HAMBURG, 21 May 2006 — Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic will have revenge on his mind when he runs into Spain’s Tommy Robredo in the final of the 2.08-million euro Hamburg Masters Series tennis tournament today.
The 15 seed Stepanek advanced into his second career Masters decider when he beat Argentina’s Jose Acasuso, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), yesterday in 1 hour 39 minutes.
Robredo, the 8 seed in Hamburg, stopped high-flying Croatian 12 seed Mario Ancic, 7-5, 6-4, in the other semi, which lasted 2:01 hours, to make his first career Masters final.
Robredo has won all three previous matches against Stepanek, including a first-round date 2003 in Hamburg and a quarterfinal earlier this month in his native Barcelona. Clay is his preferred surface with both his titles so far coming on the dirt.
Stepanek also wants to do better than in his first Masters final 2004 indoors in Paris Bercy which he lost to compatriot Tomas Berdych.
The 27-year-old won his first career title earlier this year indoors in Rotterdam and has impressed in Hamburg by not dropping a set.
Stepanek chased the 30th-ranked Acasuso around the court with drop shots, rarely allowing the South American clay-couter to dictate rallies from the baseline.
He got the early momentum when Acasuso double faulted and Stepanek’s forehand then bounced off the net cord unreachable for his opponent in what turned out to be the only break of the match.
In the second set he survived Acasuso’s only break point at 4-3, with the Argentinian hitting an easy forehand into the net.
Stepanek clinched victory in the tiebreak with a service winner following a powerful forehand Acasuso could only return into the net.
Robredo then stopped Ancic, who earlier upset 4 seed Nikolay Davydenko and 5 seed James Blake in dramatic three-set comeback wins.
The players traded breaks early on before Robredo saved four break points in the fifth game and went on to win the set in the 12th game with a forehand passing shot.
The Spaniard then wasted several break chances in the second before finally getting lucky in the 10th game. Ancic saved a first match point with an ace but then netted a volley to hand Robredo victory on second match point.
Hingis Beats Williams to Reach Rome Final
Martina Hingis broke her ‘Williams sisters’ jinx to beat Venus 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Italian Open yesterday and reach her second final since ending a three-year retirement.
Hingis’ win — her first over the Wimbledon champion since the semifinals of the 2001 Australian Open — sent the Swiss through to a final against 16th seed Dinara Safina who edged out fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
After a litany of unforced errors in the first set, Hingis worked her way into the match before snatching a crucial break in the eighth game of the decider and serving out for victory in a match between two former world No. 1s.
“In the first set I felt like I could cry — I was missing my shots by a little bit and my timing was out,” said Hingis, who also beat Williams on her way to winning the title in 1998.