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Daniela's 3rd round
TENNISRULZ.com - April 2003/Week 16
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WTA BACKSPIN!
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by Todd Spiker
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CAPTAIN CRASH & THE BEAUTY QUEEN FROM POPRAD
(or "The Tale of Punch & Wonder Girl")
We're off to see the Wizard, the Wonderful Wizard of the WTA. An overheard
conversation the day before play began last week in Amelia Island:
ELENA: Please, Mister Wizard, give me a heart!
DANIELA: No! She won't know what to do with a heart. Grant my wish -- give me
a body!
ELENA: But, you already have one -- haven't you seen all the pictures in the
magazines? Weren't you considered the "second coming of Anna" by the WTA last
year? Aren't you supposed to be a superhero or something?
DANIELA: Well, all that hasn't been doing me much good lately. I'm still
waiting for that second singles title.
ELENA: I thought it was your birthright. Apparently not, huh?
DANIELA: Hey, at least I have ONE, unlike some Russian I could mention... and I
don't mean Anna.
ELENA: Why you little-
WIZARD OF THE WTA: Stop! Both of you! You're giving me a headache. I've
granted one wish. By the end of the week, you'll know which one of you I've
chosen to bless. Now, get out!
(flashforward one week's time, to the new edition of Backspin)
Elena Dementieva and Daniela Hantuchova both entered the WTA scene with much
fanfare. Dementieva made the 2000 Olympic final and the US Open SF the same
summer; while Hantuchova rose from #38 in early 2002 to take a Tier I title at
Indian Wells and finish the year at #8. A great deal was expected of the
Russian and Slovak's respective careers, but both needed to travel down the
yellow brick road to see the Wizard as last week's action approached.
Hantuchova had been the WTA's dream, the answer to the organization's
prayers: a player with the looks of a model, and the desire and game of a
champion. A perfectly marketable product. She was Kournikova, version 2.0 -- a
Wonder Girl deemed capable of everything before she'd ever really won anything
at all.
It's been a year since she won Indian Wells now. Hantuchova's seen her fair
share of photographers over that time, but the same apparently can't be said of
nutritionists or physical trainers. The player renowned for her body -- from
her long legs to her praying mantis return of serve stance -- has always needed
to add more muscle to her thin frame in order to withstand the rigors of the
tennis season, but she has somehow seemed to have lost what little muscular
definition she had when she made her big breakthrough. Anyone who doubts that
her body isn't capable of changing need only look to Meghannn Shaughnessy, once
The Stick but now something more after a concerted effort to get stronger (she
has, as have her results).
Now, the people who sang Hantuchova's praises a year ago are starting to
wonder just how much wonder there really is in Wonder Girl these days. Her
on-court efforts have turned on her, as well. Toss aside a QF in the Australian
(it accomplished only after escaping two near upsets at the hands of Fabiola
Zuluaga and Adriana Serra-Zanetti in the early rounds), and Hantuchova is just
10-9 in 2003 (13-13 stretching back to last year). The player who stood out on
the big 2002 stages has mostly folded on them in 2003, including going 1-2 while
playing for the Slovak Republic at the Hopman Cup, being ousted in straights in
the 4r to Amanda Coetzer in her Indian Wells defense, losing 0-6 in the 3rd to
Alicia Molik in Miami, and getting crushed by 17-year old Ashley Harkleroad in
Charleston.
Meanwhile, Dementieva entered last week still looking for that elusive first
title in her fifth year on tour. The game to be a champion, highlighted by a
lethal forehand, has always been present, but it was the Russian's head and
heart that held her back. Over the past two seasons, she's made a habit of
losing to players she has no business being challenged by and then never seeming
to forget the loss, causing her to lose to the same player again later (Angelika
Roesch was 3-0 against her in 2002). She's also been expert at winning the
opening set (especially against lesser-ranked players), then losing the match
anyway. She never saw a lead she couldn't choke away. She's been like a
punch-drunk boxer, with the accumulation of shots seeming to have left her
incapable of making any real sense on the court.
But, still, the talent was there. She beat Shaughnessy in Tokyo and
Hantuchova in Paris earlier this year, but she also lost to Barbara Schwartz in
the Oz 1r and was embarrassingly bageled by Amelie Mauresmo, too. There were
quite a few good Russian without titles, but none were wasting as much talent as
Dementieva.
Then came that little meeting with the Wizard, and Amelia Island. By now,
whose wish was granted is more than apparent. In Florida, Punch-Drunk Elena and
Wonder Girl Daniela met again, on the court, and -- for at least this week --
they passed each other in the night, switching roles in the process.
For once, Dementieva played with a sober demeanor all week long. Her victims
had accumulated 56 singles titles to her zero, but she managed to better them
all when it counted. She nearly blew a 4-1, 2-break 3rd set lead over Justine
Henin-Hardenne in the SF, going down 4-5 with a JHH matchpoint, but she
successfully battled her own demons and won. In the final against Lindsay
Davenport, she came back from a set down to win in another three-setter. By
Sunday evening, she was no longer "the other Russian without a title."
One of those wins came against Hantuchova in the QF. A shocking 6-1,6-0
result that has to make the Wonder Backers shudder at what is happening to the
once-golden girl of the WTA's dreams. Now, Hantuchova enters an important
spring/summer schedule, where a decided lack of confidence could result in her
losing her Top 10 status and further eroding the bonanza reputation the WTA
marketers thought they had at their disposal a year ago. Being the second
coming of Anna wouldn't be bad, but Hantuchova seemed to want so much more not
that long ago.
Whether Elena is Punch-Drunk no more and is now simply Punch remains to be
seen. Can she stay on the wagon? It'll be one of the more intriguing questions
of the rest of the 2nd Quarter.
Now, everyone heads to Europe as the Summer of Slams approaches, and "The
Tale of Punch & Wonder Girl" continues...
==========================================
AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA (II-Green Clay)
S: Elena Dementieva def. Lindsay Davenport
D: Davenport/Raymond d. Ruano-Pascual/Suarez
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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (V-Red Clay)
S: Magui Serna def. Alicia Molik
D: Mandula/Tatarkova d. Martinez-G./Perebiynis
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Elena Dementieva
....she was Punch in Amelia Island, finally shedding her underachiever label by
winning her first career title. She bested five opponents who have a total of
56 titles between them. It was always an open question what Dementieva could do
if she could get past the overwhelming pressure she put on herself. Now we
know.
RISER: Magui Serna & Alicia Molik
....tagging themselves as dark horses at Roland Garros, Serna and Molik met in
the Budapest final, the second clay final for both in the last few weeks. It
was Serna, though, who walked off with her second title in as many weeks.
SURPRISE: Ludmila Cervanova
....someone always pops up from relative obscurity to shine in the clay court
season. In 2003, it's this Slovak. She's made SF in Casablanca and Budapest,
and is sporting a 7-3 record this quarter.
VETERAN: Lisa Raymond
....the Florida native "Gator-chomped" Jelena Dokic for the second time in 2003,
made the singles QF and won the doubles title at Amelia Island.
FRESH FACE: Jarmila Gajdosova
....upset #1 Budapest seed Virginie Razzano and advanced to the QF.
DOWN: Daniela Hantuchova
....losing 6-1,6-0 to Dementieva not long after being bageled in the 3rd by
Molik and flattened by Harkleroad = T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
1.A.Island Final -
Dementieva d. Davenport
....Dementieva lost the 1st set, relieving herself of all pressure. She's
finally found her recipe for winning.
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2.A.Island SF - Dementieva d. Henin-H.
....again, Dementieva lost the 1st set (I sense a pattern). Of course, she
nearly blew a 4-1, two-break lead in the 3rd. But she didn't this time, and
that's all that matters.
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3.A.Island QF - Dementieva d. Hantuchova
....6-1,6-0. This is not good news for Wonder Girl. It might shock her back
into reality, or it could make things even worse.
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4.Budapest Final - Serna d. Molik
....two in a row for the 24-year old from Las Palmas.
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5.A.Island 3r - Schnyder d. Shaughnessy
....ever since her win over Venus, Shillelagh hasn't quite been the same.
Schnyder, though, is finally starting to resemble herself.
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HM-A.I. Doubles 2r - Tu/Vento-Kabchi def. Dokic/Stubbs
....this was the first time Dokic has teamed up with an Aussie since she left
Down Under in a huff a while back. After a walkover in the 1r, though,
Dokic/Stubbs managed to blow a 4-0 3rd set lead. Jelena and Australia still
have difficulty mixing, I guess... but now there's talk that The Girl That Got
Away might be playing under an Aussie flag again in the near future. Go figure.
==========================================
*MULTIPLE 2003 SINGLES TITLES**
3...Serena Williams
2...Kim Clijsters
2...Justine Henin-Hardenne
2...Anastasia Myskina
2...Magui Serna
*WORST FINALS WINNING PCT. (3+)*
..250 - Davenport (1-3)
..333 - Molik (1-2)
*BACK-TO-BACK WEEKS IN FINALS*
Serena Williams - (Hopman-W, Australian-W)
Amanda Coetzer - (Memphis-L, Acapulco-W)
Kim Clijsters - (Scottsdale-L, Ind.Wells-W)
Magui Serna - (Estoril-W, Budapest-W)
*2003 FIRST-TIME CHAMPIONS*
January - Nathalie Dechy, Alicia Molik
February - Tamarine Tanasugarn
April - Elena Dementieva
*MOST SINGLES TITLES - 2002/03*
11...Serena Williams (8/3)
8....Venus Williams (7/1)
6....Kim Clijsters (4/2)
4....Justine Henin-Hardenne (2/2)
4....Anna Pistolesi (4/0)
3....Anastasia Myskina (1/2)
3....Magui Serna (1/2)
*ELENA DEMENTIEVA in SINGLES FINALS*
2000 Sydney Olympics - lost to V.Williams
2001 Acapulco - lost to Coetzer
2001 Moscow - lost to Dokic
2002 's-Hertogenbosch - lost to Daniilidou
2003 Amelia Island - DEFEATED DAVENPORT
*DANIELA HANTUCHOVA - LATE 2002-present*
-2002-
Linz............0-1
Fed Cup.........3-1
WTA Chsp........0-1
Collins Cup.....0-1
-2003-
Hopman Cup......1-2
Sydney..........1-1
Australian......4-1
Paris...........1-1
Antwerp.........2-1
Ind.Wells.......2-1
Miami...........0-1
Charleston......2-1
A.Island........1-1
===================
Last 7..........3-4
2003..........14-10
Last 31.......17-14
*TDS COMBINED RANKINGS - WEEK 16*
1.Serena Williams.............133
2.Kim Clijsters...............106
3.Lindsay Davenport..........92.5
4.Justine Henin-Hardenne.......84
5.Venus Williams...............53
5.Anastasia Myskina............53
7.Alicia Molik...............51.5
8.Meghannn Shaughnessy..........49
9.Magui Serna..................48
10.Lisa Raymond................45
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ALSO THIS WEEK: WTA Backspin Quiz for April
....this month's subject: The 1st Quarter
NEXT WEEK: Fed Cup 1r recap
....plus, the April Awards
Visit the Daniela Hantuchova page
here
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