10/19/01
Mirnyi's Big Chance in Progress

Max Mirnyi has been waiting for a week like this for a long time. The big, handsome 24-year-old from Belarussia announced his arrival on the tennis scene by winning the Wimbledon and US Open Mixed Doubles titles with Serena Williams in 1998 and following it with a US Open Men's Doubles title with Lleyton Hewitt last year.

But it is doubtful whether any of those considerable achievements will surpass the sense of pride Mirnyi is feeling this week, having reached the semifinal of a Tennis Masters Series event for the first time in singles after a remarkable run of victories that culminated in a 6-4, 6-2 defeat of former world No 1 Pete Sampras on Friday afternoon.

Sampras complained afterwards about having a "dead arm" as a result of serving too hard on his return from the tour after several weeks off, but added, "Not to take anything away from Max, he played really well. He played the bigger points a little better than I did. He's very tough to pass. I felt I was forced into some bad errors because he's got that long reach. You know, he's a greater mover up there. For a guy that big, he really covers the net well."

Much of that expertise at the net can be put down to Mirnyi's experience as a top doubles player, a part of the game he concentrated on as a teenager when he first burst out of Minsk and spent some time practising with a Russian coach at Randolph, New Jersey. But, in the last two years, his singles game, anchored by a massive serve, has started to make itself heard. Gustavo Kuerten had to fight long and hard to extract himself from a two set to love down situation against Mirnyi at the US Open this year.

It seemed just a matter of time before Mirnyi would do something special and now it has happened. Forced to qualify because he is still ranked only 53rd on the ATP Entry System ranking, Mirnyi saved two match points against Jan Vacek and then two more when he finally overcame Kuerten in the second round of the main draw and, incredibly, another brace of match points against Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic in round three.

No wonder he was feeling pretty confident when he walked on court against Sampras. "I've developed a lot of confidence having won a few matches being match points down," said Mirnyi. "It's very good having done that because it feels like you can't die. I've had good matches on and off but I haven't been able to string them together. Hopefully I can build on this and play more consistently through next year."

Mirnyi will now face Yevgeny Kafelnikov, still searching for his first ever Tennis Masters Series title, following the Russian's 7-5, 6-4 victory over a somewhat fatigued Thomas Enqvist.

Wayne Ferreira's reign as champion of Stuttgart finally came to an end when Lleyton Hewitt, showing typical tenacity, battled back from a set down to beat the South African No 1 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. Hewitt will find himself with minority support today when he faces Tommy Haas who extended his winning streak, following his victory in Vienna, by weathering a stunning opening from Tim Henman in the day's last quarter final.

For a set and a half Henman could do little wrong. Serving brilliantly and volleying with touch and precision, the British No. 1 zapped a couple of scorching forehand service return winners off first serves past the startled German and, when he reached break point in the fifth game of the second set, it seemed as if Henman was poised for a very quick victory.

But Haas came up with a big forehand winner down the line and three games later the first cracks started to appear in the British game. Haas, to his credit, had remained unflustered and now, as Henmanis forehand started to waver and his first serve lost its potency, the tall German broke back on his fifth break point to leave himself serving for the set. Even though Henman had him 0-40 down, Haas survived the ordeal and, off the back of some solid serving, levelled at one set apiece.

From that moment on, with the crowd roused to more vocal support, Haas took charge and, as more and more errors spilled from the Henman forehand, Haas swept through the third to complete fine 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory that has improved his chances of grabbing the eighth spot in the Tennis Masters C|up field for Sydney.