March 24, 2008

(Sunrise, FL) – Rain interrupted play on Saturday and Sunday at the BMW Tennis Championship – causing the final to be shifted for the first time to Monday. But a good number of die-hard fans stayed to see some awesome tennis action between the downpours. By the end of Sunday all semi-finals had been completed. The score in the singles final was 5-4, with Robin Haase in front serving at 15-40, when ATP officials stopped play and eventually cancelled play for the day.

SEMI-FINAL: SEBASTIEN GROSJEAN (FRA) vs JURGEN MELZER (AUT)

No.6 seed Sebastien Grosjean took on lefty Austrian Jurgen Melzer inSaturday’s first semi-final match. \Formerly ranked in the 20s, Melzer is now at 85 due to some injury problems last year. He beat Marat Safin in the first round of Indian Wells this year, then lost to No. 11 Andy Murray. Grosjean, currently ranked 52, lost in the first round of the Pacific Life Open to Robin Soderling. Both players are entered at Key Biscayne this week. The two have played only once in 2000, a match which Grosjean won in three tough sets. Grosjean had defeated Peter Luczak, Kei Nishikori and No. 3 Potito Starace on the way to the BMWTC semis. Melzer had taken out No. 2 Jarkko Nieminen, qualifier Yen-Hsun Lu, and Ivo Minar.

Grosjean’s game plan was clear from the start – pick on Jurgen Melzer’s weaker backhand side, and be ready to go mano-a-mano at the net with the Austrian when he goes for those devilish droppers. The strategy worked well in the first few games, but Melzer broke Grosjean’s serve to go up 3-2, hanging tight to the baseline and cracking winner returns off both wings.

Dark clouds loomed overhead, and the stadium lights slowly faded on, as Melzer served again at 4-3. A great drop shot followed by two strong serves put Melzer in the driver’s seat, but Grosjean answered by ripping a couple of short balls for winners, and the game eventually went to deuce. On his third game point, Grojean broke back - but shortly after the next game started, the sky opened up and officials eventually called play for the day.

Sunday morning, both semis were played concurrently, on stadium court and court 9. In the Grosjean/Melzer match, Grosjean took the first set 6-4.

The second set wasn’t nearly as close. Grosjean broke serve in the sixth game, his forehand doing much of the damage. Serving at 2-5, Melzer fought hard, the game going to five deuces, with Melzer looking at three game points before the Frenchman closed it out. The final score was 6-4, 6-2.

SEMI-FINAL: ROBIN HAASE (NED) vs CHRIS GUCCIONE (AUS)

Sunday’s other semi-final pitted 20-year-old Robin Haase of The Netherlands against Australian serve-volleyer Chris Guccione. The two have never played before. Neither had an easy road to the semis. Haase beat wild card Dominik Hrbaty first round, No. 4 Andreas Seppi and No. 5 Tipsarevic along the way; Guccione had defeated No. 7 Marc Gicquel, Rainer Schuettler; and No. 1 Fernando Gonzalez in the quarters.

Coming off one of the biggest wins of his career, Sunday’s semi-final might have been something of a let down for No. 82-ranked Guccione. He only served 9 aces in this match, compared to 20 in his quarter final run against world number 12 Gonzalez. Also a fairly big server, Haase, currently ranked 70, had six aces in this match. Both had high first-serve percentages, with Guccione at 75% and Haase a whopping 80%.

High risk tennis contrasted by high percentage play was the by-line of this semi. Haase tallied nineteen winners to five for Guccione. Unforced errors totaled 36 for Guccione, and 31 for Haase. Guccione came to the net almost one hundred percent of the time on his own serve. But although Guccione is a fearless net-rusher, he only put away four volleys, three in the first set. This tells the story of how his game went. Three break points were exchanged in the match, all going against Guccione. Haase converted at game nine of the first set with Guccione netting yet another volley.

The final break point won by Haase came in game four of set two with a down-the-line winner. Serving at 3-5, Guccione missed a return, then a volley, to offer Haase a break point at 30-40. But Haase hit one into the net, bringing the score to deuce. The tall, lefty Aussie won the advantage, then the game – ending with an ace. Owning one break of serve, Haase closed out the match at love, punctuating the win with a final service winner.

Final score: 6-4, 6-4.

FINAL: ROBIN HAASE (NED) vs SEBASTIEN GROSJEAN (FRA)

THE SINGLES FINAL WILL BE COMPLETED MONDAY AT 11AM; DOUBLES FINAL WILL BE PLAYED AT 10 AM ON COURT NINE. ADMISSION IS FREE.