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by Christopher Gerby Nadejda Petrova vs. Karina Habsudova Singles qualifying: final round Court 1 This is an unusually good year to be a qualifier in Montreal. Relatively friendly first round draws await all eight of Sunday's winners -- three will face Canadian wild cards and none will be slotted against a seed. Two players capable of taking advantage of this opportunity are Russian youngster Nadejda Petrova (seeded 4th in the qualies) and Slovakia's ever enigmatic Karina Habsudova. The 2000 season has been a nightmare for Habsudova. Formerly ranked as high as # 10 in the world, she's been faced with injuries and unlucky draws (including a very close first round loss to Monica Seles at Wimbledon). Now a humbling 93rd on the WTA computer, Karina had to be hoping for better fortunes at the du Maurier Open. Playing in front of one of the fancy new electronic scoreboards added to the outer courts this year, Habsudova won the toss and elected to serve. She held easily and then snuck out an early break, Petrova sending a backhand long of the baseline to trail 0-2. Dictating the rallies with her powerful groundstrokes, Habsudova held for a 3-0 advantage. Petrova began finding the range, though, and won the morning's first love game to make it 1-3. As Petrova became more consistent, Habsudova came a bit unglued. "It was not even fast," a visibly annoyed Karina pleaded after a slow, floating Petrova shot landed in the vicinity of the baseline and was called in. Habsudova fell into a 0-40 deficit and ultimately lost the game on a double fault. The pair then exchanged holds to give Habsudova a 4-3 lead, on serve. Habsudova wasn't the only one a bit miffed with the chair umpire. With Game 8 about to get underway, he announced "new balls" just as Petrova was going into her service toss. I don't know whether or not Nadejda had made that signal already, but you could tell she was less than thrilled with the timing as she sent a nasty glare in the umpire's direction. Petrova then fell behind 0-30 and banged her racquet against the back fence. Habsudova got to triple break point and immediately converted it -- she jumped all over a Petrova second serve, sending back a clean winner for 5-3. The Russian saved a pair of set points in an error-filled 9th game, but sent a forehand long on set point #3 to surrender the opening set 6 games to 3. I then departed to check out the Centre Court match...and apparently missed a spirited comeback by Petrova! After looking very erratic and annoyed in that first set, she rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory. Petrova will face Kristina Brandi on Monday. Meghann Shaughnessy vs. Justine Henin Singles qualifying: final round Centre Court The morning's stadium match was dramatically poised when I arrived, just in time to see Justine Henin fight off a set point and hold for 5-5. The promising young Belgian recently returned from surgery, but wasn't showing any effects. Game 11 was a feast of Henin highlights: a lovely topspin lob winner for 0-30, a winning backhand (celebrated with a clenched first) for 15-40, and an impressive forehand into the corner to secure a break for 6-5. Upon arriving at her chair Meghann Shaughnessy -- the qualifying draw's lanky, fiery # 2 seed -- violently struck her racquet bag with her racquet and tossed the racquet aside. That display earned her a code violation warning for "unsportsmanlike conduct." Admonitions from the chair were the least of Shaughnessy's worries. A set which she nearly won slipped out of her grasp as Henin closed out a convincing hold with an unreturnable serve. Justine had a 7-5 opening set under her belt and all of the momentum. Shaughnessy won the second set's first game, but it took three deuces and more scrambling than a player of her height would like to do. Henin quickly held for 1-1 and then pushed the American through another long service game. This time Shaughnessy fell -- literally. On the third break point, she slipped near the baseline while attempting to change direction. Meghann could only watch helplessly as Henin's forehand sailed past her for the break and a 7-5, 2-1 lead. Henin continued to take care of her service games handily, playing good, aggressive tennis on her way to a 4-3 lead. Shaughnessy refused to go away, though, and found new hope when Henin's forehand started getting wild. The 21-year-old eked out a break for 4-4 and a hold for 5-4. Henin got behind 30-40 in the following game, putting her in the exact same position she'd rallied from in the previous set. She persevered again, taking the next three points (one of them by knifing a backhand volley winner) to even things at 5-5. As qualifying matches go, this had turned into a particularly tense, intriguing, evenly matched affair. Game 11 was another back-and-forth thriller, going to four deuces as Shaughnessy desperately tried to hold serve. On her fifth break point of the game, Henin came in behind a good forehand approach and knocked off a volley to grab a critical 6-5 lead. She followed that effort with a very dodgy service game, though, handing the break right back and sending the set into a tiebreak. Shaughnessy got the 'breaker off to an ominous start, double faulting for 0-1. Henin ripped an inside-out backhand winner and a big cross-court forehand for 3-0. Shaughnessy's heavy serve got her a point for 1-3, but she double faulted again to trail 1-4. That seemed to take all the fight out of Meghann, who buried a pair of disinterested-looking shots in the net to make the deficit 1-6. Shaughnessy threw in a service winner for 2-6, but it was too little too late. Shaughnessy netted another backhand on the second match point, making Justine Henin a 7-5, 7-6 winner. Meghann Shaughnessy's tenacity, high octane serve, and dangerous forehand make her a player worth watching, but her form really became sloppy in the late stages of each set. Ever the practice court warrior, she could be spotted hitting balls on a side court less than two hours later. Henin, meanwhile, gets a date with Asa Carlsson in the first round of the main draw. Although a wicked one-handed backhand is Henin's most spectacular weapon, her knack for finishing points off at the net was equally striking on this day. In the long run, Henin may be just as good as -- if not better than -- fellow Belgian phenom Kim Clijsters. Anna Kournikova press conference: In an effort to give the media something to write about on a day when no big stars saw official action, the WTA announced a 1 o'clock press conference with Anna Kournikova. The press box had been nearly empty for the Henin-Shaughnessy match, but nearly a dozen reporters crawled out of the woodwork and into the interview room in anticipation of the Lobbing Lolita's appearance. Kournikova arrived nearly 15 minutes late (perhaps delayed by the large crowd which had just watched her warm up on Court 2) and gave the impression she'd rather be elsewhere. At the very least, Kournikova was determined not to make any headlines. Somes of her mildly testy responses to innocuous questions: "I think I answered that before"; "I don't pay attention to that"; "What do I do? I play tennis"; and "You have eyes, right?" Perhaps Kournikova was dismayed that the same issues which seem to come up in all of her interviews -- her image, her love life, the fan frezy she inspires -- were rearing their familiar heads again. In light of that, I gave Anna a hypothetical: "If you could choose one question to never answer again, what would it be?" The Russian refused to take the bait. "It's not in my power to do that," she tersely responded. "I don't want to think about something I can never change." That was about it from Miss Kournikova, who will square off against Cara Black in Monday night's feature match. Magdalena Maleeva vs. Maureen Drake Singles qualifying: final round Centre Court The Kournikova exercise caused me to miss a set and a half of a bout between Magdalena Maleeva and Maureen Drake, the last Canadian alive in the qualifying event. Neither player has limited her activities to the tennis court. Drake volunteers at a homeless shelter and gladly serves as a role model for fellow survivors of abuse. Maleeva, meanwhile, is a notorious free spirit who has participated in the anti-Communist movement in her native Bulgaria. "Maggie" climbed to # 4 in the world rankings back in 1996, but has since been bedeviled by serious injuries and a sporadic commitment to the sport. Currently residing at # 53 in the rankings, Maleeva held a 6-0, 4-3 lead when I settled back into the press box. Game 8 was a good one for Maleeva, who hit a nifty winning drop shot on her way to a hold for 5-3. Just one game away from elimination, Drake delighted the fans by whipping a backhand down the line to close out a hold for 4-5. Maleeva was looking the sharper player in the baseline exchanges, though, and she got to double match point, serving at 40-15. A Drake backhand caught the sideline, keeping her alive at 40-30. However, Maureen then pushed a service return just long of the baseline to seal her 6-0, 6-4 fate. The Toronto native got a very warm ovation (which she acknowledged with a wave) on her way off the court, but it was Maleeva who could savor a brisk 65-minute victory. Magdalena will attempt to play spoiler again, facing Canada's best hope -- spunky Sonya Jeyaseelan -- in the main draw's opening round. Other singles qualifying results:
Garbin/Husarova vs. Labat/Tanasugarn Doubles qualifying: first round Court 2 The Italian/Slovakian pairing of Tathiana Garbin and Janette Husarova barely missed out on inclusion in the main doubles draw. (Their combined ranking is just one point worse than that of Magui Serna and Meghann Shaughnessy, who got a direct entry.) Instead, they were stuck in the muddy depths of doubles qualifying...and their opening opponents were no slouches either. Florencia Labat (of Argentina) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (from Thailand) have played together before, with some success. Janette Husarova has seemingly never quite recovered from the scary knee injury she suffered while playing against Steffi Graf at the 1997 Australian Open. However, it was Husarova who won a solid service game to give her team a commanding 5-2 lead. This put Garbin/Husarova within three games of victory, as the doubles qualifying matches are being played under a "pro set" (first to 8 games) format. Tanasugarn and Labat each missed volleys in the following game, but the pride of Thailand eventually held for 3-5. Good service returns handcuffed first Garbin and then Husarova as the top seeds got behind 0-30 in Game 9. They reached deuce, but Husarova netted a volley on break point to put the match back on serve at 5-4. With Labat trailing 0-30 on her serve, Tanasugarn nailed a forehand volley which whizzed right past Garbin's head. The charismatic Italian hit the deck and grinned as the ball sailed past the baseline for 0-40. Labat then punched a backand volley into the net to surrender the love break. The chair umpire announced that Garbin and Husarova had won the first set 6-4...but weren't we supposed to be playing a pro set? That's what Tanasugarn, Garbin, and Husarova wanted to know -- they all huddled around the umpire until they got the scoring situation straight. Husarova went back out and scored a love hold for a 7-4 lead. At 30-30 in the following game, Husarova's forehand drive was too much for Tanasugarn to handle. Her volley failed to reach the net and her team now faced a match point at 30-40. A backhand service return from Husarova fluttered in the air near Labat, but she elected to let it go, thinking it would land wide. The ball instead dropped right into the doubles alley, clinching an 8-4 victory for Tathiana Garbin and Janette Husarova. Other doubles qualifying results:
Seen around the grounds: Nathalie Dechy wearing a very skimpy sports bra while practicing with Sabine Appelmans on Court 4. The two later played a special exhibition set on Centre Court, but the Frenchwoman dressed more conservatively for that occasion... "Pokemon" cartoon character Pikachu (or at least somebody dressed in a big Pikachu mascot outfit) posing for pictures and hugging anyone within reach as part of the "Family Day" activities. Pikachu even dropped by Court 10 while Annie Miller was hitting with Vanessa Webb. Miller gawked at the yellow creature with a smile on her face and announced she was "infatuated"... Damir Dokic leading daughter Jelena from a practice session (with Nathalie Tauziat) on Court 4 to a hit with another player on Court 8. |