Saturday, February 19, 2011

Roddick faces Raonic in Memphis final; Wozniacki into Dubai final

(CNN) -- Top seed Andy Roddick will take on Canadian rising star Milos Raonic in the 50th ATP Tour final of his career in Memphis on Sunday.

The American overcame 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro in Saturday's second semi, winning 6-3 6-4 to give himself a chance of winning his third title in the U.S. city and his 30th overall.

World No. 8 Roddick triumphed in an hour and 35 minutes against the Argentine, who played only three events last year due to his wrist problems.

Former world No. 4 Del Potro made two second-round exits in Australia before reaching the semifinals in San Jose last weekend.

The 20-year-old Raonic won that event for his breakthrough ATP title in just his seventh start on the circuit, and is now set to become the first player from his country to reach the top 40 in the men's rankings.

"It's amazing to be in two finals in a row. After you get the results, everything comes with it, like the rankings. But the thing I'm most proud of is my level," he told the ATP Tour website after beating American fourth seed Mardy Fish 6-4 4-6 6-3 in the opening semifinal.

The final will be a clash of big servers, with the 6ft 5in Raonic taking his tournament-leading tally to 97 aces as he beat the conqueror of defending champion Sam Querrey.

"He's got all the serves that anyone else that I've ever seen does. I wasn't familiar with his game at all; I hadn't seen him play live," Fish said.

"From the waist down he has the strongest legs of anyone I've seen. You can tell he still has some growing to do in his upper body, and it's a scary thought to think he's got ways to improve."

Roddick, playing in his first tournament since losing in the last 16 of the Australian Open in January, followed up Friday's hard-fought 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over fellow former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in Memphis in which he needed seven match-points.

Raonic's sixth-seeded compatriot Rebecca Marino will seek her first WTA title against Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in the Memphis women's final.

In France, Marin Cilic saved a match-point before reaching the final of the ATP Marseille Open with a 6-2 1-6 7-5 win over Russian third seed Mikhail Youzhny on Saturday.

The Croatian world No. 28 will play Swedish top seed Robin Soderling in Sunday's final, having been 5-3 down on his own serve in the deciding set when he escaped defeat.

World No. 4 Soderling beat Youzhny's 129th-ranked compatriot Dmitry Tursunov 7-5 6-1.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki celebrated her return to the women's world No. 1 ranking by reaching the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships with a 7-5 6-3 win over Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Dane will play two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in Sunday's final, after the Russian beat Italy's world No. 18 Flavia Pennetta 6-4 6-4 in the day's second match.

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