|
|
Post by Damita on Oct 23, 2004 1:07:18 GMT 3
woohoo he won! this means i'll have the match on tv tomorrow! at 2am but at least i'll see him! ;D *big big happy dance*  Karen>>Gaudio will be in the Masters cup even if he drops out of the top8 i think. Players who win a Grand slam are automatically qualified... unless they drop far away from the top8 (i don't remember where exactly, sorry). In 2002 there were Johansson and Costa winning Slams, but their ranking wasn't that good at the end of the year. And i read somewhere that if one of them had a really bad ranking after bercy then he would miss the masters cup despite his victory in aO or RG.... i'm not sure i'll have the time to search this article and tell you what's this "ranking-limit", but i remember it was quite far from the top8. And i dunno how far Gaudio could drop during the last 2 weeks  .... but i think he'll managed to stay around the top10... No pics yet on getty, sorry |
|
|
|
Post by MariaV on Oct 23, 2004 1:08:55 GMT 3
YAY!!!!!!!!!! Well done Marat!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Although the spectators booed him off the court, I still love him!!!!!! One line judge called him 2 (3?) foot faults, 1 of them on his last service game so he was not very happy with that and argued with Grillotti but he still managed to win!!!!!!!!!!! The only 3 BPs on his serve in the whole match were on his last service game. I guess he got too relaxed being 30-0 up and just 2 points away from victory. Now the stats: 1st serve % Safin 48% (wasn't working today that well), Horna 65% Aces Horna 4, Safin 9 DF Horna 1, Safin 4 Winners Horna 20, Safin 29 UE Horna 21, Safin 29 if I got it all right. Match time 1 h 18 min. Good night and sweet dreams!!!!!!!!! A HUUUUUUUUUGE match vs Andre tomorrow! Good luck baby!!!! P.S. I'm gonna ignore all bad remarks from Vass & Co about his game and on-court behaviour. I'm a fanatic!!!   But I agree that his game wasn't dazzling or anything, just some of his GORGEOUS BHs, a lot of UEs unfortunately, he couldn't find the length at the beginning and Horna actually served pretty well for a guy of his level, he seems to be in a great shape. Marat still has some work to do but it's not like Andre was faultless in the 1st set today. |
|
|
|
Post by MariaV on Oct 23, 2004 1:20:48 GMT 3
Damita, Gaudio has to be in top 20 to get a ticket to the TMS Cup. The rule is like - the FIRST GS winner out of top 8 but in top 20 got to to the TMS Cup. That was with Costa and Johansson. But I guess Gaudio is injured like Coria so they are not sure to play in Houston. I guess they want to play there if they only can... So we have to wait and see. Miracles can happen.
And I'm definitely off to bed now.
|
|
Perri
Junior Member
Posts: 76
|
Post by Perri on Oct 23, 2004 1:23:16 GMT 3
 He won!!! Yeah!!!! Hi! Everybody, I had the TV coverage live and it was a good match and Marat was excellent at net throughout the match. I've never seen him win so many net points before. The commentator also praised many times his good skill at net. But his forehand and return serve worries me a little bit. His forehand stroke for quite a number of times floated long and whch I guess maybe the reason why he went to net so frequently. As to return serve, though he has several brilliant returns, overall, it's not very satisfactory. I'm also glad to see that he was more aggressive in this match and hit some very spectacular winners. It was also impressive that he played well under breakpoint pressure. Overall, he played quite well but not his greatest. I think he has a chance against Andre given improved stability of forehand strokes. It was also very amusing that he blew kisses with a sarcastic smile to the hissing crowd (as he argued with the umpire and a linesman on footfault (3 times???)) when leaving the court and Peter just couldn't help laughing ;D. I reallly hope he can play next match well (fingers crossed).
|
|
|
|
Post by Elisabeth on Oct 23, 2004 1:28:46 GMT 3
You are so lucky Perri!! I can't see Marat on tv "Safin, finally finding his form at altitude, beat Peruvian Luis Horna 6-4 6-4 in just an 80 minutes. Although Horna, who had previously powered past defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, started strongly he was no match for a focused Safin" ;D |
|
|
|
Post by MariaV on Oct 23, 2004 1:29:33 GMT 3
Oh yeah Perri, I forgot, the net approaches were good too! But he can't do a thing against Agassi with such returning. I am also puzzled why he is not returning well any more.  It's pretty alarming ahead of the Agassi match. |
|
|
|
Post by |-Safin_Coria-| on Oct 23, 2004 2:54:32 GMT 3
! great news!!! i'm loving this! keep it up Marat! sorry for the lack of posts...been really busy lately  by the way, Coria is playing TMC
|
|
|
|
Post by me on Oct 23, 2004 2:54:34 GMT 3
|
|
|
|
Post by Damita on Oct 23, 2004 3:57:16 GMT 3
|
|
|
|
Post by annie on Oct 23, 2004 6:22:50 GMT 3
oh, yeah! oh, yeah!! oh, yeah!!! /me doing the happy dance*
i like it when he keeps winning like this... ;D ;D
i hope he wins all the way to the finals... ;D ;D
i'm just so happy
|
|
Chiro
Junior Member
Posts: 146
|
Post by Chiro on Oct 23, 2004 6:42:57 GMT 3
Me>>>> Awwww... i love it when Marat blows kisses to the crowad.... its beautiful  YAY!!!!!!!! MARAT WON!!! WOOO HOOO!!! GO MARAT!!! GO MARAT!!! GO GO!! GO MARAT!!! If he can beat Agassi at the Australian Open coming off a "not-so-good" year... he can beat him now having won Beijing and on a roll with a goal in mind.... I'm toooo scared to watch the match cause i'll know i'll like have a heart attack either way... from shock if he wins or loses..... arrrr ;D tough decision hehe.... |
|
|
|
Post by annie on Oct 23, 2004 6:55:42 GMT 3
Me>>>> Awwww... i love it when Marat blows kisses to the crowad.... its beautiful yep...love that too... If he can beat Agassi at the Australian Open coming off a "not-so-good" year... he can beat him now having won Beijing and on a roll with a goal in mind.... that's right, i totally agree!!! go marat!! ;D ;D |
|
|
|
Post by sirius on Oct 23, 2004 7:30:54 GMT 3
from madrid site
Agassi and Safin set up high-profile semi-final in Madrid
Madrid, October 23th 2004 (dpa) - Andre Agassi and Marat Safin set up a showdown between former Grand Slam champions as both came through against upset-minded opponents in the quarter-finals of the 2.425-million-euros Madrid Masters Friday night.
Agassi, the 2002 winner, had to make on-the-fly improvements in form to finally get past the last Spanish obstacle of the week. The American second seed defeated Tommy Robredo 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-2, taking just under three hours to advance into the final four.
Safin, the number 3, drove him a win against giant-killer Luis Horna 6-4, 6-4 to end the run of the Peruvian who ousted holder Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second round.
Agassi needed to jolt himself out of a road to ruin after losing the first set. His vast experience came to the fore as the 34-year-old got the job done to a standing ovation. He struck 29 winners to 43 for Robredo, who had been taking pain-killers for a shoulder problem.
"He's one of those guys who, when he's on the defensive, you need to hit a quality shot," said Agassi. "He can really sort of take the point over, hit his forehand both
directions. There were a number of times where I had him stretched, and I left one ball hanging, and he made me pay for it. "It was really important I stayed aggressive. And I did that better as the match went on."
Safin got through in straight sets, saving three break points as he served for victory against the 41st-ranked Horna. The Russian, who claimed his only title of the season last month in Beijing, is fighting for a place - like Agassi - in next months' eight-man season-ending event.
Unseeded Ivan Ljubicic hammered home 27 aces as he dulled the attack of big-serving Swede Joachim Johansson to reach the final four 7-6 (2), 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3).
It took more than two and a half hours for the world number 29 to reach his second semi-final of the year at the elite Masters level after Hamburg in May.
Johansson, the U.S. Open semi-finalist who beat Andy Roddick in New York, was slightly off the boil, producing "only" 15 untouchable serves, losing the contest on his fourth double-fault.
Ljubicic will face off against fourth-seeded Argentina David Nalbandian, who overwhelmed American Taylor Dent 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
|
|
|
|
Post by sirius on Oct 23, 2004 7:33:56 GMT 3
contrary to what maria thinks, i'm gonna be nice today!
i watched the match!!! WOOOHOOOOOOO!!!
first serve sucked as maria says, and it appeared so too from the tv screen. i was just grimacing everytime the ball plopped straight into the net.
overall, he played better than against koubek IMHO. a lot more winners, 20 this time excluding the aces. and he was trying to approach the net a lot. his volleying was brilliant... and he came up with a lot of classy winners. tried ONE LOB...but messed that one up hahaha...ah well.
what else...erm... yeah. the dramatic last game was....eeeekkk agonising! he HAD to wait till he was serving the match to start doling out BPs. thanks goodness he didn't get broken. phew!
ONWARD TO AGASSI!!!!
|
|
Perri
Junior Member
Posts: 76
|
Post by Perri on Oct 23, 2004 10:02:25 GMT 3
Poor Elisabeth And I just found out I won't get TV showing Marat's next match xyz@#$. Maria, I'm not sure if Andre is that great in serving. His serve seems just average. I think Marat must keep his booming serve to get an edge over Andre. But Andre rallies better than any of Marat's previous opponets and I'm worrying if Marat's rallies can be lifted up to such standard. Anyway, best luck to marat. |
|
.... but i think he'll managed to stay around the top10...
It's pretty alarming ahead of the Agassi match. 
