Kuerten Seeks Second Title of 2003
http://www.atptennis.com/en/newsandscores/news/news/stpetersburg6.asp

Gustavo Kuerten has an opportunity to claim his second title of 2003 on
Sunday at the St. Petersburg Open.
The Brazilian and No. 3 seed cruised past wild card Alex Corretja 6-4, 6-3
to advance to this third ATP final of the year on Saturday.
Kuerten collected his 18th career title early this year in Auckland. He also
reached the final at Indian Wells and the semifinals at Costa Do Sauipe,
Acapulco and Buenos Aires. This is the first year the Brazilian is playing
in St. Petersburg.
In Sunday's final, the Brazilian former World No. 1 meets unseeded Sargis
Sargsian of Armenia, who had a surprisingly easy time upsetting top seed
Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-3 in Saturday's semifinals. Schuettler had defeated
Sargisan three of their four previous meetings, but the Armenian has played
well at Russian events this season. Earlier this month, he reached the final
in Moscow, falling to Taylor Dent in the final. Sargsian is seeking his
second career title, having captured the Newport title in 1997.
Kuerten heads into the final with a 2-0 series advantage over Sargsian, but
they have not played since Hong Kong in 2000. Interestingly, both players
have returned to form this year, after both underwent arthroscopic right hip
surgery last year.

WHAT THE PLAYERS SAID
Kuerten "It was better than my expectations. I came from a first-round loss
last week so it was tough to get through the early rounds to get my rhythm
going. For the first time coming here, I'm surprised to be in the final."
"I woke up today very inspired to do the best I could and it was the best
match of the week. It was a perfect day for me."
On winning the final "It would be great to end the year, the same way I
started by winning a tournament. It would be much better for me for next
year too, this is why I came here. Already to be in the final is a great
job."
Corretja "I was just frustrated to see that everything I tried, Guga
returned it better. Guga today served really well and he didn't give me any
chances. I didn't lose, I feel like he beat me which is a big difference.
Here I think I have good chances to damage his game, but today he didn't
make too many mistakes and he was just playing perfect."
"This week has been very good for me, the best week of the year. I finally
found good matches on the court. I felt really aggressive. My game improved
a lot. Of course today it's a pity because I lost and I wanted to reach the
final, but you don't make in one day. So I cannot hurry more than I can.
Right now I have to take step by step. This is only the beginning for what I
wanted to achieve for next year."
Sargsian "I feel unbelievable - three weeks, two finals. Moscow was my best
tournament ever and now I'm in the final again."
"I've been training pretty hard the last couple of weeks. I have a new coach
Gunter Bresnik who has been great. I've been playing pretty good all year
long but I've been close but haven't quite made it."
"Rainer is so solid, for sure he didn't play his best match today but it
gives me a lot of confidence."
Schuettler "He played a good match. He made just a few mistakes and I wanted
to go for too much so I missed a couple of my forehands and backhands and I
didn't serve that well."
"I'm not tired. Every day is new and definitely I didn't play my best tennis
today but he is in good shape. He won all his matches pretty easy."
"I hope that I keep going in doubles and the week was good for me and
hopefully I will be better in doubles than singles."