| Hobbled
Davenport to face ROLAND
GARROS Champ
Myskina fights off 9 match points to stifle
Vera
Federer v. Roddick #8 in Canada final
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Siggi Bucher |
| Anastasia Myskina wins the longest
third-set tiebreak – 32 points – in WTA history. |
From THE ACURA CLASSIC IN CARLSBAD, CALIF
– With the sterling field that arrived at Acura Classic on
Monday, there were high expectations that the tournament would produce
classic after classic. But it wasn't until Saturday that 6,400 fans
got to walk away with a vintage contest etched in their memories
when Roland Garros champ Anastasia Myskina fought off nine match
points and pulled off a remarkable 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (17-15) victory
over a charged up Vera Zvonareva in the semis.
The match was a bubbling emotional cauldron all the way through,
with angst-ridden Myskina constantly castigating her good-natured
coach, Jens Erlach, and Zvonareva cracking her racket and launching
balls over the La Costa club house in anger.
It was Zvonareva's decision to serve and volley and shorten points
by charging the net on short balls that kept her in the contest,
and Myskina's ability to calm her frayed nerves down 2-5 and two
breaks in the third set that led her to victory.
"I really wanted to win," Myskina said. "I didn't
think how I was going to win, I just fought for every point."
A Recounting of the 14 match Points
Myskina fought off a match point at 4-5 when Zvonareva was completely
wild on a backhand down the line, a shot that plagued her throughout
the contest.
The longest third-set tiebreak in the history of the WTA Tour was
gut wrenching and for the most part, brilliant.
Zvonareva held three match points at 6-3 in the breaker, but Myskina
belted a forehand crosscourt pass, a forehand down the line winner
and watched Vera net a forehand to 6-6. Zvonareva missed another
backhand down the line at 7-6 and then Myskina cracked a 104-mph
service winner at 7-8.
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Zvonareva lost nine match points. |
On Myskina's first match point at 8-7,
she missed a backhand but recovered down 10-9 with a crisp forehand
volley winner. Zvonareva fought off her second match point at 10-11
with a service winner, but missed a backhand on her seventh match
point at 12-11. Myskina came up with a backhand volley winner at
12-13, but on Myskina's third match point at 14-13, Zvonareva crushed
a forehand winner down the line.
Myskina missed a forehand at 15-14, but at 15-15, Myskina stabbed
a backhand volley that was over her head off the top of the net
cord for a winner. Vera was crushed. Zvonareva was a long with a
backhand and the two friends warmly embraced at net.
"I thought I was going to lose," Myskina said. "I
was controlling the match and then I lost control Vera was playing
unbelievable. The weakest part of my game is in the head and I started
to lose it. But in the tiebreak I tried to forget the score and
that helped a lot."
Davenport to play with bad knee
Myskina will face Lindsay Davenport, who jammed her surgically repaired
right knee in the ninth game of the second set in her 6-2 6-4 victory
over Elena Dementieva.
Davenport but said she believes she will be good to go for Sunday's
final. "It looks like I jammed the knee cap and not my problematic
areas which are the bones and cartilage," Davenport said. "It
looks like the pain is unrelated to my previous surgery, so I'm
really relieved. I feel lucky because it could have been worse.
I'm really optimistic for tomorrow."
Davenport first re-injured her knee in a fourth round loss to Dementieva
at the French Open in June. But she began traveling with a full-time
physical therapist after that and hadn't experienced any pain until
Saturday.
"It's been a long season and this is the time when the body
is more susceptible to injury," the 28-year-old said. "I've
been trying to take care of my body. Hopefully it's not major. I'm
really optimistic. " Davenport is 3-0 lifetime against Myskina,
having never lost a set against her.
Federer v. Roddick #7 in Canada finals
It's been nine years since Thomas Muster owned the dirtball circuit
and raked in a remarkable 12 titles, but the swaggering Austrian's
mark may be at risk this year if Roger Federer keeps rolling. The
Swiss notched his 22nd consecutive match win with a difficult 4-6,
6-3, 6-2 victory over Thomas Johansson to reach the final of Tennis
Masters Series-Canada. Federer will have a Wimbledon final re-match
with Andy Roddick, who took out Nicolas Kiefer.
No player has won eight titles in a season since Muster, but if
Federer takes TMS-Canada, he will have grabbed No. 8, a feat not
matched on tour since the Moo-man's run. Federer's 22-match winning
streak is the longest since Pete Sampras won 24 in 1999.
"I know I haven't lost since the French, but I would have to
sit down and think how many that is in row," the humble Federer
said. "But I am not trying to break anybody's streak. I am
here to compete in this one tournament and hope obviously that the
streak keeps on going. I am in this position again, for the fourth
time in a row to actually win a tournament. What's more important
to me is actually the finals winning streak."
Wimbledon and Aussie Open champ Federer is attempting to win his
third ATP Masters Series title of the year, having already won in
Indian Wells and Hamburg. The world wants to see him face off again
against No. 2 Roddick again, who he is 6-1 against.
"It would be very nice to play him again," Federer said.
"A lot of people are and trying to build it up. It's normal
especially since we have been kind of dominating the tour a little
after the French Open."
The Swiss added that both he and Roddick have the fear factor in
the locker room, but it is more than fair to say that Federer is
looking much more ghoulish these days.
"I know quite surely what I have to do during the match and
the way I have to approach a match," Federer said. "I
am very secure in everything I am doing. I know that if it goes
according to plan, I will get my chances on the return. If it goes
according to plan I will hold my serve. All those kind of things
make you very confident. I think it is a little bit the same for
him. If I see him playing, he never gets in a hurry because he knows
he has got his serve, he knows he is going to get chances on return.
Players feel that they are going to face a tough challenge. That
can be very intimidating for certain players." |
