SATURDAY, APRIL 10 – In a very well kept secret that burst out on a sunny Saturday in Basel, wedding bells rang for Roger Federer and his girlfriend of nine years, Mirka Vavrinec. “It was a beautiful spring day and an incredibly joyous occasion,” said Federer. The two are expecting their first child this summer.
Federer has decided to play Monte Carlo, which starts on Monday, but there is still action in Houston and Casablanca. In Texas, Lleyton Hewitt advanced to his first final in two years as he beat Russian Evgeny Korolev 7-6(4), 6-4. The 28-year-old is trying to capture his first title since March of ‘07 when he won Las Vegas. “It feels fantastic and it’s been a long time coming,” said Hewitt, who underwent hip surgery last August. “I am really moving well and I’m moving a lot better than I thought in my first tournament on clay.”
He’ll face the scrappy American, Wayne Odesnik, who advanced to his first ATP final with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Bjorn Phau. In Morocco, Juan Carlos Ferrero reached his first final in 15 months by taking down Igor Andreev 7-6(9), 6-3. Stunningly, yhe Spaniard is trying to capture his first title since October ‘03, just after he became No. 1. He’ll play Florent Serra, who took a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Spaniard Albert Montanes.
As expected, Serena Williams pulled out of Charleston with a left leg injury. Why she didn’t pull out of Marbella earlier this week in befuddling, given that she would have had more time to rest prior to the larger U.S. tournament. Serena will lose her top spot to Dinara Safina on anyway, but now must look elsewhere to gain the 460 points she dropping.
The tournament still features Venus Williams, Elena Dementieva, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova, who was stunned by hard court lover Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 on green clay in Ponte Vedra Beach on Saturday. Wozniak, a Canadian, will take another player with Polish roots, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki, whom she lost to at Wimbledon. Wozniacki needed to call upon all her reserves to best the improving Elena Vesnina 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Vesnina held two match points while serving for the match at 5-3 in the third set, but couldn’t convert. In Marbella, Jelena Jankovic beat Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 6-2 and will face young Spanish sensation Carla Suarez Navarro, who tripped up Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-2. That should be a terrific final.
From TennisReporters.net
