Acasuso, Rochus Work Overtime to Reach Semifinals

19. Mai, 2005• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Acasuso, Rochus Work Overtime to Reach Semifinals• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Argentine Jose Acasuso and Belgian Christophe Rochus both survived ‘double duty’ on Thursday to advance to the semifinals of the Internationaler BTM-Power Grand Prix in St. Poelten.
Acasuso defeated fast-rising Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-4 in their rain-delayed second round meeting and then backed up to beat German qualifier Michael Kohlmann 6-2, 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals.
Acasuso took and early 4-0 lead and held serve to close the first set 6-2. In the second set, both players held serve until the tie-break. Acasuso served 5 aces and 2 double faults and never faced a break point in the first set and saved both break points in the second set.
In the semifinals Acasuso will meet top seed Nikolay Davydenko, who defeated Felix Mantilla6-3, 7-5.
Rochus has followed up his surprise run to the Masters Series Rome semifinals by reaching the St. Poelten semifinals. Like Acasuso, Rochus had to win two matches Thursday, first defeating Davide Sanguinetti 6-3, 6-3 in the second round and then Guillermo Garcia Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.
Rochus next meets fourth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer, who needed more than two hours to defeat Spanish qualifier David Sanchez 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Sanchez took an early 2-0 lead in the final set but Melzer broke back at 2-3. Sanchez broke again in the seventh game but lost his serve right back and lost three consecutive games and the match.
WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID...
Davydenko: "The key today has been my plan for the whole week. Try to play short point, hit some winners and serve well."
"I have been playing many matches lately and after Hamburg I was really tired. I feel already much better because I played three good and short matches which helped me to recover from last week. This is great preparation for Roland Garros next week."
Acasuso: "The key today was that I kept my concentration in the two matches, this morning against Nicolas Almagro and this afternoon against Michael Kohlmann. I saw that Kohlmann was a little tired after all the matches he played here and I focused on controlling the points and making him run as much as possible."
"I play next against Nikolay Davydenko who is a very tough opponent. He has been playing extremely well lately, but I feel really confident and am playing well at the moment so I believe in my chances."
"I am feeling well physically. I am happy about my game these past days, winning matches is really good for me and probably the best preparation right before Roland Garros."
Melzer: "Today I never stopped fighting and believing in myself and this why I won because I think I played today my worst tennis in this past year. At the end, in the last three game I played a little better, put some pressure on his backhand, came in to the net and made him hit a few passing shots. “
“If I play Christophe Rochus tomorrow, it will be difficult because he is in good form at the moment. I think it will be a similar game to today.”
FRIDAY PREVIEW Top seed Nikolay Davydenko will look to convert his fourth semifinal appearance of the season into his first ATP final of the year when he meets Jose Acasuso in today’s St. Poelten semifinals. The Russian is appearing in his third semifinal of the European clay court swing (Barcelona, Hamburg).
Davydenko has won four career titles, including Munich and Moscow last year.
Acasuso is appearing in his second semifinal of the year (Buenos Aires). The Argentine’s two career titles have both come on clay: Bucharest (2004) and Sopot (2002).
In search of his first ATP title, fourth seed Jurgen Melzer will appear in his third semifinal of the year when he plays in-form Christophe Rochus. Melzer recently reached the semifinals of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships (l. to Roddick).
Belgian Christophe Rochus is 13-10 on the year and is fast closing on his career-best season of 15-23 in 2000. He has won between 10 and 15 matches a season for the past five years.
Rochus last week achieved his best career result by advancing to the semifinals of Masters Series Rome (l. to Gasquet).Copyright © ATP


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