Post by Webmaster on Feb 27, 2005 11:19:50 GMT
Arthurs, Ancic reach final
Tim Tyers
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 27, 2005 12:00 AM
Australian Wayne Arthurs, 33, is old by tennis standards. Mario Ancic, 20, is young by most standards. Both are big serve-and-volley players and each shares a frustrating statistic:
Career ATP Tour tournament wins: 0.
Arthur knows opportunities to change that will be rare in the late stages of his career, but one looms large when he meets Ancic in today's 1 p.m. final of the Tennis Channel Open at Scottsdale's Fairmont Princess Resort. advertisement
"It's always in the back of your mind that you're not going to win a title, but you always have hope if you're still out here," Arthurs said. "Today might be the day I break the drought. He's ranked ahead of me, and I have nothing to lose. Not many people expected me to be here, so I'm just going to be nice and loose and go for it.
"He plays pretty much the way I play. He has a big serve. He was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and he's a very accomplished player. He's going to be a Top 20 player in the near future, I think."
Arthurs, the hardest server and oldest player in the tournament, reached his first ATP final since Nottingham in 2002 by beating Belgian Christophe Rochus, 7-5, 7-6 (2) in 79 minutes.
Ancic was ranked No. 29 entering this season, but has moved up to No. 16 in the ATP Tour of Champions race.
The fast-rising Ancic, who has reached the semis in his past three tournaments and is making his second ATP final appearance, has many wins in his future if he employs the skills he used in dominating defending champ Vince Spadea, 6-1, 6-4, also in 79 minutes.
He broke Spadea twice in the first set and then, after falling behind 0-3 in the second, won five straight games, breaking Spadea twice more. The veteran Spadea used all of the many tricks in his bag, but Ancic, using a 136 mph serve along with a solid baseline and finesse game, had answers for all of them.
"He was returning my first serve well early, but I stayed calm," Ancic said. "The game when I was down 0-3 was really big. He was playing very good at that stage, and I started being more aggressive.
"Because he started just putting the ball in play and wasn't going for winners and I think I stayed in the rallies too long and didn't go for winners."
Arthurs may be at a disadvantage in the singles. He and Paul Hanley will play in the doubles final against Mike and Bob Bryan.
The Bryans defeated Ancic and Jeff Coetzee 6-4, 6-3 in the late semifinal Saturday night.
Arthurs' run to the top this week is the by-product of finding an old friend, a booming serve that has cracked the 140 mph mark.
"I knew his serve was his best weapon and that he's tough to return against," said Rochus, who was aced 19 times in his fourth ATP semifinal. "I couldn't return once for the whole match."
Arthurs has held his serve in 51 straight games, his best streak since his 111 was broken by Andre Agassi at Wimbledon in 1999.
"That's good to hear, I like it when people say that," Arthurs said of Rochus' praise of his serve. "It gives me confidence for future tournaments when guys say they have no idea which way I'm serving."
Tim Tyers
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 27, 2005 12:00 AM
Australian Wayne Arthurs, 33, is old by tennis standards. Mario Ancic, 20, is young by most standards. Both are big serve-and-volley players and each shares a frustrating statistic:
Career ATP Tour tournament wins: 0.
Arthur knows opportunities to change that will be rare in the late stages of his career, but one looms large when he meets Ancic in today's 1 p.m. final of the Tennis Channel Open at Scottsdale's Fairmont Princess Resort. advertisement
"It's always in the back of your mind that you're not going to win a title, but you always have hope if you're still out here," Arthurs said. "Today might be the day I break the drought. He's ranked ahead of me, and I have nothing to lose. Not many people expected me to be here, so I'm just going to be nice and loose and go for it.
"He plays pretty much the way I play. He has a big serve. He was a semifinalist at Wimbledon last year and he's a very accomplished player. He's going to be a Top 20 player in the near future, I think."
Arthurs, the hardest server and oldest player in the tournament, reached his first ATP final since Nottingham in 2002 by beating Belgian Christophe Rochus, 7-5, 7-6 (2) in 79 minutes.
Ancic was ranked No. 29 entering this season, but has moved up to No. 16 in the ATP Tour of Champions race.
The fast-rising Ancic, who has reached the semis in his past three tournaments and is making his second ATP final appearance, has many wins in his future if he employs the skills he used in dominating defending champ Vince Spadea, 6-1, 6-4, also in 79 minutes.
He broke Spadea twice in the first set and then, after falling behind 0-3 in the second, won five straight games, breaking Spadea twice more. The veteran Spadea used all of the many tricks in his bag, but Ancic, using a 136 mph serve along with a solid baseline and finesse game, had answers for all of them.
"He was returning my first serve well early, but I stayed calm," Ancic said. "The game when I was down 0-3 was really big. He was playing very good at that stage, and I started being more aggressive.
"Because he started just putting the ball in play and wasn't going for winners and I think I stayed in the rallies too long and didn't go for winners."
Arthurs may be at a disadvantage in the singles. He and Paul Hanley will play in the doubles final against Mike and Bob Bryan.
The Bryans defeated Ancic and Jeff Coetzee 6-4, 6-3 in the late semifinal Saturday night.
Arthurs' run to the top this week is the by-product of finding an old friend, a booming serve that has cracked the 140 mph mark.
"I knew his serve was his best weapon and that he's tough to return against," said Rochus, who was aced 19 times in his fourth ATP semifinal. "I couldn't return once for the whole match."
Arthurs has held his serve in 51 straight games, his best streak since his 111 was broken by Andre Agassi at Wimbledon in 1999.
"That's good to hear, I like it when people say that," Arthurs said of Rochus' praise of his serve. "It gives me confidence for future tournaments when guys say they have no idea which way I'm serving."
