[新聞] Chasing former glories: Hantuchova, Kanepi on road back
From http://www.rolandgarros.com/
Chasing former glories: Hantuchova, Kanepi on road back
By Matt Trollope on Tuesday 17 May 2016
Once highly-ranked Grand Slam forces, Daniela Hantuchova and Kaia Kanepi
languish in unfamiliar territory, but managed to score wins in qualifying on
Tuesday.
Slovak Daniela Hantuchova met No.7 seed Anna Tatishvili at every turn, refusing
to give even an inch. She'll move on to Round 2 of qualifiers after her win
(6-2, 7-5).
Daniela Hantuchova and Kaia Kanepi are not used to battling it out on the back
courts of Roland Garros in qualifying.
Both were once highly-ranked stars; Hantuchova a former world No.5 and two-time
winner at Indian Wells, Kanepi a five-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist and
former world No.15. In 2012, the pair faced off in the final of the Brisbane
International, a prestigious Premier-level warm-up event for the Australian
Open.
On Tuesday in Paris, there was no large show court crammed with spectators, or
the prospect of matches carrying large sums of ranking points and prize money.
Instead, the two veterans were on Court No.8 and No.17 respectively, yet
despite the more modest environment, they did what they have spent large chunks
of their careers doing - winning in straight sets.
Hantuchova, now 33, overcame American Anna Tatishvili in a battle between two
impressive ball-strikers. The Slovak breezed through the first set yet found
Tatishvili a tougher test in the second. Searching, probing rallies ensued, and
five match points came and went, yet a final forehand winner allowed Hantuchova
to seal a 6-2 7-5 victory.
After 15 consecutive years in the year-end top 100 - and 12 as a top 35-ranked
player from 2002 to 2013 - Hantuchova has since slipped to world No.172. Yet
despite having to contest qualifying for the first time at Roland Garros in her
distinguished career, she insisted she was still enjoying her tennis.
"Actually I'm probably enjoying it much more than ever before," she said.
"I had no expectations coming here. Years before, I was always expecting so
much from myself and trying to make sure that every practice was perfect and
all this, that I forgot to actually enjoy the city and being able to be here.
"Going all the way down (the rankings) it does make you appreciate things much
more and gives me a totally different perspective. Now I can realise what I've
done right and what I've done wrong, and I'm just extremely happy that I'm
still able to play. I just love playing, so why not?"
She spent some time reminiscing about her best results at Roland Garros. There
was a fourth-round loss to the great Monica Seles in 2002, her first outing on
Court Philippe Chatrier. There was her win over then-world No.1 Caroline
Wozniacki in the third round in 2011, which she believes was the best match she
ever played.
Hantuchova believes she's an even better player now than she was compared to
her halcyon days of top-five fame and regularly reaching the second week in
Paris. Having overcome some injury niggles, she hopes to take advantage of her
good health and start playing and practising more effectively.
She'll attempt to continue on this positive trajectory when she takes on
Barbora Stefkova in the second round of qualifying.
"I'm much more aware of what I have to do on the court, how I have to manage to
get through the matches. Of course, the game got so much faster, so much
stronger, so that's where I still have to find a way how to get through. But
it's a challenge that I really like to compete against and see where I can go
from here."
While Hantuchova has relished being able to play relatively unrestricted into
her 30s, for Kanepi it has often been a struggle to even appear on court.
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc), 來自: 114.43.147.82
※ 文章網址: https://www.ptt.cc/bbs/Hantuchova/M.1463906683.A.7A9.html
※ 編輯: a881028 (114.43.147.82), 05/22/2016 16:45:42
Hantuchova 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章