Tags:
Journalism of Courage
MONTREAL, Aug 2: With strong winds rendering the big servers ineffective, top seed Michael Chang held off eighth-seeded Dutchman Richard Krajicek yesterday to reach the semi-finals of the Canadian Open.
The second-ranked Chang posted a 7-6 6-4 victory over Krajicek to set up a semi-final with French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil.
The sixth-seeded Kuerten advanced with a 6-3 7-6 win over Frenchman Fabrice Santoro.
The other semifinal pits fourth seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia against unseeded American Chris Woodruff.
Kafelnikov beat fifth seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 7-5 6-7 6-1 in a two hour and 10 minute match contested almost exclusively from the baseline.The 57th-ranked Woodruff upset seventh-seeded Australian Mark Philippoussis 6-4 6-4.
With the wind playing havoc with his serve, Krajicek was forced to trade ground-strokes with Chang, a situation that worked to the speedy American8217;s advantage.
8220;It8217;s hard to serve in the wind and the serve is a very big part of my game,8221; Krajicek said.
Hingis to meet Pierce
CARLSBAD: World number one Martina Hingis fought off a determined challenge from seventh seed Conchita Martinez yesterday to advance to the semi-finals of the Toshiba Tennis Classic.
Just five days after blowing out the Spaniard in a final at Palo Alto to claim her eighth title of the year, Hingis needed eight match points to close out a 6-4 6-4 victory.
8220;It was one of the hardest matches for me,8221; added Hingis, who in the semi-finals will face sixth seed Mary Pierce in a rematch of the Australian Open final won by Hingis.
Pierce was in excellent form in pounding out a 6-3 6-2 victory French Fed Cup teammate Sandrine Testud and was ready for another shot at Hingis.The other semi-final features second seed Monica Seles against sixth-seeded South African Amanda Coetzer.
