Estoril Open 2003 News and Events

Nikolay Davydenko
© Joao Lagos Sports

In windy conditions at the Estadio Nacional, Nikolay Davydenko and Agustin Calleri both progressed to their second ATP finals of the year after contrasting victories at the Estoril Open on Saturday.

Calleri, a winner on clay earlier this year in Acapulco, took just 1 hour, 16 minutes to overcome fifth seed Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-2, while Adelaide champion Davydenko fought off a spirited comeback by Max Mirnyi to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 and reach his first clay court final.

"It was very difficult out there, because it was unbelievably windy," said Davydenko. "It was better for me because Max could not hit too many great serves, so I had a lot of break chances on his second serve today. It's normally very difficult to play against him because he has such a great serve and volley game, but today the conditions were heavy and that definitely helped me."

Davydenko, who has reached the final with victories over No. 3 seed Sjeng Schalken, Alexander Waske, No. 6 seed and fellow countryman Yevgeny Kafelnikov and now No. 7 seed Mirnyi, said he was delighted to be in Sunday's championship decider.

"I'm very happy to be in my first clay court final," said the 21-year-old, who broke his left wrist earlier in the year in Memphis. "It's a great achievement for me after my injury, and now I will get back into the Top 50 and this will help me get into the Tennis Masters Series tournaments."

Running

Looking ahead to the final against Calleri, Davydenko added: "It will be very different than the match against Max. Today, I was just hitting two or three balls in the rallies, while tomorrow I will have to run a lot and hit maybe 20, 30 balls from the baseline."

Calleri, who has reached his second clay court final with victories over Diogo Rocha, Jarkko Nieminen, No. 4 seed Fernando Gonzalez and now No. 5 seed Robredo, was pleased to have won in straight sets.

"It was very difficult today with the conditions, and the match was not as easy as the scoreline suggests," said the Argentine. "But tactically, I played a pretty good match and that's why I managed to win."

Having won the title in Acapulco in February, Calleri feels in good shape to claim a second title. "My first title gave me a lot of confidence going into these situations and it will help me going on court tomorrow," said the 26-year-old. "I don't know much about Davydenko, but my coach [Mariano Monachesi] used to coach Juan Ignacio Chela, who has played Davydenko several times, so we will discuss it tonight and see what happens tomorrow."

Despite the weather, Robredo was making no excuses. "The wind was the same for both of us," said the Spaniard. "I think he played a very good match today. I had a few chances, but he hits the ball so hard. If he plays like that, he can beat any of the top guys on the tour. It's very difficult to play against him and I think he will win the tournament if he plays like that."