NOTES ON A DRAW SHEET

Myskina surges to two victories
Maria takes first crown; Jennifer loses two first-round matches; ATP race to Houston tightens

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Back in the spring and early summer when she was struggling with family problems, it would have been difficult to see Russian Anastasia Myskina winning back to back titles in Leipzig and Moscow. Given her thin frame, the flying brunette can only be successful when she's playing high-risk tennis, because if her mind is off-court, she either plays too conservative or is missing the lines by more than a few inches.

Obviously, all is right with Anastasia right now, who took out Amelie Mauresmo, 6-2, 6-4 in the Moscow final and received a big hug from former Russian president, tennis lover and often bizarre Boris Yeltsin.

Myskina only dropped 15 games in four matches all week, the lowest number of games conceded en route to a WTA Tour singles title in 2003. She blitzed Magui Serna, Eleni Daniiliduo, Anna Pistolesi and Mauresmo. In winning her sixth career title and fourth of the year. Myskina became the first Russian woman to win the Kremlin Cup, not an easy task under the watchful gazes of the national crowds.

"I really wanted to win here at home because the crowd was so great," said an ecstatic Myskina. "Everyone was so supportive. This was such a great win for me."

Myskina's two week run follows on the heels on countrywoman's Elena Dementieva's two-week sprint at Bali and Shanghai, but is much more impressive, considering the strength of the fields. Dementieva fell in the Kremlin Cup semis to Mauresmo.

Only 92 points separate No. 8 Dementieva and No. 9 Myskina from the final spot for the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships. One would think that at least one of the top seven won't play and that both of these women will qualify, unless No. 10 Chanda Rubin surges in a big way.

Maria takes first crown
The same week, Maria Sharapova took her career-first singles title in Tokyo, defeating the hard-nosed Hungarian Aniko Kapros, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) in the final. "I didn't give up and worked hard. It was so much of a mental game in the end," said the 16-year-old, who became the youngest singles champ of 2003.

While the Japan field was not industrial strength, it should be noted that plenty of other players have failed to Tier III titles when given the opportunity, including Sharpaova's compatriot, Anna Kournikova. Sharapova beat Akiko Morigami, Claudine Chaul, Jie Zheng and Kapros en route to the title.

"I think the fact that I'm only 16 and I've won a singles title after being down 2-5 in the final set tiebreak shows how determined I am and how much I want this, want to be a champion," she said.

Her coach (and Myskina's former coach), Robert Lansdorp, cautions observers not to think that now 33-ranked Sharapova is going to leap to No. 1 next year, but does believe she has Top 5 stuff. However, none of this Russian success should lead anyone to believe that they are about to take over the tour, because the Williamses and Belgians are still flat out better players.

Jennifer loses two first-round matches
In a few weeks time, tennisreporters.net will publish a lengthy interview with Jennifer Capriati, which details her emotional up and downs. But it's appropriate to mention now that her two first-round losses in Moscow and Fildertstadt to Elena Bovina and Mary Pierce are yet another indication how much the American women dislike crossing the Atlantic again after the US Open. Capriati is sure to make a better showing at the Bank of America WTA Tour Championships.

For those of you interested in women's doubles, keep a close on the top five in the next few weeks, because only four teams will qualify for LA. No. 1 Ruano Pascual/Suarez, No.2 Clijsters/Sugiyama and No. 3 Kuznetsova/Navratilova should make it, but No. 4 Davenport/Raymond will likely be threatened by No. 5 Black/ Likhovtseva.

Siggi Bucher