HAMBURG, Germany -- Looking more untouchable on clay with
each week, Juan Carlos Ferrero won his 16th straight match Saturday
and will face Spanish compatriot Albert Portas in the German Open
final.
|  | | Albert Costa likes Juan Carlos Ferrero's chances in the final in Hamburg. "He hits hard, he hits hard every time he hits." |
Ferrero, seeking back-to-back Masters Series crowns, beat
countryman Albert Costa 6-1, 6-2 on Saturday in this warmup for the
French Open.
"I don't know if he's going to continue like that," Costa
said. "But if he plays like this, you cannot do anything."
In the other semifinal, Portas rallied for a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
victory over seventh-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia.
Sunday's title match in the $2.95 million tournament will be the
third all-Spanish final this year, all involving Ferrero.
Ferrero, who won the Italian Open last week, has the longest
winning streak on the tour this year.
"I didn't play well today, I played unbelievably," Ferrero
said.
No player has won the Italian and German tournaments, two of the
premier clay events, in the same year since Manuel Orantes, another
Spaniard, in 1972.
Only four others have accomplished the feat: Marty Mulligan, Rod
Laver, Lew Hoad and Jaroslav Drobny. It has never been done in
consecutive weeks.
Ferrero also won in Barcelona, and if he wins in Hamburg he will
have three straight titles.
Costa, the 1998 champion in Hamburg, had no answer to the steady
play of the eighth-seeded Ferrero. After breaking Costa in a long
second game, Ferrero dominated.
"I have a lot of confidence now," Ferrero said. "I made
winners from every side."
Ferrero has risen to No. 2 in the Champions Race, which
determines the No. 1 player at the end of the year.
"I am getting better with every match," Ferrero said.
Ferrero clearly will be one of the favorites when the French
Open starts May 28.
"He knows how to play from the baseline," Costa said. "He
hits hard, he hits hard every time he hits, with angles. He returns
very well, you cannot make points with the serve."
Serving for the second set, Portas made a couple of errors and
Hewitt tied it 5-5. But the Spaniard broke back and wasted two set
points before taking the set.'
Portas is the first qualifier to make to a Masters Series final
since Harel Levy in Toronto last year.
"He ran around, hit some huge forehands," Hewitt said. "He
didn't make too many errors off his backhand when I went there,
either."
Portas said he started playing better after getting over his
nervousness early in the match.
"It was not easy in the beginning," Portas said. "But then I
started moving him and maybe he was a little tired." Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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ALSO SEE
Saturday's results
Red-hot Ferrero cruises into semis at Hamburg
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