DOHA, 6 March 2004 — Svetlana Kuznetsova reached her second consecutive final yesterday when she inflicted a first defeat of the year on Justine Henin-Hardenne at the $600,000 Qatar Open.
The 18-year-old’s 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over the world No. 1 ended Henin-Hardenne’s 17-match winning streak and avenged her defeat in the final in Dubai last week. The powerful Kuznetsova will face compatriot and defending champion Anastasia Myskina in the final after the world No. 7 easily beat second seed Jennifer Capriati 6-2, 6-2 in the second semifinal.
“I am happy, I don’t have a word to describe my feelings,” Kuznetsova said. “I am not going to think too much about this game today because I have to play the final tomorrow. I played my natural game today and I am playing unbelievably well.”
Henin-Hardenne, the holder of the French, US and Australian Open crowns, had also beaten 20th ranked Kuznetsova at Wimbledon and in San Diego last year. But she was stunned in a one-sided, 22-minute first set, losing her serve twice as Kuznetsova unleashed some fierce groundstrokes.
Some erratic play from Kuznetsova allowed Henin-Hardenne back into the match in the second set. Service breaks were swapped to 3-3 before Henin-Hardenne broke again in the seventh game and held on to force a decider. Six consecutive breaks followed in the third set before Kuznetsova finally held and broke again to forge a 5-3 lead and then serve out in style.
“I’m disappointed that I couldn’t win. I had my chances, especially in the third set, but I failed to seize them,” said Henin-Hardenne, who last tasted defeat in November against Amelie Mauresmo in the semifinal of the WTA Tour Championships.
Myskina later outplayed an under-par Capriati to come through in one hour and eight minutes as thick fog descended on the stadium.
Federer Marches Into Dubai Semis
Roger Federer reached the semifinals of the Dubai Open yesterday with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 victory over Romania’s Andrei Pavel.
The defending champion made a few simple errors early in the match but he was never threatened and soon took control against a frustrated opponent.
Pavel held his own until the sixth game when Federer broke to love, the pace of a cross-court rally forcing a forehand error on break point.
Pavel had to hold off a further two break points at 5-2 and two more at 1-1 in the second set before Federer claimed a break for 3-2 with a backhand winner on the run.
Federer is the last remaining seed after Dutchman Sjeng Schalken, the No. 8, was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen. The left-handed Nieminen, who struck the ball with more conviction throughout, took the first set after breaking for 5-3, and then won the final three games of the second.
Nieminen will now face Federer, while in the second semifinal Mikhail Youzhny of Russia plays Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Youzhny ended the ambitions of Spain’s Rafael Nadal when he defeated the 17-year-old 6-2, 1-6, 6-1. Nadal, who earlier this year reached his first career final in Auckland before losing to Slovak Dominik Hrbaty, was finally overwhelmed by a more experienced opponent.
Youzhny, who captured the Davis Cup for Russia in 2002 in the deciding match, jumped to a 4-1 lead in the first set. Although Nadal led 40-0 on Youzhny’s serve in the next game he put no depth on his returns and his opponent held for 5-1.
In the second set Nadal gained the upper hand and after an early break each he broke again for 3-1. Youzhny then all but gave up, dropping the next three games to love as the Spaniard levelled the match. Youzhny also struggled to hold his serve as the final set got under way and faced a break point at 1-1. But he saved that with an ace and went on to win the next 10 points to earn a 4-1 lead against a fading opponent. A further break for 5-1 all but sealed the match.
Youzhny now faces Lopez, who struggled to close out his match 6-4, 7-6 against big-serving Croat Ivan Ljubicic after leading by a set and 4-2.
Rain Reigns as Showers
Drench ATP Event
In Scottsdale, heavy rain halted two second-round matches and washed out two others completely at the $380,000 ATP Templeton Classic. Top seed Andy Roddick, the reigning US Open champion, and fellow American Alex Bogomolov never made it onto the court. Nor did American Jan-Michael Gambill and Germany’s Lars Burgsmuller.
Dutch second seed Martin Verkerk waited out a 3 1/2-hour rain delay before starting his match against American Cecil Mamiit. Verkerk won the first set 6-2 and trailed 0-2 in the second before another downpour suspended the match.
