Top Seed Davenport Creaks Into Quarterfinals at WTA Bali

Posted on September 15, 2005

Top-seeded Lindsay Davenport, looking to regain her edge in the race for the year-end No. 1 ranking with Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters, opened her campaign with a win Wednesday at the WTA stop in Bali.

A late wildcard entrant, Davenport rebounded from her quarterfinal loss at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Japan's Rika Fujiwara in Bali.

"I did not play my best and know I have to get better, but typically I tend to get better as the tournament goes on," Davenport said. "Coming here, it's been a really great opportunity to relax and get back out on the court right away after losing in New York."

Other winners Wednesday were (4) Francesca Schiavone (d. Pous Tio), (6) Flavia Pennetta (d. (Q) Muller), and (7) Na Li (d. (Q) Yan), all in straight sets.

On tap for Thursday are Pennetta vs. Zheng, Molik vs. A.Bondarenko, Ruano Pascual vs. Schnyder, Camerin vs. Bychkova, and Groenefeld vs. Nakamura.