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