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SUNDAY, AUGUST ,8 2010
Players look for a U.S.Open head start
BY MATT BROOKS No top-five ATP players made
the trip to Washington for the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic and by the time the dust settled after Friday’s quarterfinals, not a single top-10 player remained in the field. But the dearth of big names coupledwiththeearlyexits of all eight Americans in the bracket has left the door wide open for several former elite play- ers to reclaimthe spotlight in the lead-upto theU.S.Open. A quick glance at Saturday’s
semifinal slate revealed a pair of star-studded matchups featuring three of the world’s top talents — circa 2007. Theafternoonpairingbetween
Marcos Baghdatis andXavierMa- lisse featured the 2006 Australian Open finalist and former world No. 8who sawhis ranking tumble to No. 151 last summer pitted against the once-consistent Bel- gian who won two of his three career titles in 2007 before falling out of the top 100 with a wrist injury. And for the nightcap, David
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST Marcos Baghdatis , who has worked his way back to aNo. 25 ranking after a wrist injury, sprawls on the court after topping XavierMalisse to reach the LeggMason final. Nalbandian, Baghdatis reach Legg final
Two players on the road back will meet for Classic title
BY LIZ CLARKE David Nalbandian’s ranking
plunged so dramatically while he was sidelined 10 months out of the last 15—first to recover from hip surgery, then a hamstring injury — that he needed a wild card to enter Washington’s Legg Mason Tennis Classic. Even though Nalbandian was
onceNo. 3 in the world, little was expected in his first tournament since April. He was, after all, ranked a lowly 117thuponarrival inWashington. But in a dazzling display of
precision and tenacity, the Ar- gentine declared his return to form complete Saturday night, eviscerating 13th ranked Marin Cilic of Croatia, 6-2, 6-2, in 73 minutes to earn a spot in Sun- day’s final. Nalbandian’s opponent will
be Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, who has been writing the final chapter of a comeback story of his own here in Washington, as well. Baghdatis secured his spot in the final earlier Saturday with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) victory overXavier Malisse.
Regardless of the outcome,
Sunday’s final will produce a first-time Legg Mason champi- on. And though most tourna- ment-goers surely would have preferred that an American hopeful — whether Andy Rod- dick, John Isner or Sam Querrey — or a more familiar name had advanced to the final, the Nal- bandian-Baghdatis showdown is likely to produce spirited tennis between two highly motivated
every time I go on court.” Cilic, 21, the tournament’s
fourth seed, was favored, regard- ed as the sport’s phenom of the moment. At 6-foot-6, he boasts a huge serve and lethal forehand and is especially adept at yank- ing opponents all over the court with unforgiving angles. He also boasts a 24-5 hard-
court record this season that’s second only to Roddick’s. But for all his talent, Cilic proved ill equipped to match Nalbandian from the baseline. Yet that’s the tack he took.
And even after getting routed in the first set, broken three times in his four service games, Cilic refused to alter his approach or use his height to his advantage. Instead of charging the net, he remained rooted behind the baseline and took a beating. The Baghdatis-Malisse semi-
final was a closer contest, marked by admirable sports- manship, extended rallies and smart shot-making (particularly by Baghdatis). In short, it was a welcome change from the lack- luster performances and serving pyrotechnics that detractedfrom much of the competition earlier in the tournament. At 6 feet and 6-1 respectively,
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
XavierMalisse, above, weary from a rough path to the semifinals, erred in trying to make the points quick againstMarcos Baghdatis.
players bent on reclaiming their place in the sport. Nalbandian, 28, wasted little
time in reminding the crowd at the William H.G. FitzGerald Ten- nis Center why elites like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal dread- ed facing him at his peak. Power- fully built and mentally formida- ble, Nalbandian revels in wear- ing opponents down with a bar-
rage of groundstrokes that rarely miss their mark. “Of course, when you spend a
lot of time outside the court, you miss the tennis,” said Nalbandi- an, who committed just 12 un- forced errors to Cilic’s 27, in a post-match interview with ESPN. “You miss the adrenaline you get every time you go on court. So I’m trying to enjoy it
Baghdatis and Malisse are ath- letes of average height who reached the top 20 a few years ago by virtue of the variety in their games (replete with drop shots, slices and volleys) and the intelligence of their approach rather than one freakishly un- playable shot. Wrist injuries sent both tum-
bling from the top 100. This week’s Legg Mason has show- cased the next step in their re- spective comebacks. Baghdatis is now ranked 25th;Malisse, 62nd. Baghdatis was the more fit and patient Saturday. And it
DIGEST TELEVISIONANDRADIO
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 1:30 p.m.
1:30 p.m. 2 p.m.
4 p.m. 8 p.m.
ChicagoWhite Sox at Baltimore » MASN,WJZ (Channel 13),WTNT (570 AM) San Francisco at Atlanta » TBS Cincinnati at Chicago Cubs » WGN
Washington at Los Angeles Dodgers » WDCW(Channel 50), MASN, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
Boston at NewYork Yankees » ESPN,WTNT (570 AM)
PRESEASON FOOTBALL 8 p.m.
SOCCER 9 p.m.
GOLF 11 a.m.
1 p.m. 3 p.m. 7 p.m.
TENNIS 3 p.m.
5 p.m.
Hall of Fame Game, Cincinnati vs. Dallas » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11), WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
MLS, NewYork at Chicago » ESPN2 PROBASKETBALL
Booker gets degree Wizards forward Trevor Book-
er will head into his NBA career with a degreefromClemsonin his hand. Thefirst-roundNBAdraft pick
was scheduled on Saturday to receive his undergraduate degree in parks, recreation and tourism management. Booker is not ex- pected to attend the ceremony, but says his degree played a major part in his return to school for his senior season. The6-foot-7Booker helped the
WGC, Bridgestone Invitational » Golf Channel WGC, Bridgestone Invitational » WUSA (Channel 9) Champions Tour,3MChampionship » Golf Channel
PGA Tour, Turning Stone Resort Championship » Golf Channel Legg Mason Classic » ESPN2 Mercury Insurance Open » ESPN2
AUTO RACING 1 p.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup, Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen » ESPN
Tigers to their third straight NCAA tournament appearance. Hewasselected to the all-Atlantic Coast Conference first team and set aClemsonmarkby starting all 134 games of his career. InJune, Booker was drafted by
Minnesota with the 23rd pickand became the first Tiger selected in the opening round since Sharone Wright in 1994. Booker was soon after traded toWashington.. . . Seimone Augustus scored 27
only from Comcast.
points, including the tiebreaking three-pointer with 26.9 seconds left in overtime to lead the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx to a 87- 82 victory over the Chicago Sky.
LindsayWhalen had 19 points,
seven assists and seven rebounds, Charde Houston added 17 points and Monica Wright added 11 to help the Lynx (9-16) rally from a 10-point deficit in the 4th quar- ter.
Jia Perkins led Chicago (12-16)
with 16 points and Sylvia Fowles had 14 points and 11 rebounds. DominiqueCanty added 13 points and Tamera Young scored 10. After Augustus’s go-ahead
three-pointer, Fowles made a layup to pull the Sky to 83-82 with 19.3 seconds to go.
AUTORACING Ayear ago,CarlEdwards start-
ed 33rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cuprace atWatkinsGlenInterna- tional and finished third. This time he’ll start at the front. Edwards turned a lap of
124.432 mph in 70.882 seconds to easily outdistance JamieMcMur- ray’s lap of 123.814 mph in 71.236 seconds. It was just the fifth pole in 215 starts for Edwards, his first on a road course in Cup competi- tion, and it was fast. Edwards was just a few ticks off Jeff Gordon’s 2003 track record of 124.58 mph in 70.7979 seconds. “Unbelievable! I can’t tell you
how much that helps our team,” Edwards said. “That’s a great lap. We’re just
enjoying the wave we’re riding,” CrewChief Bob Osborne said.. . . Marcos Ambrose has won the
Nationwide Zippo 200 atWatkins Glen International for the third straight time. Ambrose started on the pole
and dominated the race, leading the final half of the 82-lap race around the 11-turn, 2.45-mile lay- out, and beat Joey Logano by 2.8 seconds inWatkins Glen,N.Y. Kevin Harvick somehow
avoided a 10-car wreck and over- came a dustup on the first lap and a speeding penalty on pit road to finish third. Points leader Brad Keselowski was fourth, followed by Kyle Busch, who was seeking his fourth straight win.
TENNIS Talk about a one-two punch:
No. 1 Rafael Nadal and No. 2 NovakDjokovic are teamingupto play doubles together at next week’s tournament in Toronto. TheATP said it believes it’s the
first time themenholding the top two spots in the singles rankings have partnered for doubles at a tournament since No. 1 Jimmy
Connors and No. 2 Arthur Ashe did it in 1976.. . . Svetlana Kuznetsova beat
fifth-seeded Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the finals of the Mercury Insurance Open in Carlsbad, Calif. The unseeded Russian used
her powerful forehand to over- power Pennetta and win nine of the final 10 games. Kuznetsova will be matched
against the winner of the other semifinal between No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and unseeded Daniela Hantucho- va of Slovakia.
HOCKEY Red Wings General Manager
Ken Holland says Chris Chelios is going to work for the team. Holland said that Chelios’s
new job doesn’t have a title yet and his specific responsibilities haven’t been determined. The 48-year-old Chelios
played for the Atlanta Thrashers last season. The defenseman helped Detroit andMontreal win the Stanley Cup, won the Norris Trophy three times as the NHL’s top defenseman, and was an 11- time all-star.
—From news services
served him well—along with his knack for conjuring aces (11 in all) at critical junctures—against Malisse, 30, who from the outset of the 1 hour, 47 minute match showed signs of fatigue. It was Malisse’s fourth match in five days—three of them energy-sap- ping three-setters. As a result, the Belgian was
too eager to force the action, trying high-risks shots in an ef- fort to end points. The result was 34 unforced errors to Baghdatis’s 21.
“You have to hit one or two
extra shots to beat him,”Malisse said of Baghdatis. “I think I over- hit trying to beat him.” Baghdatis said he was fully
aware that Malisse was feeling the effects of his difficult road to the semifinals. He was equally aware of Malisse’s potent fore- hand and his penchant for teeing off on balls struck at sharp an- gles.
So Baghdatis focused on two
things: Hitting the ball in the middle of the court and keeping it in play as long as possible to wear the Belgian down. Malisse found new energy in
the second set, and fired a fore- hand crosscourt winner for a break point with Baghdatis serv- ing at 3-4. ThenMalisse struck a forehand just behind Baghdatis, who was sprinting to his left. When he tried reversing direc- tions, he twisted his ankle. Baghdatis crumpled to the
court and called for a trainer. Before help arrived, Malisse ran to an ice chest, filled a bag with ice and brought it over to halt the swelling as quickly as possible. Baghdatis said he would have
done the same. “I think it’s nice,” he added. “But it doesn’t happen every day.”
clarkel@washpost.com
Nalbandian, the Argentine shot- maker ranked as high as No. 3 in the world in 2006 before hip and hamstring injuries dropped him toNo. 161 inMarchagainst fourth- seeded Marin Cilic, the 6-foot-6, 21-year-old rising star from Croa- tia.
After a dreadful grass-court
season this summer, Baghdatis took another step on his come- back tour Saturday, knocking off Malisse in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) to reach his first final onU.S. soil. Baghdatis, Nalbandian and Malisse, who trains in Florida, all have experience in extreme heat and despite recent injuries, have lookednoworseforthewearinthe humid summer weather inWash- ington. “I’mfromCyprus, it’s like this,
I’m used to it,” Baghdatis said. “Maybewe’re guys that areusedto this heat and we like it, somaybe that’swhywe’replaying good.” Despite the loss, Malisse’s run
to the semifinals—which includ- ed a pair of upsets overNo. 5 seed John Isner and top-seeded Tomas Berdych—is expected to raise his singles ranking from62 to 51. “Youworkhard onfitness, and
maybe it’s coincidence that we’re all in the semis, but it’s just nice to see everybody coming back,” Ma- lisse said. “It’s tough to be on the sidelines andwatching everybody else play. That gets you going when you get back into it and you’re fit.” Like Malisse and Baghdatis,
Nalbandian has spent the week fielding questions about his fit- ness having played only 14match- es this year before coming to Washington. But the full-court coverage and creative angles that made him a top-ten fixture have resurfacedforthe28-year-oldwho won Masters Series titles in Paris and Madrid in 2007. Nalbandian stormed past Cilic and into the final with a 6-2, 6-2 victory Satur- day night. All three players hope their strongshowings inWashing- ton give them the confidence to make deep runs at the U.S. Open, whichbeginsAug. 30.
brooksm@wpost.com
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