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to see a slideshow of photos from the past few days at the 2006
Countrywide Classic.
In a field full of favorites, it was an unexpected final. Tommy
Haas versus Dmitry Tursunov? No Agassi? No Roddick? In the end, it
didn’t matter.
In one of the better matches of the tournament, Haas defeated
Tursunov 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the final round of the Countrywide
Classic. It was the second victory in Los Angeles for Haas, who won
here in 2004 as well.
“It’s always an awesome feeling to hold up a
trophy,” Haas said. “It’s the third time this
year. I’m really pleased to have (done it).”
Haas also won this year at Memphis and Delray Beach.
The German went down in the first set of Sunday’s victory
to the hard-serving Tursunov, and it appeared it would be all
Tursunov in the final. Despite the five years he has on the 23-year
old Tursunov, it looked as if the eighth-seeded Tursunov was the
cagey veteran. Haas, the No. 6 seed, had three double faults in the
first set, two in the decisive third game when Tursunov broke
Haas’ serve.
But Haas was able to master himself late in the second set after
letting out a few indecipherable shouts of rage. In the final game
of the second set before tiebreakers would come into effect, Haas
was able to break Tursunov’s serve and take the game.
“I felt like I was serving well to keep myself in the
match,” Haas said. “I played some good tennis there in
the second set. I was just trying to win a few rallies and maybe
get a few more balls back to him. And then I got a lucky
break.”
That set appeared to demoralize Tursunov and invigorate Haas. In
Tursunov’s first service of the third set, Haas broke him and
had the upper hand the rest of the way, going to break points in
nearly every one of Tursunov’s service games.
“I just stood a little closer to the baseline,” Haas
said. “I tried to read it earlier and put the ball back deep.
I tried to be more aggressive when I (had) the chance. Put more
pressure on him. I tried to push him back and he started to make a
few unforced errors.”
Although the play was suitable for a final, the players were not
the expected ones. The big names took disappointingly early exits.
Andy Roddick was sidelined after straining his side in his match
against Scott Oudsema in the second round, Lleyton Hewitt was
defeated in the first round by Paul Goldstein, and Andre Agassi was
eliminated by Fernando Gonzalez in the third round.
The final four was devoid of Americans, despite their good play
of late. Though there were 10 Americans in the main singles draw
and four in the round of eight, none advanced to Saturday.
Agassi came closest with a hard-fought match against Fernando
Gonzalez but proved unable to work a last little bit of magic. In
the third set of his last match against Gonzalez, Agassi was able
to battle back from triple match point and appeared to be destined
for victory, but in the end could not stave off Gonzalez’s
powerful forehands. It was an unfitting final goodbye for the man
who won this tournament just last year.
But for both Haas and Tursunov, the final matchup was anything
but a disappointment. Although he would have liked to win, the
final was a first for Tursunov, who has rocketed up the ATP
rankings this year, going from 60th at the beginning of the year to
32nd entering the tournament.
“(I’ve been) getting lucky non-stop,” Tursunov
said. “Tommy was serving great. He was cruising in his serve
in the second and third set.
“I think it’s a missed opportunity, but at the same
time I’m not going to quit because of it.”
Tursunov had a relatively easy route to the final, beating Danai
Udomchoke and Sam Querry before receiving a walkover against
Roddick. He beat Gonzalez in two sets before facing Haas.
BRYANS WIN: The fraternal duo of Mike and Bob
Bryan pulled off their third doubles title in the last six years of
the Countrywide Classic by defeating Eric Butorac and Jamie Murray
of England 6-2, 6-4. The Bryan brothers dominated throughout the
tournament, defeating every opponent in straight sets, and only
going to tiebreakers once, against Chileans Gonzalez and Paul
Capdeville.