Schalken flies into Japan Open final
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Your support makes all the difference.A day after frustrating Australian Mark Philippoussis, 12th-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands outlasted eighth seed Hicham Arazi of Morocco 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in nail-biting semifinal action at Japan Open in Tokyo today.
A day after frustrating Australian Mark Philippoussis, 12th-seeded Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands outlasted eighth seed Hicham Arazi of Morocco 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in nail-biting semifinal action at Japan Open in Tokyo today.
The resilient Dutchman, best known for a five-hour losing battle with Philippoussis at Wimbledon earliest this year, will have to down another higher-ranked player to win his first-ever singles title at Ariake Colosseum.
He plays fourth-seeded Nicholas Lapentti, who made full use of his arsenal of shots in today's other semifinal to get by seventh seed Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia 6-3, 6-4.
There were no surprises in the women's singles competition, where top seed Julie Halard-Decugis of France overcame Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 to set up a showdown with defending American champion Amy Frazier.
Schalken, a 24-year-old native of Weert ranked 51st in the world, earned a shot at his fifth career title by coming out on top of a match that both players deserved to win.
"It could have fallen his way or my way," he admitted afterward.
It began with as a series of long exchanges from the baseline as neither Schalken nor Arazi seemed inclined to take risks.
"I was defending and he was defending," the Dutchman said.
Things finally opened up in the ninth game, when the 41st-ranked Arazi earned a double break point by moving up behind a forehand that took his opponent deep into the corner, then flicking a backhand volley for a winner.
After the 26-year-old Moroccan won the first set, both players started taking more chances at the net.
But the tactic backfired for Arazi in the fourth game of the second set, when he buried a volley in the net and was broken by Schalken.
The Dutchman went on to win the set and seemed to be ready to put away the third set as well after his increasingly accurate sniping broke Arazi's serve in the ninth game.
Encouraged by the crowd, however, Arazi battled back in the next two games, going up 6-5 and forcing his opponent to save two match points in the 12th game.
But Schalken's more consistent play won him the tiebreaker and the match, a contrast underscored as his opponent's final shot landed out.
He'll need that consistency against Lapentti, who has beaten him in three of their four encounters.
Ranked 16th in the world, the 24-year-old Ecuadorian showed an impressive ability to mix up his game in his win over Hrbaty.
Complementing a big serve with plenty of finesse, he set up his second match point with a backhand slice that dropped just over the net.
Hrbaty seemed to have used up all his luck Friday, when he got by tournament favorite Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in the quarterfinals.
The 22-year-old from Slovakia, ranked 33rd in the world, could only shake his head after an unlikely-looking lob fell in to allow Lapentti to hold serve in the second game of the second set.
In the women's semi, Halard-Decugis's straight-set win over Tanasugarn was doubly significant for the 19th-ranked Frenchwoman.
It earned her a second trip to a tournament final in less than a month and came against an opponent who upset her earlier this year in a quarterfinal match in Birmingham - an event she had won the previous year.
Halard-Decugis and American partner Corina Morariu defeated Slovenia's Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik 6-1, 6-2 to win the women's doubles crown.
Results from the $970,000 Japan Open at Ariake Colosseum (seedings in parenthesis):
Men
Singles Semifinals
Nicolas Lapentti (4), Ecuador, def. Dominik Hrbaty (7), Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4.
Sjeng Schalken (12), Netherlands, def. Hicham Arazi (8), Morocco, def. 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7).
Doubles Semifinals
Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, India, def. Nicolas Massu, Chile, and Andre Sa, Brazil, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Michael Hill, United States, and Jeff Tarango, United States (5), def. Wayne Arthurs, Australia, and Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia (1), 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
---
Women
Singles Semifinal
Julie Halard-Decugis (1), France, def. Tamarine Tanasugarn (5), Thailand, 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.
Doubles Final
Julie Halard-Decugis, France, and Corina Morariu, United States (1), def. Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik, Slovenia (3), 6-1, 6-2.
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