Top Eight Womens Seeds, Belgians Advance at Miami
Posted on March 28, 2005All eight top seeds advanced into the round of 16 Sunday at the WTA stop in Miami, where the bagels continued to fly.
Top eight winners were (1) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (30) Smashnova), (2) Maria Sharapova (d. Irvin, bagel in the second), (3) Serena Williams (d. (Q) Peer), (4) Elena Dementieva (d. (27) Maleeva), (5) Anastasia Myskina (d. (26) Pennetta, bagel in the second), (6) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Randriantefy), (7) Alicia Molik (d. (29) Dulko in three), and (8) Venus Williams (d. (25) Zuluaga, bagel in the second).
"Today it was very blustery," Molik said in outlasting Dulko in three. "But the wind is something that I can use for me, you know, if I'm smart about the way I play. It can add to my game, it can add to my serve, it can add to my spin and my speed."
Serena says she felt out of sorts in her first meeting with the Israeli teen qualifier Peer.
"I thought I made a lot of unforced errors and I thought I was swinging all out of key," Serena said. "It was weird. I don't think I played that great. I think I played better the other night, for sure."
Venus says approaching 100 percent health is giving her a chance to find her rhythm in 2005.
"All last year I had a hard time keeping my balls in because I never really was able to play my game because I never was able to get a good amount of practice because I was usually pretty injured," Venus said. "So this year I've had a much better chance to hit, and so I can hit it with a better velocity and keep it in so I don't have to take so much off my shots. Now I'm just striking it. You know, that's one of my assets. I don't know where I get the power from because it's not like I have tons and tons of muscles, but I got blessed, I guess."
Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters continued her tear through the seeded ranks Sunday, overwhelming No. 12 seed Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 6-2.
Other unseeded winners were Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano (d. (11) Schnyder 6-1 in the third), and Serb Ana Ivanovic (d. Vaidisova, who broke into tears after being broken at 5-6 in the second set) winning the teen battle.
Lower-seeded winners on the day were (15) Elena Likhovtseva (d. (21) Sugiyama in three), (16) Karolina Sprem (d. (LL) Cohen-Aloro), (19) Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Llagostera Vives), (22) Tatiana Golovin (d. (13) Bovina), and (23) Shinobu Asagoe (d. (14) Schiavone, bagel in the first).
On tap for Monday in Miami are (23) Asagoe vs. (2) Sharapova, (7) Molik vs. (19) Henin-Hardenne, (15) Likhovtseva vs. (3) Serena, (8) Venus Williams vs. (Q) Castano, (1) Mauresmo vs. (16) Sprem, Clijsters vs. (5) Myskina, Ivanovic vs. (6) Kuznetsova, and (4) Dementieva vs. (22) Golovin.
"It's going to be a good match," said Molik on facing former No. 1 comeback player Henin-Hardenne. "I think, you know, she hasn't played a lot of tennis in the last couple of months, so it's a very good opportunity for me. She's beaten me the last couple of times."
Top eight winners were (1) Amelie Mauresmo (d. (30) Smashnova), (2) Maria Sharapova (d. Irvin, bagel in the second), (3) Serena Williams (d. (Q) Peer), (4) Elena Dementieva (d. (27) Maleeva), (5) Anastasia Myskina (d. (26) Pennetta, bagel in the second), (6) Svetlana Kuznetsova (d. Randriantefy), (7) Alicia Molik (d. (29) Dulko in three), and (8) Venus Williams (d. (25) Zuluaga, bagel in the second).
"Today it was very blustery," Molik said in outlasting Dulko in three. "But the wind is something that I can use for me, you know, if I'm smart about the way I play. It can add to my game, it can add to my serve, it can add to my spin and my speed."
Serena says she felt out of sorts in her first meeting with the Israeli teen qualifier Peer.
"I thought I made a lot of unforced errors and I thought I was swinging all out of key," Serena said. "It was weird. I don't think I played that great. I think I played better the other night, for sure."
Venus says approaching 100 percent health is giving her a chance to find her rhythm in 2005.
"All last year I had a hard time keeping my balls in because I never really was able to play my game because I never was able to get a good amount of practice because I was usually pretty injured," Venus said. "So this year I've had a much better chance to hit, and so I can hit it with a better velocity and keep it in so I don't have to take so much off my shots. Now I'm just striking it. You know, that's one of my assets. I don't know where I get the power from because it's not like I have tons and tons of muscles, but I got blessed, I guess."
Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters continued her tear through the seeded ranks Sunday, overwhelming No. 12 seed Nathalie Dechy 6-0, 6-2.
Other unseeded winners were Colombian qualifier Catalina Castano (d. (11) Schnyder 6-1 in the third), and Serb Ana Ivanovic (d. Vaidisova, who broke into tears after being broken at 5-6 in the second set) winning the teen battle.
Lower-seeded winners on the day were (15) Elena Likhovtseva (d. (21) Sugiyama in three), (16) Karolina Sprem (d. (LL) Cohen-Aloro), (19) Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Llagostera Vives), (22) Tatiana Golovin (d. (13) Bovina), and (23) Shinobu Asagoe (d. (14) Schiavone, bagel in the first).
On tap for Monday in Miami are (23) Asagoe vs. (2) Sharapova, (7) Molik vs. (19) Henin-Hardenne, (15) Likhovtseva vs. (3) Serena, (8) Venus Williams vs. (Q) Castano, (1) Mauresmo vs. (16) Sprem, Clijsters vs. (5) Myskina, Ivanovic vs. (6) Kuznetsova, and (4) Dementieva vs. (22) Golovin.
"It's going to be a good match," said Molik on facing former No. 1 comeback player Henin-Hardenne. "I think, you know, she hasn't played a lot of tennis in the last couple of months, so it's a very good opportunity for me. She's beaten me the last couple of times."