久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>Sports
         
 

Coria rallies to top Henman in French Open
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-05 10:58

For 1 1/2 sets Friday, Tim Henman seemed poised to upset clay-court star Guillermo Coria and become the first Englishman in a French Open final since the 1930s.

His serving on, his volleys crisp, Henman parlayed an hour of spectacular play on his least favorite surface into a big lead against Coria. Then, suddenly, everything changed. Coria took 13 straight games, staved off a late comeback bid, and won 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, 7-5, setting up the first all-Argentine Grand Slam final.


Guillermo Coria of Argentina returns the ball to Tim Henman of Britain during their semifinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Friday, June 4, 2004. [AP]
Appropriately, No. 3 Coria's opponent Sunday will be an unseeded player, Gaston Gaudio, a 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-0 winner over yet another Argentine, No. 8 David Nalbandian.

"It never crossed my mind that I could lose," said Coria, a 2003 French Open semifinalist and winner of 37 of his last 38 matches on clay.

When he finished off Henman, the 1999 Roland Garros junior champion walked off the court quickly, saying later, "It would be crazy to start celebrating now, because Gaudio has exactly the same dream as me: He wants to win the French Open."

Neither Coria, 22, nor Gaudio, 25, ever has played in a major final. One will be the French Open's 11th first-time Slam champion in 16 years - and the first Argentine man to win a major title since Guillermo Vilas at the 1979 Australian Open. Both have been mentored by Vilas; Coria was named after him.

"It's not because of me. They have done the hard work," said Vilas, who watched the semifinals from a third-row seat. "If I contributed something, then I'm happy."

Similarly, Saturday's women's final between No. 6 Anastasia Myskina and No. 9 Elena Dementieva will be the first all-Russian championship match at a major. They are making Slam final debuts, too; no Russian woman has won a major title.

Britain's last male champion at a Grand Slam tournament was Fred Perry at Wimbledon in 1936 - something Henman is reminded of repeatedly as he comes oh-so-close on the All England Club's grass. He's been a semifinalist there four times, going 0-4.

Perry could play on clay, too, winning the 1935 French Open, losing in the final the next year. Another Briton, Bunny Austin, was the runner-up in Paris in 1937.

Henman, a serve-and-volleyer, never had been beyond the fourth round at another major until this week, and only 13 percent of his career match wins were on clay. Balls move slower than on grass or hard courts, giving opponents more time to calibrate shots, making it tough to charge to the net.

The French Open bedeviled attacking players from John McEnroe to Boris Becker to Stefan Edberg to Pete Sampras, who won a record 14 majors but only once made it as far as the semifinals in Paris.

But Henman - now working with Sampras' former coach, Paul Annacone - managed to put it all together for five matches. Against Coria, who hadn't lost a set in the tournament, Henman went ahead 6-3, 4-2 by playing flawlessly, even matching Coria stroke-for-stroke from the baseline.

"Playing the best clay-court player in the world, I make him look pretty ordinary," Henman said. "But it's a question of being able to do that for a long, long time."

Serving at 4-3 in the second set, Henman went ahead 30-15 with a leaping overhead smash a la Sampras. And then, much to his dismay, Henman really began channeling Sampras on clay, dumping volleys into the net, moving a step too slowly, hanging his head after errors.

Coria's passing shots started finding their marks, punctuated with shouts of "Vamos!"

"I was very focused. He seemed a little lost," said Coria, who served a seventh-month drug suspension in 2001-02 for the steroid nandrolone and now is suing the maker of the dietary supplement he was taking.

With Coria up 3-0 in the fourth set, fans aching for a dramatic semifinal began rooting raucously for Henman. The women's matches Thursday and Gaudio's win all finished in straight sets with little flair.

"To have that support away from home is a little strange," said Henman, who won five straight games for a 5-3 edge.

But serving for the set at 5-4, he double-faulted, couldn't answer Coria's deep forehand that skipped off the baseline, then pushed a volley out to get broken. That was part of a four-game, match-ending run for Coria, praised by Henman for "his speed, his athleticism, his consistency from the baseline."

Like Coria, Gaudio prefers clay. He's never been past the third round at another major, and his career winning percentage on clay (.665) is far better than on all other surfaces combined (.402).

Ranked 44th, Gaudio last won a title in 2002, and he's been working with a psychologist. He got lost in the tiebreaker against Nalbandian, though, serving from the wrong side of the court. No one noticed until Nalbandian put a return into the net.

Nalbandian complained to the chair umpire.

"I made history," Gaudio said, smiling. "It's the first time something like that happened in the French Open."

Just one of many firsts this year.

 
  Today's Top News     Top Sports News
 

China wins praise for bold reforms at APEC meeting

 

   
 

China liberalizes grain trading, pricing

 

   
 

Efforts 'paying off' on market status

 

   
 

Lottery fraud victim win top prize...finally

 

   
 

China to send anti-riot peacekeepers to Haiti

 

   
 

World leaders gather for D-Day anniversary

 

   
  Judge warns Bryant prosecutors over DNA
   
  Jackson sets sights on record 10th title
   
  China's tennis fans await Masters Cup in Shanghai
   
  No cigarette ads to be seen at F1 Chinese GP circuit
   
  Olympic torch begins world odyssey in Sydney
   
  Germans and Czechs look sharp in warm-up wins
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 欧美肥婆videoxxx | 六月成人网 | 久久久久久久久中文字幕 | 亚洲人成亚洲精品 | 日本黄网站高清色大全 | 国外成人在线视频 | 国产亚洲欧美日韩在线观看一区二区 | 中文字幕视频网站 | 手机看片亚洲 | 亚洲欧美日韩精品久久久 | 国产精品99久久99久久久看片 | 日本一级特黄a大片在线 | 一区二区三区在线看 | 欧美一级淫片免费观看 | 精品国产97在线观看 | 久久久久久久免费视频 | 国产九九免费视频网站 | 免费亚洲视频 | 欧洲欧美成人免费大片 | 五月桃花网婷婷亚洲综合 | 日韩免费一级毛片欧美一级日韩片 | 成人精品一区二区久久久 | 超级碰碰碰在线观看 | 欧美亚洲国产日韩一区二区三区 | 日本一级毛片中文字幕 | 国产一区二区在线播放 | www.欧美在线观看 | 国产成人99精品免费观看 | 亚洲欧美综合国产精品一区 | 成人18免费观看的软件 | 亚洲美女在线播放 | 一区二区三区免费在线观看 | 亚洲国产精品免费 | 一区二区三区四区产品乱码伦 | 黄视频在线免费看 | 一级a做爰片欧欧美毛片4 | 午夜欧美性欧美 | 欧美一级第一免费高清 | 理论视频在线观看 | 久久视频免费 | 99视频精品免视3 |