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| August 8, 2005 | Monday | Rajab 2, 1426 |
Pierce sets up final with Sugiyama
CARLSBAD (California), Aug 7: Mary Pierce crushed China’s Shuai Peng 6-2 6-2 to reach the final of the San Diego Classic on Saturday. The sixth-seeded Frenchwoman will meet Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in the final after she advanced when compatriot Akiko Morigami retired with a knee injury while 4-3 down in the second set.
Sugiyama had won the first set 6-4 in a protracted baseline battle that was characterised by several long rallies. Blasting the ball from all angles of the court, Pierce never allowed China’s top-ranked player into the match, serving with weight variety, punishing her foe’s second serves and keeping her groundstrokes deep.
After upsetting Kim Clijsters and losing a three-set doubles contest on Friday, Peng was a step slow all day. The 19-year-old was unable to impose her baseline game and never took advantage of the opportunities given her, failing to convert on all eight of her break point opportunities, including six in the last game of the first set.
Results (semifinal): Mary Pierce (France) bt Shuai Peng (China) 6-2 6-2; Ai Sugiyama (Japan) bt Akiko Morigami (Japan) 6-4 4-3 (Morigami retired)
WASHINGTON: Top seed Andy Roddick blasted 13 aces and lost only four points on his serve to subdue Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 6-2 Saturday to book a spot in the final of the Washington Classic.
Roddick will play unseeded James Blake, who needed just 68 minutes to upset 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-3, in the first all-American final since 1990.
The 13th-seeded Paradorn fought gamely in the opening set, battling to win each of his service games but was never able to deal with Roddick’s booming serves.
Roddick got 73 percent of his first serves in for the match and had no double faults. He lost only two service points in the opening set and one in the tiebreak — on a net cord.
The fifth-ranked Roddick captured the tiebreak 7-4, winning the final two points on Paradorn serve.
After losing the tiebreak, the 26-year-old Paradorn played a loose service game to open the second set and allowed Roddick to score an early break.
Roddick’s potent serving continued in the second set, allowing Paradorn only one point the entire frame. He broke Paradorn in the fifth game of the set to take a 4-1 lead and served out the match.
Blake, 25, the 2001 Washington champion, broke Berdych’s serve just once in each set but it was enough because the Czech was unable to do likewise.
Results (semifinal): Andy Roddick (United States) bt Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) 7-6(4) 6-2; James Blake (United States) bt Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-3 —Reuters
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