|
 |   |
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
Young vs. old Safin to meet Sampras in U.S. Open final
FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. (AP) -- Teen-ager Lleyton Hewitt learned an important lesson at the U.S. Open on Saturday: Don't give Pete Sampras a second chance. Hewitt let the four-time champion off the hook in the first set of their semifinal and watched the all-time Grand Slam record-holder take advantage of it in a 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) victory. That put No. 4 Sampras in Sunday's Open championship against No. 6 Marat Safin, who methodically broke down Todd Martin's game, taking it apart one piece at a time with lobs, drops and passing shots in a 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) victory. After Sampras and Safin advanced, rain delayed the start of the women's championship match between No. 2 Lindsay Davenport and No. 3 Venus Williams. Sampras, who last reached the Open final four years ago, now goes after his 14th Grand Slam title. Safin, a 20-year-old Russian, reached his first Grand Slam final but promised he wasn't done. "It's nice to be in the final," Safin said. "But something is missing. I want to win." President Bill Clinton, seated in the U.S. Tennis Association box, signed caps, T-shirts and tennis balls tossed to him by fans as Hewitt and Sampras dueled at center court, trading shot for shot and point for point. Hewitt, seeded No. 9, shrugged off four set points and forced a first-set tiebreaker. Finally, the 19-year-old Aussie got to his own second set point, serving at 7-6. Standing at the net with the court wide open in front of him, Hewitt whipped his forehand shot wide, surrendering a crucial point. "I still felt that I went for the right shot," Hewitt said. "You have a set point on your own serve. You work so hard. To have had the point set up and make an easy error, obviously you feel frustrated straight away." Sampras seized the reprieve, winning the next two points to capture the tiebreaker set 9-7. It was an advantage Hewitt could not afford to give Sampras, who came into the semifinal with a 148-8 record in Grand Slam matches when he wins the first set. Sampras played aggressive, opportunistic tennis, dashing to the net, forcing the issue on many points. As stifling humidity gave way to cooler, cloudier weather, he controlled the match, getting an early break in the second set and protecting it. Hewitt, who beat Sampras in the Wimbledon warmup at Queens Club, had won 15 straight sets at the Open after dropping the first he played in this tournament. On Friday, he teamed with Max Mirnyi to win the men's doubles title. Hewitt delivered some big shots, including 23 aces that surpassed Sampras' 18, and even broke Sampras in the third set. But when Sampras broke back, Hewitt's frustration caught up with him and he tossed his racket away. It was in that set that ATP trainer Doug Spreen was called out to massage Sampras' left thigh with analgesic cream. Then Sampras finished the match, winning his seventh straight tiebreak of the Open after setting up match point with a brilliant backpedaling overhead. "It was an unbelievable shot," Hewitt said. "It was probably a little bit lucky that I got the ball that deep in the end anyway because it was such a great serve. I just threw my racket out. It turned out to be sort of a very good return - I thought anyway. He just jumped up there and put it away." Safin wasn't anxious to talk about playing Sampras.
"I don't want to think about this," he said. "Everybody is gonna be against me." Safin had Martin, 10 years older, gasping for air on a hot, humid afternoon at the National Tennis Center. "He played the big points better than me and he played the little points better than me," Martin said. "I was fighting an uphill battle all the way. I was tired. But, gee, if I was at full speed the score could have been the same." The youngster won the first set easily. When Martin rallied in the second, winning three straight games to get to 5-4, Safin never blinked. He shrugged off set point, pushed it to a tiebreaker and won it 7-4. Martin, the Open's marathon man, shed his baseball cap for the third set but it didn't help. His energy just ran out, his task complicated by Safin's lobs, drops and passes. "I've been here for three weeks," Martin said. "It's like a rental car. I'm going back to the airport empty." A finalist at the Open a year ago, Martin had flourished in long matches, including an emotional five-set, 4-hour, 17-minute victory over Carlos Moya in the round of 16. Then there was a four-setter against Thomas Johansson in the quarterfinals. Back on center court two days later, Martin didn't have a lot left in his tank against Safin, who is 6-foot-4 and a mirror image of the 6-6, American baseliner. Safin was simply younger, faster and stronger. He boomed serves of up to 133 mph but also showed touch. In the first set, Safin tossed in a gorgeous drop shot to get to set point. It was a statement shot, a reminder that even though he's young, his game is mature, capable of dealing with every situation. Safin could not escape his reputation for having a short fuse, though. When he was broken in the second set, he flung his racket in anger. Last year, he broke 48 of them but he had not tossed one at the Open since his first-round victory over Thierry Guardiola. Safin recovered the racket, used it to win the next point and then decided it was in no shape to go on and switched to a new one. It was just as effective as the original. In the third set, with Martin's shirt and shorts soaked in perspiration, Safin kept him cornered. In one game, he sent a lob shot over Martin's head that kissed the back line and then found the sideline as he dashed for a return. It added up to another break that Martin couldn't afford. In the third set, Safin sent a shot whistling over the net, forcing Martin to duck. It was the appropriate reaction against a player who had more firepower and knew how to use it. To his credit, Martin was tenacious. Serving to stay in the match, he won a crucial third-set game, forcing Safin to stay on the court for an extra couple of games. The set went to a tiebreaker that Safin won 7-1, and he ended it aptly with his 13th ace and his fastest serve of the day -- 133 mph.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
