Djokovic, Gasquet advance to Rogers Cup final
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E-mail Xinhua, August 12, 2012
By Christine Xu
TORONTO, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated fellow Serbian Janko Tipsarevic Saturday to advance to the men's singles final at the 2012 Rogers Cup held in Canada's largest city.
Djokovic will face off against Richard Gasquet of France in the final on Sunday, after Gasquet overcome American John Isner earlier on Saturday.
After a first attempt to start the match was immediately shut down by heavy rain in the evening session, the battle between world's No. 2 Novak Djokovic and No. 9 Janko Tipsarevic started at around 8:30 PM local time.
The two familiar foes took to the court immediately, with the scrappy Tipsarevic going toe to toe with his formidable opponent, who was the world's No. 1 player for 53 consecutive weeks till July 9, 2012, when Djokovic was overtaken by Roger Federer.
In the first set, each sought to dominate the court with their serve, and each succeeded as they exchanged wins in service games, despite another rain delay for almost an hour and a half.
After the match resumed at 10:25 PM, the players resumed their aggressive play and treated the audience with some of the best rallies and volleys that have been seen in this tournament, to thunderous applauses.
Leading 5-4, Djokovic proved his mettle with his crushing attacks from the baseline, breaking Tipsarevic's service game and winning the first set.
In the second set, Djokovic took control and won 6-1. This was Tipsarevic second defeat in a Rogers Cup semifinal. Last year he lost the semifinal match to eventual runner-up, American Mardy Fish.
After tonight Djokovic, a two-time Rogers Cup champion, holds a 5-2 record against Tipsarevic in their matches.
The match "could really have gone either way, especially in the first set," said Djokovic after the game.
However, Djokovic said he gained momentum after winning the first set.
Earlier on Saturday Richard Gasquet clinched another upset against a higher-ranked player in a 7-6, 6-3 win against John Isner, who at No. 11 is the highest-ranked American among ATP players.
Gasquet defeated No. 7 player Tomas Berdych and No. 13 Mardy Fish. This will be 21st-ranked Gasquet' s third final in an ATP Master 1000 event, after the tournament in Hamburg in 2005 and Rogers Cup in Toronto in 2006. Both times he lost to Roger Federer in the finals.
Known as a talented all-court player with a precise, powerful backhand, Gasquet served well in Saturday's match and outplayed Isner in almost every aspect of the game, from serves to returns.
While Isner, a towering 6 feet 9 inch (206 cm) North Carolinian, led all the ATP players with 704 aces this season coming into the tournament, Gasquet managed four aces against Isner's five in Saturday's match.
Isner attributed his loss to both his opponent's better performance and his own squishy legs.
"I didn't quite have my legs underneath me today, so that made it tough," he told reporters. "He made me pay a lot of balls, and I just missed way too much."
Isner was full of praise of Gasquet's backhand.
"It's world class. It's just a gift of his, really," he said. "He was just a lot better than me today. He deserved the win.
"He was just the better player really in all facets."
On his part, Gasquet said winning the tiebreaker (3) in the first set made him feel more confident. "I played incredible (sic) in the tiebreak and then I felt well," said the 26-year-old Frenchman, who started playing tennis at age four and turned pro at age 16.
"The key of the match was to return well, and I did it. I tried to return all the time to make him play," he said.
In doubles action, Canada' s Daniel Nestor, one of the most decorated doubles players with 76 titles under his belt, lost with his Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi in their quarterfinal match to Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez of Spain. The score was 6-4, 6-4.
The Spanish duo will play Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horai Tecau of Romania, and American twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan will face off against Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Leander Paes of India in the doubles semifinals, which were postponed till Sunday due to the rain delay.
The Bryans, who hold the record for the longest reign as the world's No. 1 doubles team, come in as the heavy favorite for the doubles title after winning a gold medal at the Olympics in London. Enditem
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