The two biggest names at the Sarasota Open played today, and after the easy victory by their top seed to start the day, tournament organizers were scrambling to contain the disappointment felt after the narrow loss of their hometown girl.

Jelena Dokic comes into the event ranked ninth in the world, and after a few contentious opening games, steamrolled Israel?s Anna Smashnova, 6-1 6-0. Dokic had her high-octane game firing at all cylinders, realizing the potential of her frenetic practices. Smashnova was serving at 1-2 in the first set, and was able to fight back from 0-40 to deuce. A 22-point marathon game followed, leaving those waiting to get into the stadium wailing in agony. Smashnova did have three game points during the epic game, but could not close it out. After two powerful shots by Dokic forced errors from Smashnova?s backhand, Dokic was able to win the pivotal game on her eighth break point.

The diminutive qualifier could not find the wherewithal within her to procure another game. Smashnova had two break points on Dokic?s serve at 1-0 in the second set, but Dokic was able to save the first with a forehand winner, and the second was blown by an errant Smashnova shot. Dokic held on and won 17 of the final 22 points, 11 in a row at one point. Even Smashnova?s last ditch effort in the final game was not enough to stop the Dokic tide, as the Yugoslav hit three winners in a row to clinch victory.

Dokic?s overall pace of play kept Smashnova gasping, as Dokic moved from point to point with barely a breath between them. The teenager was coming out of changeovers well before time was called, so fit and relaxed was she. She said that she knew that keeping a fast pace would frustrate Smashnova, and came into the match knowing that ?if I was going to win the match it was going to be me and if I was going to lose the match it was going to be me.?

Dokic seems quite enthused about finally being totally healthy this year, and took great pride in consistently running down Smashnova?s favorite shot, the drop shot. ?I haven?t been able to do that for months,? she beamed. Injuries are still playing on Dokic?s mind. After she stated that her goal for 2002 was to maintain her ranking, she concluded that the key for her to rise into the Top Five is to ?keep winning matches and stay injury-free.? For right now, Dokic just wants to hold onto her Top Ten status. ?You see so many people who get there and then fall back out,? she mused.

Dokic has the flighty Swiss Patty Schnyder to contend with in the final eight. Dokic has never lost to Schnyder when healthy, but had to retire earlier in the year against her in Antwerp. Still, Dokic holds a 2-0 advantage on clay...

Unfortunately, Sarasota resident Mary Pierce barely lost her second round match, falling to brilliant Russian Anastasia Myskina. Myskina, sitting at a career-high #36 ranking, quickly got a break up on Pierce, but Pierce was able to break right back. But, at 3-3, Myskina was able to break again, and then hit two winners in her next service game to consolidate. After Pierce polished off her next service game at 30 with an ace, Myskina had her chance to close out the first set.

But anyone familiar with Myskina knows that she often has trouble closing out sets and matches. She served for a straight set victory over Jennifer Capriati in Miami, but folded and settled for a three-set loss. This seemed to be no different, as she went down break point. But two stellar serves later, Myskina sat at set point, which she quickly converted after she forced a forehand error. Pierce was staring down a 6-4 deficit, and the pro-Pierce crowd was silent and stunned.

A lengthy game followed, as Pierce, playing for France, had to survive three break points and needed six game points to hold her opening service of the second set. Myskina seemed disheartened at losing that first game, and dropped her serve to go into an 0-2 hole. But the Russian broke back at love, and at the changeover, Pierce icing her thighs, it seemed that Pierce was done for. But Myskina got nervous, as is her tendency. Two double faults in the next game allowed Pierce to regain her break advantage. Pierce held it until she was serving for the second set at 5-3. A broken string on the Myskina racket gave Pierce two set points, but she was unable to win either of them. An errant backhand by Myskina set up a third set point, but Myskina smashed the next ball away to return to deuce. Myskina then was able to look at five break points, but could not get back on serve. The crowd was urging Pierce on frenetically, and finally, with a down-the-line forehand, she took the set 6-3.

The final set was filled with anxious points from both players. Pierce?s power and Myskina?s placement were both wavering. Pierce finally got an important break at 5-5, and with the crowd rabidly behind her, it seemed as though she would close out a terrified Myskina. But, after getting to 30-0, Pierce would never see match point. ?I don?t even remember what happened there,? sighed the two-time major champion. Myskina got the break back to send the match into a final-set tiebreak, and, after winning it comfortably at seven points to four, she picked up a big win and made it through to the quarterfinals.

A clearly elated Myskina sputtered after the match, ?If I had lost, my dad was gonna kill me!? When I asked her if she grabbed some confidence from this victory, she replied that ?it?s good for experience. I played a little bit faster than her today, that was the key.? Fast and close to the lines is Myskina?s stock in trade. ?You have to play like this, always close to the lines,? though she was unable to pull that off against Capriati because she?s ?bigger than me!? Mary Pierce is bigger than the waif-like Myskina as well, but she knew to use drop shots and perfect placement because Mary is still ?not fast enough now.?

I also asked her whether she wanted to be a role model for some of the younger Russians coming up. When I mentioned Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina, she chided me. ?They train in Spain,? Myskina interjected, ?and use topspin...nothing like my game.? She did say that, of course, they look for her results and cheer her on. I brought up her match against Jidkova, and she said that her fellow Russian had already played the qualifying matches, and was ?more ready than me [for clay],? explaining her early frustration in that match. She was asked ?Can you win this tournament?? and she quickly replied ?yes,? earning peals of laughter from the press. When I brought up that she had previously won a tournament on clay and must love it, she quickly replied ?no!? I told her to pretend it?s hardcourt...

The powerful young Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano continued her dream run in Sarasota. After losing in the qualifying to Smashnova, she became the final player into the main draw after Luxembourg?s Anne Kremer pulled out. Razzano, an expressive player who rides on waves of enthusiasm and petulance when the moods hit her, blasted past her countrywoman Nathalie Dechy in the first round and won again today over Virginia Ruano Pascual.

Like Dechy, Ruano Pascual is a heady, fluid mover who has a wide arsenal of shots at her disposal. She can slice and dice like no one else on Tour, and is the holder of the French Open doubles title to prove it. But, like she did with Dechy, Razzano was able to keep errors at a bare minimum, while using her explosive forehand and solid backhand to whack the ball right through the clay. Razzano has seemed to have curbed her natural desire to charge forward at the slimmest of opportunities, and though she enjoys playing on faster surfaces, we should note that she was Roland Garros junior champion, delighting the home crowd in 2000.

Razzano had to fight off the after-effects of a second set swoon to make it through to the quarterfinals. Holding a break at 4-3, Virginie raced to the court with a quiet ?Allez? as she prepared to serve. But, at 30-15, the slim 20-year-old bricked an easy volley which would have given her double game point. Razzano then served two double faults in a row to concede her break advantage. The curly-haired Spaniard was able to hold onto her service with ease the rest of the set, and was able to collect a flurry of unforced errors in Razzano?s service game at 5-6 to tie the match at one set all.

But Razzano quickly recovered, and, after tense moments at the start of the set, raced through the decider to post a 6-3 5-7 6-2 victory, emphatically closing the deal with an ace. I caught up with the ringleted Razzano after the match, and asked her how she gauged her chances in the next round. ?Well,? she cooed, ?who do I play?? None other than Paola Suarez, who won the French doubles with Ruano Pascual last year, and was spotted cheering vociferously for Ruano today. ?Are you sure?? she asked me. I insisted I was, and after thinking about it for a moment, Razzano replied with a laugh, ?I don?t know, I don?t know!?...

Suarez advanced after Daja Bedanova withdrew from the competition. The sixth-seeded Czech, one of the Tour?s rising stars, had pulled out of the doubles last night after feeling the effects of a right wrist injury. Still, she was hopeful to play singles today, but it was not to be. Daja and her coach, Jan Bedan, are still around, watching many of the matches. Bedan happens to look exactly like Daja, which is understandable since he is her father...

Alicia Molik was able to survive a big rain break yesterday, but the Aussie was not able to survive the fast-rising Slovak Janette Husarova. After dropping the first set 3-6, Husarova romped past Molik 6-0 and 6-2 in the last sets. Husarova lists her favorite surface as clay and tackles tenth seed Tatiana Panova of Russia in the quarterfinals...

In the night match, Meghann Shaughnessy, the second seed, took down Marlene Weingartner of Germany, 6-2 6-3. Shaughnessy had only beaten Weingartner once in five previous meetings. She?ll tackle Myskina in the quarterfinals...