|
|
|
|
2003 Nasdaq-100 Open Info WTA Preview Tuesday
ATP Rev.Mon./Prev.Tues.
QUALIFIER BARTOLI MOVIN’ UP
As a qualifier making her debut at this year’s NASDAQ-100 Open, Marion Bartoli of France has reached her first WTA Tour Tier I quarterfinal. Bartoli, 18, defeated American Ally Baker, a wildcard here, 6-0 6-0, in the first round and was to face No. 10 seed and former world No. 1 Monica Seles in the second round. Bartoli lists Seles as a tennis idol and was excited about her second-round match, but Seles withdrew from the NASDAQ-100 Open due to a left foot injury.
The Frenchwoman defeated Evie Dominikovic of Australia, who moved into Seles’ spot, and Maria Sanchez Lorenzo of Spain to reach Monday’s fourth-round match-up against No. 7 seed Lindsay Davenport. Davenport retired from the match due to a right hamstring strain after the first set, which Bartoli won 6-0, advancing the newcomer to the quarterfinals.
Bartoli has been climbing up the WTA rankings this past year and is currently enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 87. Bartoli’s success so far at this year’s NASDAQ-100 Open will improve her ranking to the high-60’s.
Another newcomer moving up the rankings is American Sarah Taylor, a wildcard here. She recorded wins over two seeds, No. 11 Anastasia Myskina and No. 17 Ai Sugiyama, to reach a fourth-round match-up against No. 6 seed Jennifer Capriati. Taylor lost Monday to Capriati, but her ranking will improve from No. 85 to the high-60’s.
(1) SERENA WILLIAMS (USA #1) vs. (Q) MARION BARTOLI (FRA #87) Head-to-Head: First meeting
S. Williams Quick FactsAge: 21WTA Tour career singles titles: 21WTA Tour career prize money: $10,795,079MIAMI HISTORY · Sixth consecutive appearance here; won 2002 title, d. top three seeds en route, Hingis in QF, V. Williams in SF and Capriati in F; runner-up in 1999, l. to V. Williams, 61 46 64; reached QF two times in 2001 (l. to Capriati) and 1998 (l. to Hingis); reached 4r in 2000, l. to Capriati 2003 TO DATE· Playing third Tour event of 2003; withdrew from Scottsdale due to a recurring knee injury; won both events prior to Scottsdale, captured Australian Open title, d. sister Venus 76 36 64 to win her fifth career Grand Slam title, and fourth in a row, becoming only the fifth woman in tennis history to hold all four majors at the same time (after Connolly, Court, Navratilova and Graf); in SF came from 1-5 and 2 mps down to d. Clijsters becoming only the fifth woman in Australian Open history to win the tournament after being mp down,in 1r was three points from elimination vs. Loit; also won doubles with her sister, their fifth Grand Slam win together; won Paris, d. No. 3 seed Mauresmo CAREER IN REVIEW · Undisputed world No.1 in 2002, dominating season by winning all three Grand Slams contested (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open – withdrew from Australian Open due to r. ankle sprain), d. older sister Venus in each final and displaced her as world No.1 following Wimbledon; became first woman since Hingis in 1997 to win three majors in one season; won another five titles including Miami (d. world’s Top 3 players - joining only Graf to accomplish that feat in the Open Era), Scottsdale, Italian Open, Tokyo [Princess Cup] and Leipzig; breakthrough season was in 1999, won first five titles, including US Open and improved ranking from No. 24 to No. 4 by season’s end; member of winning 1999 US Fed Cup team; won 2000 Olympic Gold with Venus in doubles CAREER-HIGH RANKING & COACH· No.1 (July 8, 2002 – Present - 38 straight weeks so far) · Here with her father and coach Richard Williams and fitness trainer Kerrie Brooks
Bartoli Quick FactsAge: 18WTA Tour career singles titles: noneWTA Tour career prize money: $128,295MIAMI HISTORY · Making her debut appearance 2003 TO DATE· Contesting her sixth main draw appearance this season; began season with 1r loss at Gold Coast to Talaja in 3s; reached first WTA Tour SF at Canberra as a qualifier, upset No. 3 seed Weingartner and No. 7 seed Granville before l. to Schiavone in 3s; l. 1r at Australian Open to Mag. Maleeva; l. 1r at Paris to Matevzic; did not qualify at Scottsdale; qualified at Indian Wells, l. to Rubin CAREER IN REVIEW· Winner of five ITF singles titles, winning three in 2001 and two titles in 2002; also holds one ITF doubles title; career-best Grand Slam performance at 2002 US Open, where as a qualifier, reached 3r upsetting Sanchez Vicario in 1r and Neffa De Los Rios in 2r before l. to Davenport CAREER-HIGH RANKING· No.87 (February 24 – March 3, 2003; March 17, 2003 – present) · Coached by father Walter Bartoli
(3) KIM CLIJSTERS (BEL #3) vs. (9) JELENA DOKIC (YUG #9) Head-to-Head: Clijsters leads 4-2
Clijsters Quick FactsAge: 19WTA Tour career singles titles: 12WTA Tour career prize money: $4,391,524MIAMI HISTORY · Fourth appearance here; reached 4r in debut appearance in 2000; in 2001, l. 4r to S. Williams; in 2002, l. QF to Seles 2003 TO DATE· Playing sixth Tour event of 2003; winner in Sydney, dropping only 19 games en route (just one shy of Sabatini’s 1992 record); only fourth player (after Graf, Seles and Navratilova) in last 20 years to win three consecutive titles without dropping a set; going into Australian Open SF vs. No. 1 S. Williams, had won 23 of her last 24 matches (only loss – Davenport Zurich QF) dating back to Filderstadt 2002; held 64 36 51 lead on Williams in SF and 2mp at 5-2 before falling; runner-up at Antwerp, d. Henin-Hardenne in straight sets in SF before losing to V. Williams; runner-up in Scottsdale, falling to doubles partner Sugiyama in rain-delayed 3s final, went on to win the doubles title with Sugiyama; defeated Davenport 6-4 7-5 to capture Indian Wells Championship, first Tier I title CAREER IN REVIEW · In 2002, started and finished season strongly, reaching Sydney and Australian Open SF and a career-high ranking of No.3 in March, before an upper right arm injury sidelined her for six weeks; won Hamburg over No.1 V.Williams and reached Italian Open SF; finalist at Stanford (d. Davenport) and Tokyo Princess Cup (led S.Williams 62, 3-all); won Filderstadt (winning consecutive 3s matches over Davenport, Mauresmo and Hantuchova) and Luxembourg heading into Tour Championships, where she dropped only 14 games in d. No.4 Henin, No.2 V.Williams and No.1 S.Williams, improving her ranking from No.9 to No.4 in space of five weeks; broke through in late 2000, winning three Tier II titles and finishing as the runner-up in two other events, first Tier I title came at Indian Wells in 2003 defeating Davenport CAREER-HIGH RANKING & COACH· No.3 (4-17 March, 22 April – 19 May 2002; Jan. 27, 2003 - Present) · Coached by Marc Dehous; physical trainer is Eveline Coppens
Dokic Quick FactsAge: 19WTA Tour career singles titles: 5WTA Tour career prize money: $2,762,953
MIAMI HISTORY · Third appearance in main draw; best result was QF finish in 2001, l. to eventual champion V. Williams; reached 3r in 2002, l. to Kremer; reached 2r in 2000, l. to Martinez 2003 TO DATE· Playing sixth Tour event of 2003; elected to miss Australian circuit; reached QF in Tokyo PPO as No. 2 seed before falling to Raymond and QF in Paris, falling to No. 8 seed Daniilidou; at Antwerp, l. in 1r to Sugiyama, 75 57 63; received 1r bye at Scottsdale, l. 2r to Shaughnessy; received 1r bye at Indian Wells, l. to Rittner CAREER IN REVIEW · Winner of five WTA Tour career singles titles and three doubles titles; won 2001 singles titles at Rome, Tokyo (Princess Cup) and Moscow, the only player alongside S.Williams and Davenport to win two Tier I titles; doubles titles have come at 2001 Linz (w/Petrova) and 2002 Sarasota (w/Likhovtseva); advanced to first Tour Championships in 2001, falling to Davenport in QF; qualified again in 2002, reaching QF for second year; burst to prominence at 1999 Wimbledon, where as a qualifier ranked No.129, she defeated world No.1 Hingis 62 60 in 1r, becoming lowest-ranked player to defeat a world No.1; progressed to QF (l. Stevenson in 3s) CAREER-HIGH RANKING & COACH· No.4 (19 August – 22 September 2002) · Coached by Heinz Günthardt since November
(4) JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE (BEL #4) vs. (12) CHANDA RUBIN (USA #10) Head-to-Head: Henin-Hardenne leads 3-1
Henin-Hardenne Quick FactsAge: 20WTA Tour career singles titles: 7WTA Tour career prize money: $2,625,838
MIAMI HISTORY · Making third appearance here; best result was 3r finish in 2001, l. to Garbin; received 1r bye in 2002, l. 2r to Pistolesi 2003 TO DATE· Playing fifth Tour event of 2003; semifinalist in Sydney (losing to eventual winner Clijsters) 62 63 and Australian Open, surviving marathon 4r vs. Davenport in second longest match (in terms of total games played) played there from 4r on in the Open Era, winning 75 57 97 before being halted by world No.2 V.Williams in SF; in Antwerp, reached SF, falling to compatriot Clijsters 62 76(3) after trailing 5-2 second set; won title at Dubai as top seed, d. No. 3 seed Capriati in SF and No. 4 seed Seles in F CAREER IN REVIEW· Winner of seven WTA Tour singles titles and two doubles titles; most recent title win at 2003 Dubai; runner-up at 2001 Wimbledon and semifinalist at 2001 Roland Garros, 2002 Wimbledon and 2003 Australian Open; one of only four current players (along with Seles, Hingis and Davenport) to have wins over S.Williams, V.Williams and Capriati; in 1999, won Antwerp in her Tour debut, the fifth player at that stage to achieve that feat; member of Belgian Fed Cup team 2000-02 (winning title in 2001) CAREER-HIGH RANKING & COACH· No.4 (October 28 – November 10, 2002; January 27,2003 - present) · Coached by Carlos Rodriguez since 1996
|
|
|
