Mauresmo, Dementieva Stave Off Upsets in Moscow
Posted on October 13, 2006MOSCOW, Russia -- After a day of intense competition, the quarterfinal line-up was set at the $1,340,000 Kremlin Cup. Perhaps the most dramatic victories of the day went to Amelie Mauresmo and Elena Dementieva, who both held off younger opponents in marathon three-setters to book their spots among the last eight at the Tier I event.
World No.1 and top seed Amelie Mauresmo played her first match of the week later on, but very nearly became the tournament's biggest upset victim. Russian youngster Elena Vesnina, who had scored her fourth Top 20 win of the season in a first round shocker over Li Na, nearly took her first win over a reigning world No.1, pushing the Frenchwoman to a third set tie-break before eventually falling, 57 63 76(3).
Vesnina played clutch tennis late in the first set, breaking at love in the ultimate game, but was unable to repeat the same form at the end of the match, making costly errors in the deciding tie-break en route to the two-hour, 22-minute loss.
"Obviously it was a very tough match today, but I'm glad I got through it," said Mauresmo, who was playing for the first time since reaching the Beijing final two weeks ago, having pulled out of Stuttgart last week with a right shoulder injury. "After my injury I wasn't sure how I'd come out today but she really made me work for the win. I'd never played her before, but she was very good."
"I feel good about myself for taking the No.1 player to a third set tie-break," said Vesnina. "I learned so much about where my game is. I know I can play with the top players now. Hopefully next time the result will be different. Certainly, my next goal is to be in the Top 10; it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to get there, but I'm willing to do it."
Dementieva, the No.3 seed, didn't need a third set tie-break, but came within one point of dismissal in the second set tie-break; after two hours and 39 minutes of gruelling baseline battling, the Russian prevailed, 46 76(4) 63, sending her into the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals for the sixth time in the last seven years.
The match featured a large number of momentum shifts. Peer initially held a 5-1 opening set lead, which was cut down significantly before she finally closed it out; the story was much the same in the second set, with Dementieva racing out 5-2 before saving a match point with a crisp backhand volley trailing 6-5 and fighting back from a 3-0 tie-break deficit to even the match at a set apiece. The Russian again allowed a lead to slip in the third set, dropping two straight games from 4-1 to 4-3, before winning two of her own to finish it and bring cheers from the crowd.
"I was very close to losing, but the crowd helped me keep fighting," Dementieva said afterwards. "Even when I was down match point, I believed I could still win. I got off to a good start in the third and thankfully was able to finish it off.
"I was down 5-2 and came back to force a tie-break so I felt I was playing pretty good at that time; still, I lost it," Peer said. "These things happen in tennis, things can change from one moment to the next. It just wasn't my day today."
Resilient Petrova, Schnyder among other Thursday winners
No.5 seed Nadia Petrova and No.6 seed Patty Schnyder were also given tough tests to reach the last eight; Petrova rallied back from deficits in both sets to take a 63 75 win over veteran countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva, while Schnyder lost control mid-match before regrouping for a 76(3) 16 61 win over Iveta Benesova.
Petrova's win was noteworthy, not just because she overcame a 3-1 first set hole and a daunting 5-2 second set hole, but also because her opponent had beaten her in three of their six prior encounters, and was clearly playing solid tennis.
"I don't think I ate properly before the match, because in the second set, I was lacking concentration and energy; I had a Gatorade bar which was a big help," Petrova said. "Late in the second I felt she was getting tight, and I kept fighting right through to the end; I'm happy I was able to finish the match in two sets."
Also making it through the the round of eight on Thursday were No.8 seed Nicole Vaidisova, who bested Samantha Stosur, 64 61; and recent Guangzhou champion Anna Chakvetadze, who regrouped after letting a 5-1 first set lead evaporate, taking down Francesca Schiavone, 76(3) 64.
No.2 seed Maria Sharapova and unseeded Vera Zvonareva both won their second round matches on Wednesday.
In the doubles draw, top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur were ousted by Petrova and Kuznetsova surprisingly easily, 62 61. No.3 seeds Schiavone and Kveta Peschke are the only seeds remaining as of the end of play Thursday.
Classic quarterfinal line-up comes to life Friday
Friday's Kremlin Cup line-up is nothing less than spectacular. Mauresmo takes on Vaidisova in a rematch of their Roland Garros round of 16 duel, Sharapova faces Chakvetadze in a battle between two of Russia's greatest young prospects, Petrova and Zvonareva make up the second all-Russian quarterfinal, and last but definitely not least is the Dementieva-Schnyder clash, which features two players who will be battling it out in the coming weeks for one of the last Madrid berths.
"She's a very good player, very consistent, and always intense on the court from start to finish," said Petrova of Zvonareva. "I'll need to play aggressively and try and break her down mentally."
"We're both fighting for a spot in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid," said Dementieva on her upcoming clash with Schnyder; the Swiss leads their career head-to-head, 6-5. "Tomorrow's match is a very important one."
-- WTA
World No.1 and top seed Amelie Mauresmo played her first match of the week later on, but very nearly became the tournament's biggest upset victim. Russian youngster Elena Vesnina, who had scored her fourth Top 20 win of the season in a first round shocker over Li Na, nearly took her first win over a reigning world No.1, pushing the Frenchwoman to a third set tie-break before eventually falling, 57 63 76(3).
Vesnina played clutch tennis late in the first set, breaking at love in the ultimate game, but was unable to repeat the same form at the end of the match, making costly errors in the deciding tie-break en route to the two-hour, 22-minute loss.
"Obviously it was a very tough match today, but I'm glad I got through it," said Mauresmo, who was playing for the first time since reaching the Beijing final two weeks ago, having pulled out of Stuttgart last week with a right shoulder injury. "After my injury I wasn't sure how I'd come out today but she really made me work for the win. I'd never played her before, but she was very good."
"I feel good about myself for taking the No.1 player to a third set tie-break," said Vesnina. "I learned so much about where my game is. I know I can play with the top players now. Hopefully next time the result will be different. Certainly, my next goal is to be in the Top 10; it takes a long time and a lot of hard work to get there, but I'm willing to do it."
Dementieva, the No.3 seed, didn't need a third set tie-break, but came within one point of dismissal in the second set tie-break; after two hours and 39 minutes of gruelling baseline battling, the Russian prevailed, 46 76(4) 63, sending her into the Kremlin Cup quarterfinals for the sixth time in the last seven years.
The match featured a large number of momentum shifts. Peer initially held a 5-1 opening set lead, which was cut down significantly before she finally closed it out; the story was much the same in the second set, with Dementieva racing out 5-2 before saving a match point with a crisp backhand volley trailing 6-5 and fighting back from a 3-0 tie-break deficit to even the match at a set apiece. The Russian again allowed a lead to slip in the third set, dropping two straight games from 4-1 to 4-3, before winning two of her own to finish it and bring cheers from the crowd.
"I was very close to losing, but the crowd helped me keep fighting," Dementieva said afterwards. "Even when I was down match point, I believed I could still win. I got off to a good start in the third and thankfully was able to finish it off.
"I was down 5-2 and came back to force a tie-break so I felt I was playing pretty good at that time; still, I lost it," Peer said. "These things happen in tennis, things can change from one moment to the next. It just wasn't my day today."
Resilient Petrova, Schnyder among other Thursday winners
No.5 seed Nadia Petrova and No.6 seed Patty Schnyder were also given tough tests to reach the last eight; Petrova rallied back from deficits in both sets to take a 63 75 win over veteran countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva, while Schnyder lost control mid-match before regrouping for a 76(3) 16 61 win over Iveta Benesova.
Petrova's win was noteworthy, not just because she overcame a 3-1 first set hole and a daunting 5-2 second set hole, but also because her opponent had beaten her in three of their six prior encounters, and was clearly playing solid tennis.
"I don't think I ate properly before the match, because in the second set, I was lacking concentration and energy; I had a Gatorade bar which was a big help," Petrova said. "Late in the second I felt she was getting tight, and I kept fighting right through to the end; I'm happy I was able to finish the match in two sets."
Also making it through the the round of eight on Thursday were No.8 seed Nicole Vaidisova, who bested Samantha Stosur, 64 61; and recent Guangzhou champion Anna Chakvetadze, who regrouped after letting a 5-1 first set lead evaporate, taking down Francesca Schiavone, 76(3) 64.
No.2 seed Maria Sharapova and unseeded Vera Zvonareva both won their second round matches on Wednesday.
In the doubles draw, top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur were ousted by Petrova and Kuznetsova surprisingly easily, 62 61. No.3 seeds Schiavone and Kveta Peschke are the only seeds remaining as of the end of play Thursday.
Classic quarterfinal line-up comes to life Friday
Friday's Kremlin Cup line-up is nothing less than spectacular. Mauresmo takes on Vaidisova in a rematch of their Roland Garros round of 16 duel, Sharapova faces Chakvetadze in a battle between two of Russia's greatest young prospects, Petrova and Zvonareva make up the second all-Russian quarterfinal, and last but definitely not least is the Dementieva-Schnyder clash, which features two players who will be battling it out in the coming weeks for one of the last Madrid berths.
"She's a very good player, very consistent, and always intense on the court from start to finish," said Petrova of Zvonareva. "I'll need to play aggressively and try and break her down mentally."
"We're both fighting for a spot in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid," said Dementieva on her upcoming clash with Schnyder; the Swiss leads their career head-to-head, 6-5. "Tomorrow's match is a very important one."
-- WTA