It was a beautiful Sunday in Scottsdale, Arizona for the second day of qualifying action for the 2002 State
Farm Women's Tennis Classic. It was a busy day as the main court and three other side courts were
utilized to whittle down the 32-player qualifying draw to the four players who will advance on to the main
draw.
Our Wynne
Last August at the Rogers AT&T Cup, a young up-and-coming player,
Wynne Prakusya, won our hearts as
she qualified for the Toronto Tier I tournament and advanced
to the third round losing to Capriati. The
20-year old Indonesian is trying to get her game back on track after a back injury late last year. Upon my
arrival to the side court, things were not looking good for Prakusya in her first round qualifying match at
the State Farm. She had dropped the first set to American Janet Lee 6-4 and appeared not to be catching
onto Lee's game and especially her first serve. But fortunately Prakusya, that first serve started to give Lee
some problems and Prakusya secured two service breaks to take the second set in fairly quick fashion at 6-
3. The final set was a bit shaky in the middle part of the set as the server was broken four straight times.
But the momentum shift was evident after Prakusya's second set victory. The diminutive Indonesian did
not hesitate to step into the court to take Lee's short balls early and was successful in passing Lee at her
frequent appearances at the net. Prakusya was also not shy in lobbing the self-proclaimed "tall and skinny"
Lee. Prakusya prevailed in the final set at 6-2 and had the unenviable task of a qualifier - a second match
of the day. Prakusya's second round qualifying opponent for the late afternoon match was Cara Black, an
easy 6-1, 6-0 winner over American Jane Chi.
Final qualifying rounds are scheduled to be completed on Monday.
Around the Grounds
There were plenty of players roaming the grounds on the eve of the main draw tournament. Many players
were taking in the qualifying action including Ai Sugiyama and Amy Frazier, who was not successful in
avoiding autograph hounding children carting around those omnipresent super-sized tennis balls. Elena
Likhovtseva and wildcard Elena Bovina were also enjoying sunny and warm conditions. One surprising
appearance was American Lisa Raymond, who must have had some really good plane reservations to be in
Scottsdale in less than 24 hours after her title at the Kroger St. Jude tournament in Memphis. Barbara
Schett and home-town gal, Meghann Shaughnessy, managed to snag one of the courts not being used for
qualifying play for some hitting practice with each other.
Tournament Update and Preview
The State Farm lost one of its top seeds on Saturday when Jelena Dokic's hip problem forced her out of the
tournament. Lingering injuries have also led to the absence of previously committed players, Kim Clijsters
and Mary Pierce. The defending champion, Lindsay Davenport, also continues her recovery from knee
surgery. Additionally, tournament organizers and tennis fans are holding their breathes over Serena
Williams who is seeded third and expected to compete in her first match since an injury forced her out of
the Sydney tournament last month.
Nevertheless, the anticipation is great for a competitive tournament this year. The eight seeded players are
all seeded within the Top 30 and the main entry cutoff was #66. Anticipated quarterfinal pairings are:
Capriati vs. Schett, Shaughnessy vs. Schiavone, Raymond vs. Serena Williams, Bedanova vs. Hingis. If
the seeds continue to hold there is a tanatalizing semifinal between Hings and Serena and ultimately a
Australian Open redux between Capriati and Hingis. One match to watch out for is a possible second
round meeting between Capriati and a rejuventated Alexandra Stevenson. Stevenson knocked Capriati out
of Sydney earlier in the year and led many to question Capriati's ability to repeat in Melbourne. Stevenson
opens up against fellow American Amy Frazier while Capriati, as one of the top four seeds, receives a bye.
Look for reports throughout the week from the 2002 State Farm Women's Classic!