By: Matt DeCorso

Hey guys! I hope everything is going well as we build to the climatic Olympic Games! My 3 picks for medals are Mauresmo, Myskina, and Venus believe it or not. I will give you a quarterfinal prediction when the draw comes out hopefully! Anyways, the past few days have been exciting as Sopot, Poland is thriving and Vancouver, Canada is just getting started. In Sopot, a young Polish wildcard is getting the biggest props today by defeating unbeaten-in-finals-queen Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi. The teenager is none other than 18 year old Marta Domachowska. Beating the reigning champ is supposed to be difficult but Marta disposed of the Israeli 7-6 6-1. Klara Koukalova gets some recognition for survivng Russian tyke Vera Douchevina, 6-4 in the third. In doubles, the Polish wildcard team of Jans and Rososlka made their way to the semis before taking on the top seeds today. Enjoy the preview!!

Sesil Karatantcheva versus Anna-Lena Groenefeld

This matchup is probably one of the more intriguing second round matches in Vancouver and is most likey making organizers excited. To have a 15 year old phenom in any of your tournaments is a thrill but because it's Sesil, well, you get a crowd. The Bulgarian Big-mouth made headlines when she made her professional debut in Indian Wells in March. After playing in 5 previous ITF main draws and winning 3 of them, Sesil stumbled into California ready to win. Sesil won a sloppy first round match with Stevenson and then ran into Spanish veteran Magui Serna. By winning this match 7-5 in the third, the Bulgarian got some attention. In the third round she was to meet Maria Sharapova. Before the match, Sesil said, " I want to kick her ass off." This got Maria's attention and there was a little more umph in the Russian's shots and shrieks. Sharapova prevailed but Karatantcheva pushed her to a third set. After her first WTA tournament she played Fed Cup for Bulgaria and dazzled the crowd by beating Jans, Kanepi, and Daniilidou. She also GOT a win from Dokic by walkover. Since then, Sesil has played no ITF or WTA matches. She has played some junior tournaments which include winning the Italian and French Opens. So in her first tournament in 4 months, Sesil whipped Yoshida in straight sets. For a chance to play Bartoli or Pin, Sesil will be looking to take the ball early and outslug the German. She is very agile so she will be running down a lot of balls.

Weakness: Serve.

Anna-Lena Groenefeld is herself a teen prodigy as she is only 19. Then again, that's relatively young for a teen nowadays when you have Sharapova winning Wimbledon at 17 and Golovin at 16 reaching a final. Anna-Lena has had a moderate year in 2004. She attempted to qualify in Melbourne but was shot down in the final round by Prusova. Then she qualified into Indian Wells before losing to Petrova in the second round. She then made headlines by getting to the finals of a 75,000 dollar event in France. She beat Testud, Sassi,Schruff, and Gussoni before being routed by Severine Beltrame 6-4 6-4. She then had her first breakthrough tournament in Palermo by reaching the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champ Medina Garrigues. Her final successful outing (before Vancouver) was winning a $75,000 event in Modena, Italy over a strong field of, Vakulenko,Prusova,Czink, Flipkens, and Sfar. That brings us to the present as she takes on a strong opponent in Karatantcheva. Look for Groenefeld to be hitting a solid backhand and deep forehand.

Weakness: Serve.

Who has the Edge?

Serv

e- Groenefeld

Groundies- Sesil

Movement- Sesil

Intangibles- Sesil

Volley- Groenefeld

This will be an interesting contest from start to finish. For Sesil, make sure you utilise your groundstrokes fully and keep the German on the run. For Groenefeld, make sure keep the ball in play as often as possible and be patient before attacking.

Matt's Pick: Sesil Karatantcheva will find herself in the quarters by winning 3-6 6-2 6-2.

Thanks!

GO SESIL!!!!!!!!