Mauresmo Tops Davenport at WTA Beijing
Posted on September 23, 2006BEIJING, China -- The dream semifinal line-up at the $600,000 China Open, determined on Friday in Beijing, consists of the world No.1, two other in-form women and a local star.
Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo defeated Lindsay Davenport, 64 63, and in doing so ended a nine-match losing streak to the American. The 27-year-old Mauresmo, who is now 4-12 lifetime against Davenport, had not beaten the former No.1 since the Sydney final in January 2000.
"It was frustrating to have lost so many times in a row," said Mauresmo, making her China Open debut this year. "Tonight I really took control of the game; it was a nice reversal."
"It was kind of weird to have won so many times against her," said Davenport of her career record against Mauresmo. "I'd like to have played better and made fewer errors. I have great respect for her. She has had a great year; she's the No.1 player in the world for a reason."
In her ninth semifinal of 2006, Mauresmo will take on a resurgent No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open a fortnight ago.
On Friday, Jankovic defeated No.3 seed Nadia Petrova, 64 46 62 -- an upset on paper, but not a total surprise given Jankovic's fine form of late and Petrova's ongoing comeback from a hip injury.
"It was a really tough match," observed Jankovic. "I was fighting hard and giving my best to win. I'm happy that I'm through to the semifinals."
After a lean start to the year, which saw the Serbian win just one of her first 11 matches, Jankovic is now back in the Top 20 and looking to make even greater progress.
"It's my goal to be in the Top 10," added Jankovic. "If you want to be the best player, you should beat the top players. I'm young and I have many things to improve. I'm looking forward to the semifinals tomorrow; I'll try to play my best."
"She's played very well in the last couple of months, like what she did in the US Open," said Mauresmo of her semifinal opponent, Jankovic. "I expect a tough match tomorrow; she moves and serves well on-court. I will try to focus on my game, like what I did tonight. If I can take control at the beginning, I have a good chance to win."
In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and Chinese wildcard Peng Shuai advanced to a semifinal showdown. Kuznetsova, unbeaten in her last six matches, having won the Bali title last week, again had a tough battle with another local star, Li Na, the No.7 seed.
Having lost to Li in the third round at Wimbledon earlier this year and escaped after saving two match points in the second round here in 2004, Kuznetsova knew she would have a battle on her hands Friday.
The effort required by Kuznetsova to post a 64 46 64 win over Li, the first Chinese woman ever to rank in the Top 20, did not surprise the Russian.
"Li is a good player," said Kuznetsova. "She has the ability to be at a higher ranking; she is a very nice person and a friend of mine. The crowd really enjoyed the match; I think I served well."
Kuznetsova, the China Open runner-up two years ago, will again have the crowd against her on Saturday as she takes on Peng for a spot in her fifth final of 2006. Peng's dream run continued with a 76(3) 36 62 win over Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama.
"My opponent was really tough," said Peng of Sugiyama. "Sugiyama is more experienced than me. I'd decided from the start that no matter I was in the lead or not, I would keep calm and keep fighting. I took some key points in the first set, but in the second set, I didn't manage to break her serve.
"I did well at the beginning of the third set. I really want to thank all the fans supporting me. It was of great help for me."
-- WTA
Top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo defeated Lindsay Davenport, 64 63, and in doing so ended a nine-match losing streak to the American. The 27-year-old Mauresmo, who is now 4-12 lifetime against Davenport, had not beaten the former No.1 since the Sydney final in January 2000.
"It was frustrating to have lost so many times in a row," said Mauresmo, making her China Open debut this year. "Tonight I really took control of the game; it was a nice reversal."
"It was kind of weird to have won so many times against her," said Davenport of her career record against Mauresmo. "I'd like to have played better and made fewer errors. I have great respect for her. She has had a great year; she's the No.1 player in the world for a reason."
In her ninth semifinal of 2006, Mauresmo will take on a resurgent No.6 seed Jelena Jankovic, who reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open a fortnight ago.
On Friday, Jankovic defeated No.3 seed Nadia Petrova, 64 46 62 -- an upset on paper, but not a total surprise given Jankovic's fine form of late and Petrova's ongoing comeback from a hip injury.
"It was a really tough match," observed Jankovic. "I was fighting hard and giving my best to win. I'm happy that I'm through to the semifinals."
After a lean start to the year, which saw the Serbian win just one of her first 11 matches, Jankovic is now back in the Top 20 and looking to make even greater progress.
"It's my goal to be in the Top 10," added Jankovic. "If you want to be the best player, you should beat the top players. I'm young and I have many things to improve. I'm looking forward to the semifinals tomorrow; I'll try to play my best."
"She's played very well in the last couple of months, like what she did in the US Open," said Mauresmo of her semifinal opponent, Jankovic. "I expect a tough match tomorrow; she moves and serves well on-court. I will try to focus on my game, like what I did tonight. If I can take control at the beginning, I have a good chance to win."
In the bottom half of the draw, No.2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and Chinese wildcard Peng Shuai advanced to a semifinal showdown. Kuznetsova, unbeaten in her last six matches, having won the Bali title last week, again had a tough battle with another local star, Li Na, the No.7 seed.
Having lost to Li in the third round at Wimbledon earlier this year and escaped after saving two match points in the second round here in 2004, Kuznetsova knew she would have a battle on her hands Friday.
The effort required by Kuznetsova to post a 64 46 64 win over Li, the first Chinese woman ever to rank in the Top 20, did not surprise the Russian.
"Li is a good player," said Kuznetsova. "She has the ability to be at a higher ranking; she is a very nice person and a friend of mine. The crowd really enjoyed the match; I think I served well."
Kuznetsova, the China Open runner-up two years ago, will again have the crowd against her on Saturday as she takes on Peng for a spot in her fifth final of 2006. Peng's dream run continued with a 76(3) 36 62 win over Japanese veteran Ai Sugiyama.
"My opponent was really tough," said Peng of Sugiyama. "Sugiyama is more experienced than me. I'd decided from the start that no matter I was in the lead or not, I would keep calm and keep fighting. I took some key points in the first set, but in the second set, I didn't manage to break her serve.
"I did well at the beginning of the third set. I really want to thank all the fans supporting me. It was of great help for me."
-- WTA