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Entry system ranking: 143 (282 points (-1)) Champions Race: 126 (7 points)(-3) Current tournament: Place: Monte Carlo, Monaco Next tournament:
Place: Munich, Germany
Date: April 29 - May 5, 2002 Draw Size: 32 Surface: Clay Prize Money: US $381,000 Stadium Court Seating: 3,800 Tournament Director: Rudi Berger Website: www.iphitos.de
Thanks Ivanna for the photo! (Norman in Bueno Aires)
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Clavet caps week of upsets with Scottsdale titleSCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Francisco Clavet claimed one final conquest. The 32-year-old Spaniard defeated a weary third-seeded Magnus Norman 6-4, 6-2 Sunday to win the Franklin Templeton Classic, his first hardcourt title in 13 years of professional tennis. "This is the happiest day in my tennis life," Clavet told the crowd afterward. "I will keep these people and this tournament in my heart all my life." Playing steady and waiting for his opponents to make mistakes, Clavet began his week with an upset of No. 2 Andre Agassi, then beat defending champion Lleyton Hewitt, the No. 4, seed on Saturday to advance to the finals. "It's been amazing," said Clavet, who has seven clay court titles. "To beat three players in the top 10 is like a dream to me." Clavet is the 18th different winner - and the oldest - in 19 ATP tournaments this season. The $54,000 winner's purse was the second-biggest of Clavet's career. Norman had just 21/2 hours to rest for the finals after defeating Harel Levy of Israel in a rain-delayed 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) semifinal match Sunday morning. "It's difficult. I haven't played two singles matches in a day since I probably was 14 years old," Norman said. Clavet's style is to play the baseline most of the time, returning shot after shot, no matter how difficult, to wear down an opponent. The style was especially effective against an opponent who already had played a tough match just a few hours earlier. "I think I'm more mentally tired than physically," Norman said. "He drives you crazy. You have to hit two or three winners to make a point." The Norman-Levy match, scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Sunday morning. A few hundred fans bundled in heavy coats, gloves and mufflers were on hand for the extremely chilly semi on Sunday. The temperatures warmed for the finals, and the crowd was much larger. Norman, though, was drained. Clavet, 40th in the latest 52-week world rankings, had just 10 unforced errors in the finals. His 24-year-old Swedish opponent, ranked fifth in the world, had 35. "I was a little bit surprised he made so few errors," Norman said. "He really made me work." The finals were similar to Clavet's semifinal victory over Hewitt, who had 39 unforced errors against the Spaniard. Clavet and Norman each broke serve twice in the opening set before Clavet finally held to go up 5-4. Clavet broke serve again to win the set when Norman hit a forehand into the net. "I knew he was tired because of the morning match," Clavet said. "I tried to keep it in play and move him from one side to the other. I think that's why he made a lot of mistakes. At the beginning, he was playing really good, but when I broke back, he went down a little bit and started to feel tired." Clavet was more dominating as Norman wilted in the second set. Clavet slammed a passing shot for the game-winner to break serve and go up 4-2, held his serve to make it 5-2, then won on his fourth match point. Levy gave Norman a tough fight, forcing two tiebreakers. The victorious Swede needed seven match points before he finally defeated his 22-year-old opponent. "I'm not satisfied, but it was a good week," Levy said. "I had my chances but I didn't take them."
Norman wins chilly semifinal match on Sunday morningSCOTTSDALE, Arizona (AP) -- On a chilly morning, Magnus Norman held off Harel Levy of Israel 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) Sunday in the rain-delayed semifinals of the Franklin Templeton Classic. Norman would have little time to savor his victory. The third-seeded Swede advanced to face unseeded Francisco Clavet of Spain in the championship match later Sunday. Clavet upset defending champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, seeded fourth, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday. The Norman-Levy match, scheduled for Saturday night, was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Sunday morning. A few hundred fans bundled in heavy coats, gloves and mufflers were on hand. "It was very cold, very difficult to play - 9:30 is very early in the morning to play," Norman said. "I haven't played this early since I was 14 years old, so it was very tough to go out there." Levy gave Norman a tough fight. The victorious Swede needed seven match points before he finally defeated his 22-year-old opponent. Norman also had a few memorable battles with the umpire. He was especially upset with a pair of let serve calls made by a machine that detects when the ball grazes the net. "Take away this machine!" he hollered at one point. "Put a human being there." Levy battled back from 0-40 to win five consecutive points, holding serve and squaring the second set at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Norman had three more match points before he finally won 10-8. Levy never quite made it to a set point. In the first set, Levy broke Norman's serve to tie it 5-5, then both players held serve to force the tiebreaker. "I feel like I'm strong in the tiebreaker right now so I wasn't too worried anyway," Norman said. Levy was pleased to make the semifinals but felt he could have done better, especially since Norman was struggling Sunday. "I'm not satisfied, but it was a good week," Levy said. "I had my chances but I didn't take them." Source: CNN Tennis |
