The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Conchita Martinez in final

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 06, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Conchita Martinez in final

PATTAYA, FEB. 5. Conchita Martinez advanced to the WTA Volvo women's Open final on Saturday after Thailand's tropical heat proved too much for Russia's Evgenia Linetskaya.

Third-seeded Martinez will face Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany in Sunday's final after Linetskaya retired due to heat exhaustion with the Spaniard leading 6-2, 4-0.

Groenefeld, seeded seventh, overcame a shaky start to defeat No. 8 Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Martinez created a variety of shots to counter the powerful groundstrokes from her 18-year-old opponent, forcing a string of unforced errors.

With Martinez leading 1-0 in the second set, Linetskaya called for a trainer and went back to a locker room for a treatment. The Russian returned to the court and quickly lost the next three games before calling it quits.

Top seeds in title clash

In Tokyo, top-ranked Lindsay Davenport booked a place in her seventh Pan-Pacific Open final on Saturday with 6-1, 7-6(2) win over Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova will play Davenport in Sunday's final. The second-seeded Sharapova was a 6-1, 7-6(3) winner over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.

Spadea survives

Vincent Spadea survived another three-set match on Friday night to move into the semifinal of the Delray Beach ATP Tour event.

Spadea defeated fellow American Kevin Kim 7-5, 6-7(0), 6-4 — the second consecutive struggle for the tournament's top seed. He needed three sets to oust Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili in the round of 16.

Soderling in last four

Fifth-seeded Robin Soderling of Sweden ended Ukrainian qualifier Sergyi Stakhovsky's hopes at the Internazionali di Lombardia ATP indoor tournament on Friday, beating the 19-year-old 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinal.

Gaudio advances

Top seed and French Open champion Gaston Gaudio defeated fellow Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the semifinal of the BellSouth ATP tournament.

The results:

At Pattaya (Volvo Open): Semifinals: Conchita Martinez bt Evgenia Linetskaya 6-2, 4-0 retd.; Anna-Lena Groenefeld bt Virginia Ruano Pascual 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

At Tokyo (Pan-Pacific Open): Semifinals: Maria Sharapova bt Shinobu Asagoe 6-1, 7-6(3); Lindsay Davenport bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 7-6(2).

At Delray Beach (ATP Millennium International championships): Quarterfinals: Vince Spadea bt Kevin Kim 7-5, 6-7(0), 6-4; Xavier Malisse bt Ramon Delgado 6-2, 6-2; Jiri Novak bt Kenneth Carlsen 6-3, 7-5; Wesley Moodie bt Peter Wessels 5-0 retd.

At Milan (Internazionali di Lombardia): Quarterfinals: Robin Soderling bt Sergyi Stakhovsky 6-3, 6-2; Radek Stepanek bt Rainer Schuettler 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3; Ivan Ljubicic bt Karol Beck 6-7(4), 6-0, 6-2; Max Mirnyi bt Tomas Behrend 6-3, 6-2.

At Vina del Mar (BellSouth Open): Quarterfinals: David Ferrer bt Agustin Calleri 6-1, 6-3; Gaston Gaudio bt Jose Acasuso 6-2, 3-6, 3-1; Filippo Volandri bt Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo 6-4, 6-2; Fernando Gonzalez bt Mariano Zabaleta 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(2).

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