Serena Hurts Knee Again, to have MRI

Myskina schools tearful Sharapova
Williams: ‘It’s almost as if people don’t care if you play hurt. It’s all about making money'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

FROM THE ACURA CLASSIC IN CARLSBAD, CALIF. – In a contest that just have easily been played on one of coach Robert Lansdorp’s LA back courts five years ago, Roland Garros queen Anastasia Myskina schooled Wimbledon titlist Maria Sharapova 7-5 6-3 to move into the semis of the $1.3 million Acura Classic on Friday.

In the most highly anticipated women’s match of the summer hardcourt season, Myskina came back from a 2-5 deficit in the first set and ran off nine straight games against her bewildered foe, moving with the grace of a Russian ballerina and adeptly reading where Sharapova was aiming. She and Sharapova were both once trained by Lansdorp and have played countless practice sets against each other.

"I was trying to find a way though the match but I didn’t do anything special," said a tearful Sharapova, who waylaid 45 unforced errors, including six double faults. "Her level of play went up and when had to pick up my level I didn’t. She’s older than me and finds a way to win. When I get to her age, I’ll be a lot more experienced and stronger. There are a lot of things I need to improve. As much as I want to win, I know I can learn a lot from my mistakes."

Even though she was an emotional basket case Friday morning after she was told of Russian newspaper reports that had her saying she didn’t’ respect Sharapova as a player ("I do respect as a player and person," Myskina later said), the 23-year-old Myskina was mostly composed and level headed during the entire contest.
Zoning quickly on her serve and groundies, Sharapova leapt out to a 5-2 lead in the first set. But Myskina then moved inside the court and began to cut off Sharapova’s angles and was able to extend her in rallies, while Sharapova grew tentative. Unable to dictate, Sharapova became a follower and couldn’t muster enough courage to rebel.

"She played really well and smart at the beginning," said Myskina, who now owns a 3-0 record against Sharapova. "Then I found the rhythm and understood what she was trying to do and I played smart after. Maria is really strong in the head and I knew I had to keep fighting and somehow she would break. That’s what happened."
Myskina will face 12th seed Vera Zvonareva, a 19-year-old Russian who she is 0-1 against.

Even though she feels bad for Sharapova because of the Russian newspaper accounts and said she would apologize to her, she allowed herself a little celebration. "This means a lot because she’s the Wimbledon champion and a great player," the third seeded Myskina said. "I get a lot of confidence from this match."

SERENA HURTING AGAIN
The way things were looking from the top of San Diego’s Mt. Soledad on Friday, if Lindsay Davenport’s fragile knee doesn’t hold up the rest of the summer, by the time the final Thursday of the US Open rolls around, four Russians could be sitting pretty in the semifinals.

On Friday, Serena Williams joined her sister Venus on the sidelines, by pulling out of the Acura Classic with inflammation of her surgically repaired left knee.

Williams was scheduled to play Russia’s Vera Zvonareva in the quarters, who are now awaiting the winner of the Maria Sharapova-Anastasia Myskina contest.

Davenport, who crunched Ai Sugiyama, will face Russian’s Elena Dementieva (who blasted Amy Frazier) in the other semifinal. "It’s a funny time. Russia been the country producing the good young players the last couple years," Davenport said. "We haven’t had any new players emerge. We’re pretty good with Serena, Venus, Jennifer and myself, but unfortunately, three of our top four are hurt right now."

Serena said that she re-injured her knee on Thursday night in her straight-set victory over Elena Bovina while going for a drop shot in the first set, but there was no indication that she was in pain during the match. She never called for a trainer. She did spend 40 minutes in the trainer’s room that night and will undergo an MRI on her knee today in Los Angeles. "I knew that it really hurt, but I was hoping it would go away," Williams said. "I don’t want to take the chance of missing out on the Olympics and the US Open."

Williams underwent left knee surgery for a partial tear of her quadriceps tendon on August 1, 2003. She was consequently off the tour for eight and half months, returning in March, when she won the NASDAQ-100. She’s been slow to recover.

"I actually did it just before the anniversary of my surgery," Williams said. "Maybe that’s bad memories. But I’m sure it's going to be okay…. I just need to say to myself, ‘Okay, Serena, calm down, because you have a long summer ahead and I don’t want you to ruin your summer."

Williams is scheduled to play Montreal next week, but she essentially said that’s she’s out of the Tier 1 tournament, which will have a tough time selling tickets with only two real headliners: Amelie Mauresmo and Anastasia Myskina.
Echoing the sentiments of Justine Henin-Hardenne, the popular star said that she feels pressure from tour our to play tournaments even when she shouldn’t.

"I think the WTA would hate if I answered honestly, " she said. " I’ll be vague. It’s almost as if people don’t care if you play hurt. It’s all about making money. I’m about making money. That’s what it is all about."
Williams added that it would be much worse for the tour if she played Montreal, injured the knee further and then was out for the next three to four months. "I would think so, but apparently that’s not how the money is made," Williams said.

Lindsay Davenport said that she felt pressure this year form the tour to play Miami, "but I didn’t bend. I cannot play when I’m injured. That’s when you are asking for trouble."

Davenport says No Montreal; Elena Thinks she has shot at Lindsay

Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Davenport said there is now way she’ll consider taking a wild card into Montreal next week. You can bet the tournament will come begging to Sharapova, who like Davenport, isn’t scheduled to play until New Haven.

Dementieva has a different perspective saying that she puts pressure on herself to show up because "I know that the fans really want to see us play and in most places they only get to see us once a year."

Davenport owns an 8-4 record against Dementieva going into the match, having beaten her all eight times they’ve played on outdoor hardcourts. But the 22-year-old Russian has been playing well the last two weeks and thinks she’s got a decent shot. She did trounce Davenport in their last match at ’04 Roland Garros.
"I have to play my best," Dementieva said. "I’ll have to move her around and serve very well."

Davenport says she has a heck of time returning the Russian’s sidewinder slice serve. "You always know it’s going to the forehand, but you never know if she’s going to hit at 105-mph or 50-mph," Davenport said. "But from the baseline, she’s one of the toughest ground strokes out there."