Caps' Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor capture U.S. Open doubles championship

Published on October 1, 2004 under World TeamTennis (WTT)
Sacramento Capitals News Release


Caps' Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor capture U.S. Open doubles championship; Andre Agassi reaches U.S. Open quarterfinals but falls to world no. 1 Roger Federer (cont.)

In fittingly dramatic fashion, Knowles hit a topspin lob winner over the Czech-Indian team for championship point. "It was probably the biggest shot I've hit in my career considering that it was match point to win a Grand Slam,"Knowles said in a post-match interview.

"This is really a special win for me,"continued Knowles, who has won two of the eight Grand Slam finals he has reached with Nestor."It was wonderful because I had my wife there and it was the first time she has seen me win a Grand Slam. Also, my mother was there and lots of other friends and family...We had match points at the1998 U.S. Open final and didn't get the victory. So this kind a releases those demons. This is the highlight of my career up to this point."

Knowles and Nestor won their first Grand Slam title at the 2002 Australian Open.

In the men's singles, neither the blustery wind nor rain delays could impair Roger Federer's game enough to let Andre Agassi reach the U.S. Open semifinals. Agassi, the Caps' marquee player, was swept aside by the Swiss in the quarterfinals 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 over a two-day span.

"I came out here today feeling as if I was playing the better tennis,"Agassi was quoted in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel."I thought today could have been a really good day for me. I'm just disappointed, the way things sort of went at the end. But he dealt with it better than I did."

Former Caps stalwart Elena Likhovtseva and partner Svetlana Kuznetsova faced Virginia Ruano-Pascual and Paola Suarez in the U.S. Open women's doubles final.In a duel between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds respectively, Ruano-Pascual and Suarez prevailed 6-4, 7-5 for their third consecutive U.S. Open doubles championship. Not a bad day at the office for any of these women, however, especially since Kuznetsova took home the U.S. Open women's singles trophy.

Side note: Agassi's father, Mike Agassi, was signing autographs in his new book entitled "The Agassi Story", which was selling fast at the U.S. Open. The book describes Mr. Agassi's immigration from Iran to the United States in the 1950s, ultimately settling in Las Vegas where he found work in the casinos. He taught his four children to play tennis and son Andre went on to become a tennis phenomenon. The book is published by ECW Press, $24.95. Visit www.ecwpress.com.

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World TeamTennis Stories from October 1, 2004


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