favorite Mardy Fish of the United States moved into the final of the $708,000 hard-court ATP tournament in New Haven on Friday for the second year in a row. The 26-year-old American, seeded number eight, thumped down seven aces and connected on 74 percent of his first serves to beat Spanish top-seeded Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 in one hour and 28 minutes. “It was weird,” Fish said. “I started great. I played well. I was aggressive. I had a chance early in the second set to put him away. But it didn't happen.” After splitting the two first sets, Fish, sensing victory, went into overdrive, pounding winners at will while charging the net. “In the final set, I got back to my fundamentals,” he said. The American now awaits the winner of a later match between Croatian sixth-seeded Marin Cilic and Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc. On Thursday Gregorc had advanced to the semifinals with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Andreas Seppi, while Cilic downed Igor Andreev 6-3, 6-2. The 35th-ranked Fish was a runner-up finish to American James Blake here last year. Despite his success, Fish said he will never reach the same star power of fellow Americans James Blake and Andy Roddick. On the women's side, Caroline Wozniacki outplayed Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 6-4 to slip into her second WTA final of the season. Wozniacki galloped away 5-3 in the first set. Cornet, with her left leg heavily strapped, evened the score but just couldn't steady her game. Up 3-0 in the second set, Cornet Alize made one final push. Her game unraveled along with her confidence as she conceded her service one last time in the 10th game. “I had no energy left,” said the 18-year-old Frenchwoman. “I've known Caroline since I was eleven. I knew that you have to be 100 percent in order to beat her. It was just not the case today.” The 18-year-old Dane, ranked number 22 in the world, is having a stellar summer on the WTA Tour. She became the first Danish player to capture a WTA event in Stockholm, Sweden, in early August. “I feel really confident. It's been a really good month for me,” Wozniacki said. “I won my first WTA tournament in Stockholm. I would love to become number one in the world and win Grand Slams. “I think everyone practicing this hard, putting such an effort into it wants to become number one in the world. I still have 21 spots to go.” In Saturday's final, Wozniacki was slated to meet the winner of the match between Amelie Mauresmo of France and top-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze. On Thursday Mauresmo had swept into the semifinals beating Hungarian Agnes Szavay 6-4, 7
