Hantuchova Shakes Off Schett, Smashnova Ends Dyrberg Saga, and More
Pacific Life Open - Indian Wells: March 10, 2002

by Ed Toombs



The already-thin women's draw thinned out even further in the third today, as another of the women to watch became a casualty. Today it was fifth-seeded Jelena Dokic's turn to tumble.

The Yugoslavian ace, who had already been hampered by a right thigh injury before the tournament started, strained her left thigh during her win over Elena Bovina yesterday. The matching thigh injuries were admirable in their symmetry, but did little to help Dokic's court movement. The Yugoslav was easy pickings, and went down easily to Anne Kremer, 6-3, 6-0. Dokic is hopeful that with a week's rest, she should be able to compete at the next big tournament in Miami later this month.

The other upset of a top-eight seed today came as less of a surprise. Elena Dementieva, the 8th seed, is fighting furious battles with her ebbing confidence these days, and it showed in her 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 loss to Alexandra Stevenson. Dementieva actually played fairly well, but it should also be noted that Stevenson, the #25 seed here, is showing signs this year of becoming a big time player: witness her win over Jennifer Capriati in Sydney and her first-ever tour final in Memphis last month. When the tall American gets in trouble, her 110 mph serves have a way of bailing her out of jams, as they did in the third set today. Stevenson says that she has been inspired by watching the powerful serves in men's tennis. "I say, 'They hold their serves and go 6-all, 7-6. I can do the same thing.'"

The two top remaining seeds advanced in straight sets. Martina Hingis, seeded second, advanced more laboriously than the 6-3, 6-3 score would suggest against Elena Likovtseva. And third-seeded Justine Henin rebounded impressively from an uneven first round win over Maja Matevzic to crush Adriana Serra-Zanetti, 6-3, 6-0.




Daniela Hantuchova (18) def. Barbara Schett (16), 5-7, 6-3 6-1
Third round
Stadium 3
Previous head-to-head: Hantuchova leads 1-0 (Zurich indoors, 2001)

Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova (pictured at right), whose seeding matches her young age of 18, disposed of 16th-seeded Austria's Barbara Schett under a hot early afternoon sun.

We all know about service breaks, but sun breaks were the key statistic in the early going. The player looking into the sun lost the first eleven games of the match. Schett got the first sun break, serving into the sun at 6-5, and amazingly held at love to take the first set 7-5. We wondered after the match if Hantuchova noticed this oddity, and indeed she did. "On that side of the court, it was much harder to win games there. That's what I was then concentrating during the second and third set, to try to start winning the games on the other side of the court," said Hantuchova with a chuckle.

Schett was playing well at this stage, and her topspin drives were mixed cleverly with short angles that kept her young opponent guessing. Hantuchova was trying to end points quickly with her darting returns and flat, high-risk blasts from the baseline, and the result was often effective. Hantuchova was missing her shots, particularly the forehand, too often in the first set and a half, and was unable to take control of the early stages of the match.

Schett had Hantuchova in trouble early in the second set, taking a 2-0, but the Slovak came back to level the score. "I felt when I came back from 2-0 down the momentum was changing," observed Hantuchova. The turning point of the match came when Schett served at 3-4, 30-40 in the second set. Hantuchova converted her break point with a steeply angled backhand service return, taking a 5-3 lead. Schett seemed to sag after this, and Daniela wrapped up the set to level the match on a sluggish backhand error by Schett.

The Schett sag continued in the third set, as she wilted in the heat, runnig after Hantuchova's baseline drives with less and less conviction. In all, Schett won only one of the final 13 games of the match. "I think I stepped up my game and started to play much faster, and I was moving her around more instead of hitting it right to her zone." noted Hantuchova. Daniela's energy level also held up well through to the end. "I really like hot weather," The Slovakian teenager told us after the match, "so fo r me it was great. It can not get any better for me than it was today." The 5' 11" (1.81m) Slovak, whose legs are so long that viewed from courtside she looks as if she is playing on stilts, began to toy with her opponent, showing off her touch with feathery drop shots well beyond the tiring Austrian's reach. The match ended on Hantuchova's first match point, when Schett sent another tired backhand wide. Make the final: 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Hantuchova is accompanied here by her mother Marianna and her coach, Englishman Nigel Sears, who has been working with young Daniela since last August. She has had some impressive matches in her young career, but has yet to string together enough of them to reach a WTA tournament final. So her next opponent in the fourth round, third-seeded Justine Henin, presents both a challenge and an opportunity for a breakthrough. The two played back in January in Gold Coast, Australia, and Henin came back after losing the first set to win 1-6, 6-0, 6-3. Hantuchova seemed to be relishing the prospect of a rematch. "It's going to be a tough match. She's a great competitor. Last time we played I played an excellent first set and then let her come back. So I hope that this time I will not give her a chance."

Anna Smashnova def. Eva Dyrberg (Q), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Third round
Court 5
Previous head-to-head: Smashnova leads 1-0 (2001 Fed Cup, clay)

We have had the pleasure of following the impressive 22-year-old qualifier from Denmark all week, through her qualifying matches and first two rounds. The Dyrberg saga came to an unfortunate end today. Apparently hampered by a right wrist injury, the up-and-coming Dane was unable to sustain a remarkable start, and finally capitulated to the gritty and persistent Israeli, Anna Smashnova.

The first set was overwhelmingly in Dyrberg's favour. Smashnova's looping topspin had no effect on the Dane. Dyrberg's lethal forehands whizzed by her helpless opponent time and again as she raced to a 5-0 lead without allowing Smashnova so much as a game point. The little Israeli got on the board to make it 5-1, finally hitting her first winner in this game. But Dyrberg got right back on top of her, closing out the set at love.

Smashnova, realizing she had to force the issue more than she had been, finally started to take some risks in the early stages of the second set, and the action was more competitive. Still, Dyrberg looked in command when she broke Smashnova at love and then held at love to take a 3-1 lead. At this point, the match did an abrupt turn. Dyrberg's wheels fell off, and Smashnova won the next five games in a row to level the match at a set all. Dyrberg was now missing with her groundstrokes, sometimes badly , or hitting lifeless short balls that Smashnova punished for winners. Eva started to display the first signs of temper we had seen from her all week, tossing her racquet to the ground and yelling angrily in her language.

The third set began with more of the same. Dyrberg's serve was broken in the opening game after consecutive double faults that left her dropping her racket angrily to the ground and muttering to herself. After Smashnova raced to a 3-0 lead, we saw that there was perhaps a reason for the Dane's collapse. She called for the trainer, who administered treatment to Dyrberg's right wrist. The injury timeout seemed to help somewhat, as Eva at least won a couple of games to make the score respectable, but her shots were still too weak or wayward to be effective. Dyrberg battled gamely at the end, saving four match points. But the fifth was the charm for Smashnova, who clinched the win when Dyrberg clipped the top of the net with a forehand. Smashnova gave a fist pump and a rather subdued "Yes!" to celebrate her accession to the round of sixteen. Make the final: 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Full marks to Anna Smashnova, for stepping out of her early passive mode and forcing the issue on the second and third sets. The Israeli is having a great year, with titles in the first two weeks of the season (Auckland and Canberra). A fourth round appearance in a tournament of this stature only adds to these impressive achievements. Anna's next opponent is a daunting adversary, 6th seed Meghann Shaughnessy.

As for Eva Dyrberg, it was a sad end to her run at Indian Wells, as her sore wrist made it hard for her to give full rein to her talent. On balance, though, it was a great week, featuring the upset win over 11th-seeded Magdalena Maleeva. Dyrberg will be in the top 100 for the first time in her career when next week's rankings are published. Her impressive play turned a lot of heads, and we know we will see more and greater exploits from this skilled and determined player as her career unfolds.




Men's qualifiers are decided

The men will hit the courts in full force tomorrow, as first round play begins. Today's order of business was the final round of qualifying. Herewith, the successful qualifiers:

  • Attila Savolt: A smallish, blond, bandana-wearing Hungarian with a loopy baseline game, Savolt surprised the top qualifying seed today, Francisco Clavet. But the Spanish veteran makes it into the draw anyway, as a lucky loser, replacing the flu-ridden Andy Roddick. Clavet will play Fernando Vicente, while Savolt will play Wayne Ferreira.
  • Francisco González: The hard-hitting young Chilean, who reached the fourth round of the Australian Open out of qualifying this year, may be troublesome for anyone. Will play Felix Mantilla.
  • Mardy Fish: Fish is an American prospect who got a wild card here last year and upset Mark Philippoussis. Fish made it into the main draw the hard way this year, upsetting #3 qualifying seed Mariano Zabaleta. Fish will play Pete Sampras.
  • David Sánchez: The Spaniard, who surprised by reaching the Roland Garros fourth round last year, is known as a clay court specialist. He will play Tommy Haas
  • Wayne Arthurs: Arthurs has an almost unreturnable serve when he is on, and is starting to show signs of life after a string of defeats on the tour. Will play Todd Martin in a battle of tall guys.
  • Olivier Rochus: One of the smallest players on tour at 5' 5", the good-natured Rochus defeated Denmark's Kristian Pless today. Not a good day for the Danes. Rochus will play Jiri Novak.
  • Karol Kucera: Kucera is a former top ten player who has been struggling with an assortment of injuries for the past few years. Will play Nicolás Lapentti.
  • Paradorn Srichaphan: The unpredictable and flashy Thai is a welcome addition to any draw. Will play Michael Chang.



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