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| 13 Oct 2001 | |
| Osaka Mayor's Cup, World Super Junior Championships |
It was a day of surprises in Osaka today which saw both the no. 1 and no. 2 seeds knocked out of the girls singles.
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) had been hoping to take over the no. 1 spot in the rankings but Eva Birnerova put paid to those hopes by winning their tight encounter 75 64. Birnerova now has a chance of the no. 1 spot herself if she wins tomorrow final. In the other semi-final Marion Bartoli, who was on a 10 match winning streak coming into the match since winning the US Open in September, was favourite to win through to the final. No one had mentioned this to Virag Nemeth though, who despite being overwelmed by Bartoli in the first set, managed to turn the match around by changing her tactics and working even harder, eventually winning 16 63 62. Tomorrow’s final will be a first encounter for Birnerova and Nemeth but both will be hoping to capture their first Group A title.
In the boys singles’ Marcos Baghdatis, conqueror of the no. 1 seed Gilles Muller, continued his fine form and overcame the diminutive Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in two tight sets 63 76(5). He commented after his match " I had the confidence to win from the beginning. I always have a confidence to win. My opponent’s condition was good. But I was sure I could win. I am thinking only of tomorrow’s final now".
Janko Tipsarevic continued his dominance with an impressive 61 64 win over Algerian Lamine Ouahab. Ouahab lacked confidence in the first set and struggled to cope with Tipsarevic’s power. He relaxed more in the second set but Tipsarevic continued to dominate at the net and on returns of serve. Tipsarevic had these comments "I did play better than yesterday. In the first set, Lamine was in a bad condition. So I remained calm".
Tipsarevic is guaranteed the no. 1 position in the rankings if he wins in the final tomorrow, making things very tough for his main adversary for the World Junior Champion title, Gilles Muller, who will need the Orange Bowl title to regain the lead. Baghdatis and Tipsarevic have met just once before, at the 2000 Yucatan Cup, Mexico when Tipsarevic eventually won 61 36 64.
There was some compensation for the disappointed Wang when he took the doubles title with Ti Chen against compatriots Kai-Lung Chang and Wang-Cheng Hsieh 64 62.
Japan’s hopes of a home victory were dashed in the girls’ doubles when Mari Inoue and Svetlana Kuznetsova lost to Chin-Wei Chan and Su-Wei Hsieh 64 64.
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