Players gear up for Sunday’s finals

Ben Azar, Bruin Sports senior staff
Published: Sunday, July 30, 2006

It may not have been the final that everyone had anticipated, but if Saturday’s matches were any indication, it should still make for some pretty good tennis.

German Tommy Haas, the tournament’s sixth seed, will meet the eight-seeded Russian Dmitry Tursunov in Sunday’s final.

Haas, currently ranked 21st in the world, breezed by Slovak Dominik Hrbaty in the afternoon semifinal match 6-2, 7-5 in a matchup of two veteran players. Haas dominated Hrbaty by mixing a strong service game with great touch shots to advance to the final.

He will be shooting for his third ATP title of the year on Sunday.

“I’m pretty pleased with the way I played today,” Haas said after Saturday’s match. “(I was) really using my chances, being aggressive, and playing some good defense as well.

Haas had lost the previous three matchups with Hrbaty and was pleased to exact some revenge on Saturday.

“I said to him right after the match, ‘Finally I got you again.’ So it’s all good,” Haas said.

In the nightcap matchup of two colorful personalities, 23-year-old Russian Dmitry Tursunov scored an upset over Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Gonzalez, seeded third in the tournament, was completely taken out of his game by the young Russian, who played one of the best matches of his young career.

Gonzalez, who defeated Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals on Friday, had trouble keeping his composure throughout the match, frequently kicking balls and throwing his racquet. He received a warning late in the second set after snapping his racquet in half on the hard court surface.

The Countrywide Classic marks the first time that Tursunov has reached an ATP Final.

Haas, who has won nine ATP tournaments in his career, already defeated Tursunov once this season by a score of 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 6-4 at the quarterfinals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships back in February. Haas won the Countrywide Classic, then called the Mercedes-Benz Cup, 2004.

“(Tursunov) works hard, he’s improved a lot in the last year, he’s a dangerous player,” Haas said about his counterpart in Sunday’s final, which will be played at 2 p.m.

In the doubles draw, Mike and Bob Bryan advanced to the Countrywide final once again, defeating Paul Capdeville and Gonzalez 7-6, 6-2.

The Bryans will be shooting for their third title in Los Angeles against Great Britain’s Eric Butorac and Jaime Murray after the singles final on Sunday evening.