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Men's Tennis
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Women's Tennis
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| Friday, August 24 |
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| Sampras reaches semis in straight sets Associated Press | |||
COMMACK, N.Y. -- Pete Sampras reached the semifinals of a
tournament for just the fourth time this year Friday, with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Felix Mantilla in the Hamlet Cup.
The third-seeded Sampras, a wildcard entry in this event, will
play fifth-seeded Thomas Johansson, who beat Thomas Enqvist 7-5,
3-6, 7-6 (9) in a quarterfinal match between Swedish Davis Cup
teammates.
Fourth-seeded Arnaud Clement rallied from a poor opening set for
a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Fernando Meligeni on Friday and also
advanced to Saturday's semifinals.
Clement will face No. 6 Tommy Haas, who beat Jonas Bjorkman 6-1,
6-4 on Friday.
Sampras, who hasn't won in his last 15 tournaments, had 11 aces
to Mantilla's four in the 1-hour, 11-minute match.
"This was a good, solid victory," said Sampras, who holds the
career record with 13 Grand Slam titles. "My game has gotten
better each time out this week. The rhythm is there, I'm serving
well and hitting solidly from the baseline."
Sampras admits he's pointing to next week's U.S. Open, but he
still wants the title here.
"The only time I was happy reaching the semifinals was when I
was 17," the 30-year-old Sampras said. "Now I want to win a
championship every time out. I know I'm hard on myself. Those close
to me remind me of what I've accomplished.
"I guess I need to hear that every now and then, but that will
not change my approach. I set the bar high and it's staying
there."
The ninth-seeded Enqvist, who lost to Magnus Norman in last
year's final, and Johansson both had to play two matches Friday
because their second-round matches were postponed by rain Thursday.
Enqvist beat Julien Boutter 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the
quarterfinals, while Johansson defeated Anthony Dupuis 6-3, 6-1.
The 23-year-old Clement, a finalist at the Australian Open in
January, won three of four matches as he led France to next month's
Davis Cup semifinals against The Netherlands.
"I had a blast in the final two sets. I was able to run and hit
better," Clement said. "Meligeni's a good baseline player. After
the first set I reverted to serve and volley. That's what I needed
to do from the outset. As the match progressed I got quicker and
attacked the ball more."
Meligeni broke Clement's serve three times in the first set and
finished with eight aces, five more than his opponent.
"I got very frustrated after being broke like that," Clement
said. "I told myself that I was better than him. In the end it was
a case of Meligeni not being able to cope with my comeback."
Haas, who earned his second ATP career title to open the year,
had an unbelievable 27 of 29 first-serve points. Bjorkman had just
20 of 32.
"There are no cramps today," Haas said. "My last match, the
legs just cramped up in the third set and it was almost two hours
before I recovered. It was a case of not drinking enough water, so
I had to take an intravenous. Today I drank more than enough water.
I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice."
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ALSO SEE Friday's results Clement finds little fault advancing to Hamlet Cup quarters | |
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