Rubin to face Martinez in Acura Classic final

Rubin to face Martinez in Acura Classic final

MANHATTAN BEACH, California (Reuter): Tenth seed Chanda Rubin took full advantage of a below-par Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to defeat the top seed 6-3 6-1 on Saturday and advance into the final of the Acura Classic against Conchita Martinez of Spain.

The second-seeded Martinez beat unseeded Indonesian Yayuk Basuki 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in the day's second semifinal.

Martinez reached her second final in two weeks by ending the run of Yayuk, who had upset three seeds on her way to the semifinals.

A tentative approach by Yayuk led to the Spaniard dominating most of the match. Yayuk claimed just two points in the first three games as her ineffective sliced backhand failed to offer any challenge.

Although Yayuk held four break points at 1-2 in the second set, the Spaniard stayed in control. At 5-3 she held match point, but Yayuk saved it with a lob as Martinez complained the Indonesian's serve had been long.

Yayuk held for 5-4 and finally brought the match alive as she saved a second match point and broke for 5-5 by forcing a forehand error. But her effort was too little too late, and Martinez held on to take the tiebreak 7-4.

"She's very consistent and her heavy topspin was giving me trouble, but I wasn't the toughest I could be," said Yayuk. "I've tried to serve and volley against her before and that's what she expected, so I tried to mix it up more. But it didn't work."

Martinez was surprised she has such an easy match after being taken to three sets in their last two meetings.

"She was missing and all I had to do was put the ball in play," said Martinez.

Sanchez Vicario broke to lead 2-1 and then held two break points for a 4-1 lead.

But the rest of the match belonged to Rubin, the 19-year-old Louisiana daughter of a judge.

Her strong forehand and ability to stretch her opponent wide, backed up by her willingness to come in to the net when she had the opportunity, meant the biggest win of her career was well- deserved.

"I really attacked well and executed my game plan, which was to hit out on my forehand and get in when I could. I wanted to get her on the move, and to mix it up and not hit everything deep, and it worked," said Rubin, who upset Argentine Gabriela Sabatini in the quarter-finals.

While Rubin was aggressive, Sanchez Vicario was a pale shadow of her normal self. Her serve was completely ineffective, she was slow and lethargic, and after the first few games she posed no threat at all.

"I was a little bit off and not as fast into the ball. It was a very bad day for me. Sometimes it happens but the thing to do is to forget it," said the disappointed Spaniard.

"Chanda attacked very well and my balls were not deep enough to make her feel uncomfortable. She hit the ball hard both sides and waited until she had a chance."

Sanchez Vicario put only 49 percent of her first serves into play, which was exactly what she didn't want against an opponent with such a good return.

"It's completely different when you can make your first serve and put some pressure. I served really bad and she attacks your second serve really well," said Sanchez Vicario.

Agassi vs Chang

In Mason, Ohio, it was a scorcher on stadium court at the US$1.8 million ATP Championship on Saturday but Andre Agassi was cool as can be as he quickly disposed of 13th-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden 6-4 6-2.

In an All-American final, the top-seeded Agassi will take on fourth-seeded Michael Chang, whom he leads 8-3 in career matches.

The fifth-ranked Chang won an impressive 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-5) victory over eighth-seeded Michael Stich of Germany in a match that showcased the sport at its finest level.

"It's kind of a shame someone has to lose that kind of a match," Chang said of the two hour, 10-minute match. "I'll look back on my career and say I played a lot of really tough, quality matches."

Chang will be trying to become the first player to win this title three years in a row.

Agassi was so comfortable during his one hour, 10 minute match that he had plenty of time to glance over at the on-court thermometer.

"It was 125 (degrees Fahrenheit/52 Celsius) plus," Agassi said. "I thought, boy, my opponent must feel like crap right now." But the only thing that seemed hot about Agassi was his tennis.

Agassi is now 59-7 in match play in 1995 and 80-9 since last year's U.S. Open, which he won.

The current king of tennis, Agassi came out aggressively, determined to be on the offensive and put pressure on Enqvist's powerful serve. The strategy worked. Enqvist felt the squeeze and ended up with a low 44 percent first service percentage.