Serena Gets by in Dubai; Philippoussis Engaged?Posted on March 3, 2005 Shaky Serena Leads Top 3 Seeds to Quarterfinals at WTA Dubai
The American was given a code-of-conduct warning for equipment abuse in the first set, bringing jeers from the Dubai crowd which she later in the game encouraged by waving her arms in the air. In the second set the No. 2 seed returned to business, winning 6-1 then racing to a 4-0 lead in the third. "I think I was trying to kill myself out there," Serena said. "It was really windy and I had not played in the wind for a while and all my shots were whistling out. It was a shock. I wasn't used to the conditions -- balls were hitting the fence and out and into the net. I had to kind of gather myself." Bovina recovered herself after losing 10 games in an 11-game stretch, bringing the score from 0-4 to 4-5 in the third before the American successfully served it out. Other seeded winners into the quarters were (1) Lindsay Davenport (d. (Q) Zheng), (3) Anastasia Myskina (d. Bartoli, who retired in the second with injury), and (8) Patty Schnyder (d. (Q) Li). Un-seeds advancing into the quarters were wildcard Conchita Martinez (d. (7) Dechy), and Slovak Daniela Hantuchova (d. Likhovtseva). On tap for the Thursday quarterfinals at Dubai are Myskina vs. Schnyder, Davenport vs. Martinez, Hantuchova vs. Serena, and Jankovic vs. Mirza. Davis Cup Previews: Belarus at Romania, Croatia at U.S Tennis-X will this week preview two of the first-round Davis Cup World Group matches each day leading to the Friday kick-off of the opening singles. Today's previews: The Beast and Belarus are big underdogs on the dirt at Romania, and the red-hot Ivan Ljubicic and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic test the U.S.: Belarus at Romania This is only the second year of World Group competition for Belarus, who will likely find themselves fighting to remain among the elite 16 (in the World Group qualifying round) after a go-round on the red claycourts of Romania. Both Max "The Beast" Mirnyi and Vladimir "The Vladinator" Voltchkov of Belarus are fast-court players and will be hardpressed to ply their trade successfully on the slow clay in a best-of-five series. Romanian captain Florin Segarceanu says he will lead with experience in Andrei Pavel (24-10 career D-Cup record in singles) and Victor Hanescu. "We have decided to call up six players and will retain four in the team," Romania captain Florin Segarceanu told Reuters. "Pavel and Victor Hanescu are sure to play in the single matches." Rounding out the Romanian team are Gabriel Trifu, Horia Tecau, Razvan Sabau and Gabriel Moraru. Pavel has won two of his three singles meeting with The Beast, but has not faced either of the Belarussians on clay. Hanescu has beaten The Beast on clay, and has never faced the wrath of The Vladinator on any surface. "Our great problem will be selecting a pair for the doubles, which seems to be the key of the match," Segarceanu said, searching for a pair to face The Beast and The Vladinator. While Voltchkov will be easy pickin's for the Romanians, watch to see if The Beast can be tamed on day one and the home team can clinch with the doubles by Saturday. Croatia at U.S. The U.S. are looking for revenge for their 2003 ousting by the Croatians when the U.S. fronted a "B"-team that contained neither Andy Roddick or Andre Agassi. The Croatians are looking for the steal with two of the hottest players on tour in Ivan Ljubicic and Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic -- a team, according to assistant coach Goran Ivanisevic, that should win their first Davis Cup if they can get past the U.S. Agassi, who lost to Ljubicic in their last meeting and beat Ancic 7-5 in the fifth in their only contest, realizes it could be a long weekend. "They're playing obviously very well both Ivan and Mario," Agassi said. "Both these guys are showing they can beat anyone -- the best in the world -- at any given day. I think Ljubicic has been in the last two finals and his confidence I would imagine is pretty high." Agassi, talked back on to the U.S. team for the first time in five years by captain Patrick McEnroe and the enthusiastic group including Roddick, the Bryan brothers and practice partners James Blake, Taylor Dent and crew, hopes to add to his trophy case from his D-Cup championships in 1990 and '92. While his absence has been a long one, he retains a streak of six consecutive singles wins, with his last D-Cup loss in 1998 to former No. 1 Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The doubles will hold the key for the U.S., with the Bryan brothers, undefeated in Davis Cup play at 5-0, giving Agassi and Roddick a rest while Ljubicic and Ancic again take to the court again on day two. The American twins Bob and Mike have defeated the Athens Olympics doubles bronze medal winners in all three of their meetings, with all three going three sets. "We've always had tough matches with them," Mike Bryan told Tennis-X. "And they really are two of the hottest players on the tour in 2005." Roddick has beaten Ancic in both their meetings and is 5-1 career against Ljubicic, but the match-ups tighten up when you look at the numbers below the numbers. Ancic wons sets off Roddick in both those losses, and Ljubicic and Roddick have had epic battles, with four tiebreak sets in their last two meetings. Ivanisevic, backing up captain Nikki Pilic in the Croatian coaching duties, says his team can go all the way. "The draw is not easy, but if we beat the States somehow, we can win the Davis Cup because we have a good draw after that," Ivanisevic said. "I told the team that they can win it all, but first they have to win this match...They both like to play against Roddick. Ljubicic even gave Roddick a very tough match the year Roddick won the US Open, so it's going to be interesting. I'm looking forward to it." Factor in some of the beatings Agassi has taken lately, combined with Roddick's big-match meltdowns (re: Australian Open), and this toss-up is the one to watch in round one of World Group play. DAILY TENNIS-X E-NEWSLETTER TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS |
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Serena Williams overcame windy conditions and some racquet-smashing frustration to come from a set down to defeat Russia's Elena Bovina 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals at the WTA stop in Dubai.