Seles3
Sep 21st, 2004, 01:48 PM
Marat Safin wins China Open tennis title with victory over Youzhny
Stephanie Hoo
Canadian Press
Sunday, September 19, 2004
BEIJING (AP) - Marat Safin won the China Open on Sunday, beating fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4), 7-5 to claim his first title in two years.
Safin, a former U.S. Open champion, has struggled to return to form following an injury-plagued 2003. His win Sunday lifted him to No. 8 in the world, three points ahead of Andre Agassi, and increased his chances to qualify for the Masters Cup.
Humble in victory, he expressed hopes that his win in Beijing would give him the confidence to return to the top tier. "It's not the last (win), hopefully," he said.
While the fifth-seeded Safin triumphed in straight sets over Youzhny, his victory was nonetheless hard-won.
He got off to a slow start by losing his very first service game and initially seemed puzzled by his younger countryman's varied shots. Earning a break point of his own at 3-4, Safin pounced - winning the point to level, and later cruising through the first set tiebreaker with four aces and five points in a row.
Safin also fell behind in his first service game of the second set, saving a break point with yet another ace and ultimately winning the game. Youzhny inexplicably crumbled at 5-5, losing his service game with a double fault. Safin served out the match to win 7-5, slamming home an ace on the final point.
"The way he was returning, I had to serve very well," Safin said. "He had nothing to lose and he's been playing incredible tennis."
Safin had been without a title since April 2002, when he won the Paris Indoor Open. But he sailed through the China Open, not losing a single set - even while playing five matches in just four days after heavy rains postponed his early contests.
The unseeded Youzhny defeated a field of higher-ranked players on his road to the final, including No. 4 Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, who was seeded sixth.
"This week I played pretty good," he said. "I know now what I can do to improve my game."
Youzhny said he made too many errors in the final.
"If I start to play more matches at this level and play in more finals, maybe I don't have these mistakes," he said.
In the men's doubles final, No. 2 seeded Justin Gimelstob and Graydon Oliver of the United States defeated fellow Americans Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Taylor Dent, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
The China Open women's tournament starts Monday and will feature American Serena Williams and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia.
Safin clinches his first title of the year at China Open
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Fifth-seeded Russian Marat Safin survived an attempted Center Court mugging as he surpassed his compatriot Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 to lift his long-waited first title of the year here on Sunday.
The match started with Mikhail Youzhny breaking Marat Safin in the opening game with the bounce and net chords falling in his favor to appall the fifth seed.
High-spirited Youzhny got a quick pace in the first set and seemed can do anything with accurate landing points and wonderful saves, but Safin soon recovered from one game down to blast powerful serve and heavy hitting, which proved too strong for Youzhny, who was kept running a lot to suffer an energy draining.
With the diminish of power, Youzhny's unforced errors came up. Safin took the chance to return a break in game eight after 2 deuces to level the score 4-4 and compelled a tiebreaker. Safin waked up his big serve by firing four consecutive aces out of total nine to collect his first four points, ending the tiebreaker 7-4.
The second set also proved to be a rock-versus-stone collision with both players holding their serves until Safin broke in game eleven taking the advantage of Youzhny's double faults to pack his first title the year.
Safin walked around the court to express thanks for the crowd's thunderous applause holding the trophy.
"My serve was great. My serve helped me to win the first set. Mikhail was a tough player, but my serve and baseline help me a lot," said Safin. "It was two years for my last title. It's great feeling to win again today and it won't be the last hopefully. I hope to come here next year,"
"I'm surprised the crowd is so kind to me. The title surely help me to reach the Masters Cup and it won't be my last title in China," the Russian No. 1 added.
The loss did not like to bother Youzhny, who attended the press conference with full smile. The runner-up became the first person to say congratulations to Safin.
"If you want to beat a player like Marat, you can not play only baseline. You need to play slide, volley and everything you can control," said the 32-ranked Youzhny. "Marat played better than me. His serve was good. He could play great serve, good baseline and also volley."
"If I could play more finals, I think it will do good to me. I didn't feel regret for the loss, I know I was close to him. I played good today, but it's not my best," added Youzhny.
Safin, the former world number one and 2000 US Open winner, lifted his last title in November 2002. He has had a lackluster recovery following an injury-plagued season in 2003, falling in the first round of US Open.
After beating Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi on his way to the Australian Open final, Safin was looking to enjoy a successful year, but after reaching the semi-final at the Monte Carlo Masters, his form suffered a slide.
Stephanie Hoo
Canadian Press
Sunday, September 19, 2004
BEIJING (AP) - Marat Safin won the China Open on Sunday, beating fellow Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4), 7-5 to claim his first title in two years.
Safin, a former U.S. Open champion, has struggled to return to form following an injury-plagued 2003. His win Sunday lifted him to No. 8 in the world, three points ahead of Andre Agassi, and increased his chances to qualify for the Masters Cup.
Humble in victory, he expressed hopes that his win in Beijing would give him the confidence to return to the top tier. "It's not the last (win), hopefully," he said.
While the fifth-seeded Safin triumphed in straight sets over Youzhny, his victory was nonetheless hard-won.
He got off to a slow start by losing his very first service game and initially seemed puzzled by his younger countryman's varied shots. Earning a break point of his own at 3-4, Safin pounced - winning the point to level, and later cruising through the first set tiebreaker with four aces and five points in a row.
Safin also fell behind in his first service game of the second set, saving a break point with yet another ace and ultimately winning the game. Youzhny inexplicably crumbled at 5-5, losing his service game with a double fault. Safin served out the match to win 7-5, slamming home an ace on the final point.
"The way he was returning, I had to serve very well," Safin said. "He had nothing to lose and he's been playing incredible tennis."
Safin had been without a title since April 2002, when he won the Paris Indoor Open. But he sailed through the China Open, not losing a single set - even while playing five matches in just four days after heavy rains postponed his early contests.
The unseeded Youzhny defeated a field of higher-ranked players on his road to the final, including No. 4 Rainer Schuettler of Germany and Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan, who was seeded sixth.
"This week I played pretty good," he said. "I know now what I can do to improve my game."
Youzhny said he made too many errors in the final.
"If I start to play more matches at this level and play in more finals, maybe I don't have these mistakes," he said.
In the men's doubles final, No. 2 seeded Justin Gimelstob and Graydon Oliver of the United States defeated fellow Americans Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Taylor Dent, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
The China Open women's tournament starts Monday and will feature American Serena Williams and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova of Russia.
Safin clinches his first title of the year at China Open
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- Fifth-seeded Russian Marat Safin survived an attempted Center Court mugging as he surpassed his compatriot Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (7-4), 7-5 to lift his long-waited first title of the year here on Sunday.
The match started with Mikhail Youzhny breaking Marat Safin in the opening game with the bounce and net chords falling in his favor to appall the fifth seed.
High-spirited Youzhny got a quick pace in the first set and seemed can do anything with accurate landing points and wonderful saves, but Safin soon recovered from one game down to blast powerful serve and heavy hitting, which proved too strong for Youzhny, who was kept running a lot to suffer an energy draining.
With the diminish of power, Youzhny's unforced errors came up. Safin took the chance to return a break in game eight after 2 deuces to level the score 4-4 and compelled a tiebreaker. Safin waked up his big serve by firing four consecutive aces out of total nine to collect his first four points, ending the tiebreaker 7-4.
The second set also proved to be a rock-versus-stone collision with both players holding their serves until Safin broke in game eleven taking the advantage of Youzhny's double faults to pack his first title the year.
Safin walked around the court to express thanks for the crowd's thunderous applause holding the trophy.
"My serve was great. My serve helped me to win the first set. Mikhail was a tough player, but my serve and baseline help me a lot," said Safin. "It was two years for my last title. It's great feeling to win again today and it won't be the last hopefully. I hope to come here next year,"
"I'm surprised the crowd is so kind to me. The title surely help me to reach the Masters Cup and it won't be my last title in China," the Russian No. 1 added.
The loss did not like to bother Youzhny, who attended the press conference with full smile. The runner-up became the first person to say congratulations to Safin.
"If you want to beat a player like Marat, you can not play only baseline. You need to play slide, volley and everything you can control," said the 32-ranked Youzhny. "Marat played better than me. His serve was good. He could play great serve, good baseline and also volley."
"If I could play more finals, I think it will do good to me. I didn't feel regret for the loss, I know I was close to him. I played good today, but it's not my best," added Youzhny.
Safin, the former world number one and 2000 US Open winner, lifted his last title in November 2002. He has had a lackluster recovery following an injury-plagued season in 2003, falling in the first round of US Open.
After beating Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi on his way to the Australian Open final, Safin was looking to enjoy a successful year, but after reaching the semi-final at the Monte Carlo Masters, his form suffered a slide.