Moscow Loss Sees Safina WTA Year-End Chances Dwindle
Posted on October 11, 2006Dinara Safina's chances of reaching the WTA year-end championship took a large hit Tuesday in front of her homecountry crowd in Moscow where the No. 7 seed was easily dismissed 6-1, 6-2 by unseeded fellow Russian Anna Chakvetadze.
Safina, 360+ points behind No. 8 Elena Dementieva in the 2006-only standings, desperately needed a chunk of the 300 points that go to the winner this week at the Tier I event in Moscow, or the 210 to the runner-up. Now Safina will be forced to make a large impact next week at the Tier I stop in Zurich, as her final two events are low-point Tier II and III gainers at Linz, Austria, and Hasselt, Belgium.
Safina is at No. 10 in the 2006-only point standings, with Swiss Patty Schnyder at No. 9, and the Top 8 qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid the week of Nov. 6.
Other winners in first-round play Tuesday in Moscow were Russian Elena Vesnina (d. Na 7-6 in the third), Italian Francesca Schiavone (d. Kirilenko 7-6 in the third), and qualifiers Iveta Benesova (d. Santangelo from a set down) and Ekaterina Bychkova (d. (Q) Rodionova).
On Wednesday the top Russians come out to play in Moscow in Petrova vs. Groenefeld, Kuznetsova vs. Zvonareva, Bychkova vs. Sharapova, Stosur vs. Gagliardi, and Schnyder vs. Rubin.
Safina, 360+ points behind No. 8 Elena Dementieva in the 2006-only standings, desperately needed a chunk of the 300 points that go to the winner this week at the Tier I event in Moscow, or the 210 to the runner-up. Now Safina will be forced to make a large impact next week at the Tier I stop in Zurich, as her final two events are low-point Tier II and III gainers at Linz, Austria, and Hasselt, Belgium.
Safina is at No. 10 in the 2006-only point standings, with Swiss Patty Schnyder at No. 9, and the Top 8 qualifying for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid the week of Nov. 6.
Other winners in first-round play Tuesday in Moscow were Russian Elena Vesnina (d. Na 7-6 in the third), Italian Francesca Schiavone (d. Kirilenko 7-6 in the third), and qualifiers Iveta Benesova (d. Santangelo from a set down) and Ekaterina Bychkova (d. (Q) Rodionova).
On Wednesday the top Russians come out to play in Moscow in Petrova vs. Groenefeld, Kuznetsova vs. Zvonareva, Bychkova vs. Sharapova, Stosur vs. Gagliardi, and Schnyder vs. Rubin.