A very diffuse draw at both events this week.

Molik recently withdrew from Paris, allowing Golovin into the main draw. Since she has a TON of points to defend, she really needed direct entry more than any other player in the draw.

DALLY lost in the 2nd round of qualies to some Frenchie ... GRRRRRRR!

I'm trying to find the draw on their website, but I'm not having much luck. I can read French fairly well, I speak it much better, but I'm not finding the word for Main Draw anywhere. *shrug*

In Hyderabad

Na Li (1)- MG Mikaelian
Roberta Vinci vs. Ma.Emilia Salerni
Mara Santangelo vs. Jelena Dokic
Bahia Mouthassine vs. Maria Kirlenko (8)

Jie Zheng (4) vs. Galina Voskobeva
Delia Sescioreanu vs. Sania Mirza
Evie Dominikovic vs. Q
Tzipora Oblizer vs. Lubomira Kruhajcova (7)

Marta Domachowska (5) vs. Ankita Bhambri
Shikha Uberoi vs. Melinda Czink
Marie-Eve Pelletier vs. Ekatarina Bychkova
Shahar Peer vs. Tatiana Panova (3)

Tamarine Tanasugarn (6)vs. Alyona Bondarenko
Tian Tian Sun vs. Lenka Nemeckova
Q vs. Q
Q vs. AL Groenefeld (2)

At first glimpse ... GO NA LI! A top seed at a Tier event ... it's great for her. I'm also happy that a Canuck received direct entry into the main draw ... that has to be a first in some time.

Some potentially great 1st round matches ...

Na Li - Mikaelian ... two huge hitters meeting in the 1st round. I have to go with Mikaelian here, only because she really played well in Tokyo last week, so she has to be feeling confident.

Dokic is currently listed in the main draw, so hopefully her injury last week wasn't too serious. She has a winnable match against Santangelo and frankly, she needs to win as many matches as possible, given her current ranking.

Shikha Uberoi is here, which is great. Czink ... meh, I hope that Shikha wins, especially after taking Pattaya's champ to 3 sets ... with a 4-2 lead in the 3rd ... last week.

I'm going out on a limb choosing Dokic and Tanasugarn in the finals. *shrug* What can I say ... I like great storylines.

Nick

Nick, they hid the draws under results

It's kind of weird looking and hard to read but it's there. Looks like Serena and Maria may bump into each other in the semis. I do hope Maria is careful about her schedule...don't want to see her burn out.

Merci beaucoup JC.

I completely agree about Shaprie's playing schedule. Fortunately, she has a bye in the first round, but she is going to run the risk of playing herself ragged ... although, I can somewhat understand her intentions. She has nothing to defend and if she gains more points than Serena here, she's up to #2 in the world, with a good chance at getting to #1 by Indian Wells. *shrug* It's commendable that a Top Tier player is playing a lot of events, but ...

Ugh ... a potential La Pierce-Momo matchup in the 2nd round. That's rather ... sucky. There are a ton of great matchups in the event and from what I read, there is a way to watch the event online ... at least, I think I read that. Hmmmm ... time to break out the dictionary.

Nick

I was just perusing the results of the Tokyo finals on ESPN.com and saw the score of the Sharapova-Davenport matchup.

I am not going to spoil anything, but that must have been a hell of a match to see, especially the final set.

In another thread, Bulldog1977 posted

Paris: Not a shabby draw for a Tier II, only one player outside the Top 50 got direct entry.
Serena Williams is the top seed, followed by Mauresmo and Sharapova. Serena should have an easy time early, but guess who might await in the semifinals? Masha, Masha, Masha!
Mauresmo, meanwhile, might have a tricky path: Mary Pierce could be her first opponent, and there's also potential for a quarterfinal match with indoor-loving Maggie Maleeva.
Paris draw

Hyderabad will be interesting because Na Li is the top seed. She was hot as a dark horse, but now she's seeded to win...can she live up to that? I think she can, but there might be a couple tough matches, such as the potential for Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals.
Hyderabad draw

Sorry about the duplicate thread, I was unaware another one had been started

Not too much to speak of from today: At Hyderabad, Jie Zheng won, but third-seed Tatiana Panova was upset by Shahar Peer.

Over at Paris: A double bagel for Silvia Farina Elia! The victim was Klara Koukalova. Meanwhile, Nick, it looks like a dreaded Pierce-Momo match-up is on its way...Mary's up 6-1, 3-1 in her first match.

Update: Mary won 6-1, 6-2 over Medina Garrigues. Momo awaits...

[ February 07, 2005, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Bulldog1977 ]

Wow...the Pierce v. Mauresmo match will be interesting. They are 2-2 head to head but Amelie has won both of their last two meetings (way back in 2000). I love Mary but I dont think she will be able to pull out the upset.

Cant wait for the Serena v. Maria match in the semifinals.....why cant those matches be televised here in the US frown

La Pierce and Momo ... a love affair in Paris. I think that Amélie will win in straights, but Mary had a knack for pulling off the upset in the early rounds of events last year. *shrug* Allez Mary!

In Hyderabad ... A CANUCK WON IN THE FIRST ROUND OF A WTA TOUR EVENT! YAY! Pelletier is starting to gut out some of these tight 3-set matches. Peer is going to be a huge test in the 2nd round, but hopefully, she'll be ready to play.

Nick

Dokic lost to Santangelo 76 63.

Sharapova is out of Paris. She withdrew due to illness. I was really hoping to see a Maria/Serena rematch. Guess we will have to wait a few more tournaments.

Has anyone ever been to Roland Garros for the French? Going to the French is my ultimate tournament to attend. I just think it would be an amazing experience!

I've never personally been to the French Open, but friends of mine that have gone absolutely loved it. It's Paris ... how bad could it possibly be??

Planning on going to Roland Garros this year,I was last there in 2003. One of out team is French speaking so that makes the passage easier.I used to go each year when I was a poor student in London and those times were the best fun.

The French Open is a elegant passionate event, the crowds know clay court tennis, get very involved and they love long close emotional 5 set( or 3 set) matches.They urge a change to the flow of play so a match goes the full distance.Love drama.

Paris in spring!! You can taste the sexiness in the air, Roland Garros is just part the adventure.

But be sure to take plenty of $$$$$$$$

Although ClayJDC, I imagine it would be easy to travel over to Paris from Washington? From Sydney it is a 30 hour nightmare.

Yeah, from DC it is only a 6 hours plane ride (maybe???). My boyfriend and I are planning to head over there in June but he doesnt like tennis. I may have to ditch him and go visit RG!

Amelie and Mary are playing right now. Mauresmo has taken the first set, 6-4.

Amelie had two break points to go up 5-3 in the second, but Mary fought back to deuce, only to see Amelie finally break and Mauresmo will now serve for the match.

The live scoring keeps a running commentary in french. So cute. From Mary's last service game (read from bottomr to top):

Mauresmo and Pierce seemed to be locked in the second set. In other interesting compatriat matchups today, I'm hoping Dechy beats Bartoli and Safina outlasts Douchevina. I saw Bartoli get spanked last year by Sugiyama and Bartoli was like a bratty kid on court the WHOLE time. She looked at her father or coach between EVERY point like she couldn't function without him. Meanwhile, Ai was the consumate professional. But I digress. I'm also hoping that seeing her brother win the Australian open puts a little desire back in Safina. Would love to see her get some better results this year.

Amelie wins, 6-4, 6-3, in 1 hour and 24 minutes. :cool:

Pauvre La Pierce ... she kept the score tight, but match reports have said that the match wasn't very close. *shrug*

Mirza is the first Indian player in the finals of a WTA tour event after she ousted Masha in straight sets.

Golovin ousted Farina-Elia after Silvia withdrew after the first set. Allez Tati!

Serena withdrew from Paris with a gastrointestinal illness ... although, she will still be #2 in the World since Sharpie withdrew prior to playing a match.

Petrova has to be a favorite here because I'm always apprehensive about choosing Momo at home. She has won the event previously, but ...

Who knows? Maybe a win here would help her psyche in Gaie Paris this Spring.

Later,
Nick

I hope Amelie can pull it out also!! I do like Petrova however. Watched her play Farina Elia at the US Open last year and was impressed with her play.

Just read that Chanda Rubin received a wild card into the Memphis event next week. Hopefully she has recovered and can pull her game together. Raymond pulled out of the event but Zvonereva is still in it. Antwerp looks exciting with the return of Kim. Dont really know much about the Bogota event.

Didn't Amelie win this event when Venus was injured in the final, though? Something like 3-6, 6-0, 6-0. Or was that a different tourney?

Gaby, the match that you're thinking about was in Warsaw 2003. That match was, IMO, a turning point for Venus because she tore her abdominal muscle ... or severely strained it ... during that match and she struggled with that injury for the longest time.

IIRC, Venus played in Paris only once, in 2002, where she ousted Momo 7-5 in the 3rd.

Nick

Ahhhh ... well then, nevermind! ha ha.

Oh, wait, I remember now. Venus won 7-5 in the third and told the crowd Amelie was a great player and that she'd win Grand Slams. Yes, that's right.

Amelie leads Maleeva 6-2, 3-2 as we speak :cool:

argh... now it's a tiebreak in the 2nd. allez amelie!

why must maggie be so good on carpet??

Fear not, curtj! Mauresmo is running away with the tiebreak. 5 points to 1 now.

I really do love the French play-by-play.

lol... i have my google translator open so i can get the gist. the commentary is super cute. "in the net for Maleeva"

yay, Amelie wins in two sets. I hope she takes home this title.

meanwhile the doubles field is not very interesting. Safina is in the semis there as well.

Is this counting for my fantasy tennis? I have Amelie, don'tcha know ...

Hyperabad. Congratulations to Mirza winning here today. Does this make her the first Indian woman to win a WTA event?

Yep--first ever. It must have been a great thrill to win the first one in her home country, too.

A large upset in Paris, if Yahoo can be trusted. Safina ousted Momo in 3 sets, 6-4 in the 3rd. Safina has been so close to upsetting Top 10 players, but she wasn't able to break through.

If I calculated the points correctly, she should get 306 points for the win, but since she had to defend SF points from last year, she now has 811 points. I'm guessing that the win should catapault within the lower range of the Top 40. (I'm guessing around #37, but Bartoli may leap ahead of her with her finish here.)

Slight comment ... This outfit does NOTHING for her. *cringe*

Nick

Maybe Safin's rather public dressing down of his little sis at the Australian Open lit a fire under her. When she first came up, she looked like a top prospect, but her game seemed to stagnate at the same level for a year and a half, and I was beginning to write her off.

For some reason, when I see pictures of Dinara I want to call her Olga.

Anyway, the Mauresmo-Safina match was a battle of the mentally fragile. I wonder if they alternated giving away sets to each other. Maybe Marat really has succeeded in getting Dinara back on track.

I really wish Amelie would do something about her mental game, because she should have won multiple slams by now.