ROME – Gustavo Kuerten had to work overtime Friday before
advancing to the Italian Open semifinals and serving notice that he
is ready to defend his French Open title later this month.
Brazil's Kuerten, seeded No. 1 at the annual Foro Italico showdown,
used his searing groundstrokes to beat Spanish clay-court
specialist Alex Corretja 6-2, 6-3 in a night match. Earlier in the
day, Kuerten beat Argentine's Franco Squillari 6-1, 6-2 in a match
that had been delayed from Thursday because of rain.
Kuerten showed why most consider him the world's best clay-court
player as the two-time French Open champion mixed vicious backhands
with well-placed topspin lobs.
He will face Andreas Vinciguerra in the semifinals Saturday
after the young Swede saved two set-points on his way to a 7-6, 6-2
win over Israel's Harel Levy.
The other semifinal will feature Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero
against Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti.
Ferrero, seeded eighth, continued his own sharp clay-court play,
rolling over South Africa's Wayne Ferreira 6-0, 6-2 in less than an
hour in their quarterfinal showdown Friday afternoon. The
21-year-old Spaniard, coming off a win on clay in Barcelona last
month, has lost only 14 games this week in Rome.
With three tournament wins this year, Ferrero will be considered
one of the top challengers at this month's French Open, where he
reached the semifinals last year.
"I'm in my best form on clay," Ferrero said. "I felt so good
today and all week."
Ferrero's quarterfinal victory came less than four hours after he
finished off Julien Boutter of France 6-3, 6-2 in a third-round
match that had been suspended by rain.
The eighth-seeded Spaniard said he wasn't bothered by playing
two matches in a single day. The first match, which picked up with
him leading 5-2 in the first set, "only needed to be finished."
And in the quarterfinal, he added, "Wayne never really had a
handle."
Lapentti came back from a set down to dominate Spain's Jacobo
Diaz 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Sweden's Vinciguerra, who will try to become only the second
player to beat Kuerten on clay this year, overpowered Levy, who
racked up 40 unforced errors. Levy squandered two set points to
lose the tiebreaker 9-7. A big-swinging left-hander, Vinciguerra
finished off the win with a sweeping crosscourt forehand winner.
Levy had upset Pete Sampras in the opening round.
"I'm surprised that I'm in the semifinals, but I had a feeling
that I would play well here," 20-year-old Vinciguerra said.
"I've been practicing well."
Corretja, who won this tournament in 1997, finished off his
quarterfinal match on Friday, knocking off seventh-seeded Lleyton
Hewitt of Australia 7-6 (2), 6-4 in a match that had started on
Thursday. The Spaniard converted the last of his 24 winners on
match point by surprising Hewitt with a serve-and-volley rush.
Kuerten, who finished last season atop the men's rankings after
winning his second French Open title, came to Rome favored in the
$2.95 million tournament, which is part of the Tennis Masters Series and a
major tuneup for Roland Garros.
The Brazilian lost in the final at Foro Italico last year to
Magnus Norman, who was seeded fifth this year and lost in the first
round. Another first-round loser here was Australian Open champion
Andre Agassi. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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Friday's results
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