Hantuchova wears down Schnyder in 3 sets
NEW HAVEN —
Several times during their second-round match, Patty Schnyder prepared to
serve only to find that Daniela Hantuchova had turned her back to the court.
She faced the wall, played with her strings and caught her breath. She was
not about to be rushed.
Wednesday morning on Stadium Court, Hantuchova even drew a warning from the
chair umpire, Lynn Welch, for her slow play at an important moment in the
third set. But if being reprimanded bothered Hantuchova, it did not show.
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She took control of the very next point, smashing a forehand winner down the
line that broke Schnyder’s serve and propelled Hantuchova to a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
win at the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.
Schnyder, the sixth seed, had won seven of 10 meetings against Hantuchova,
who conceded before the match that she was less than thrilled about drawing
Schnyder in the second round. Schnyder broke Hantuchova’s serve to close out
the first set and it looked as if she were on her way to another victory.
But Hantuchova implored herself to stay aggressive and keep Schnyder moving.
"I have so much respect for the way she plays," said Hantuchova, a 22-year-old
Slovak who will meet top-seeded Lindsay Davenport in today’s quarterfinals.
"I just tried to keep fighting for every point. I went for my shots and it
paid off."
Hantuchova found her rhythm in the second set, and the third set was knotted
at four games apiece when Schnyder faced break point, down 30-40. Known by
her opponents for her slow play, Hantuchova ambled to the back wall and forced
Schnyder to wait before she could serve. After a few catcalls from the crowd,
Welch cited Hantuchova for a time violation.
"When I’m ready, I would like to start serving," Schnyder said. "I know she
does it and it’s her way, but I think on the serve, you should go with the
pace of the server. She needs the time, I guess. I don’t think it’s really
to break my rhythm or something, it’s just that she needs it."
Hantuchova proceeded to break Schnyder, then held her own serve at love to
finish the match. She said Schnyder, like Kim Clijsters, tends to play quickly.
She would rather take her time.
"I mean, every player is different," she said. "Some players prefer to serve
one point after another. I prefer to take more time."
Hantuchova, ranked No. 21, had been enjoying a solid if unspectacular summer
before she fell victim to heat exhaustion last week in Toronto, where she
retired from her first-round match against Alina Jidkova.
Schnyder had been on a year-long redemption tour, reaching at least the
quarterfinals at 12 of 17 tournaments, including championships at Gold Coast
and Cincinnati. But she skipped Toronto last week and has implemented a new
workout routine, which might have been ill-advised — at least as far as her
short-term goals are concerned.
Because of her recent work in the weight room, Schnyder said her agility has
suffered. She said she felt sluggish during her first-round win against Lisa
Raymond, but Raymond did not make Schnyder chase a lot of deep balls.
Hantuchova made Schnyder run.
"I think it was just generally that my footwork was really not good,"
Schnyder said. "I just felt uncomfortable moving around the court. I was
missing the small steps to really have a good position and move good and come
back in the games and to defend. So that was frustrating that I never got
better."
Schnyder said she was confident she would recover in time for the U.S. Open,
which starts Monday.
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