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by Alex Dimitrov The Acura Classic in San Diego, California has been known to consistently attract the top players on the WTA tour. This year the field was no different. Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, and Kim Clijsters were all headlining the biggest Tier II tournament on the tour. Among fan favorites were Anna Kournikova, Mary Pierce, and Jelena Dokic. World #4 Monica Seles was also entered but mysteriously pulled out late Tuesday afternoon citing the usual foot injury that has plagued her career the last two years. Nevertheless the tournament went on as planned, welcoming record crowds and staging dramatic hardcourt tennis. The Wednesday day session began with a compelling matchup on Center Court between Daniela Hantuchova and her doubles partner, Ai Sugiyama. Sugiyama, who was wearing a light lime green outfit, looked to be in fine spirits as she smiled and remained loose during the warm-up. As play began Sugiyama's steady baseline game proved to be too much for Hantuchova, who seemed to be a bit off as she was spraying forehands and backhands left and right. Sugiyama comfortably took the first set 6-4 despite some brilliant down the line backhands courtesy of Hantuchova, who seemed to be the only player able to pull off Nike's quite revealing white lacey outfit featuring a mini-skirt and a cropped top. In the second set Daniela pulled her game together combining impressive strategy and mental toughness to take the second set 6-1. Hantuchova showed great placement on her serve as she often swung Sugiyama out wide while keeping her guessing with a few down the center bombs. Her composure on court rivaled that of Graf, and her shot selection was as intelligent as that of Hingis. The real drama began in the third set with Hantuchova receiving her first warning and time violation while serving down 0-1. Daniela held comfortably for 1-1 despite the violation, while Sugiyama did the same in the next game to take a 2-1 lead. In Hantuchova's next service game Sugiyama broke at 15, and Daniela returned the favor in the next game to get things back on serve at 2-3 and then 3-3 after holding comfortably. All went with serve up to 6-5 in the third, including a dramatic game at 5-5 where Hantuchova got a time violation point penalty giving Sugiyama an ad to close out her service game and lead 6-5. During the change over at 6-5 Sugiyama called for the trainer due to the fact that her calves were bothering her as she would later point out in her press conference. After a three minute injury time out Sugiyama was back on the court receiving serve. Hantuchova quickly went down 0-30 on her serve but made it back to 30-30 thanks to a few sloppy errors by Ai. Sugiyama forced an error out of Hantuchova to give her her second match point at 30-40, only to blow it with a wide return of serve leveling the score at deuce. Sugiyama would once again get the ad and with it her third match point. Hantuchova missed her first serve and stepped back behind the baseline for a quick moment, as she approached the service line after bouncing the ball only three times, Dennis Overberg (or Overule as he later became known by fans) called a second time violation point penalty on Hantuchova and with it the match. Sugiyama had won 6-4 1-6 7-5, leaving Hantuchova in shock at the baseline as she stared at the umpire's chair with her mouth wide open and tears beginning to weld up in her eyes. The crowd booed the decision very passionately while Sugiyama stood in front of the net looking up at the chair doubting whether the right decision had been made. Hantuchova handled it all with class as she shook hands with Sugiyama (who comforted her at net) and Overberg. In her press conference Daniela said that she thought the decision was unfair and was quite surprised at the three time violations she had received as she never remembered ever getting one before. The decision set off a frenzy around the grounds and Overberg had to be escorted off the court by security due to the strong fan reaction. It was by far the talk of the day. Meanwhile the talk of the previous week had been Lindsay Davenport who had come back after a nine month lay off. Davenport was facing Marie-Gaianeh Mikaelian in the second round. Mikaelian managed to race off to a 2-0 lead taking advantage of a slew of unforced errors off of Davenport's racquet. Davenport quickly got a hold of the situation leveling the score at 2-2 after which she never looked back. She took the first set 6-3 despite struggling with her groundstrokes early on. At times Davenport looked confused as if she didn't know what shots to hit or where on the court. Her serve was quite fast yet not that very well placed, explaining the fact that she was broken so early on. All the would change however as Davenport took the second set 6-0 and with it the match. In the end she looked comfortable and confident yet not overly emotional. Despite the fact that she does indeed look like she has lost a lot of weight, Davenport is not moving any better than she was before her injury. In fact, at times she looked awkward in her movement along the baseline and up towards the net. "I'm really happy about playing here," she said, "though my serve isn't as consistent as it used to be." Next to take the court was Anna Kournikova who had destroyed Alexandra Stevenson in the previous round despite the usual talk from the Stevenson camp. Kournikova was lucky enough to face lucky loser Jennifer Hopkins rather than Monica Seles. Anna took the first set 6-2 demonstrating a patient game based more on strategy than power tennis. Kournikova was patient, calm, and collected while she managed to hit 23 winners and 24 unforced errors in her 6-2 6-4, 53 minute victory. She got in 75% of her first serves and displayed sharp returns as she converted on 4 out of 5 break points during the match. In her press conference Anna was bubbly and talkative. She seemed to be very happy that the press was for once talking about her tennis rather than her private life. She joked around about winning a few more matches and talked about staying patient with her next opponent Conchita Martinez. Despite her solid play the crowd was still in awe of her low cut two piece Adidas outfit which she topped off with a cyan visor and snazzy Adidas sneakers. Despite overwhelming heat drenching her face in sun tan lotion, Anna won in style. That left two-time defending champion Venus Williams to open night session play versus Janette Husarova. Venus, as always, looked poised, strong, and confident despite a slow start where she trailed 1-3 in the first. Williams looked to be in control during the entire match despite being tested by constant drop shots by Husarova. When asked had she ever seen that many drop shots in her life, Williams joked "No, never." The 6-4 6-1 victory seemed to please Venus, who was upbeat and funny in her press conference. "I'm trying to have fun," she said, "even when I have to be serious in serious matches." At the end of the day it was Williams who got the biggest round of applause and deservingly so. However the night wasn't over yet as Jelena Dokic took the court versus Anastasia Myskina. The match definitely produced the longest and most entertaining rallies of the day. Both girls have a similar style of play, lacking a big serve yet harboring huge groundies. Dokic looked to be her usual self in the 6-3 6-3 victory -- nothing flashy yet nothing terrible. In her press conference she was asked about the Formula 1 race car driver in her friends box who she claimed "likes tennis"...and obviously her. In other matches Kim Clijsters prevailed in straight sets while looking steady yet unimpressive, and Conchita Martinez fought off tough Russian Tatiana Panova in three very tough sets. Later Martinez would return on the same court to play doubles with partner Mary Pierce. The pair easily defeated Cara Black/Elena Likhovtseva 6-1 6-1. Pierce looked to be in a great mood as she laughed and joked with friends after the match and was ever so gracious in signing autographs for numerous fans. She might not be as fit as she used to but Pierce is just as lovely and gracious, if not more. With that said, it was a lovely Wednesday at the Acura Classic. The old and the new came together to give us more drama, more fun, and even more excitement to keep us coming back for more. |