 Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |  Photographer: Susan Mullane
Date: 03 Jun 2005 |
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| 03 Jun 2005 - Roland Garros, Paris - Eleanor Preston | |
| Szavay looks for Parisian double |
Hungary’s Agnes Szavay is on the verge of a memorable double after winning through to the doubles and singles finals at junior Roland Garros just five months after losing both the singles and doubles finals at the Australian Open.
Szavay beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 6-3 to earn her place in the singles final before teaming up with Viktoria Azarenka– ironically one of the girls who got the better of her in the doubles in Melbourne – to beat top seeds Yung-Jan Chan from Taipei and Aleksandra Wozniak from Canada 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
In the boys finals, Croatia’s Marin Cilic will take on Antal Van der Duim of Holland in an all unseeded singles title match while Argentines Emiliano Massa and Leonardo Mayer will play the Ukrainian/French pairing of Sergei Bubka and Jeremy Chardy in Saturday’s boys’ doubles final.
“I know how it feels to lose both finals and it’s such a bad feeling,” said Szavay, who plays Ralca-ioana Olaru in Sunday’s final as well as facing the Romanian and her partner Amina Rakhim from Kazakhstan in Saturday’s doubles. “When you have been through that experience it makes you hungrier the second time it happens. I can’t believe it’s all happening again, especially to play the same girl in singles and doubles just like I did then. Today was a really, really good day.”
Szavay believes that her bitter experience at the Australian Open will stand her in good stead against Olaru, who will be playing her first junior grand slam singles final. “In Australia I was very tired and in my head I was a little bit satisfied that I was in the final, now I’m not. Now I only want to win. I will be so sad if I lose either of my finals.”
Olaru earned her chance at the singles title with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 comeback win against Ayumi Morita of Japan and said she couldn’t be more excited to be so close to a debut singles junior grand slam title. “Oh, I’m extremely excited,” she said, with a broad grin. “I knew that I could do it before the tournament but of course I was a bit tense today in my match. This is new for me, it’s my first time and everyone is congratulating me, which is really nice. I think I have to try and not think about being in the final and be confident and tell myself that I deserve to win the title.”
In the boys’ competition, sixteen-year-old Cilic caused the day’s biggest surprise by beating top seed and reigning US Open junior champion Andrew Murray 7-5, 6-3 in their semi-final. Van der Duim, who, like Cilic, will be making his debut in a grand slam final, beat Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
“I’ve been working very hard with my coach to get the balance right on clay with going for too much and playing too defensively and its worked really well,” said Cilic, who hasn’t dropped a set all week. “I played really well and of course it’s great to be in the final but I’ve got one more match and I know I can win.”
Van der Duim said he knew what to expect against Cilic even though he might have expected to face the Briton. “I know he is a good player but I was surprised that he beat Murray and that he is the final but maybe people are saying the same thing about me,” he said. “I think I will be nervous on Sunday morning because it’s a final but I have to concentrate on my game. I’ve done that from the first day and so far it’s working.”
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