VI: ATP: Vienna + Rankings + Lyon: THIS WEEK!! + ...

[Wout's Report:]

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$ SECTION 6: THE ATP TOUR: THIS WEEK 4 &
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I'll be damned...YOU here? :)

Ok...let's get straight back to Vienna ok? Here are the semi's...

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16TH 1999:

VIENNA, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Greg Rusedski outclassed Swiss teenager Roger
Federer 6-3 6-3 on Saturday to set up a CA-Trophy final with Germany's
Nicolas Kiefer, who sent him crashing out of the Basle quarter-finals last
week.

After that match in Switzerland, British world number seven Rusedski
complained the 11th-ranked Kiefer employed ``distracting and unsportsmanlike
tactics'' to win.

``I will not make the same mistake as I did in Basle. I will not let him
distract or bother me,'' said Rusedski. ``I feel better here than I did in
Basle.

``If I get beaten it will not be because of any silly little games. I feel
fresh and ready to go.''

Rusedski, winner of the $1.3 million Grand Slam Cup two weeks ago, said
Kiefer's earlier 7-6 6-4 semifinal win over big-serving Dutchman Richard
Krajicek had been impressive....DAMN!!! :((( Richie had his chances, but Kiefer played a
good game...gotta admit that...

``That was one of the best matches I've seen this year. We will have a tough
match tomorrow,'' he said.

Kiefer fought off eight breakpoints as world number eight Krajicek's backhand
return of serve let him down throughout most of the 85 minutes match.

Krajicek missed six break points alone in the ninth game of the first set
which went into a tiebreak in which he missed yet another set point at 6-5.
Kiefer won the tiebreak 11-9.

Although Krajicek hammered down 15 aces to Kiefer's five and had an easier
time winning his service game, he missed another breakpoint in the fourth
game of the second set before dropping serve for 5-4.

Kiefer, who has won tournaments in Tokyo, Halle and Tashkent this year, used
the first of his three matchpoints to complete victory, taking him a step
closer to qualifying for his first ATP Tour world championships.

``It was one of my most difficult tiebreaks,'' said Kiefer. ``He was serving
so big that I couldn't make points easily. Then I broke him in the tiebreak
and that was the key of the match.''

Rusedski, who has reached two other finals this year in London and Boston,
lost the 1997 Vienna final to Goran Ivanisevic despite having won the first
two sets.

The Canadian-born Briton needed only two breaks -- in the fourth game of the
first set and then in the opening game of the second -- to beat wild card
entrant Federer.

``I'm pleased with the way I played although I did nothing spectacular. I
waited for him to make mistakes,'' said Rusedski. ``This was Federer's first
semifinal and he was nervous.''

Well here are the results:

ATP TOURNAMENT IN VIENNA (CARPET, 800.000 $)

SEMI-FINALS:
Nicolas Kiefer (GER/7) - 7 6
Richard Krajicek (NED/6) 6 4
Greg Rusedski (GBR/5) - 6 6
Roger Federer (SUI) 3 4

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17TH 1999:

VIENNA, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Greg Rusedski bounced back from two sets down and
saved one match-point to beat Germany's Nicolas Kiefer in a dramatic 6-7 2-6
6-3 7-5 6-4 and win his first ATP tournament of the year in the CA Trophy on
Sunday.

Rusedski, the first Briton to win this indoor tournament, had been a losing
finalist here in 1997 to Goran Ivanisevic after being two sets up.

``I told myself that if Ivanisevic can do it to me then I can do it to
someone else,'' said Rusedski, who is expected to move up one place to sixth
in the world rankings.

Last week in Basle, Rusedski complained Kiefer had employed ``distracting and
unsportsmanlike tactics'' to oust him from the quarter-finals.

``He behaved really well today,'' Rusedski, winner of the $1.3 million Grand
Slam Cup two weeks ago, said.

``But sometimes you have to play a bit ugly against him to get the win
because he is a very talented player.

``In the second set I was more mentally than physically exhausted. There I
was dominating in all areas but just not getting the break.''

Kiefer, who beat world number two Yevgeny Kafelnikov and number eight Richard
Krajicek en route to his fifth final in 1999, said:

``I had my chances but I didn't take them. In general, the disappointment is
not that great as I beat two top players this week.''

Kiefer fought off six break-points to take the opening set to a tie-break,
which he won 7-5, and achieved two breaks of his own in the second to go two
sets up.

``I wasn't happy with some of the calls in the first set and I let it bother
me in the second,'' Rusedski said. ``But in the third I told myself to forget
it and stay focused.''

In the third set, a double fault by Kiefer allowed Rusedski to convert his
13th break-point for a 3-1 lead and go on to take the set.

Kiefer made several errors, including two double faults in the fourth game,
to hand Kiefer a 3-1 lead.

At 5-4 down, Rusedski fought off a match-point as Kiefer netted after a
thundering second serve by the Briton. Rusedski fired an ace and took the
game to make it 5-5 before breaking the German's service to go 6-5 in front.

Kiefer looked wobbly at the net. He lost the next game and the set and then
dropped his service at the start of the fifth set.

Rusedski, who served more consistently than Kiefer and looked the fresher at
the end of a match lasting three hours and 41 minutes, broke again for 5-2.

Although the German managed to break back, Rusedski was not to be denied. The
26-year-old Briton committed a double fault on his first match-point but then
hammered down his 31st ace of the match to secure victory in Vienna's
Stadthalle.

Kiefer, who knocked off top seed Yevgeny Kafelnikov earlier in the week, held
off six break points to win the first set. He cruised through the second set
and had match point with a 5-4 lead in the third.

But Rusedski won that point and held serve, going on to take the third set.
That swing of momentum proved to be the difference, with Rusedski recording
his 28th ace to win the match in three hours and 40 minutes.

Two weeks ago, Rusedski collected his first title of the year with a four-set
victory over German Tommy Haas in the final of the Grand Slam Cup. Today's
final was his fourth of the year.

Rusedski reached the final here in 1997 and ironically, he lost to Goran
Ivanisevic after winning the first two sets.

Kiefer, a first-round loser here last year in his only other appearance at
this event, was denied his fourth title of 1999. He ousted Kafelnikov in the
quarterfinals, a win that clinched him a spot in the top 10 when next week's
rankings come out.

Well and the FINAL result:

ATP TOURNAMENT IN VIENNA (CARPET, 800.000 $)

THE FINAL:
Greg Rusedski (GBR/5) - 6 2 6 7 6
Nicolas Kiefer (GER/7) 7 6 3 5 4

Well if you want to know all about the doubles and other info, just check out the
Official Homepage of this fine tourney: http://www.creditanstalt.co.at/ca-trophy/

************************* THE LATEST ATP RANKINGS ************************************

Well and here are the LATEST ATP Rankings:

1999 ATP Tour top 100 ranked singles players
(Through Sunday, October 17)

1. Andre Agassi, United States, 4,339 points
2. Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia, 3,842
3. Pete Sampras, United States, 3,209
4. Todd Martin, United States, 2,812
5. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 2,497
6. Greg Rusedski, Great Britain, 2,409
7. Marcelo Rios, Chile, 2,369
8. Nicolas Kiefer, Germany, 2,322
9. Richard Krajicek, Netherlands, 2,313
10. Alex Corretja, Spain, 2,137

10. Tim Henman, Great Britain, 2,137
12. Tommy Haas, Germany, 2,069
13. Patrick Rafter, Australia, 1,875
14. Nicolas Lapentti, Ecuador, 1,866
15. Carlos Moya, Spain, 1,765
16. Thomas Enqvist, Sweden, 1,762
17. Cedric Pioline, France, 1,730
18. Karol Kucera, Slovakia, 1,653
19. Magnus Norman, Sweden, 1,621
20. Felix Mantilla, Spain, 1,536

21. Mark Philippoussis, Australia, 1,518
22. Vincent Spadea, United States, 1,502
23. Dominik Hrbaty, Slovakia, 1,490
24. Albert Costa, Spain, 1,482
25. Thomas Johansson, Sweden, 1,313
26. Sebastien Grosjean, France, 1,290
27. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 1,259
28. Fernando Meligeni, Brazil, 1,247
29. Mariano Zabaleta, Argentina, 1,241
30. Younes El Aynaoui, Morocco, 1,237

************************* ATP TOURNAMENT IN LYON ************************************

Well and after those Rankings it's now time to check out THIS week's ATP tourneys..well
I have one for you...Lyon...here's the first Round draw:

Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon
Location: Lyon; Starting Date: 10/18/1999; Prize Money: $725,000.00

1 Kafelnikov, Yevgeny RUS
BYE

Q Qualifier
Knippschild, Jens GER

Q Qualifier
Larsson, Magnus SWE

BYE
16 WC Rosset, Marc SUI

9 Philippoussis, Mark AUS
BYE

DiPasquale, Arnaud FRA
Courier, Jim USA

WC Raoux, Guillaume FRA
Schalken, Sjeng NED

BYE
8 Spadea, Vincent USA

4 Corretja, Alex ESP
BYE

Woodruff, Chris, USA
Clement, Arnaud FRA

Vacek, Daniel CZE
Federer, Roger SUI

BYE
13 Hewitt, Lleyton AUS

11 Zabaleta, Mariano ARG
BYE

Ivanisevic, Goran CRO
Pozzi, Gianluca ITA

Koubek, Stefan AUT
Tillstrom, Mikael SWE

BYE
6 Haas, Tommy GER

6 Lapentti, Nicolas ECU
BYE

Siemerink, Jan NED
Arazi, Hicham MAR

Jan-Michael Gambill USA
Kroslak, Jan SVK

BYE
12 Grosjean, Sebastien FRA

14 Medvedev, Andrei UKR
BYE

Ferreira, Wayne RSA
Q Qualifier

Vicente, Fernando ESP
Prinosil, David GER

BYE
3 Kuerten, Gustavo BRA

7 Pioline, Cedric FRA
BYE

WC Escude, Nicolas FRA
Bjorkman, Jonas SWE

Q Qualifier
Tarango, Jeff USA

BYE
10 Costa, Albert ESP

15 Safin, Marat RUS
BYE

Santoro, Fabrice FRA
Schuttler, Rainer GER

Canas, Guillermo ARG
Gustafsson, Magnus SWE

BYE
2 Martin, Todd USA

And now...an introduction....

LYON, France (Ticker) -- A pair of former champions are in action today at
the $750,000 Grand Prix of Tennis as Fabrice Santoro of France faces Rainer
Schuttler of Germany and Wayne Ferreira of South Africa takes on French
qualifier Jerome Hanquez.

Santoro won his first of two titles in France two years ago when he defeated
Tommy Haas of Germany in the final here. He picked up his second career
title at the Marseille Open in February.

Bringing a 33-21 record into today's match, Santoro is coming off a
first-round loss at the Swiss Indoors in Basel two weeks ago. He has reached
the quarterfinals at two of his last four events.

Ferreira, the 1995 champion, is playing his first event since the U.S. Open
in August, when he fell to Richard Fromberg in five sets.

In addition, Arnaud Di Pasquale of France plays American Jim Courier, a 1994
finalist; Chris Woodruff of the United States faces Arnaud Clement of France;
and American qualifier Richey Reneberg meets Jens Knippschild of Germany.

Also, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia squares off against Italy's Gianluca Pozzi,
the oldest player in the field at 34; Ramon Delgado of Paraguay battles
Sweden's Magnus Larsson; and Nicolas Escude of France encounters Jonas
Bjorkman of Sweden.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the 1996 winner, is the top seed. Kafelnikov has reached
consecutive quarterfinals at Basel and the CA Trophy in Vienna but has not
won three straight matches since advancing to the semifinals of the U.S.
Open.

If the Russian wants to keep his slim hopes alive of catching No. 1 Andre
Agassi, a two-time Grand Slam champion in 1999, and finishing the season as
the top-ranked player, he will need to accumulate some points. This week is
a perfect opportunity for Kafelnikov, who lost in the second round at the
Czech Indoors event last week. Agassi won that event but will lose those
points as he is not playing this week.

Kafelnikov will face the winner of the Renberg-Knippschild match in the
second round either Tuesday or Wednesday. All 16 seeds received first-round
byes.

Second seed Todd Martin of the United States played in his first tournament
since losing the U.S. Open final to Agassi last week and fell to Jiri Novak
in the first round in Vienna. His second-round foe will be decided on
Tuesday, when Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden plays Guillermo Canas of Argentina.

No. 3 Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil will try to snap a three-match losing streak
when he takes on the winner of Tuesday's match between David Prinosil of
Germany and Fernando Vicente of Spain.

Alex Corretja of Spain, the fourth seed, hopes to defend his title and win
his first tournament of the year this week. Corretja has not won a tournament
since capturing last year's season-ending ATP Tour World Championship. That
victory was Corretja's biggest to date, and he credited winning his first
indoor event here with giving him the confidence that he could do well in
Hannover, Germany.

Corretja has won eight of his last 11 matches, reaching the final at the
Mallorca Open and quarterfinals at the Romanian Open and the International
Championship of Sicily.

Haas, the runner-up here the last two seasons, is seeded fifth, followed by
Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador, Cedric Pioline of France, Vincent Spadea of the
United States, Mark Philippoussis of Australia, Albert Costa of Spain and
Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina.

Sebastien Grosjean of France, Lleyton Hewitt of Australia, French Open
finalist Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, Russian Marat Safin and two-time
champion Marc Rosset of Switzerland fill out the remaining 16 seeds.

First prize is $101,500.

And let's get to the action now...today's matches..

MONDAY, OCTOBER 18TH 1999:

LYON, France (AP) - Jim Courier continued his quest for his first title in 18
months with a hard-fought three-set victory over Arnaud Di Pasquale of France
on Monday in the opening round of the $725,000 Lyon Grand Prix.

Courier, who last won a tournament in April 1998, labored to dispose of Di
Pasquale 2-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 in their first meeting.

Courier, who lost in the finals here in 1994 to Switzerland's Marc Rosset,
will play Australia's Mark Philippoussis in the second round.

In other first-round matches, American Chris Woodruff, seeking his second
title of the season, beat Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 6-2; Goran Ivanisevic
of Croatia beat Gianluca Pozzi of Italy, at 34 the oldest player in the
field, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; American qualifier Richey Reneberg advanced when Jens
Knippschild of Germany retired with lower back pains after losing the opening
set 6-3; 1995 champion Wayne Ferreira beat French qualifier Jerome Hanquez
6-4, 6-3; and 1997 champion Fabrice Santoro of France lost 6-1, 6-1 to Rainer
Schuttler of Germany.

Goran Ivanisevic made the second round in Lyon with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over
Gianluca Pozzi.

The Croat, making his debut in Lyon, found it hard find his rhythm against
the veteran Italian. "It's always tough to play your first match, especially
in a place you've never played before," said Ivanisevic. "I didn't play my
best tennis but it was good enough today."

Ivanisevic now meets 11th seed Mariano Zabaleta who had a bye into the second round.

Wayne Ferreira returned from a break away from the game to defeat Jerome
Hanquez 6-4, 6-3. The South African has been spending time with his wife and
newborn son. Ferriera won the Lyon trophy in 1994.

Another past champion fell at the first hurdle. Fabrice Santoro, the 1997
winner, was defeated 6-1, 6-1 by Rainer Schuttler. Santoro received treatment
on his lower back after the first set but played down any talk of an injury.
He is keen to contest the doubles here and maintain his challenge to qualify
for the Doubles World Championship in Hartford, Connecticut, with his
countryman Olivier Delaitre.

Jens Knippschild's back injury was serious enough for him to retire in his
match against Richey Reneberg. The German lost the first set 3-6 before
forfeiting the match.

In other matches, Chris Woodruff defeated home player Arnaud Clement 6-4,
6-2, and Magnus Larsson ended Ramon Delgado's challenge, defeating the
Paraguayan 6-3, 6-3.

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$ SECTION 7: THE WTA TOUR: LAST WEEK &
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Right..well that ends the Men's action for now...let's check out you need to know about
the Women's action OK? Just flip the page,

Wout.. ---------->>>>>>>