Venus Wins, Capriati Loses at WTA Dubai

Posted on February 27, 2004

Venus Williams' return from injury went smoothly on Wednesday in Dubai with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Aussie riser Alicia Molik, while countrywoman Jennifer Capriati found the comeback trail rocky, losing 6-4, 7-6 to unseeded Greek Eleni Daniilidou.

"It was one of my most exciting wins, to be honest," Venus said. "I've never been so excited to win a first match because of all the hurdles I've been through. I really surpassed my expectations. I just feel really blessed that I was able to do what I did today." It was the first match of 2004 for the No. 3-seeded Capriati, who has been recovering from a back injury, while Williams has played sparingly due to an abdominal injury suffered last year.

Other players into the quarterfinals were (1)Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Sfar), (4)Anastasia Myskina (d. Serna), (5)Ai Sugiyama (d. Pratt), (8)Conchita Martinez (d. Camerin), and un-seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Barna), and American Meghann Shaughnessy (d. Mandula). Thursday's quarterfinals line up as Henin-Hardenne vs. Martinez, Kuznetsova vs. Venus, Sugiyama vs. Daniilidou, and Myskina vs. Shaughnessy (American leads 2-1).

Ashley "Anna 2.0" Harkleroad was the only seeded upset at Bogota Wednesday, with the No. 4 seed dropped in straight sets by Spaniard Marta Marrero. The three other seeds in action advanced in (2)Maria Sanchez Lorenzo (d. Barabra "Use the" Schwartz in three), (3)Emilie Loit (d. Gallovits), and (8)Melinda "Our Favorite Supplement" Czink (d. (Q)Pelletier 7-6 in the third). One other un-seed moved into the quarters in Croatian qualifier Lana Popadic (d. Antonella Serra Zanetti). The match between (6)Ludmilla Cervanova and American wildcard Megan Falcon was moved to today. On court Thursday on the dirt are Castano vs. Medina Garrigues, Zuluaga vs. Bondarenko, Falcon vs. Cervanova, Dominguez Lino vs. Loit, Czink vs. Martinez Granados, and Marrero vs. Kurhajcova.

ATP REVIEW/PREVIEW
An exhausted Juan Carlos Ferrero went out in the opening round at Marseille Wednesday, outlasted in three sets by new French favorite Gregory Carraz.

"My legs were heavy. I could not move or hit the ball right," said Ferrero, who was constantly under attack by the net-rushing Frenchman. "Against a good serve-and-volley player, there is not a lot you can do." Ferrero was still recovering from last week in Rotterdam where he won numerous three-setters to reach the final before losing to Lleyton Hewitt in another draining three-setter.

Other winners on the day were (2)Guillermo "El Mago" Coria (d. Davydenko), (4)Max "The Beast" Mirnyi (d. Pavel in three), (6)"Brother" Al Costa (d. Arazi in two tiebreaks), three-time champ (Q)Marc Rosset (d. Sanguinetti), French wildcard Cyril Saulnier (d. (Q)Knowle), Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty (d. (Q)Mahut), and Robin Soderling winning an all-Swedish standoff (d. three-time champ Enqvist in two tiebreaks).

On tap for Thursday are (WC)Saulnier vs. (4)The Beast, Carraz vs. Soderling, (6)Costa vs. The Dominator (Costa leads series 3-0), (Q)Rosset vs. (2)El Mago, (8)Safin vs. Bjorkman in a veteran match-up (Russian leads 4-2), O.Rochus vs. (7)Clement in an all-shorty match-up, A.Martin vs. Sargsian, and Nieminen vs. (5)Gonzalez in an all-big-hitting match-up (Gonzo leads 2-0). Rosset says bring on El Mago. "It's all about being motivated to play at 33 years of age," Rosset said. "I like it here, I've been coming to Marseille for quite a few years. It would be great to play Coria in the second round, I like playing the new guys on the circuit, it will be a good test for me."

In Brazil Wednesday at Costa Do Sauipe, No. 3 seed Gustavo Kuerten survived a staunch challenge from French teen sensation Richard Gasquet, while No. 7 Gaston Gaudio was not so lucky, losing to veteran countryman and qualifier Franco "The Squirrel" Squillari.

"I expected to play better than yesterday and I think I gained confidence during the match," said Kuerten, winning 7-6(3), 6-3. "Until 5-1 in the second I was playing unbelievable tennis but I lost a bit of concentration there and lost those two games before closing the match. I am happy to be in quarters again and to make the step towards a semifinal at home."

Other winners were (4)Agustin Calleri (d. (Q)Verdasco), (8)Juan Ignacio Nandro Chela (d. Ferrer), Germany's Tomas Behrend (d. Ramirez Hidalgo, following up after beating (1)Moya), Argentine Jose Acasuso (d. Volandri), Spain's "Julio &" Galo Blanco (d. Montanes), and Peru's Luis "Me So" Horna (d. (Q)Monaco). Today's quarters in Brazil feature (8)Chela vs. (4)Calleri in an all-ARG (Calleri leads series 4-3), Behrend vs. Acasuso, (3)Kuerten vs. (Q)Squillari, and Blanco vs. Horna.

TENNIS-X ALL-TIME WTA DOUBLES WIN-LOSS
Americans dominate the all-time doubles win-loss winning percentage on the WTA Tour with seven out of the Top 10, with the Williams sisters perched to overtake all-time leader Martina Navratilova. The Williams sisters the greatest doubles players in the Open Era? (as of Feb. 22, 2004, active players in bold):

1. Martina Navratilova (USA) 673-172 .865
2. Venus Williams (USA) 89-33 .864
3. Serena Williams (USA) 94-35 .862
4. Martina Hingis (SUI) 273-97 .845
5. Pam Shriver (USA) 622-168 .836
6. Jana Novotna (CZE) 697-244 .820
7. Natasha Zvereva (BLR) 714-267 .808
8. Kathy Jordan (USA) 185-72 .787
9. Gigi Fernandez (USA) 664-237 .783
10. Lindsay Davenport (USA) 348-156 .775

UPCOMING EVENTS
Mar. 1 -- ATP Dubai/ATP Acapulco/ATP Scottdale
Mar. 1 -- WTA Doha/WTA Acapulco
Mar. 8 -- ATP Masters Series-Indian Wells (two weeks)
Mar. 8 -- WTA Indian Wells (two weeks)
Mar. 22 -- ATP Masters Series-Miami (two weeks)
Mar. 22 -- WTA Miami (two weeks)
Apr. 5 -- Davis Cup World Group QF
Apr. 5 -- WTA Amelia Island/WTA Casablanca
 
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The Chang Family Foundation is sponsoring the "Friends and Family Cruise with Michael Chang" on the Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America on July 4. Guests will participate in devotionals led by Chang and his pastor, Wayne Ogimachi, and they'll be entertained by Christian music artist Steve Green. Whooo!...Next year the ATP will change the name of the Tennis Masters Series events to ATP Master Series, likely the result of 36 hour of meetings. The ATP Masters Series events are comprised of: the Pacific Life Open Indian Wells (12-21 March), NASDAQ-100 Open Miami (24 March-4 April), Masters Series Monte-Carlo presented by HSBC Private Bank (19-25 April), the Telecom Italia Masters Roma (3-9 May), Masters Series Hamburg (10-16 May), Masters Series Toronto (26 July-1 August), the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Cincinnati (2-8 August), Masters Series Madrid (18-24 October) and the BNP Paribas Masters Paris (1-7 November)...Frenchman Gregory Carraz was 0-6 vs. Top 10 players before beating Juan Carlos Ferrero in Marseille on Wednesday...Marc Rosset has a 24-4 record in Marseille with three titles...Roger Federer was the player most drug-tested in 2003, providing a urine sample 21 times, 20 in competition and once out of competition...Not since January 2002 has a woman other than the Williams sisters or the Belgian top two reached a slam final...The U.S. will play Sweden on hardcourts in Delray Beach, Fla., for the April 9-11 Davis Cup quarterfinals, announced the USTA. Under U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe, the Americans have never lost a home tie. Sweden will come hard with a rough team including Thomas Enqvist, Joachim Johansson, Robin Soderling, and Jonas Bjorkman in doubles. If the U.S. advance, they'll likely be huge underdogs at Argentina on clay...The Belgian press is coming own hard on Kim Clijsters for bailing on last year's Fed Cup semifinal, and now bailing this year on representing Belgium at the Athens Olympics...Where's the ATP Senior Tour? Is that thing D.O.A. for 2004?...In an effort to drive casual fans away from the upcoming U.S./Sweden Davis Cup tie, tickets can only be purchased by phone as a three-day package, said Arlen Kantarian, the USTA's chief executive for professional tennis...In the Ain't-That-Freaky category, Lleyton Hewitt and Kim Clijsters both have the same number of career titles, and both have the same win-loss record in 2004 -- and are both starting to resemble one another...The trophy Kim Clijsters won at Antwerp was a racquet which had 1,702 diamonds encrusted in four kilograms of gold...According to the Herald Sun, if the doping tribunal finds Greg Rusedski guilty, the ATP will announce the verdict and the Brit will have 21 days to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. If Rusedski is exonerated, the ATP will have the option of appealing to the CAS.