Serena On Deck in Beijing, Mirza Wins, Gonzo Goes Gonzo Over Avacadoes
Posted on September 21, 2005
Asians Dominate Tuesday at WTA BeijingChinese and Japanese players took center stage Tuesday at the WTA stop in Beijing, with Japanese qualifier Aiko Nakamura ousting No. 8 seed Flavia Pennetta from a set down, and China's Shuai Peng (d. (Q) Laine) and wildcard Tiantian Sun (d. (Q) Panova) moving safely into the second round.
"Actually I was very nervous right into the game as this is the first time I played on the center court," said Peng, who before the US Open recorded a win over Kim Clijsters. "I think I adjusted well and found my range."
Peng at No. 33 is China's highest-ranked player and will face Argentina's Mariana Diaz-Oliva in the second round.
China's Na Li blew a set lead over American Jill Craybas, coming up short 7-5 in the third, while other winners were Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives (d. (LL) Jidkova 7-6 in the third) and Russian Maria Kirilenko (d. (Q) Jackson).
Scheduled for Wednesday in Beijing are Asagoe vs. Golovin, Diaz-Oliva vs. Peng, Jankovic vs. Zheng, Serena vs. Sun, Peer vs. Douchevina, Shaughnessy vs. Domachowska, and Sugiyama vs. Groenefeld.
"She is simply too strong," said Sun on facing Serena. "I expect to learn something from her, and if I am lucky enough, maybe I could create some chances."
Mirza Meets Expectations in Opener at WTA Kolkata
No. 3 seed Sania Mirza survived some shaky serving to ease past Japanese qualifier Junri Namigata 6-2, 6-2 Tuesday in her opening-round match at the WTA stop in Kolkata.
"I am satisfied with my performance, but it wasn't as easy as the scoreline makes one feel," Mirza said. "It was just that I played better when I needed the most."
Questioned about her six double faults over eight service games, the teen unloaded on the media -- "You people are never satisfied. Yes I did commit double faults. But what is more important is that I never got broken."
Other seeds into the second round Tuesday were (4) Maria Elena Camerin (d. (Q) Chakravarthi, bagel in the second), (5) Antonella Serra Zanetti (d. (Q) Chuang), and (8) Rika Fujiwara (d. Parra Santonja in three).
Un-seeds into the second round were Indian U.S. citizen Sunitha Rao (d. (WC) N.Uberoi in three), Hungarian Melinda Czink (d. Salerni), Swede Sofia Arvidsson (d. Tanasugarn), and Spanish wildcard Virginia Ruano Pascual (d. (6) Pous Tio from a set down).
The excitement surrounding the Indian Bhambri sisters was somewhat stifled when the siblings were pounded 6-2, 6-0 in the opening round of the doubles by top seeds Elena Likhovtseva/Anastasia Myskina while the Uberoi sisters, Neha and Shikha, advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Edina Gallovits and Kaia Kanepi.
Scheduled for Wednesday are Voskoboeva vs. Azarenka, Sprem vs. Dominikovic, S.Uberoi vs. Fujiwara, Czink vs. Mirza, Myskina vs. Gallovits, Pratt vs. Bammer, Fedak vs. Likhovtseva, and Kanepi vs. Ruano Pascual.
Top-seeded Farina Elia Exits WTA Portoroz
Top-seeded Silvia Farina Elia was unceremoniously dumped out in the first round of play Tuesday at the WTA stop in Portoroz, ousted by German Vanessa Henke who had not won a tour-level match in 2005 entering the event.
"It was not my day," Farina Elia said. "Besides, it was cold and windy."
No. 5 seed Marion Bartoli was another upset victim, upset by 23-year-old Estonian Maret ani in straight sets.
Seeded winners on the day were (2) Anabel Medina Garrigues (d. Pironkova), (3) Kveta Peschke (d. Sucha, bagel in the second) and (7) Iveta Benesova (d. (Q) Vrljiv).
Unseeded players advancing into the second round were Slovenia's (WC) Masa Zec Peskiric (d. (Q) Prusova), Czech Zuzana Ondraskova (d. (WC) Klepac in three), Greek Eleni Daniilidou (d. Pin in three), German qualifier Angelika Bachmann (d. (Q) Szavay) and German countrywoman Sandra Kloesel (d. Kurhajcova in three), France's Severine Bremond (d. Kostanic in two tiebreaks), and Russian Ekaterina Bychkova (d. (LL) Schaul).
Suspended due to darkness was Meilen Tu vs. Selima Sfar.
Scheduled for Wednesday in Portoroz are Ondraskova vs. Vinci, Srebotnik vs. Bachmann, Koukalova vs. Kloesel, Bremond vs. Peschke, and Sfar vs. Tu (to finish).
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
While Sania Mirza garners all the attention in India, Indian fringe "C"-players like 19-year-old Ankita Bhambri complain that lack of sponsorships are keeping other Indian talent from developing: "Sania has done very well for herself and made India proud. But there are others who are also trying. It's unfair. There are others who are also trying and with a little media support and sponsorship they can also prove themselves. A player needs to play at least some 17 quality tournaments to garner enough points to go up the WTA ladder. That is not possible without sponsors. What happens if I end up playing 15? it's also true that having a sponsor almost all through her career and being managed by Globosports, who guided her, helped her reach where she is now."...The personality-challenged Russian Nikolay Davydenko is the life of the party at Prince, where he has just signed-on to wear the clothing line: "Davydenko is one of the most exciting young talents in world tennis and we are delighted that he has chosen to join the Prince team," said Alistair Thorburn, Prince Sports International President. "The interest in our new O3 technology has been so high that Nikolay wanted to try the O3 Tour in May. Since then, he and the racquet have become inseparable -- and the results thereafter speak for themselves." Wish the racquet spoke for itself, it'd probably give better post-match conferences...Maria Sharapova wants to remind you that she reached No. 1 in the world at 18 years old: "I won my first grand slam title at the age of 17-years-old that I could not have imagined and also because it (Wimbledon) is my favorite championship and I just cherish it very much, so to be No. 1 at 18-year-old is just to be consistent," Sharapova said Tuesday in Beijing. "I really enjoyed the competition and took a lot of hard work to make myself No. 1 at 18 years old...My study is good, I have three more courses to finish my high school study, and I'm picking economics and chemistry." And the elective 'Diva 101'...Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both won 10 titles this year. The last time two players won double-digit titles in the same year? In 1977 Guillermo Vilas won a record 16 titles while Bjorn Borg won 10 titles, and before that Ilie Nastase won 15 titles and Jimmy Connors 11 in 1973. But while the men's tour has unprecedented depth under the ATP in 2005, back in the '70s there was the Grand Prix tour, the WCT tour, and other miscellaneous tournaments all comprising the men's circuit, with all titles counting...Outlook India reports that a chapter on Sania Mirza has been made a part of the school curriculum in Chattishgarh...The French Open announced equal prize money almost 32 years to the day that Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs played in the Battle of the Sexes match in 1973...TennisWorld's Peter Bodo says he predicted the Sania Mirza controversy: "You know what? I saw this coming from a mile away. Oh sure, I was one of the "western journalists" who reveled in coming across a Muslim woman who didn't make everyone panic and wonder, "Gee, what's really in that backpack?" I confess, I seized on Mirza as something like a good news story out of a part of the world where so much of the news for free, tolerant societies, especially those in the west, has been bad. But here's something else -- I waded into this scenario because I felt all along that this could add up to trouble. Because, in the end, I see no way that you can square conservative Islamic values with Mirza's style -- exuberantly youthful and transparent as it is. I understand the conservative mind; I have one of my own."...Roger Federer: "Personally I would like to see the Davis Cup being played every two years, which would give everybody a much bigger chance to take part."...Serena Williams says the Chinese are underfoot: "People talk about the Russians and the Belgians but you've got to watch out for the Chinese next. They're everywhere in the locker room these days." Yeah, especially this week in Beijing, go figure...Fernando Gonzalez is making some cash by fronting for the Chilean Avocado Importers Association: "Avocados make a nutritious snack anytime of day," says Gonzalez in a press release. "They are a regular part of my fitness routine because they contain important vitamins, minerals, are a good source of fiber and are low in saturated fat. That helps keep me full and energized during practices and matches." Mmmm, pass the "guac"...Captain Mats Wilander and the Swedish Davis Cup squad are struggling to get used to the hot and humid conditions in their tie against India at New Delhi this weekend, with Andreas Vinciguerra passing out during a practice session and being rushed to the hospital: "It is scary," Wilander said. "When someone of your team is taken in an ambulance, it is scary. One more person down, and we would be down to three. We have never played in this kind of heat and humidity. We see this only probably in the U.S., but there it is hardcourts and on grass here it is less compared to there. But certainly the conditions here are tough."