WASHINGTON, 4 August 2003 — Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, the top two seeds, both crashed out of the $600,000 Washington Classic in the semifinals on Saturday.
World number one Agassi was felled by fourth-seeded Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in a match peppered with misplaced shots on both sides of the net, while second seed Roddick went out 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 to Britain’s Tim Henman, the 10th seed.
In the third set, Agassi, 33, double-faulted to give his opponent a break of serve at 4-2. But Gonzalez double-faulted at match point, allowing the American to break back to level at 5-5. A backhand winner then gave Gonzalez, 23, the decisive break of serve at 6-5 in the tiebreak.
Agassi told reporters the Chilean unsettled him with high-risk, low-percentage strokes, particularly drop shots.
Earlier, Roddick overpowered Henman in the first set but the Briton seized control early in the second, breaking serve in the fourth game to the frustration of his 20-year-old opponent, who hit a ball into the top rows of the open-air stadium.
His rival rattled, and momentum on his side, Henman held serve in the third set to force a tiebreak, which he won 7-1 thanks to a string of errors by the American, one of the favorites for the US Open later this month.
Coria Destroys Ferrer to Take Polish Open Title
In Sopot, Poland, Argentine Guillermo Coria beat Spain’s David Ferrer 7-5, 6-1 in the final of the Polish Open yesterday to win his third tournament in a row.
Appearing fresh despite the late finish to his semifinal on Saturday evening, Coria was rarely troubled by his 21-year-old opponent as he won his 15th match in a row to claim a hat trick of claycourt titles.
Hewitt Faces Ferreira
in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, top seed Lleyton Hewitt cruised into the final of the $380,000 Mercedes-Benz Cup with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer on Saturday.
Hewitt will now meet seventh-seeded South African Wayne Ferreira, who put out fifth seed Mark Philippoussis of Australia 6-4, 7-5.
Hewitt took control of his match from the outset, breaking the unseeded Kiefer’s serve in the first and third games to race into a 3-0 lead.
Kiefer rallied briefly by winning the next two games but lacked the consistency to serious challenge the Australian, who pulled away again.
In the other semifinal, 31-year-old Ferreira tamed the big serve of Philippoussis, 26, who was playing his first tournament since his defeat in the Wimbledon final at the beginning of last month.
Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne
Reach San Diego Final
In San Diego, California, Belgian rivals Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin-Hardenne set up a rematch of the French Open final, posting semifinal victories at the $1 million WTA Tour event.
Second-seeded Clijsters, with an eye on the world No. 1 ranking, saw off Lindsay Davenport 6-3,-3 in just 59 minutes.
Henin-Hardenne, winner of two of the last three matches against her compatriot, including the Roland Garros final, easily disposed of Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 6-1, 6-3 in a semifinal match.
Clijsters, the 20-year-old, could overtake Serena Williams for the top spot in the rankings as early as next week in Los Angeles. The winner of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Williams will be sidelined 6-8 weeks, missing the US Open, following left knee surgery on Friday.
“You don’t wish it on anyone, especially her,” Clijsters said of Serena.
“What’s she’s done for women’s tennis is incredible. I know how bad I felt when I couldn’t play because of my shoulder, and she has the US Open coming up and is the defending champion. It must be very hard for her.”
