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Indian Wells Preview
March 5th 2003
by Matt Donaldson Pacific Life Open, Indian WellsThe second Tier One of the year takes place over the next fortnight, in a hopefully rain free Indian Wells in California. There certainly isnt a suggestion of any poor weather with forecasts predicting beautiful weather, reaching a maximum of about 85F on Saturday, and that should leave it free to enjoy some quality tennis, despite the absence of both the Williams's, Justine Henin-Hardenne and Monica Seles. The field is still strong however, as you would expect of such a tournament, with last years champion Daniela Hantuchova looking to defend her title against the likes of Capriati, Davenport, Clijsters and Mauresmo. And no wonder there is such a large showing of good players. The winner of the event can look forward to a nice fat cheque for $332,000 and 325 points for the rankings. With a purse of $2.1 million, sponsorship doesnt come cheap. Pacific Life are the main sponsors, and there are no prizes if you had guessed that already. They are accompanied by the likes of Mercedes, Fila, Penn, Head, Bank of America, Aero Mexico and Michelob, who all grant their name to the high profile event. With all the money that's involved, and a 96 player draw, event organiser Jerry Milani has his plate full for the next two weeks. However, if you want to add to his woes and feel like asking him a question, then he can be e mailed at jerry@alantaylor.com. And rather strangely, its relatively easy to keep an eye on whats happening in this tournament. Along with the live scores on the web, available at the event website at www.pacificlifeopen.com, there is an embarrasment of riches in terms of television coverage, and you can see what station is covering the event in your country here http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/en/tournament/tvschedule.asp. No more excusesTime is quickly running out for Daja to keep using early season rustiness as an excuse for sub-standard performances. This years performances have been poor in comparison to last year, and that will obviously result in a drop down the rankings. Other than a second round appearance in the Australian Open, she has failed to get past the first round in three tournaments, and didnt even qualify for Tokyo. This week she really does need to perform, not only for her ranking, but also for her confidence, as the slide she has suffered this year affected her badly, and what started as poor early season form could quickly develop into a poor first half of the season, and from there a poor whole season. Its really important therefore that Daja performs in the next two tournaments to give her season a boost. !
Daja opens with what should normally be an easy tie against Austrian Patricia Wartusch. However, in Daja's recent run of form, the world number 69 could cause her a little grief. She certainly comes into the event with better form than Daja, reaching the second round in Acapulco and the semis in Doha. Its a match that could well cause Daja a problem. However, she should know that she has the game in her to beat her, and with the focus she is going to need if she is to do well here,she should win. Unfortunately, her draw has not been the kindest. Waiting after the Wartusch match is Lindsay Davenport. The world number seven has had an excellent start to the season, winning in Tokyo and reaching the final in Sydney. However, she lost last week in Scottsdale in the second round to Ai Sugiyama, and so there could be glimpse of hope. What is less encouraging is the absence of a Daja win in the three meetings of the two. At a time when Daja needed a bit of luck to boost her confidence, she has not been given any and faces a difficult task to retain the points from her third round appearance last year. However it could be a good thing for her. Playing a top player such as Davenport may well remove some of the complacency from her game. She must know that she can beat the top players, and if she keeps that thought in the back of her head then an unlikely win could occur. It is vital she keeps a positive state of mind until the last point of the match. If she doesnt and lets her head drop, then it could be an easy passage for Davenport to the third round. Unfortunately, i think this is going to be the case this week at least. Next week, she may be a little luckier in the draw, and can hope for good performances this week being the foundation for the step up to her first good tournament of the year in Miami.
1st Round: Daja def Wartusch in straights 2nd Round: Davenport def Daja in three 3rd Round: Davenport def Likhovtseva in straights 4th Round: Davenport def Bovina in straights Q Final: Davenport def Mauresmo in three S Final: Davenport def Capriati in three Final: Davenport def Clijsters in three Visit the Daja Bedanova page here
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