Tokyo
October 10, 2004
www.theage.com.au
Lleyton Hewitt lost to Czech Jiri Novak for the first time in seven clashes to bow out in the semi-finals of the Japan Open yesterday after an unusual rain delay caused by an approaching typhoon.
The fifth seed won 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to advance to today's final against American seventh seed Taylor Dent, who eliminated Czech Bohdan Ulihrach 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Besides an assortment of unforced errors from Hewitt, roof problems attracted much of the attention of crowd members, who at one point had to use their umbrellas as approaching typhoon Ma-on led to a suspension deep in the third set of the semi-final.
With Novak leading 3-1, the torrential rain hammering the sliding roof started to come through in an expanding series of leaks. Play was suspended, but the incident only delayed the inevitable for Hewitt.
Top seed Maria Sharapova defended her Japan Open title by overpowering unseeded American Mashona Washington 6-0, 6-1 in the final.
In Germany, the top four seeds reached the semi-finals of the Filderstadt Grand Prix on Friday.
World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo dismissed American Lisa Raymond 6-4, 6-1 and second seed Lindsay Davenport beat Serbian qualifier Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-3.
Third-seeded Anastasia Myskina beat fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 and another Russian, fourth seed and US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, defeated qualifier Fabiola Zuluaga.
- agencies
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ATP Tennis
After a slow start in the first set, No. 7 seed Taylor Dent reached the first ATP final of the year with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over unseeded Bohdan Ulihrach.
The 23-year-old American was close to flawless on his serve hitting 69% of his first serves saving two out of three break points. With the win, Dent improves to 28-20 matching his highest number of wins in a year (2003), while Ulihrach falls to 8-17 in 2004.
No. 5 seed Jiri Novak defeated Lleyton Hewitt for the first time in six encounters with a strong 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to advance to his first ATP final of the year.
Novak was relentless from the back hitting his groundstrokes aggressively while also taking more chances when facing second serves. He broke Hewitt's serve four times in the match and was broke twice in the one hour-36 minute upset. With the win, Novak improves to 36-20 while Hewitt falls to 63-15.
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Last Update: 10/9/2004 10:37:55 AM
Sports Network
The match between Novak and Hewitt was suspended for 35 minutes after rain from Typhoon Ma-on leaked through Ariake Colosseum's retractable roof. The typhoon hit the area with winds of up to 100 mph and authorities are forecasting 10 inches of rainfall through Sunday.
Novak will face seventh-seeded Taylor Dent in Sunday's final after the American posted a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 triumph over veteran Czech Bohdan Ulihrach in the other semifinal.
The former world No. 1 Hewitt, who captured this Tokyo event in 2001, lost for just the second time in his last 22 matches. He had captured all six previous encounters with Novak.
It will be the first finals appearance this season for both Novak and Dent. The winner will earn $118,000.
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TOKYO : Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt was bundled out of the rain-interrupted Japan Open here, suffering a three-set semi-final defeat to Jiri Novak.
The Australian top seed, the winner here in 2001, appeared to have lost his concentration after the match was halted for about 30 minutes before going out 4-6, 6-4, 2-6 to the Czech fifth seed.
The match was interrupted with Novak leading 3-1 at deuce on Hewitt's serve in the final set when the roof of the centre court started leaking, as Typhoon Ma-On, which was packing winds of up to 162 kilometres (100 miles), bore down on Tokyo.
When proceedings resumed after a 30-minute break, Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, lost seven points in a row to go 1-5 down and, although he hit a couple of aces to hold the following game, the Czech served out for the match.
In Sunday's final, Novak will take on American seventh seed Taylor Dent, who defeated Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
Earlier in the day, Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia defended her first career title by beating American Mashova Washington 6-0, 6-1 in the women's singles final.
"You don't expect to have rain delays indoors, but it's awful for both players," said Hewitt.
"I came back and I just didn't make any first serves on the next two points. He played two good points, and he went up another break up. When you get down a double breaks in this kind of match, it's going to be tough.
"I've got a pretty good record against him in the past. His game is difficult for a lot of players. On this kind of court, it's one of his best surfaces," he added.
There was no such disruption for Dent, ranked 55th against Ulihrach's 140, although he had to come back from behind.
"I felt actually I played pretty well even in the first set, my ground strokes were not consistent as I normally like it to be, but I was playing well. He was just playing a good game to break me," said Dent, 23.
"That's kind of how men's tennis goes, a break here and the set is over. The same thing happened to him in the second set. It was a tight set, I had a break point, set point, then set is over.
"He looked a little bit tired in the third set. I was able to get an early break, and I played solid too until the rest of the match I got away with it," added the Amercain.
- AFP
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ATP Tennis
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt takes an impressive 6-0 lead in the series against Jiri Novak in their semifinal clash. In their last match in AMS Toronto ‘04, Hewitt dominated the match 6-2, 6-1 for a place in the third round.
The 23-year-old Australian will be looking for his fifth title of the year, having won the crowns in Sydney, Rotterdam, Washington and Long Island. He also reached the finals at the US Open and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati. The 23-year-old and two-time Tennis Masters Cup champion has already secured a place for his fourth season-ending championships, taking place in Houston in November. Hewitt (10-1 at this event) is also seeking his second AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships title, having defeated Michel Kratochvil in the 2001 Tokyo final.
Novak has not lost a set in his three matches this week coming into the semifinals. In his only previous appearance (2003), he lost in the second round (Saulnier). He is 4-1 at this event. He is looking to advance to his first ATP final of the season having fall short in the three other semifinals he has reached this year losing to Rafael Nadal in Auckland, Roger Federer in Halle and Guillermo Canas in Shanghai last week. Novak is ranked 35 in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race with a 35-20 record.
No. 7 seed Taylor Dent and unseeded Bohdan Ulihrach will meet for the first time in an ATP event. Dent is 5-2 at this event with his best previous result coming in 2002 (lost to Norman in the third round). Dent looks to advance to his first ATP final in 2004 having reached the semifinals in Adelaide (l. to Llodra), Nottingham (l. to T. Johansson) and Athens Olympics (l. to Massu). He is currently No. 49 in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race with a 27-20 record.
Ulihrach, who has not dropped a set in his previous four matches, had not reached a quarterfinal before this event. His best performances this year came by reaching the second round in the Australian Open (l. to Roddick) and TMS Miami (l. to Hrbaty). He also reached the semifinals of Wraclaw and Prague at the challenger level. He is No. 120 in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race with an 8-16 record.
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BBC Sport
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt will take on Jiri Novak in the semi-finals of the Japan Open after sealing a 7-5 6-1 victory over Cyril Saulnier.
Hewitt, who won this event in 2001, had a tough time in the opening set but broke the Frenchman twice in the second to seal the victory.
"It took me a few games to get on to his serve," said Hewitt.
Fifth seed Novak booked his place in the last four after beating Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan 6-4 6-4.
The last two semi-final slots were filled later on Friday when Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic beat Germany's Bjorn Phau 7-5 6-4, and American Taylor Dent outlasted Luxembourg's Gilles Muller 6-4 4-6 6-2.
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October 8, 2004
World number three Lleyton Hewitt has booked his place in the semi-final of the Japan Open with a straight sets win over Frenchman Cyril Saulnier.
Hewitt defeated the ninth seed Saulnier 7-5, 6-1.
The Australian will now face Czech Jiri Novak, who accounted for Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan 6-4, 6-4.
Hewitt, who is the top seed in Tokyo, said he felt his form was improving the longer he stayed in the tournament.
"I played a lot better today than my first two matches," he said.
"That's pretty normal, I guess I struggle sometimes the first couple of matches after a break, not playing on hard court a few weeks."
Paradorn, the top-ranked Asian player, never recovered in his match against Novak after letting slip two break points in the fourth game of the first set.
He said he was tired after bad weather forced him to play both his second and third round matches yesterday.
"There's nothing I can do about the weather and he (Novak) also played two matches yesterday so we were even," Paradorn said.
"But I think I played well. He was just playing better."
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova had little difficulty in dispatching Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2, 6-3.
The Wimbledon champion will face Mashona Washington in the final after the American beat Czech seventh seed Klara Koukalova 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.
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AFP
October 09, 2004
WORLD No.3 Lleyton Hewitt booked his place in the semi-finals of the Japan Open while defending champion Maria Sharapova cruised into the women's singles final yesterday.
Hewitt, the former world No.1 and 2002 Wimbledon champion, came through a tough first set against Cyril Saulnier before overpowering the French ninth seed in the second set to win 7-5 6-1.
Hewitt, the top seed, will face Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic in today's semi-finals while Gilles Muller of Luxembourg took on American Taylor Dent and Germany's Bjorn Phau played Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in the other men's quarter-finals last night.
Thailand's Paradorn Srichapan failed to improve on his dismal record against Novak, crashing out 6-4 6-4 in their quarter-final.
Sharapova, the 17-year-old Wimbledon champion from Russia who is defending a title for the first time, was broken in the first game by Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn but recovered to win, 6-2 6-2.
"I did have a slow start. It's quite difficult when you don't have a proper warm-up (because of the rain)," Sharapova said.
"She (Tamarine) broke my serve right away. I made two double faults. I picked it up, I served a lot better, and I returned very well today. I think that was the key."
Sharapova will face Mashona Washington in today's final after the American defeated Czech seventh seed Klara Koukalova, 3-6 7-5 6-2.
Tanasugarn's defeat added to a disappointing day for Thailand as Srichapan fell to Novak, against whom he has won only one set in three meetings.
Srichapan said he was tired after rain delays forced him to play his second- and third-round matches on Thursday.
"There's nothing I can do about the weather and he (Novak) also played two matches yesterday, so we were even," Srichapan said. "But I think I played well. He was just playing better."
The top-ranked Asian player, Srichapan never recovered after letting slip two break points in the fourth game of the first set.
A spirited Novak, ranked 14 places below his opponent at 35, broke Srichapan's serve at 4-4 before converting another to make it 3-2 in the second, running out a 6-4 6-4 winner.
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ATP Tennis
[excerpt]
Top seed Lleyton Hewitt defeated the crowd favorite and wild card Takao Suzuki 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4. After winning the first set in an intense tie-break, Japanese Suzuki couldn't overcome the quick footwork of Hewitt.
During the 1 hour, 53 minute match, Hewitt was flawless on his serve and never faced a break point. Hewitt also won 88 percent of the points on his firs serve. Suzuki put on a great show, continually rushing the net at every opportunity, but Hewitt's passing shots mixed in with many lobs unsettled Suzuki's strategy.
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October 8, 2004
Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt has reached the quarter-finals of the $A1.18 million Japan Open in Tokyo after being pushed to three sets by a Japanese player for the second day in a row.
The top seed eventually won 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 against third-round opponent and wildcard entrant Takao Suzuki.
In his previous match, Hewitt dropped the second set in his win over Suzuki's compatriot Goichi Motomura, another wildcard in the draw.
"I was just trying to stay motivated," Hewitt said.
"I was able to break serve early in the second set and that was key to getting control of the match."
In other men's action, nine seeds, including the number two David Nalbandian and number three Andrei Pavel, bit the dust as play lost to rain earlier in the week was made up.
Four lost in the second round, including Pavel of Romania who was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by Germany's Bjorn Phau.
Five more men's seeds fell in the third round, among them Argentine Nalbandian who lost 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 to 16th seed Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
In the women's tournament, top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova overcame qualifier Youlia Fedossova of France 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals.
The only other seed left in the women's draw, seventh seed Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic, also reached the semis after a 6-3, 6-0 win over compatriot Nicole Vaidisova.
Sharapova, who had a tough second-round win over Australian Samantha Stosur on Wednesday, will face a strong challenge in the semi-finals from in-form Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn, a 6-1, 3-0 winner over Hungary's Aniko Kapros who retired with a thigh strain.
Tamarine knocked out third seed Shinobu Asagoe in the first round.
American Mashona Washington defeated Evgenia Linetskaya 6-2, 6-1 to complete the semi-final line-up, where she will face Koukalova.
Sharapova, who played in China and South Korea before coming to Tokyo, admitted her long trip was catching up with her.
"I am a little tired," she said. "I had a tough match yesterday, but I just have to stay positive and hopefully get a good night's sleep."
--Reuters
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Former world number one Lleyton Hewitt and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova eased into the final stages of the Japan Open tennis tournament today while David Nalbandian became the highest-seeded men's casualty.
Thai star Paradorn Srichapan also came through a tough day, beating Harel Levy of Israel and Marco Chiudinelli of Switzerland to make it into the quarter-finals of the rain-disrupted tournament.
Hewitt, the Australian top seed, dropped his second set in two matches but still ran out a comfortable 6-7 (3/7) 6-2 6-4 winner over Takao Suzuki of Japan.
The 2002 Wimbledon champion, currently ranked third in the world, avoided facing any break points at all against the 231st-ranked Suzuki.
"Even though I lost the first set, I still felt like I was a better player throughout the first set," said Hewitt.
"To be able to break his serve early in the second set, I think that was the key, and let him know that his serve's gonna be broken a few more times in the match."
Meanwhile defending women's champion Sharapova breezed past French qualifier Youlia Fedossova 6-3 6-4 to set up a semifinal against Thai ace Tamarine Tanasugarn.
The top-seeded Russian glamour girl, defending a title for the first time, said she was not looking beyond the next match against Tamarine, who advanced when last year's runner-up Aniko Kapros of Hungary abandoned the match with a knee injury at 6-1 3-0.
"I definitely hope I can defend my title, that's for sure, but I have to take one match at a time, just think about my next match and I definitely want to win it, so I'll be looking forward to that," Sharapova said.
Second seed Nalbandian, the 2002 Wimbledon finalist, lamented a lack of confidence as he crashed out 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 4-6 to Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
"I didn't have a very good start (to the tournament), because ... I don't know, I don't have much confidence at this moment," he said.
Thailand's Paradorn was philosophical about being forced to play two matches in one day and was relieved that his second opponent, Chiudinelli, was forced to abandon the match through injury with the score at 6-3 4-1.
"It's something you have to deal with when bad weather is involved in a tournament, so I had to play two matches, but I feel good," Paradorn said.
"I knew it was going to be tough (against Chiudinelli), because I played him last week in Bangkok. Tonight, he started moving very well and putting a lot of balls in play, but I managed to get on top of him. It's great not to finish the whole match, because it gives me rest time," he added.
Paradorn now faces a quarterfinal match-up with fifth seed Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, who beat Brazil's Ricardo Mello 6-1 6-2.
Hewitt will play French ninth seed Cyril Saulnier, the winner over eighth seed Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-7 (6/8) 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/5), while Muller faces American Taylor Dent. Germany's Bjorn Phau plays Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in the last quarterfinal match-up.
Mashona Washington of the United States will take on Klara Koukalova of the Czech Republic in the other women's semifinal.
- AFP
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October 8, 2004
Shepparton News
Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt needed three sets to beat home favourite Goichi Motomura and advance to the third round of the Japan Open tennis tournament late Wednesday night.
The top-seeded 2001 champion from Australia, who did not lose a set at the US Open before losing the final to Swiss Roger Federer last month, surprisingly went the distance with Motomura before winning 6-0 3-6 6-1 in 95 minutes.
"In the first set, I didn't feel like I played great, but I got through 6-0," Hewitt said.
"I had a lot of opportunities in the second set, nearly in every one of his service games.
"But once he got on the scoreboard, then he lifted his game quite a lot better.
"But I had one slack game at 4-3 in the second set to lose my serve.
"I was 40-15 up in that game, a couple of double faults, I just played a couple of slack points.
"Against anyone, you can't afford to do that.
"Even at 5-3 on his serve, I still had a break point. I couldn't convert that, but the whole third set I felt like I was pretty much in command."
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AFP
October 07, 2004
LLEYTON HEWITT overcame a mid-match blip to make a strong start to his Japan Open campaign and take another small step towards replacing Andy Roddick as the world's No.2-ranked player.
After losing the US Open final, Hewitt set his sights on surpassing the American and, having skipped the past two months of last year, every match the South Australian wins brings him closer to Roddick.
Hewitt, the top seed in Tokyo, needed three sets yesterday to beat home favourite Goichi Motomura and advance to the third round.
The world No.3, who did not lose a set in his run to the final at the US Open last month, surprisingly needed three to overcome Motomura 6-0 3-6 6-1 in 95 minutes.
Hewitt conceded he had a patchy performance against Motomura.
"In the first set, I didn't feel like I played great, but I got through 6-0," Hewitt said.
"I had a lot of opportunities in the second set, nearly in every one of his service games. But once he got on the scoreboard, he lifted his game quite a lot better.
"But I had one slack game at 4-3 in the second set to lose my serve. I was 40-15 up in that game, a couple of double faults, I just played a couple of slack points. Against anyone, you can't afford to do that.
"Even at 5-3 on his serve, I still had a break point. I couldn't convert that, but the whole third set I felt like I was pretty much in command."
In the third round, Hewitt will take on another Japanese, wild-card entrant Takao Suzuki, who eliminated 15th seed Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 7-5.
Once again, Hewitt is the last Australian standing. Wayne Arthurs lost his second-round match against South Korea's Lee Hyung-Taik 6-3 6-4, while Mark Philippoussis lost his opening match for the 13th time in 16 tournaments on Monday.
In other second-round matches, American Taylor Dent, the seventh seed, knocked out Philippoussis's conqueror Tomas Zib of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-4 and eighth-seeded Swede Thomas Johansson defeated Justin Gimelstob of the US 6-3 6-4.
In the women's draw, second seed Tatiana Golovin of France was sent crashing out of the tournament after losing to Czech wild-card Nicole Vaidisova in the battle of the teens.
Vaidisova, the youngest player in the field at 15 years and five months, used her power-packed strokes to beat the 16-year-old Russian-born Frenchwoman 6-4 3-6 6-4 in their second-round encounter.
Vaidisova, who lost her first match against Golovin in last year's Wimbledon junior tournament, hit hard and deep to trouble the Frenchwoman.
"I think I gained a lot more confidence and I play smarter tennis," Vaidisova said, comparing her win with her two-set loss to Golovin at the All England Club.
"I felt pretty good on the court. Last year, I had a respect for her. Now I just play my game, not thinking about my opponent."
Vaidisova and Golovin are products of Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy.
Golovin said: "I felt I never got into the match and never got into the rhythm. I hadn't played for a while, so I was very disappointed about the match.
"She just took an advantage better, she played well, she's gonna be a good player."
About hitting two double faults in the last game, Golovin said: "I think it's just concentration. It's frustration also from not being able to play the way I wanted to do during the whole match.
"Obviously I shouldn't hit double faults many times. It was windy out there, but it was windy for both players, so I can't say it was an excuse."
Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn eliminated 2002 Japan Open champion Jill Craybas of the US 6-3 7-6 (7-2).
Russia's Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova continued her good form since the end of the North American hardcourt season by downing Samantha Stosur 6-4 1-6 6-3.
In Germany, Alicia Molik advanced to the second round of the Fliderstadt Grand Prix by beating Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-2 6-3.
The win set up a match with Lindsay Davenport, who is vying to regain the world No.1 ranking from Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo.
It was in the same German town that the American first took over the No.1 ranking six years ago.
AFP