[女娃] Russians Rushing Into Third Round
March 12, 2005
Russians Rushing Into Third Round
INDIAN WELLS, CA - It's not surprising to see Russians featuring in the latter
rounds of Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events, and the Pacific Life Open looks set to
continue the trend.
Day 3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden saw five of the six Russians in second
round action advance to the third round; the only loser falling to one of her
countrywomen.
After receiving first round byes, the seeded players took to the courts for the
first time on Friday. Three of the five Russian women to advance were seeded,
with No.4 Elena Dementieva defeating American Abigail Spears, 62 76(5), No.5
Svetlana Kuznetsova ousting Czech qualifier Eva Birnerova, 63 62, and No.30
Evgenia Linetskaya beating American Laura Granville, 62 76(4).
"I think the first set was quite good," said Dementieva, making her first Tour
appearance since right thumb injury forced her out of the Paris Indoors last
month. "I could play much better in the second. But for the first round, I
think it was okay."
Dementieva was the only woman on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to reach two Grand
Slam singles finals last year. And while she finished runner-up at both Roland
Garros and the US Open, she's gained a lot of confidence from those results
and looks forward to returning to France in May to try and go one better.
"I think this experience will help me for the next French Open," added
Dementieva. "That's the goal for the year, to win a Grand Slam."
Kuznetsova, upset in the second round of Dubai last week by Indian wildcard
Sania Mirza, trailed 3-1 in the first set against Birnerova and endured an
adductor strain to reach the round of 32.
"In the start it was a little bit difficult. She played many matches," said
Kuznetsova of her qualifier opponent. "It was my first match. It's tough to get
on the court and get straight in the match."
Linetsaya is playing some of the best tennis of her life right now, having
reached the Australian Open fourth round and semifinals at Pattaya City and
Memphis in recent months. The strong form continued on Friday against Granville,
setting up a third round showdown with world No.2 Amelie Mauresmo.
The other two Russian winners on Day 3 pulled off notable upsets. Qualifier
Maria Kirilenko ousted No.8-seeded compatriot Elena Bovina, 63 61.
"The score is like easy, but for me it wasn't easy," said Kirilenko. "It was
hard. Today I fight like every point. So it was unbelievable."
Despite the loss of Bovina, the biggest upset of Friday was arguably the
elimination of No.18 seed Jelena Jankovic. The 20-year-old Serbian debuted in
the Top 20 this week after coming within five points of beating world No.1
Lindsay Davenport in the Dubai final on Saturday.
But the Indian Wells second round she bowed out against Russian teenager Anna
Chakvetadze, 26 62 64. Chakvetadze is probably best known for ousting Roland
Garros champion Anastasia Myskina in the second round of the US Open last year.
It was a similarly prosperous day for the French women on Friday, with all
three contesting second round matches progressing to the last 32.
Mauresmo, who has her sights set on regaining the world No.1 ranking from
Davenport in the coming month, was impressive in a 62 61 demolition of Italian
Tathiana Garbin.
"I didn't let her get into her rhythm and get into that match," said Mauresmo.
"So that's what I wanted actually before the match. I was able to do it today.
So it was good."
In addition to Bovina and Jankovic, four more seeds fell by the wayside Friday,
those being No.9 Francesca Schiavone, who fell 63 76(5) to Japanese qualifier
Rika Fujiwara; No.12 Paola Suarez, a 76(9) 75 loser to American wildcard
Jamea Jackson; No.26 Anna-Lena Groenefeld, beaten 63 76(7) by France's
Severine Beltrame; and No.16 Shinobu Asagoe, a 63 63 loser against 2003
Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters.
Clijsters is undoubtedly the most dangerous non-seed in the draw. Having been
restricted to six tournaments last year due to persistent left wrist problems
(requiring surgery last June), the former world No.1, now ranked oustide the
Top 100, is playing just her second tournament of 2005.
"I would say maybe today (was) a six-and-a-half, seven. overall," said
Clijsters when asked to rate her performance against Asagoe. "But I haven't
really set goals. I'm so happy to be back and happy to be playing matches; I
just want to hopefully try to play as good as I can in every match that I play."
On Friday Clijsters talked about how the injury nearly ended her career, and
how it will always pose in the future.
"They didn't say, 'You have to stop playing tennis,'" said Clijsters of the
advice she received from doctors during her time off the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
"But they said, 'You know, you might never get to where you want to be.' And
that was tough to hear, but you don't really accept that at the time."
Nonetheless, Clijsters has made a much-awaited, and so far successful return
to competitive tennis, having reached the quarterfinals in her comeback event
in Antwerp last month. With a slightly altered backhand swing, to reduce
strain on the wrist tendons, Clijsters pays special attention to the wrist
after each match.
"The main thing now is that my wrist stays well and that I keep doing
everything right, to cool it down after matches and everything," said Clijsters.
"That's my main concern at the moment."
Clijsters meets Chakvetadze for a place in the fourth round.
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