Venus Re-injures Wrist Thursday at Luxembourg
Posted on September 29, 2006LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg -- The left wrist injury that sidelined Venus Williams for the past three months came back to haunt her Thursday in the second round of the Fortis Championships. Trailing qualifier Agnieszka Radwanska 4-3 in the first set, the pain became almost unbearable for the former world No.1. Williams resorted to hitting backhand slices and allowed her Polish opponent to take the next eight games. Radwanska stayed focused in her 63 60 victory and will play top seed Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals.
"I always had a big problem with my left wrist," Williams said. "There was nothing I could do about it today. I felt it at the end of the first set and couldn't hit my (double-handed) backhand anymore. I had a good slice but I'm not used to having to play on a slice."
Radwanska, who stunned then world No.12 Anastasia Myskina this year in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut at Warsaw, reached her first Tour quarterfinal.
"It was a great match and I'm so happy," Radwanska said. "It was my first match against Venus. The first few games were very tough but the second set was much easier. I could see she had problems because she couldn't hit her backhand as well."
Nadia Petrova's attempt to reach the quarterfinals fell short. The Russian was eliminated by unseeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, 64 63. Despite hitting nice aces, No.2 seed Petrova lost her serve four times against world No.36 Dechy. Since winning three straight tournaments this spring, Petrova has posted a 3-8 record and lost her opening match in six events.
"It was a really great match," Dechy said. "I hit the ball well, I was moving well and I really enjoyed playing like this. It's a perfect day."
Dechy, who defeated Amelie Mauresmo three months ago at Eastbourne, said her next match against Alona Bondarenko will be difficult.
"She's playing a great tournament here and she's playing with lots of confidence," Dechy said. "I'll try to play as well as I did today."
No.5 seed Francesca Schiavone had no problems with countrywoman Roberta Vinci in a 62 61 win. The two won the deciding doubles rubber against Belgium last month to give Italy its first Fed Cup title.
"It's very difficult for me to play someone I know well," Schiavone said. "We just won a big match together. But when you are on court you have to care about your game and you have to focus on doing the best to win. That's all."
Schiavone plays No.3 seed Patty Schnyder on Friday in the last match on Court Central. Kveta Peschke starts the day against No.4 Dinara Safina.
-- WTA
"I always had a big problem with my left wrist," Williams said. "There was nothing I could do about it today. I felt it at the end of the first set and couldn't hit my (double-handed) backhand anymore. I had a good slice but I'm not used to having to play on a slice."
Radwanska, who stunned then world No.12 Anastasia Myskina this year in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour debut at Warsaw, reached her first Tour quarterfinal.
"It was a great match and I'm so happy," Radwanska said. "It was my first match against Venus. The first few games were very tough but the second set was much easier. I could see she had problems because she couldn't hit her backhand as well."
Nadia Petrova's attempt to reach the quarterfinals fell short. The Russian was eliminated by unseeded Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, 64 63. Despite hitting nice aces, No.2 seed Petrova lost her serve four times against world No.36 Dechy. Since winning three straight tournaments this spring, Petrova has posted a 3-8 record and lost her opening match in six events.
"It was a really great match," Dechy said. "I hit the ball well, I was moving well and I really enjoyed playing like this. It's a perfect day."
Dechy, who defeated Amelie Mauresmo three months ago at Eastbourne, said her next match against Alona Bondarenko will be difficult.
"She's playing a great tournament here and she's playing with lots of confidence," Dechy said. "I'll try to play as well as I did today."
No.5 seed Francesca Schiavone had no problems with countrywoman Roberta Vinci in a 62 61 win. The two won the deciding doubles rubber against Belgium last month to give Italy its first Fed Cup title.
"It's very difficult for me to play someone I know well," Schiavone said. "We just won a big match together. But when you are on court you have to care about your game and you have to focus on doing the best to win. That's all."
Schiavone plays No.3 seed Patty Schnyder on Friday in the last match on Court Central. Kveta Peschke starts the day against No.4 Dinara Safina.
-- WTA