Woodies seal perfect run at World Doubles
Woodies seal perfect run at World Doubles
JAKARTA (JP): Australia's solid partnership of Todd Woodbridge
and Mark Woodforde chalked up a perfect 3-0 win-loss record at
the US$1.3 million ATP World Doubles tennis championship
yesterday, only to set up an early meeting with Netherlands'
title holders Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis.
The Woodies toppled American Jonathan Stark and Zimbabwe's
Byron Black 6-3, 6-4 in a retaliation match yesterday to lead the
White Group as the unbeaten team. The second seeds, struggling to
revive their pride after being overshadowed by their Dutch arch
rivals throughout the year, sealed the group without dropping a
set.
Earlier yesterday, favorites Haarhuis and Eltingh, who secured
their semifinal berth on Thursday, lost their grip on their way
to a 6-4, 4-6, 2-6 defeat to Swedish Davis Cup heroes Jan Apell
and Jonas Bjorkman, their second straight loss to the Swedes this
year.
World number five duo Apell and Bjorkman, who have the same 2-
1 win-loss record as the Dutchmen, topped the Red Group for
winning the head-to-head match yesterday. The Swedes are tuning
up for their Davis Cup final against Russia when they meet
Russia's Andrei Olhovskiy who teams up with Australian David
Adams in the cross-over semifinals today.
Apell and Bjorkman are the best team to rely on when Sweden
travels to Russia early next month for the coveted men's team
trophy.
Olhovskiy and Adams grabbed their second consecutive World
Doubles semifinal slot after defeating the hopeless Dutch-Czech
combination of Tom Nijssen and Cyril Suk 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).
The semifinal clash pitting the two top seeded teams is highly
billed as the real final of the championship.
"We have been waiting forward to this rematch, although we
actually expected to meet Paul and Jacco in the final," said
Woodbridge, whose storming volley ended Stark and Black's
persistent challenge yesterday.
"We have something to prove tomorrow. We get the opportunity,
although they beat us a couple times," Woodforde added. "We will
keep alert on their serves and crosssings."
The Woodies were close to retaining their title in
Johannesburg last year, but could not match the Dutch power of
play.
The Australians, who qualified for the season-ending
tournament after winning five titles, won a thrilling five-set
quarterfinal match against Eltingh/Haarhuis, but fell to the same
team in the next two encounters.
Break
Woordforde, who was voted as the best doubles volleyer of the
year, proved he deserved the tag when he volleyed a number of
crossings which left the multinational squad dazed.
The Woodies sealed the first set quickly after breaking
Black's and Stark's serves twice.
In the second set, Stark saved a break point in the sixth game
with an ace. He blasted another big serve to evade a match point,
before Woodbridge sliced a winning short return.
Apell has now beaten the ranking Dutch pair four times, while
Bjorkman has edged them on two occasions.
Another major casualty yesterday was the world number four
pair of Canadian Grant Connell and Pat Galbraith of the U.S., who
fell 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to veteran Spaniards Sergio Casal and
Emilio Sanchez, who were already out of contention for the title.
Connell, who topped the individual doubles chart last year,
said his side let themselves down.
"We left it up to another team to determine our fate," he
said. "We dropped the ball today by losing and we paid for it."
Today's program
11.00 a.m.
Haarhuis/Eltingh v Woodbridge/Woodforde
2.00 p.m.
Adams/Olhovskiy v Apell/Bjorkman