| Notes
on a Draw Sheet
Kuznetsova lives for tennis and it shows
Serena, Lindsay notch victories in
well-attended opening session
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
Ron Cioffi/TR.net |
| Sveta Kuznetsova cruised over Vera Zvonareva. |
FROM THE WTA CHAMPIOSNHIPS IN
LA – Russia may be headlining the WTA Championships, but
the US stole the show in LA on Tuesday night. Three US Open champions
posted successive victories, beginning with the now self-assured
Svetlana Kuznetsova, followed by the not very secure Serena Williams
and then the queen of California hard courts, top-ranked Lindsay
Davenport.
Viewing Kuznetsova club the exhausted Vera Zvonareva and watching
two Southern California natives win their opening matches in the
round-robin format isn't such a big deal. What is worth making
hay about was the attendance – 8,127 strong. It was a racially
mixed crowd on a Tuesday evening in possibly the most highly competitive
entertainment market in the US. After Serena outlasted third-ranked
Anastasia Myskina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in very competitive yet mistake-filled,
two-hour contest, she chided those who were down on the location
of tournament.
"I thought it was presumptuous for the tour or anyone to
come here in a brand new arena in LA where everyone is famous
and expect to get a huge crowd the first year," said Serena,
who was born in Compton but has moved up the financial ladder
to Beverly Hills. "The second year we did better. And this
year, opening night, is a lot better. As the years go on, it will
get that name. People will begin to recognize that the best women's
tennis comes to LA at the end of the year."
The Championships will return to LA next year, and very possibly
could stay in 2006. It will very likely move after that, but for
now, it's a part of the downtown sports scene. No, the Championships
can't rival the Lakers or Kings, but the marginal Clippers better
beware.
On Tuesday, it was Davenport who was dependable as Kobe Bryant
with her offensive game, while Serena played more like a foul-plagued
but game Shaq.
Kuznetsova put on a Corey Maggette-like performance from inside
the baseline, nailing jump forehands from all over the place.
Myskina looked like Gary Payton in the playoffs, not finishing
her drives down the line. Zvonareva? Karl Malone with a bum knee.
Dementieva? A brick-laying Rick Fox from the three-point line.
It was Sveta's appetizing night early, Serena laying down the
main course and Lindsay's serving dessert.
It was clear during Kuznetsova's rapid fire 6-2, 6-4 win over
Zvonareva in the only Black Group match of the night that Vera
is physically toasted, as she's playing in her 26th tournament
of the year. Zvonareva's groundies fell very short most of the
night. She yelled, slammed balls and after she lost, headed right
to transportation, changed her clothes in the parking lot and
got into the first car available to whisk her back to the player's
Santa Monica hotel.
Kuznetsova remembered an on-court war she had with her good friend
Zvonareva back in March at Indian Wells, when Vera's meltdown
distracted her and she ended up losing in a third-set tiebreak.
"I know the way Vera is," said Kuznetsova. "One,
I lost to her because she started crying and talking during changeovers.
But she has played so many tournaments in a row and came in tired.
I was trying to focus."
Even though she had a mediocre fall after her run to the US Open
title, the 19-year-old seems very sure of herself. She has become
accustomed to the attention she is receiving and keeps setting
the bar higher.
"It's the best thing in the world," she said. "Everyone
has a different reason to live and for me, I am in the moment
in my life and I would do anything for tennis. I live for tennis.
It's my goal. If it wasn't, I would be here and wouldn't play.
I wouldn't be at the top."
Myskina says that it's her goal to be the first Russian to reach
No. 1. She can't accomplish that here, but has a decent chance
to do it in early 2005. Kuznetsova has broader ambitions.
"It's very important who gets there first, but it's more
important who stays there longer," Kuznetsova said. "Whoever
wins more Slams or the Olympics."
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Anastasia Myskina blew a 3-0 second set
lead to fall to Serena Williams. |
anastasia folds in second set
That could be Kuznetsova, or could be Myskina, but not if she keeps
loosening the noose on her opponents. She had Serena dead to rights
– up a set and 3-0 in the second set – and then Anastasia
grew nervous and began to spray balls. She let Serena back into
the match and, once the crowd began to scream and Serena began to
yell with them, the tide turned. Myskina's level briefly picked
up again in the third set, but she missed way to many sitters and
returns and fell 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Myskina, who gagged a 5-1 in the third set lead to Justine Henin-Hardenne
in the semis of the Olympics and blew a big lead in a round-robin
match here, won't become No. 1 unless she can keep her mind on the
task at hand.
"Maybe I thought I had already won the match," Myskina
said. "When I was ahead I stepped back and was hoping for her
mistakes. Maybe I thought it was going to be that way the whole
second set. But unfortunately, Serena started playing better."
Her coach, Jens Gerlach, doesn't think she stepped back, but that
Myskina got very tight. She missed a number of easy returns and
allowed Serena to get into her serving rhythm. Myskina says she's
playing well enough to get through Davenport and Dementieva in the
Red Group and secure a spot in the semis, but that will be no easy
task.
All credit to Serena though, who did not play well, but who can
scratch and claw with the best of them. "I thought I had a
chance," said Williams "I hadn't shook her hand yet. I
figured I was still in the match. I was a little disgusted with
my game, but I kept fighting."
DEMENTIEVA CRUMBLES TO DAVENPORT
While Davenport moved step closer
to securing the year-need No. 1 ranking, Dementieva didn't really
show up in her 6-0, 6-1 loss. It was an embarrassing defeat for
the two-time Grand Slam finalist, who's had a very good fall, but
seemed way out of the sorts on the slow blue court.
"I was happy to get her in the first match because she's the
type of player who gets better as tournaments go on," said
Davenport. "I played well."
On Wednesday, second-ranked Amelie Mauresmo will face Zvonareva,
followed by Kuznetsova against Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova,
who will be making her debut here. Then it's Serena against Dementieva
in a rematch of their Carson semifinal, which was won by Serena.
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