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| 06 Sep 2002 | |
| Henry leads Super Saturday line-up |
By Eleanor Preston
Ryan Henry set up a tantalising semifinal clash against No.1 seed Richard Gasquet at the US Open and says he isn’t scared to stop Gasquet in his tracks. "I think I can play well enough to win that one," said Henry after serving and volleyed his way to a 6-3, 6-3 win over French Open finalist Laurent Recouderc. "Maybe the guys that play from the back of the court are scared of him but I come to the net a lot so I’m not as frightened as them." Henry says he thinks the quick surface at Flushing Meadows plays right in to his hands and could give him an edge against Gasquet. "On a clay court he is unbelievable and he has showed that but on a hard court I think he’s beatable." Gasquet today saw off Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-2.
Recouderc, who signed off his junior career with his loss to Henry, said he found the Australian’s policy of all out attack difficult to cope with. "It’s like he attacks you all the time," said Recouderc, "he played good and it was hard for me because he served and volleyed every point. When I served he came up with big shots."
Henry and Gasquet have played once before, in an Australian Open warm-up tournament at the beginning of this year, when Gasquet won 6-2, 6-2. Henry says he wants to avenge that defeat and prove how much he has improved in the last few months. "It hurt a lot to lose to a guy two years younger than me, and he didn’t just beat me, he caned me," admitted Henry. "Then I saw that he killed everyone else he played that week and I felt a lot better. I think things will be different because these courts are a lot faster and I am playing better."
Marcos Baghdatis and Robin Soderling will play the other boys’ semifinal after both scored comfortable wins. Soderling, seeded two, beat unseeded Florin Mergea 6-2, 6-4 while Baghdatis strolled past Antonio Ruiz 6-3, 6-1.
An intriguing day of action in the girls’ draw left the American contingent without a representative in the semifinals after Kristen Schlukebir and Ally Baker were both beaten in their last eight matches. Baker, seeded two, was toppled by 12th seeded Maria Kirillenko. The Russian won 6-4, 6-4 but unseeded Slovakian Jarmila Gajdosova notched up the most surprising win of the day when she knocked out Schlukebir 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. The 15-year-old from Bratislava is currently ranked 20 in the world and the US Open marks her Grand Slam breakthrough. She has never got past the first round in her four previous Grand Slam singles appearances. Gajdosova and Kirillenko will meet on Saturday for a place in the final.
Tatiana Golovin and Barbora Strycova will play the other girls’ semifinal. Golovin continued her blistering run of form by beating Anna-Lena Groenefeld 7-5, 6-3 while Strycova ended Kirsten Flipkens’ extraordinary run of form, winning 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. The Belgian came through qualifying and surprised even herself by making the quarters here. She is the only girl so far this week to take a set from Strycova but ultimately the World No.1 proved to be a match too far for Flipkens.
Photographs by Susan Mullane
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