Tennis
Rain delays Sampras’ first match in his ancestral homeland ATHENS, Greece (AP) – Like so many times at Wimbledon, Pete Sampras was rained out Saturday.
The tennis great, making his first visit to his ancestral homeland, was forced to wait another day before playing former Davis Cup teammate Jim Courier in the Champions Cup seniors tournament.
Sampras most likely will advance to the final against Todd Martin. Sampras won his first two matches against Wayne Ferreira and Pat Cash.
Sampras is undefeated in his seniors tour debut. He retired from the ATP Tour after winning his 14th major, the 2002 U.S. Open.
Magnus Larsson beat Richard Krajicek 6-3, 7-5. The Swede secured the runner-up spot in Group B and will play Ferreira in the third-place match Sunday. Ferreira defeated Cash 6-2, 6-1 to take second place in Group A.
Martin beat doubles specialist Anders Jarryd 8-6 in a match shortened to one set because of rain. Martin, who topped Group B with a 3-0 record, already was guaranteed a spot in the final. Jarryd had no chance of advancing after losing his first two matches.
Sequera, Wozniak advance to Fez finals
FEZ, Morocco – Venezuela’s Milagros Sequera was shut out in the first set, then recovered to beat Romania’s Ioana Raluca Olaru, 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) to reach the final of the Grand Prix SAR Lalla Meryem.
Sequera will face Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak, who defeated Argentina’s Maria Emilia Salerni. Wozniak was leading 6-3, 4-4 when Salerni retired.
This will be the second WTA Tour final for Sequera and her first since 2003. The Venezuelan, who lives in San Diego, last reached a final in Quebec City, where she retired in the second set against Maria Sharapova.
In quarterfinals Friday, Seguera eliminated seventh-seeded Camille Pin, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Kuznetsova, Jankovic gain Italian Open final
ROME – Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic will play for the Italian Open title, and apart from Justine Henin nobody on the tour is playing as sharply as those two.
Kuznetsova, seeded second, beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2 Saturday. Jankovic, seeded third, routed Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3 in the other semifinal of this clay-court warmup for the French Open, which begins next weekend.
“I feel really comfortable here,” Kuznetsova said. “I have the game on clay and I’ve showed it the past three weeks.
Kuznetsova is ranked a career-high No. 3 this week following her runner-up finish in last week’s German Open and a semifinal appearance in Warsaw, Poland, the week before.
Jankovic is also at a career high in the rankings – No. 5 – and has not dropped a set this week. The Serb won a clay-court title in Charleston, S.C., last month and lost to Henin in Warsaw and Berlin.
“She moves incredibly well on clay. Tomorrow is going to be a tough match,” Kuznetsova said. “But I think I have the game to win.”
Kuznetsova was the runner-up to Henin at last year’s French Open.
“This year I can see how I can hurt other players a lot on clay courts,” Kuznetsova said. “I can play with a lot of spin. I really understand the game much more this year.”
Kuznetsova has defeated Jankovic in two of their three matches. Jankovic, however, beat her in three sets at last year’s U.S. Open.
“I’m just going to concentrate on myself and try to put my serves in,” Jankovic said.
Kuznetsova used her speed to run down Hantuchova’s angled shots and flattened her backhand for a series of winners. Hantuchova beat Anabel Medina Garrigues in a long two-setter that ended late Friday and did not appear to have fully recovered.
“I know she likes hard courts better and it takes some time to get used to the clay,” Kuznetsova said.
Kuznetsova broke to go up 2-1 in the first and maintained the lead for the rest of the set. After trading breaks early in the second set, Kuznetsova won the final games.
Schnyder upset Serena Williams in a third-set tiebreaker Friday and appeared out of energy in her semifinal. She was late arriving to the ball, missed routine groundstrokes and committed double-faults.
Federer and Nadal in Hamburg Masters final
HAMBURG, Germany – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal rallied to win their semifinals and set up a showdown between the top-ranked players for the Hamburg Masters championship.
Nadal defeated Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to extend his clay-court winning streak to 81 matches and Federer beat Carlos Moya 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
“It’s nice to come back from one set down,” Federer said. “I came out of it but I am still missing too much. You have to believe that you can come back.”
Federer has gone four straight tournaments without a title, his worst run since he became No. 1 in February 2004. The Swiss star has won three Hamburg championships in his last four visits to the tuneup for the French Open.
He takes a 16-match winning streak in Hamburg into the final, his fourth this season.
Nadal, No. 2 in the world, has a 7-3 career record against Federer, including 5-0 on clay.
Nadal beat Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters this year and is looking for his fifth title of the year.
“I feel good, it’s always a special, interesting match,” Nadal said. “I have no pressure, win or lose I will go to Paris with the best of confidence.”
Nadal appeared in trouble when he dropped his serve to allow Hewitt to level at 4-4 in the third. But Nadal broke back at love, whipping a tremendous crosscourt backhand winner.
Serving for the match, Nadal climbed out of a 30-0 hole, only to see Hewitt hit a forehand winner. Hewitt earned the break when Nadal’s forehand went wide and the match was tied again.
Nadal broke serve again and served out the match, but not before saving two break points.
“I didn’t quite take my chances,” Hewitt said.
Moya was ranked No. 1 in 1999 but has dropped to No. 36. The Spaniard had never beaten Federer in six previous meetings, but troubled him early on.
“Today was the day to beat him; I had a feeling I could beat him,” Moya said. “But at important moments, he brings out his best.”
Federer saved three set points before losing the first set. Serving for the second at 5-3, he allowed Moya to save three set points and then dropped his serve. But a forehand winner in the next game put Federer even. Federer broke serve for a 4-2 lead in the third and was on his way.
“I felt I was controlling the match,” Moya said. “But with Federer, you can’t expect to beat him until it’s over. I had some break points but he came up with some great shots.”
Speaking before Nadal’s match was completed, Federer said beating the Spaniard in the final would be a great way to go into the French Open, the only Grand Slam he hasn’t won.
“That would surely boost my energy, my motivation and my confidence for the French Open,” Federer said.