CINCINNATI, Ohio, 19 August 2007 — Roger Federer won’t be over-confident when he faces Lleyton Hewitt in a showcase semifinal at the Cincinnati Masters, even though he has won his last 10 encounters with the Australian.
“I may have won them, but until last week (Montreal Masters quarterfinals) we hadn’t played for two years,” said the world No. 1 after overcoming Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 on Friday.
“There are plenty of guys who can make it hard for me to win here — and they start with Hewitt.” The unseeded Hewitt defeated Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-2 on Friday to earn revenge for a loss in the final five years ago at this Midwest event. The 26-year-old Australian holds the Las Vegas title from early March and also reached the semifinals in Hamburg and Austria.
James Blake will contest the second semifinal after defeating Sam Querrey 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The ninth seed will take on Russian No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko,who beat Spain’s David Ferrer 6-2, 6-4.
Federer, winner of this title in 2005, said he was happy with his game with little more than a week to go before the start of his US Open defense, despite dropping the second set against 32nd-ranked Almagro.
Federer beat Hewitt a week ago in the Monteal quarters on the way into a final which he lost to Serb Novak Djokovic.
While Federer leads Hewitt 12-7 in their career head-to-head, with Hewitt last tasting success in Melbourne Davis Cup play nearly four years ago, the Swiss powerhouse said only their most recent encounter was any gauge.
“For me, it’s 1-0, since we hadn’t played since 2005. “It was good to win last week and get an idea of how he plays.” Federer was steady on Friday, breaking four times and firing nine aces in the win over Almagro. He produced 23 winners on the way to victory.
Hewitt knows he’s in for a struggle.
“No one has really been able to figure him out so far, he’s pretty good. He’s obviously a great all-court player,” said Hewitt.
“He’s got all the shots, and he’s got a great head on his shoulders as well. He’s one of the best players we’ve seen in the modern era.” Hewitt said he won’t be counting on any lapse from the other side of the court.
“He doesn’t have too many off-days, where he gives you opportunities, so if you do get those opportunities you really have to take them.” Hewitt, renewing his game under the guidance of Federer’s former coach Tony Roche, advanced into his fourth semi-final of the season and also hammered home his potential as a contender at the US Open.
The 2001 winner at Flushing Meadows, who lifted the Wimbledon title the next year, did not play the New York Grand Slam last year due to injury. Roche, in Sydney awaiting the birth of a grandchild, has been working with his new charge over the telephone with great success.
Henin, Yan Book Semifinal
Berths at Toronto Tennis
In Toronto, top-seeded Belgian Justin Henin defeated sixth seed Nadia Petrova, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the $1.34 million hardcourt tournament on Friday.
Chinese qualifier Yan Zi also advanced to the semifinals the US Open tune-up as ailing Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli retired while trailing in their quarterfinal clash.
The world’s top-ranked player, Henin captured one of her 34 career titles here in 2003 before falling to the retired Kim Clijsters in the 2005 final. Playing in her first tournament since a surprising collapse in the semifinals at Wimbledon, Henin has been sharp in her first three matches, including a 7-5, 6-2 victory over China’s Peng Shuai.
Henin has now won 11 of her 13 career meetings with Petrova, including seven of eight on a hard court. The two also squared off here in 2003, with the 2003 US Open champion recording a straight-sets victory in the third round.
Petrova, who dropped just five games in dumping No. 10 Patty Schnyder on Thursday, last beat Henin in 2006 in the final of the claycourt Berlin Open.
In the semifinals, Henin will face Yan, was leading the seventh-seeded Frenchwoman 6-2, 3-0 when Bartoli decided she couldn’t continue.
The 22-year-old from China was coming off a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5) victory over Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou on Thursday. She also upset No. 4 Ana Ivanovic in the second round.
On the other side of the draw, second seed Jelena Jankovic moved into the semifinals by defeating Virginie Razzano of France, 7-5, 6-2. The Serbian, who posted a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 13 Sybille Bammer on Thursday, is looking for her fifth title of the year.
Jankovic said the blustery winds made playing difficult.
“We were, you know, both struggling a little bit because with this kind of windy conditions, the balls are not going quite where you want them to go. And especially in the serve, when you toss the ball, you have a little bit of difficulties,” she said.
Jankovic will meet No. 12 Tatiana Golovin, who upset third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
It was the second win for the Frenchwoman in three career meetings with Kuznetsova.
