Schnyder, Krajicek Win Openers at WTA Stuttgart
Posted on October 3, 2006STUTTGART, Germany -- For the second consecutive week, Patty Schnyder drew Chanda Rubin in the early rounds. And for the second straight week, she brought out her best. The No.9-ranked Swiss kicked off her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix campaign in style with a 62 62 victory over the former Top 10 player.
Schnyder, seeded No.5 this week, completely dominated Rubin during the 46-minute rout, winning almost three quarters of the points on her serve and breaking the American's delivery five times during the match. In the end, Schnyder had nearly twice as many points as Rubin, leading that stat, 56-30. It was a similar story to her 60 63 victory in the second round of Luxembourg just under a week ago.
The impressive start might give Schnyder the boost she needs at this tournament, where she has curiously underachieved since making her tournament debut here in 1997. She had a solid showing that year, qualifying for the main draw and then bouncing a No.4-ranked Iva Majoli en route to the quarters; but in seven tries since then she has never won consecutive matches, reaching the second round five times and dropping her opening match twice.
In her second round match, which will be played on either Wednesday or Thursday, Schnyder will face the winner of Tuesday's opening round match between Israeli talent Shahar Peer and Russian qualifier Ekaterina Bychkova.
In the only other main draw match of the day, Michaella Krajicek downed Samantha Stosur, 62 67(2) 61. In a match that was touted as being a battle between two of the world's best servers, it was Krajicek who stole the show, firing 13 aces to Stosur's two and winning 88% of her first serve points to 63% for her opponent. It was revenge for the Dutch teenager, who fell to the Australian in the first round of Wimbledon a few months ago.
The first three main draw doubles matches also took the court, the most notable winners being No.2 seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs, who began their quest for a second title of the year with a 64 63 win over Jarmila Gajdosova and Bryanne Stewart. Black and Stubbs claimed the Tier I title in San Diego over the summer.
Four players emerged from the qualifying into the main draw: Tsvetana Pironkova, Karolina Sprem, Sybille Bammer and Bychkova. Iveta Benesova also made it through to the main draw as a lucky loser, having lost to Bychkova in the final round of qualifying but gaining entry after Ana Ivanovic withdrew with a right shoulder injury.
Six more first round matches take the court Tuesday, with just one seed in action again, that being newly-arrived Top 10 player Dinara Safina. Safina, the No.6 seed this week, just made her Top 10 debut on Monday, rising from No.11 to No.10 after a quarterfinal showing at Luxembourg. She has reached that round or better 13 times already this season. She plays Mara Santangelo in the feature night match.
This is the 29th staging of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The only former champion in this year's draw is Mary Pierce, who won it back in 1993. Returning finalists include Amelie Mauresmo, the top seed, and Daniela Hantuchova.
-- WTA
Schnyder, seeded No.5 this week, completely dominated Rubin during the 46-minute rout, winning almost three quarters of the points on her serve and breaking the American's delivery five times during the match. In the end, Schnyder had nearly twice as many points as Rubin, leading that stat, 56-30. It was a similar story to her 60 63 victory in the second round of Luxembourg just under a week ago.
The impressive start might give Schnyder the boost she needs at this tournament, where she has curiously underachieved since making her tournament debut here in 1997. She had a solid showing that year, qualifying for the main draw and then bouncing a No.4-ranked Iva Majoli en route to the quarters; but in seven tries since then she has never won consecutive matches, reaching the second round five times and dropping her opening match twice.
In her second round match, which will be played on either Wednesday or Thursday, Schnyder will face the winner of Tuesday's opening round match between Israeli talent Shahar Peer and Russian qualifier Ekaterina Bychkova.
In the only other main draw match of the day, Michaella Krajicek downed Samantha Stosur, 62 67(2) 61. In a match that was touted as being a battle between two of the world's best servers, it was Krajicek who stole the show, firing 13 aces to Stosur's two and winning 88% of her first serve points to 63% for her opponent. It was revenge for the Dutch teenager, who fell to the Australian in the first round of Wimbledon a few months ago.
The first three main draw doubles matches also took the court, the most notable winners being No.2 seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs, who began their quest for a second title of the year with a 64 63 win over Jarmila Gajdosova and Bryanne Stewart. Black and Stubbs claimed the Tier I title in San Diego over the summer.
Four players emerged from the qualifying into the main draw: Tsvetana Pironkova, Karolina Sprem, Sybille Bammer and Bychkova. Iveta Benesova also made it through to the main draw as a lucky loser, having lost to Bychkova in the final round of qualifying but gaining entry after Ana Ivanovic withdrew with a right shoulder injury.
Six more first round matches take the court Tuesday, with just one seed in action again, that being newly-arrived Top 10 player Dinara Safina. Safina, the No.6 seed this week, just made her Top 10 debut on Monday, rising from No.11 to No.10 after a quarterfinal showing at Luxembourg. She has reached that round or better 13 times already this season. She plays Mara Santangelo in the feature night match.
This is the 29th staging of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The only former champion in this year's draw is Mary Pierce, who won it back in 1993. Returning finalists include Amelie Mauresmo, the top seed, and Daniela Hantuchova.
-- WTA