Wednesday afternoon saw the last of the first round matches of the State Farm Tennis Classic. Monica Seles, fresh off her Oklahoma City title, was given a nice break before her first round match versus the #25 ranked Talaja. Unfortunately for both ladies they will have to play a match every day for the duration of the tournament.

Well, to be honest, there is not much to say about the first set. Seles simply steamrolled her opponent. Including the changeover, the first four games of the match took a mere 10 minutes. There was one interesting note in Seles's first service game. On the first point, Seles actually came into the net under her own volition and finished the point off with a backhand volley winner. However, this filled Seles's quota and to my memory she did not voluntarily return to the net for the remainder of the match. Likewise, Talaja seemed to be no fan of net play. In the warm-up, I believe Talaja only took about five to six volley hits before requesting Seles to hit overheads. With Seles standing well within the baseline on both first and second serves, Talaja was broken in her first two service games. Talaja did manage to win the fifth game on her serve after being down 0-40. Always known for her two-hands on both wings, Seles has been seen doing one-handed forehand drills in practice. It must be working as Seles won the set with a one-handed forehand winner. The 6-1 set took lasted just 21 minutes and Seles lost an amazing one point on her serve for the set.

The crowd at this point was anticipating a quick finish to the match. Talaja had a different idea and Seles may have had it too easy in the first set. Both players would hold their opening games. Aided by a Seles double fault, Talaja would break the American's thus far impenetrable service in the third game. Talaja also took notice of Seles's position at the baseline and began drop shotting her to varying degrees of success. Talaja nearly broke Seles's serve for a second consecutive time in the fifth game of the set. Seles started the game off with a double fault and would go down 0-30 as Talaja hit a forehand winner. Seles dug deep and started running Talaja to both sides of the court. Talaja would earn a break point in a close call that Seles questioned with the chair umpire. Getting the game back to deuce Seles would throw in an ace to remain one break down at 3-2.

The players held serve over the next several games. Seles would throw in a couple of aces as her service game domination returned. Talaja would win both her service games with dropshot winners. The test for Talaja was going to be serving for the set. Talaja would get to 30-15, two points from the set. A missed drop shot attempt would even the game to 30-30. A long rally with another Seles one-hand forehand that fell just in the baseline gave Seles a break point that she quickly converted on the next point. Seles had another ace to bring the set to 6-5, while Talaja jammed Seles with a serve to send the second set to a tiebreak.

Here is how the tiebreak unfolded:

Seles: Seles' hits a swinging volley, Talaja's lob attempt is long. Seles 1-0.

Talaja: Seles' backhand crosscourt attempt hits the net. 1-1.

Talaja: Talaja nets a forehand. Seles 2-1.

Seles: A 10+ stroke rally ends with a Seles backhand going wide. 2-2.

Seles: Another long rally, Seles hits long. Talaja 3-2.

Talaja: A strong serve by Talaja forces Seles's shot long. Talaja 4-2.

Talaja: Seles's shots have no length during this point, Talaja hits a winner. Talaja 5-2.

Seles: Talaja nets a forehand return. Talaja 5-3.

Seles: Yet another long rally which ends with a Seles forehand hitting the net. Talaja 6-3.

Talaja: Talaja hits a forehand wide. Talaja 6-4.

Talaja: Seles hits a forehand cross-court winner that just clips the line. Talaja 6-5.

Seles: A short rally with a Seles drop shot winner. 6-6.

Seles: A long really with Talaja just hitting the line with a forehand. Talaja 7-6.

Talaja: You guessed it another long (10+) rally with Seles hit a stab volley drop shot winner. 7-7.

Talaja: Talaja attempts a drop shot and misses. Seles 8-7

Seles: A backhand winner on the third shot of the rally. Seles 9-7.

A thrilling tiebreak to say the least. Of course, Seles's grunt was in full gear the entire time. In the post match press conference Seles would call her shot at 7-7 in the tiebreak "a volley of a lifetime." While amazed by her own shot, she was also a little disappointed that she let the second set get more complicated than she would have liked it to be. Seles did credit Talaja for her ability to change her tactics mid-match and her improved serving in the second set. The first round victory set up a Seles/Schett match to be contested on Thursday.

Yes, this second round would be a rematch of this year's Australian Open semifinal. Davenport walked on the court with her thigh still wrapped from her hamstring injury that she sustained the last time she played Capriati. This night match was a tad chilly with temperatures probably in the upper 50s. But the air was not the only thing that was cold, so were both player's games. Capriati would quickly surrender her first service game with a double fault. Davenport would hold in a marathon first service game, throwing in three double faults with Capriati squandering five break opportunities. Capriati would break back in the fourth game with two backhand down the line winners of her own and a Davenport double fault on break point.

For much of the first set, Davenport just did not look like she wanted to be on the court. Being a self-proclaimed 80% fit, Davenport often did not move for some of Capriati's groundstrokes. Down a break at 4-2, Davenport would also spend an uncharacteristically long time discussing a line call at 30-30 with the chair umpire. An ace gave Capriati a 5-2 lead. Aided by two Capriati unforced errors, Davenport held at love the next game. Capriati would counter with service game held at love to take the first set 6-3 in 28 minutes.

The players held to start the second set. But Davenport again would find herself in the middle of a sustained service game. A double fault brought the game to deuce. Seven more deuces would ensue with Capriati earning two break chances. During this game, Davenport's mobility certainly seemed to be questionable. Capriati would have her own struggle in the next service game with four deuces, however the outcome would be different as Davenport went on to break Capriati. Davenport held easily and Capriati immediately went down 0-40 on her next service game. This time Capriati was able to dig her out and hold. The serving problems continued on. Davenport gave Capriati four more chances to even the set but prevailed after the fourth deuce. Capriati double faulted to start her serve and ended up giving Davenport the set. Despite the 6-2 score the set took 50 minutes to complete.

The third set was a tossup. The first game was not helpful in giving the crowd a clue of what to expect next. Davenport's service games had become unpredictable. She opened the set with another challenging service game. Capriati would be given three break chances before Davenport held on with a forehand winner on the fourth deuce. Capriati would lose her serve at love to go down a break in the final set. The players held serve for the next three games when much to the pro-Capriati crowd delight the Floridian broke back to even the match. Davenport bounced her racquet to the court in disgust. Clearly the match had gone on longer than Davenport would have liked. Capriati was not able to sustain her advantage as she double faulted to give Davenport a chance to serve out the match. Davenport was up to the task and served out the match at love. At nearly two hours, the final score was 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Davenport's quarterfinal match on Friday will be against the winner of Seles vs. Schett.

Unfortunately due to the delay in waiting for Seles for her post-match press conference, I did not get a chance to see the entire second round match between Martina Hingis and Chanda Rubin. Hingis had already taken the first set at 6-3 upon my return to the courts. Rubin was clearly the more aggressive player in the match. The American was coming into the net quite a bit, but more times than not was getting passed by Hingis or having her volleys land into the net or float wide or long. Rubin was also not as solid on her service game as she was in her first round match against Cara Black. The decisive game of the match saw Rubin double faulting three times at 3-3 in the second set. Hingis would break Rubin one more time to take the match 6-3, 6-3.

At night matches, both tours are getting the crowd involved with the players with a Q&A session following the match. While the questions can often be predictable (When did you start playing tennis? How much do you practice every day?), occasionally the player at the receiving end will be thrown for a loop. Tonight's "victim" was Lindsay Davenport. A woman asked Davenport "Why are so many women's tennis outfits today so tight and short?" After the boos of many male spectators subsided, Davenport (who certainly has one of most modest outfits on the tour) responded that she simply wears what gets sent to her. However, the follow-up question however was the true classic! "And where do you put those tennis balls up your skirt, and how do they stay up?" The audience along with Davenport could not contain their laughter. In all her years of answering questions, it is safe to say that Davenport never had been asked this before. When everyone settled down, Davenport explained that her skirt had "built-in" bicycle shorts and she tucks the ball inside the shorts.