Women Seeds Win Yawners Again at US Open
Posted on September 2, 2005Three current or former No 1s led the winners into the third round Thursday at the US Open in (2) Lindsay Davenport (d. Parmentier 1-and-1), (3) Amelie Mauresmo (d. Karatantcheva 0-and-1), and (7) Justine Henin-Hardenne (d. Sanchez Lorenzo).
"The conditions were pretty difficult today and worse yesterday," said Henin-Hardenne who won 3-and-4. "But I did serve a couple of double faults. But when my first serve is in I win a lot of points, so I need to be very focused on that and I'm sure I'll serve better, I hope, next match."
Karatantcheva should have provided fans with a refund after an error-strewn performance due to nerves on the big stage in the first night match.
"It didn't happen to me before that I was playing the first night, on the central court in the biggest stadium of the world," said Karatantcheva, who won one game off Mauresmo. "That was a bit, 'Wow,'."
Mauresmo, the wise old veteran at age 26, said the youngsters have a lot to learn.
"I think these girls coming up, it's normal, it's great and it's good for tennis," Mauresmo said. "But they still probably have to learn a few things."
Other seeded winners on the day were (6) Elena Dementieva (d. Diaz-Oliva), (11) Patty Schnyder (d. Sucha in three), (12) Mary Pierce (d. Srebotnik), (13) Anastasia Myskina (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier), (15) Nathalie Dechy (d. King 1-and-1), (17) Jelena Jankovic (d. Glatch 2-and-0), (19) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Maleeva), (23) Tatiana Golovin (d. Smashnova), (24) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Linetskaya), (29) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Craybas 0-and-2), (31) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Razzano from a set down), and (32) Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Sun).
"There was a little bit of wind -- obviously not as much as yesterday -- I didn't play yesterday," Pierce said of the swirly conditions. "But it was kind of tough out there at times. I do feel like I'm serving really well. You know, I'd like to improve a little bit on my second serve. I think my return's improved as the match went on at the end today, but I do feel like I'd like to return better. I feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty good."
One seed was ousted Thursday, with Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho upending (27) Gisela Dulko.
Scheduled for Friday at the US Open are (1) Sharapova vs. Schruff, (4) Clijsters vs. (30) Sugiyama, (8) Serena vs. (25) Schiavone, (10) Venus vs. (20) Hantuchova, Mirza vs. Bartoli, (9) Petrova vs. Granville, (26) Vaidisova vs. Lisjak, and Vento-Kabchi vs. Peer.
"The conditions were pretty difficult today and worse yesterday," said Henin-Hardenne who won 3-and-4. "But I did serve a couple of double faults. But when my first serve is in I win a lot of points, so I need to be very focused on that and I'm sure I'll serve better, I hope, next match."
Karatantcheva should have provided fans with a refund after an error-strewn performance due to nerves on the big stage in the first night match.
"It didn't happen to me before that I was playing the first night, on the central court in the biggest stadium of the world," said Karatantcheva, who won one game off Mauresmo. "That was a bit, 'Wow,'."
Mauresmo, the wise old veteran at age 26, said the youngsters have a lot to learn.
"I think these girls coming up, it's normal, it's great and it's good for tennis," Mauresmo said. "But they still probably have to learn a few things."
Other seeded winners on the day were (6) Elena Dementieva (d. Diaz-Oliva), (11) Patty Schnyder (d. Sucha in three), (12) Mary Pierce (d. Srebotnik), (13) Anastasia Myskina (d. Amy "Down Goes" Frazier), (15) Nathalie Dechy (d. King 1-and-1), (17) Jelena Jankovic (d. Glatch 2-and-0), (19) Elena Likhovtseva (d. Maleeva), (23) Tatiana Golovin (d. Smashnova), (24) Shinobu Asagoe (d. Linetskaya), (29) Anna Chakvetadze (d. Craybas 0-and-2), (31) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Razzano from a set down), and (32) Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Sun).
"There was a little bit of wind -- obviously not as much as yesterday -- I didn't play yesterday," Pierce said of the swirly conditions. "But it was kind of tough out there at times. I do feel like I'm serving really well. You know, I'd like to improve a little bit on my second serve. I think my return's improved as the match went on at the end today, but I do feel like I'd like to return better. I feel like I'm hitting the ball pretty good."
One seed was ousted Thursday, with Korea's Yoon Jeong Cho upending (27) Gisela Dulko.
Scheduled for Friday at the US Open are (1) Sharapova vs. Schruff, (4) Clijsters vs. (30) Sugiyama, (8) Serena vs. (25) Schiavone, (10) Venus vs. (20) Hantuchova, Mirza vs. Bartoli, (9) Petrova vs. Granville, (26) Vaidisova vs. Lisjak, and Vento-Kabchi vs. Peer.