Haarhuis moves into Indosiar semifinals<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Defending champion Paul Haarhuis of the
\nNetherlands held off a persistent challenge from Guillaume Raoux
\nof France at the US$328,000 Indosiar Men's Open tennis
\nchampionships yesterday, surviving the thriller for a semifinal
\nberth.<\/p>\n
World number 18 Haarhuis won 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3) in his
\nfirst real test after two easy games en route to yesterday's
\nquarterfinals, leaving his title defense campaign on shaky
\nfooting as he is tipped to meet in-form Younes El Aynaoui of
\nMorocco in today's semifinals.<\/p>\n
El Aynaoui powered his way to a 6-0, 6-1 steamrolling of
\nEmilio Sanchez of Spain in the earlier quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
But Haarhuis refused to say that it was the most difficult
\nmatch he has ever played, "Yes, today I could have lost. But
\nAynaoui is even tougher. It will be more difficult for me to beat
\nhim."<\/p>\n
Haarhuis got off to a disastrous start in the match between
\ntwo remaining seeds. He was left trailing throughout the power
\nplay, before making a brilliant last-ditch effort.<\/p>\n
Throughout the match, however, it was confident Raoux who
\nshowed an exceptionally brilliant style with his artful slicing
\nwhich ironically turned erratic near the set points in the first
\nset and the match point in the decider.<\/p>\n
The Dutch champion, on the other hand, gained points mostly
\nbecause of Raoux's mistakes - and apparently by luck.<\/p>\n
But Haarhuis flatly rejected this. "I had to struggle not
\nbecause I played a bad match but because Raoux played very well
\nto the point of winning," Haarhuis told The Jakarta Post. "I'm no
\nPete Sampras who can win easily," he added.<\/p>\n
Sanchez had more than 250 people cheering him on, but it was
\nnot enough to match a power game performed by Aynaoui, who is
\nseeking his first career title here.<\/p>\n
The 1.93m Moroccan dominated the match from the start with his
\nflawless strokes from the baseline and a number of approaches to
\nthe net. El Aynaoui was so strong that he broke Sanchez' serves
\nsix times in 11 attempts.<\/p>\n
"I played and served very well, but he (Sanchez) was a little
\nbit nervous," world number 67 El Aynaoui told reporters at the
\npress conference after the match.<\/p>\n
El Aynaoui, who upset world number three Thomas Muster in the
\nQatar Open semifinals last week, relied on his big serves and
\nthundering forehands to tame the plucky Sanchez.<\/p>\n
"My backhand is a little bit weak. I'd be in the world top ten
\nif my backhand were as strong as my forehand," El Aynaoui said.<\/p>\n
The towering Moroccan blasted seven aces en route to an easy
\nfirst-set win which lasted only 16 minutes and 52 seconds.<\/p>\n
The second set went off in the same way, with El Aynaoui
\nfrequently racing up to the net for a volley winner. Sanchez, who
\nupset fourth seed Jacco Eltingh on Thursday, performed a brave
\neffort to break the duck in the fifth game of the second set.<\/p>\n
Earlier on the day, Dutch young gun Sjeng Schalken bounced
\nback from a set down to defeat Swede Mikael Tillstrom 5-7, 6-2,
\n6-4 in one hour 53 minutes.<\/p>\n
Schalken will now take on Michael Joyce of the United States,
\na surprising 6-2, 6-3 winner over second seed Gilbert Schaller of
\nAustria, for a place in Sunday's final. (05\/arf)<\/p>",
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