Happy Hantuchova Advances
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova overcame nerves and a tough opponent to beat
Evgenia Linetskaya 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first round today. The 20th seed and
former quarter-finalist required almost two hours to despatch the fast-rising
Russian, and Hantuchova's old frailties threatened to unseat her at times
before she prevailed.
At 18, Linetskaya's name may not be among the most familiar of the Russians,
but surely only time is required to remedy that. Although this match on Court
18 was her Wimbledon debut, she was always potentially a test for Hantuchova.
Their ranking is close - the Russian is rated 40 to the Slovak's 28 - and
Linetskaya was not only good enough to make the last 16 at her first Australian
Open earlier this year, she also took a set from Maria Sharapova at Roland
Garros last month.
Moreover, despite Hantuchova's welcome return to physical robustness, there is
a lingering hint of mental fragility about her. Linetskaya looked fiercely
determined from the outside to capitalise on it, and pegged her opponent to
deuce four times in Hantuchova's opening service game. Linetskaya is still
finding her way around a grass court, but at least she won a match on the
unfamiliar green stuff in the run-up to Wimbledon, which is more than
Hantuchova could manage at either Edgbaston or Eastbourne, despite being a
former finalist at the latter.
In a see-saw first set, both players treated the net as a dangerous zone to
be avoided. From their baseline strongholds this was bludgeoning stuff, but
when Linetskaya ventured to the net her backhand volley caused Hantuchova
problems, yielding successive break points for 3-1. A poor return saw the first
go begging, but it was Hantuchova's mistake which handed her opponent the lead.
This was prime wobble territory for the 20th seed, but instead it was the
Russian who hesitated, and Hantuchova broke back at the first opportunity.
But the days when she was ranked five in the world seem a more distant memory
than just two years ago, and Hantuchova faced numerous break points on her
serve. A dreadful smash handed Linetskaya the crucial opportunity, which she
grabbed for 4-2. Two games later Linetskaya had four successive set points
before Hantuchova forced a break point of her own, only to throw it away. A
moment later she screamed in frustration as she handed over a fifth opportunity,
and this time Linetskaya accepted the gift.
If Hantuchova was to turn the match around she needed to get her first serve
in and cut back drastically on the unforced errors that nullified her outright
winners. The improvement wasn't startling but it did come. Hantuchova broke for
4-2, and then promptly repeated the feat to commandeer the set 6-2. The match
was transformed and in the third set Hantuchova was clearly in charge. But
surely the only player she will have frightened with this performance was
herself.
Written by Kate Battersby (From wimbledon.org)
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