 |
| Latest News |
| Search Articles |
| Audio Listing |
| Photo Galleries |
|
|
|
|
| 14 Dec 2002 | |
| The final beckons for girls' top two seeds, whilst boys' top two fall at the final hurdle. |
Brian Baker of Nashville upset No. 1 seed Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-3, to advance to the boys’ 18s final at the Burger King Orange Bowl International Championships held at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park Saturday.
He will face No. 4 seed Mathieu Montcourt of France who ousted No. 2 Lamine Ouahab in the other semifinal, 6-1, 6-0.
“He started the match playing unbelievable,” said Baghdatis, who is ranked No. 2 in the world after winning last week’s USTA International Winter Championships. “I didn’t now what was going on. I started to get a rhythm in the second set, but I think he played a great match and I have nothing to feel bad about.”
Unlike his last match, Baker got off to a quick start. After taking the first set easily and getting an early break in the second, Baker served for the match a 5-4. Baghdatis broke Baker’s serve to level the set at 5-all and won the last six points of the tiebreak to force a decisive third set.
“I got a little nervous. I’ll admit it,” said Baker, the first American to reach the boys’ 18s final here since Andy Roddick won the event in 1999. “He played really well in the breaker and he definitely had the momentum at the time.”
Baker regained control of the match in the opening game of the third set. Trailing 15-40 on his serve, Baker but held off Baghadatis to win the game with strong serves and net play.
“That (game) was key because I didn’t get down the early break and the momentum shifted a little bit,” Baker said. “He was hitting a lot of winners and I was a little down on myself.”
“I played very well today. It’s an improvement from the previous matches. I didn’t feel I controlled the match overwhelmingly. I was in control based on my services games and took advantage when I needed to on his services games. I was able to scrape up a few services games at the end.”
Baker ranks the win, which avenged a straight-sets loss to Baghdatis at a Wimbledon warm-up event this summer, as one of his best.
“He’s No.2 in the world and you don’t get there if you’re not a good player,” said Baker. “He never gives you anything. You always are going to have to win. He’s also extremely fast so it makes you go for a little bit more on your shots.”
While the top two seeds were upset in the boys’ draw, No. 1 Vera Douchevina of Russia and No. 2 Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany advanced to the girls’ 18s final, which begins at 10 a.m. Sunday. The boys’ final will follow not before 11:30 a.m.
Douchevina, the reigning Wimbledon girls’ champion, eliminated Ally Baker, a native of Raleigh, N.C., who recently moved to Key Biscayne to train at the USA Tennis High Performance facility, 6-2, 6-3, in a battle between two sixteen-year-olds.
“I played very well. I had no mistakes,” said Douchevina. “So many good players have played here. It would mean a lot to win here. (The Orange Bowl) may be Grand Slam number five.
Competing in the semifinals for the first time at a major international junior event, Baker got off to a slow start against Douchevina whose deep penetrating groundstrokes stymied the top American.
“She had an on day. She played really really well,” said Baker, who was attempting to become the first American to reach the girls’ 18s final at this event since Boca Raton’s Luanne Spadea won the tournament in 1989. “I felt like every game and every point I was almost there but I didn’t’ win them. I didn’t have my best day, but that’s the way it goes. I haven’t lost that bad in a really long time.”
Groenefeld prevented the third all-Russian girls’ 18s final here in the past five years when she defeated No. 5 Anna Bastrikova, 6-3, 6-3. She reached her second final in two weeks, having lost to American Jamea Jackson in the inaugural USTA International Winter Championships on Sunday. Groenefeld has been the most dominant player in the Orange Bowl, losing just 16 games in her five match victories en route to the final.
In the boys’ 16s, Aruba’s Jose Luis Muguruza defeated No. 1 seed Gael Monfils of France, 6-3, 6-3, in the final. Muguruza was runner-up to Baghadatis in the 18s event last week where he defeated Monfils in the second round and upset Baker in the third round in three sets.
“I wanted to win the Orange Bowl for years, so I am pretty happy. It was my goal since I was very young,” said Muguruza, who trains at Saddlebrook Resort outside of Tampa. “It’s the best tournament in the world for the 16s. For the 18s it’s this and Grand Slams, but in the 16s this is the best.”
No. 1 Charlene Vanneste of France had to win two matches today to capture the girls’ 16s title. She completed her 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 semifinal match against No. 6 Irina Kuzmina in the morning, then defeated Sophia Melikishili, last week’s girls’ 16s champion, in the final 6-3, 5-7, 6-0.
^ Back to Top
|
|
|
|
