Post by tall_one on May 15, 2004 23:14:00 GMT
First Rome title awaits Mauresmo or Capriati
By James Eve
ROME, May 15 (Reuters) - Whatever the result of the Rome Masters final between second seed Amelie Mauresmo and former world number one Jennifer Capriati, come Sunday evening the tournament will have a new and popular champion.
Both players won their semi-finals in straight sets on Saturday, Mauresmo beating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-3 and Capriati defeating top seed Serena Williams 6-4 6-4.
Mauresmo and Capriati have both waited a long time for a first title in the Italian capital.
For Mauresmo, the final is familiar territory. Three times in the past four years the Frenchwoman has finished runner-up.
Last year, she led by a break in the second set before collapsing 6-0 in the third against Belgium's Kim Clijsters.
That defeat seemed to confirm her reputation as a fragile talent. There has been little sign of wavering this year.
On Friday, Mauresmo came back from a break down in the final set of her tough, rain-interrupted quarter-final against home favourite Silvia Farina Elia.
Less than 24 hours later she looked fresh and strong as she swept aside Zvonareva, at one point hitting a second-serve ace after a protest by her opponent had caused the umpire to call a previous serve winner out.
"Mentally I really wanted to avoid playing the kind of match I played yesterday. I wanted to start aggressively, like I've been doing these last few months," she said after sweeping into the final.
"I was much more precise, I mixed up my shots. I just hope I can overturn my runner-up record in Rome."
Fifth seed Capriati has taken half a lifetime to reach this stage of the competition.
The 28-year-old American first appeared in Rome in 1990, aged 14, and lost in the quarter-finals to Gabriela Sabatini. Until this week, her best result was a semi-final two years ago that she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams.
Saturday's victory over compatriot Williams avenged that defeat and will act as an enormous confidence boost considering she had lost their last eight encounters.
"Other matches against her have been like this. I've led 5-1 or 5-2 and then let it slip away," she admitted.
All Capriati has to do now is tear up the formbook against Mauresmo, who has won five of their last six meetings including a crushing 6-2 6-0 victory in the semi-finals of last week's Berlin tournament.
Despite that result, Mauresmo is taking nothing for granted.
"Last week it went well for me, but here the conditions are much faster. I'm expecting the match to be much more evenly balanced," she said.
By James Eve
ROME, May 15 (Reuters) - Whatever the result of the Rome Masters final between second seed Amelie Mauresmo and former world number one Jennifer Capriati, come Sunday evening the tournament will have a new and popular champion.
Both players won their semi-finals in straight sets on Saturday, Mauresmo beating Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-2 6-3 and Capriati defeating top seed Serena Williams 6-4 6-4.
Mauresmo and Capriati have both waited a long time for a first title in the Italian capital.
For Mauresmo, the final is familiar territory. Three times in the past four years the Frenchwoman has finished runner-up.
Last year, she led by a break in the second set before collapsing 6-0 in the third against Belgium's Kim Clijsters.
That defeat seemed to confirm her reputation as a fragile talent. There has been little sign of wavering this year.
On Friday, Mauresmo came back from a break down in the final set of her tough, rain-interrupted quarter-final against home favourite Silvia Farina Elia.
Less than 24 hours later she looked fresh and strong as she swept aside Zvonareva, at one point hitting a second-serve ace after a protest by her opponent had caused the umpire to call a previous serve winner out.
"Mentally I really wanted to avoid playing the kind of match I played yesterday. I wanted to start aggressively, like I've been doing these last few months," she said after sweeping into the final.
"I was much more precise, I mixed up my shots. I just hope I can overturn my runner-up record in Rome."
Fifth seed Capriati has taken half a lifetime to reach this stage of the competition.
The 28-year-old American first appeared in Rome in 1990, aged 14, and lost in the quarter-finals to Gabriela Sabatini. Until this week, her best result was a semi-final two years ago that she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams.
Saturday's victory over compatriot Williams avenged that defeat and will act as an enormous confidence boost considering she had lost their last eight encounters.
"Other matches against her have been like this. I've led 5-1 or 5-2 and then let it slip away," she admitted.
All Capriati has to do now is tear up the formbook against Mauresmo, who has won five of their last six meetings including a crushing 6-2 6-0 victory in the semi-finals of last week's Berlin tournament.
Despite that result, Mauresmo is taking nothing for granted.
"Last week it went well for me, but here the conditions are much faster. I'm expecting the match to be much more evenly balanced," she said.
