Eschauer, Darcis advance to first Dutch Open final
AMERSFOORT, Netherlands -- Austria's Werner Eschauer and Belgian qualifier Steve Darcis advanced Saturday to the final of the Dutch Open, the first time either will play for a championship.
Eschauer knocked out local hope Robin Haase 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday's first semifinal, and at 33 has a chance to become the oldest first-time winner on the tour since 2005 when Wayne Arthurs won in Scottsdale, Arizona at 33.
Darcis, who had played only two ATP-level matches before this week and lost both, ousted second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 and will try to become one of the lowest ranked tournament champions in at least 20 years.
Darcis was ranked 297. Lleyton Hewitt is the lowest ranked winner since 1985, at 550th when he won the 1998 Adelaide title in Australia.
Haase began Saturday by having to finish off his quarterfinal against Florent Serra of France, which was suspended in the first set. Haase won 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 but in the semifinals his second serve was taken advantage of by Eschauer, who won the final game of the first set then the match when Haase double-faulted for the second time.
Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press
