WTA Oct 25-31 Generali Ladies, Linz, AUT Tier II $585,000 - 28 players - indoor: hard draws & schedule .pdf Yahoo! news "Linz" photos WTA Photo Gallery s1 # 2 Amelie Mauresmo s3 # 9 Serena Williams s4 # 11 Vera Zvonareva s5 # 13 Nadia Petrova Seat Open, Luxembourg, LUX Tier III $225,000 - 30 players - indoor: hard order of play & results, .html - draws & schedule .pdf photos WTA Photo Gallery s1 # 16 Paola Suarez s2 # 18 Alicia Molik s3 # 20 Silvia Farina Elia s4 # 26 Magdalena Maleeva

Tourney pages: Linz: 2005 Linz & Luxembourg: 2003 previous other tourney pages next Luxembourg: #14 Alicia Molik 5'11¾", 159 lbs, RH, 1H-BH Linz: #2 Amelie Mauresmo 5'9", 152 lbs, RH, 1H-BH

    AM: On Sunday in Luxembourg, in the final of the Seat Open, 2nd-seeded # 20 Alicia Molik of Australia defeated 18-year-old # 53 Dinara Safina of Moscow, Russia (Alicia is shown with the unusual looking trophy, and the key to her new Seat automobile). Alicia is actually ranked # 14 this week following her victory last week at the Swisscom Challenge in Zurich, but week-old ranks are used on the drawsheets; this win should move her up another notch or two on Monday.

    Alicia said: "To win two tournaments in a row feels great. It's something I've never done before. After last week, it would have been easy to lose focus so I'm proud of how I handled each match. I didn't let myself get carried away...
    "I love the car. I don't have a car and it will always remind me of these two weeks. The fans here were really great, especially the younger ones. It created a great ambience and it's great that the crowd gets so involved in the match. Hopefully it will influence them to pick up tennis racquets themselves." story

    Dinara said: "[Alicia] served really well and I didn't. She put pressure on my second serve and I just couldn't fight back today. You show your best and fight for every chance. I came here hoping to win one match and I ended up in the final so I'm satisfied. I'm very happy to end my season with a final."

    Meanwhile in Austria, in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz, top-seeded # 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France defeated 9th-seeded 22-year-old # 18 Elena Bovina of Moscow, Russia, 6-2, 6-0 (photo shown).

    Amelie said: "I played well for sure today, mixed it up at the right times and made it difficult for Elena to play her game. Also, she was more tired than me for sure after yesterday's semifinal match and I think that took a lot out of her. She's a great player, she's improved a lot and she'll be playing more finals again." story

    Elena said: "Amelie played out of her mind against me today, there was very little I could do. I was tired a bit from yesterday's match against Nadia [Petrova]. It was very intense and was tough to come back and play at such a high level again. I think this was a great week for me though and I'm looking forward to hopefully continuing playing like this next year."

Linz:
    24-year-old Amelie Mauresmo was born in Geneva, Switzerland and has a residence in St. Germains en Laye, France. Amelie is now 14-14 in WTA singles finals; she won Tier I titles 2 weeks in a row earlier this year in Berlin and Rome. This is the 7th final Amelie has reached this year. Amelie wields a Dunlop "300G" bat, wears Nike attire and shoes, and is coached by Loic Courteau. Mauresmo career record

    21-year-old Elena Bovina was born in Moscow on March 10, 1983, and still resides there, but spent some time in Morocco in her youth, and was trained in Florida at the Bollettieri Academy from 1997 to 1999.
    Although she appears to be wearing Nike shoes, Elena does not seem to have endorsement contracts for her clothing or racket (a Head model, but without the logo on the strings), which is odd considering her caliber of play and her good looks. Elena is now 3-3 in WTA singles finals; she won this year's Pilot Pen Open in New Haven in August. Her other 2 titles were in 2002, in Warsaw & Quebec City. Formerly coached by Joe Giuliano, Elena is now coached by Pep Placin. Bovina record
Elena Bovina Wallpaper for your PC desktop

    The Linz website has no photo gallery, and no live scoring either. Their English version arrived late, but did arrive.
    The main draw for Linz had 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers, 2 lucky losers, and 3 wild cards in the main draw.
    The time in Linz is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 2 hours. That is US Eastern Daylight Time +6 hours, =PDT +9 hours.

Luxembourg:
    23-year-old Alicia Molik is having the best year of her career. Born in Adelaide, Alicia resides in Melbourne, Australia's tennis capital. Alicia is now 4-3 WTA singles titles, winning last week in Zurich, earlier this year in Stockholm (where Bjorn Borg showed up to hand her the trophy), and last year in Hobart, Tasmania. Alica won the Olympic bronze medal this year in Athens, and also has reached 2 grand slam finals in mixed doubles the past 2 years. Alicia wears adidas garb and swats her very powerful serve with a Dunlop bat. Alicia is coached by David Taylor.

    18-year-old Dinara Safina is the sister of the lesser-known (well, to WTA-specific fans, anyway) Marat Safin, who plays in that other tennis league you may have heard about. Muscovite Dinara is now 2-1 in WTA singles finals, having won in Palermo in 2003 and Sopot in 2002. Dinara is attired in adidas togs and chops with a Babolat axe (probably the terrifically popular "Pure Drive" model). The WTA reports that Dinara is coached by both her mother, Raouza Islanova, and by Hubert Choudury.

    The Luxembourg website is in English, and has a photo gallery, thankfully, although the quality of the photos is uneven. There is no live scoring.
    The main draw for Luxembourg had 8 seeds, with 2 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers and 2 wild cards in the main draw.
    The time in Luxembourg is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 2 hours. That is US Eastern Daylight Time +6 hours, =PDT +9 hours.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Linz & Luxembourg s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"?

Linz, 1st Round, Mon-Wed loser's prize: $4,025 US; points: 1 #14 s6 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #50 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 6-0, 6-0 Tues     Ai won this tourney in 2003. Ai said: "I played really well today and I am very pleased. Looking at last year's victory, I have a lot to come up to. It's definitely special." story *#34 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #15 s7 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 6-2 Weds *#44 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #17 s8 Karolina Sprem CRO 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 Tues     Meghann said: "I am happy, because my game plan worked out. My service games worked well and so I am confident for the next round." story #18 s9 Elena Bovina RUS d #36 Jelena Kostanic CRO 6-4, 6-2 Mon #22 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #37 Iveta Benesova CZE 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Tues #23 Elena Likhovtseva RUS d #141 wc Sybille Bammer AUT 6-3, 6-1 Mon *#80 LL Marta Domachowska POL d #24 Fabiola Zuluaga COL 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-4 Tues #35 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #82 LL Lindsay Lee-Waters USA 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 Tues     Daniela said: "Lindsay was very strong at the start and my serve was terrible, but when I increased the pace, I turned the tables." #38 Marion Bartoli FRA d #78 Tatiana Panova RUS 7-5, 6-1 Mon *#122 q Julia Schruff GER d #46 Klara Koukalova CZE 6-4, 6-3 Tues #101 wc Barbara Schett AUT d #75 q Martina Sucha SVK 6-4, 6-4 Weds *#70 q Alina Jidkova RUS d #65 q Vera Douchevina RUS 6-2, 6-1

Linz, 2nd Round, Weds-Thurs loser's prize: $7,600 US; points: 25 #2 s1 wc Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #80 LL Marta Domachowska POL 6-4, 6-0 Thu     Amelie was returning from a thigh muscle strain injury. Amelia said: "I am pretty pleased with this - my first match in two and a half weeks. The leg felt good, just a little tight, but that's normal. [Marta is] a good player, she came out in the first set and I had to adjust to read her game and I was finding my own rhythm on the court as it was my first match here. I'm pleased to get through this one and the next match will also be a good test. That's what I need right now are matches. My goal for sure at the end of the season is to try and finish it No. 1 - that's why I came here."     Marta said: "I was so nervous at the start of the match, thank god I won four games. [Amelie is] a great player and it's a great experience for me to play against someone like her. Now, I'm going on holiday and looking forward to next season." story *#70 q Alina Jidkova RUS d #9 s3 Serena Williams USA 7-6(5), 6-2 Weds Alina during the match... ...and after match point     Alina said: "It feels so great to have beaten Serena. I was trying to watch the ball and forget whom I am facing... story     "I was feeling very tired from the matches over the last few days in qualifying and my serve was so bad in the previous matches. I don't know what happened today, but I slept 12 hours last night and work up feeling fresher. People were saying afterwards, they never saw me run so fast, but that's what I wanted to do, get a lot of balls back. And I don't think she liked it when I broke up her rhythm with some slices and stuff." story     Photos of Alina looking very nice offcourt can be found at the Tennis Angels website.     Serena was troubled by feeling ill during the match. Serena said: "My knee was pretty OK, but I suffered from a bad headache... I was feeling really dizzy as soon as the match got going. I don't know if I ate enough but I feet really lethargic. It was the same in my practice yesterday too. I don't know if my blood sugar levels are low, but I'll have them checked out when I get home.     "This has never happened me before. I was thinking of retiring after the first set, but I thought I've come all this way and really it wouldn't have been the right thing to do for the fans...     "[Alina] played well for sure, and was running all over the place, but normally she's the type of opponent I enjoy playing against. In fact, I can't wait to play her again." #12 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #22 Nathalie Dechy FRA 7-6(5), 6-4 Thu Vera Zvonareva #13 s5 Nadia Petrova RUS d #23 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 Weds #14 s6 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #35 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-2, 6-1 Thu #34 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #101 wc Barbara Schett AUT 6-3, 6-1 Thu #44 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #122 q Julia Schruff GER 7-5, 6-2 Thu #18 s9 Elena Bovina RUS d #38 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-3, 6-1 Weds

Linz, QFs, Fri loser's prize: $14,100 US; points: 49 #2 s1 wc Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #14 s6 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-2, 6-4 *#34 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #12 s4 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-4, 6-4 #13 s5 Nadia Petrova RUS d #44 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 #18 s9 Elena Bovina RUS d #70 q Alina Jidkova RUS 6(3)-7, 6-2, 3-0 retired

Linz, SFs, Sat loser's prize: $26,500 US; points: 88 #2 s1 wc Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #34 Jelena Jankovic SCG 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 Amelie Mauresmo     Amelie said: "I think I started the match well, but I didn't stick to my tactics and allowed [Jelena] to dictate the match. In the second set I focussed a lot more and made her work for it. I think she's a great player with a lot of potential.     "I'm excited to play in the final tomorrow and to have a chance to win my fourth title of the year. [Elena] Bovina's been playing very well lately and we had a very tough match in Montreal last time we played (Mauresmo winning in three sets to improve to 2-0 lifetime against Bovina). I'm defintely looking forward to it." *#18 s9 Elena Bovina RUS d #13 s5 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) Elena Bovina     Elena said: "I'm really happy to get through this match. We were both fighting like crazy. Nadia and I know each other well. We played doubles together a few weeks ago in Moscow, we know each other's games and this is why you saw some very good points... I was thinking a little of the Hasselt final [where Elena lost to Elena Dementieva] and knew I didn't want to let this one slip again."

Linz, Final, Sun loser's prize: $ 49,500 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $ 93,000 US; points: 195 #2 s1 wc Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #18 s9 Elena Bovina RUS 6-2, 6-0 career matches: Amelie leads 3-0

Linz, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $15,500 US winners' prize: $29,000 US s1 Janette Husarova & Elena Likhovtseva d Nathalie Dechy & Patty Schnyder 6-2, 7-5 Linz, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 25 *#75 Martina Sucha SVK d #52 Denisa Chladkova CZE 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-2 #65 Vera Douchevina RUS d #80 Marta Domachowska POL 6-4, 6-2 #70 Alina Jidkova RUS d #82 Lindsay Lee-Waters USA 7-6(5), 7-5 #122 Julia Schruff GER d #88 Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 Luxembourg, Withdrawals #3 s2 Anastasia Myskina RUS flu #37 Flavia Pennetta ITA injury

Former # 1 Kim Clijsters, inactive due to her left wrist injury, visited Luxembourg and signed autographs on Tuesday

Luxembourg, 1st Round, Mon-Tues loser's prize: $1,575 US; points: 1 #21 s3 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #87 Stephanie Foretz FRA 6-3, 6-2 Mon Silvia Farina Elia *#222 q Emma Laine FIN d #25 s4 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 Tues     Emma said" "This is the biggest tournament I ever got into and it's definitely the best win of my career. I never even played someone ranked as high as Maleeva so to beat her was really great. I'm very happy right now." story     Maggie said: "She played great and I didn't. I felt that once the US Open was over, I stopped working. I decided to play the rest of my tournaments, but I am slower and more tired because I'm not training very hard so I can't be disappointed." #28 s5 Mary Pierce FRA d #406 wc Carly Gullickson USA 6-0, 7-5 Tues #29 s6 Tatiana Golovin FRA d #72 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-2, 6-3 Tues #33 s7 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #61 Jill Craybas USA 7-5, 6-1 Tues Eleni Daniilidou #43 s8 Shinobu Asagoe JPN v #603 q Michaella Krajicek NED 6-0, 0-0 Tues c1 m4 #45 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #56 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-2, 6-4 Tues *#67 Dally Randriantefy MAD d #51 Mashona Washington USA 6-4, 6-2 Mon Dally Randriantefy #53 Dinara Safina RUS d #91 q Antonella Serra Zanetti ITA 6-4, 6-0 Tues #54 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP d #66 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-4, 6-3 Tues #55 Marlene Weingartner GER d #62 Anca Barna GER 7-5, 5-7, 6-4 Tues Marlene Weingartner *#119 Tina Pisnik SLO d #59 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-1, 6-1 Tues c1 m2 *SR146 q Kveta Peschke CZE d #60 Claudine Schaul LUX 6-7(8), 6-2, 6-0 Tues *#156 Ana Ivanovic SCG d #98 wc Anne Kremer LUX 6-3, 6-1 Mon Ana Ivanovic

Luxembourg, 2nd Round, Weds-Thurs loser's prize: $3,000 US; points: 19 *#45 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #16 s1 Paola Suarez ARG 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 Thu Anabel Medina Garrigues     Anabel said: "It's never easy to play the No.1 seed, but I felt good today. I lost a bit of confidence when I lost the first set, but I stayed positive and was able to win." story     Paola said: "Some things just didn't work for me today. My timing was off and I missed a lot of serves. Most importantly, [Anabel] played really well. It's tough sometimes when you have a bye in the first round because your first opponent already knows the court, the surface. But I didn't lose because of that - she was the better player today." #20 s2 Alicia Molik AUS d #54 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP 7-6(3), 7-6(2) Thu Alicia Molik signed autographs on Thursday     Alicia said: "It was a strange match. There weren't many rallies in the first set. Both of us were serving very well.  In the second set, I think I relaxed a bit and lost concentration.  I'm very proud of myself for coming back from 5-0 down. It's not every day you can do that.     "Because of my results last week [when Alicia won the Zurich title], I was looking forward to coming here. I see it as a challenge. Usually toward the end of the season, you look forward to resting, but this year I'm looking forward to playing the last weeks of the season. I hope to keep my focus and take home another title." story #21 s3 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #119 Tina Pisnik SLO 6-4, 6-0 Weds *#67 Dally Randriantefy MAD d #28 s5 Mary Pierce FRA 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Weds     Dally said: "This is the fourth time I played [Mary] and the first time I won so I guess I finally figured out how to play her. I knew if it was a battle at the baseline, she would win, so I had to mix it up, come to the net and get some good lobs.     "I've made it to 3 finals on the ITF circuit this year but haven't won any, so I'm hoping I will do well. This is a great tournament and I love playing here." #29 s6 Tatiana Golovin FRA d #55 Marlene Weingartner GER 6-3, 6-4 Weds Tatiana Golovin     Tatiana said: "This is my last tournament of the year, so I'd like to end it with a title. I have a lot of confidence that I can do it, so I'm just going to play my game and go for it." *SR146 q Kveta Peschke CZE d #33 s7 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-3, 6-4 Thu *#156 Ana Ivanovic SCG d #43 s8 Shinobu Asagoe JPN 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 Weds Ana Ivanovic     Ana said: "I started out ranked over 600 this year and won three straight [ITF Women's Circuit] events, two from qualifying. So now my ranking is good enough to get into these WTA Tour events. I know soon I'll be in the the top 100...     "There are a lot of players now, young ones like me, who are doing well. I think we are the next generation. I knew from very young that this is what I wanted to do, but I didn't know I could get to this level and play professionally." story #53 Dinara Safina RUS d #222 q Emma Laine FIN 6-2, 6-1 Thu

Luxembourg, QFs, Fri loser's prize: $5,500 US; points: 37 #20 s2 Alicia Molik AUS d #29 s6 Tatiana Golovin FRA 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 #21 s3 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d SR146 q Kveta Peschke CZE 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 Silvia Farina Elia #45 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #156 Ana Ivanovic SCG 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 #53 Dinara Safina RUS d #67 Dally Randriantefy MAD 6-1, 6-4 Dinara Safina

Luxembourg, SFs, Sat loser's prize: $10,100 US; points: 66 #20 s2 Alicia Molik AUS d #21 s3 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 6-2, 6-2 Alicia Molik     Alicia said: "I felt relaxed and focused today. Two sets is prefect preparation for a final. My execution of shots really helped me beat her today. I played with confidence and broke her in the first game. I stayed aggressive the whole match...     "I feel good, fit. I have confidence when I walk on court. When it's important, I manage to play my best tennis. It will be tough tomorrow but I have a winning edge over [Dinara Safina] and I'll just go out there and play my game."     Silvia said: "It's always difficult to play against [Alicia]. Her serve is very strong. I'm a slow starter and I let her get ahead right from the beginning. I had a lot of problems to get my game going today. I just couldn't do anything. I tried to play a risky game but it didn't work...     "Every year it gets harder and harder to play at this level. All in all, I had a good week here. I will take a long break now to rest." *#53 Dinara Safina RUS d #45 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 Dinara Safina     Dinara said: "I lost the first set, but it was a tight one. I was more aggressive after that, especially on her serves...     "It's my first final this year so I'm very happy. I had a good start to the year, then I was injured for a while so now I'm happy to be back playing well again. I will try to do my best."     Anabel said: "I started out very well but [Dinara is] a strong player and I had to hit the ball seven or eight times for each point so I was getting tired. She played better and was able to win. I was a little nervous and the match was intense...     "Overall, I had a great week, I defeated the No.1 seed and reached the semifinals, and now I'm going on holidays! I'm very satisfied with my year."

Luxembourg, Final, Sun loser's prize: $19,000 US; points: 103 winner's prize: $35,000 US; points: 145 #20 s2 Alicia Molik AUS d #53 Dinara Safina RUS 6-3, 6-4 career matches: Alicia leads 2-0

Luxembourg, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $10,500 US winners' prize: $5,700 US s1 Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez d s4 Jill Craybas & Marlene Weingartner 6-1, 6(1)-7, 6-3 Luxembourg, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 25 #91 Antonella Serra Zanetti ITA d #253 Eva Hrdinova CZE 6-4, 6-2 *SR146 Kveta Peschke CZE d #112 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 *#603 Michaella Krajicek NED d #361 Mandy Minella LUX 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(8) *#222 Emma Laine FIN d #185 Sandra Kloesel GER 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

    (Oct 24, 2004) 2nd seeded # 3 Anastasia Myskina, who defeated a flu-slowed Lindsay Davenport to win her 2nd straight Kremlin Cup a week ago, also has the flu (although it wasn't mentioned in the press last week) and has withdrawn from the Generali Ladies Linz. Anastasia said: "The flu symptoms, which bothered me at the Kremlin Cup and for which I was treated, continued to worsen. I am required to spend a few days in bed with medication to recover fully." Get well, Anastasia.

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