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Feburary 5, 2007
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MALISSE
FIGHTS BACK TO DOUBLE IN DELRAY
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Delray
Beach, FL (Febuary
5,
2007)—Xavier
Malisse fought back from a set down to beat James Blake 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 and
win his second Delray Beach singles title and his 200th career match. After a 30-minute rest, Malisse went out and won the doubles
title with Hugo Armando to become the first ATP player since 1996 to win the
singles and doubles titles in two tournaments.
Blake had won the
first set and the second set was on serve at 3-3 on Sunday when rain
postponed play until Monday morning.
While strong winds
swirled through the Delray Beach Stadium & Tennis Center Monday morning,
Malisse broke Blake’s serve immediately, which was all the Belgium needed to
take the second set.
In the third set,
Malisse broke Blake again to go up 2-1. In the fourth game, Blake got his
only break point of the set, but Malisse fought it off.
“If we would have
played yesterday, I probably would have lost,” said Malisse, who won his
second ATP title of the year after a season-opening Chennai victory. “The
wind slowed down his ball. The wind helped me a little bit today.”
Blake conceded that
the wind played a major role in the outcome. “Tough conditions, but the same for
both of us,” said the 27-year-old, who is 1-1 in finals on the year and ranked
No. 6 in the world.” Xavier just did better with it. Wind is the biggest
equalizer in tennis. He did a better job of adjusting. He deserved to win today
for sure."
The overnight delay was the second of the match, as it was initially stopped
by rain within eight minutes of Sunday’s 1:30 pm
start and the score tied at 1-1. After a delay of 57 minutes, play resumed.
With Blake leading 6-5 and Malisse serving, Blake forced a backhand error
from Malisse and broke Malisse’s serve to win the first set 7-5. Blake lost
only four points on his serve in the set.
Malisse broke right
back to start the second set and take an early 1-0 lead, but Blake broke him
again to even the set at 2-2. Then at 3 games all, the rains came again.
The Blake loss also
meant that a No. 1 seed has never won this tournament, and the American was
the fourth top seed to lose in the final here. Malisse, who was playing his
third straight and fifth Delray Beach final, became the third player to win
the tournament twice; Jan-Michael Gambill did it in 2001 and 2003 while
Jason Stoltenberg won in 1996 and 1997. Malisse’s 2005 win here was his
first career ATP title.
 “The court
is almost the perfect speed for me,” said Malisse in trying to explain his
uncanny success in Delray Beach where he has garnered 12 percent of his ATP
victories. “I feel like I can get to every ball here when I'm fit. Also, you
have that confidence because you've played a lot of times well here. There's
just a level of comfort and confidence for me at this tournament.”
It was also
ironic that Blake celebrated his 200th win on Thursday in a Delray Beach round robin match against Scoville
Jenkins, and Malisse was able to do the same on Monday at Blake’s expense.
It was Malisse’s second win over a top 10 player this year—in Chennai he
beat No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. His head-to-head record against
Blake improved to 1-2.
Malisse and Armando
beat Stephen Huss and James Auckland in the doubles final, 6-3, 6-7, 10-5
(Match Tiebreak). Yevgeny Kafelnikov was the last player to win two singles
and doubles titles in a season when he won at Prague and Roland Garros in
‘96.
ALL PHOTOS BY '07 Photo by Alese &
Mort Pecher
“It feels awesome,”
said Malisse. “I'm a little tired now. It's a good feeling. It doesn't get
much better than this to start the year.”
Ticket packages to the 2007 event are now on sale and can be
purchased by calling 561-330-6000. The Reserved Series
package for all tournament sessions is $250 while the
Weekender package—including the quarterfinals, semifinals
and finals—is $200. Box seat packages range from $980 for
two seats to $2,200 for four seats.
For more
information on the 15th annual tournament and its ancillary
events, visit www.YellowTennisBall.com. |
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