Estoril Open 2004 News and Events

Juan Ignacio Chela
© João Lagos Sports

Russia's Marat Safin will face No. 5 seed Juan Ignacio Chela in the final of the Estoril Open on Sunday. Safin, the No. 8 seed, advanced to his first clay court final since Barcelona last year when his semifinal opponent Irakli Labadze retired with a back injury after just five games.

Labadze was leading 3-2 in the first set but was in too much pain to continue. "I have had a back problem since Miami and it's just been getting worse and worse," said Labadze.

"Sometimes it feels okay after you warm up, but it wasn't the case today. I was in a lot of pain yesterday and may have had to retire against Nadal, but he withdrew as well, so I said: 'Okay, I'll take it." But when I got out there, I just couldn't serve."

For Safin, he was just delighted to become the second consecutive Russian to reach the final following in Nikolay Davydenko's footsteps. "It's a good thing for me to be in the final," said Safin. "I'm very happy to be there. It doesn't matter how. I will be ready for the final tomorrow."

Chela advanced to his first ATP final since Long Island in 2002 with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over German qualifier Florian Mayer. The Argentine, who is yet to drop a set so far this week, sealed a place in his sixth career final and first of the year in 1 hour, 22 minutes.

"The match was more difficult than the score suggests because I didn't know my opponent," said Chela. "He surprised me with some of his shots that came out of nowhere."

The 20-year-old Mayer, who qualified for just his third ATP main draw, was appearing in his first semifinal after recording victories over No. 7 seed Gaston Gaudio, Radek Stepanek and Victor Hanescu. The defeat brought an end to his run of 11 consecutive clay court wins, having captured the Challenger title in Mexico City last month.

"I'm a little bit disappointed because I didn't play very well today, but he played really well," said Mayer. "He was the better player. He didn't make many mistakes. I served very badly today, I don't know why. But overall, this week has been unbelievable for me."

Chela held three match points at 6-3, 5-1, but the German saved those and broke the Argentine's serve in the next game to give himself hope. But Chela kept his composure and sealed victory on his fifth match point as Mayer netted a forehand.

Safin, who will move up to third position in the INDESIT ATP 2004 Race on Monday, found himself a break down against his good friend Labadze, but got back on terms to serve at 2-3 when the Georgian retired.

It will be the 20th final of Safin's career (11-8) and his second of the season having lost to Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open.

Safin has won all three of his previous matches against Chela, all of which came in 2002. Their only meeting on clay was at the ATP Masters Series event in Hamburg, which Safin won in straight sets.

"Everybody knows that Safin is one of the best players of the world," said Chela. "He's a great player. His serve is his main asset but he's strong in every department. He hits the ball very deep and he's a complete player. Whenever he has the chance he comes to the net to finish the point."