Houston, LA Taking Form

Surging Safin, Molik tear up Madrid, Zurich
Sharapova, Agassi make progress

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Siggi Bucher

Marat Safin almost locked up a spot in the ATP Tennis Masters Cup.

Two extremely talented players who often let their fragile heads get the better of them won two big titles Sunday, when a suddenly focused Marat Safin took out the surging David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in Madrid, and Alicia Molik became the first Australian woman to win a Tier I by stunning the red hot Maria Sharapova a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in Zurich.

It was the giant Russian’s fourth career ATP Masters Series title and first since 2002. By winning the crown, Safin pretty much sewed up a spot in the Tennis Masters Cup Houston, as he overtook Tim Henman for sixth place in the ATP Race and only trails No. 5 Carlos Moya by 15 points.

"I’m really happy the way I’m performing," said Safin, who had a less than sparkling summer and had disappointed his home country fans in Moscow the week prior. "I didn’t really expect that I can play such great tennis in such short time. All of a sudden it’s turned out this way."

It was a fine tournament for the volcanic all-courter, who defeated Feliciano Lopez, Stefan Koubek, Luis Horna, Andre Agassi and Nalbandian. "The way I’m playing, I think I can achieve a little more and I can get a little closer, get to the Masters, get higher in the ranking. That’s what I’m looking for," Safin said.

It was also a good week for Nalbandian, who has been troubled by injuries all year long, but after regaining his health the past six weeks, has had a solid fall. Agassi now stands at No. 8 in the race, just a few points ahead of Gaston Gaudio. He’ll almost have to play TMS Paris to insure himself a reasonable shot at the year-end event. After not playing since the US Open, the 34-year-old had to be pleased with a visit to the semis. Safin has just a little too much firepower for him. "He has a really big game," Agassi said. "His game, when everything’s firing on all cylinders, it’s as good as anybody. He can serve big. He returns really well from both sides. Moves well. He can make it look very easy."

Alicia Molik (right) defeated Maria Sharapova, who is nursing a bad pitching arm.	WTA Tour
Siggi Bucher

Molik Munches Sore-Shouldered Maria
As good as she was all summer, the all-courter Molik had done little since winning the bronze in Athens. By sporting a huge serve, solid volleys and powerful if not sporadic groundstrokes, she found her form in Switzerland, defeating four Top 20 players in one tournament for the first time. The Aussie took down No. 21 Silvia Farina Elia, No. 12 Vera Zvonareva, No. 13 Nadia Petrova, No. 15 Patty Schnyder and then No. 7-ranked Sharapova, who had never lost a final in six previous visits.

The Russian also entered the match carrying a 12-match winning streak that included title victories in Seoul and Tokyo. The 17-year-old Sharapova showed her love of the thin indoor air most of the weeks, scoring huge psychological victories over elders Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva. But Molik adeptly mixed up her pace and hung in points. And before the start of the third set, Sharapova called for trainer for treatment of a right shoulder strain, which hampered her serve and is sure to take her out of action next week.

"The shoulder was a little sore during the match and I'm sad that I wasn't able to give 100 percent, but I'm not here to make excuses," Sharapova said. "Full credit to Alicia for having a great week. This isn't a serious injury. I'm going to take a few days to rest the shoulder and prepare for the rest of the season."

The victory for was her third of Molik’s career. "It's a great feeling to win a Tier I title," said Molik, who will move into the Top 15 for the first time of her career. "I've won some smaller tournaments and I've been working really hard in the past year. … I’m proud of the fact that I stuck to my game plan. I kept going for my shots and serves and I was meeting Maria shot for shot from the baseline."

Sharapova’s decision to play lower Tier tournaments in Asia prior to Zurich were certainly questionable, but her wins there appeared to do a fair amount for her confidence. Her victory over No. 4 Dementieva in the Zurich semis was her first Top 10 victory since Wimbledon. Her success in Zurich essentially guaranteed her a spot in season-ending WTA Tour Championships, as she leap-frogged Serena Williams for the No. 6 spot.

Here's a fair-sized but pleasant surprise: Serena decided to enter Linz this week in order to sew up a spot in the Championships, instead of having to put all her chips on the table in Philly next week. If she wins two matches, she’s a lock to waltz into LA. … Unless Zvonareva pulls off a miracle the next two weeks, Venus and Jennifer Capriati will play off for the last spot in Philly. Venus is just a couple of points ahead of the inactive Jen. … The No. 1 doubles duo of Mark Knowles/Daniel Nestor won their fifth title of the year at the Madrid, defeating Bob and Mike Bryan 6-3, 6-4. … In Zurich, Cara Black/ Rennae Stubbs won their sixth title of the year by defeating top seeds duo of Virginia Ruano Pascual/Paola Suarez, 6-4, 6-4.

THE CLIJSTERS/HEWITT SPLIT
Some reports have it that Kim Clijsters split with Lleyton Hewitt because the bi-national wedding plans were too heavy and their moms couldn’t agree on some issues. I know Clijsters well enough to say that is certainly wasn’t that simple.