WTA Feb 9-15 Open Gaz de France, Paris, FRA Tier II $585,000 - 28 players - indoor: greenset draws & schedule .pdf draw, .html s1 # 2 Kim Clijsters s2 # 8 Elena Dementieva s3 # 15 Patty Schnyder s4 # 17 Jelena Dokic rankings on most tourney pages are for the previous week, the same ranks used for the draw

Tourney pages: Paris: 2006 - 2005 previous other tourney pages next #2 Kim Clijsters 5' 8½", 150 lbs, RH, 2H-BH #36 Mary Pierce 5' 10", 150 lbs, RH, 2H-BH

    In Sunday's Open Gaz de France final in Paris, top-seeded # 2 Kim Clijsters of Belgium easily defeated 29-year-old Canadian-born, Florida-residing Frenchwoman Mary Pierce, 6-2, 6-1 (photos shown).
    Surprisingly, they had played only once before, last year at Filderstadt in the SFs, when Kim won 7-6(2), 6-0, so Kim is now 2-0 v Mary.
    Kim said: "Against a good player like Mary who is good in returns, I had to serve well, especially on my second serve. I even had to take risks, taking more angles for instance. I think that I dominated her from the beginning and I did not give her the chance to play her game. I never made three or four strokes at the same place.
    "[Mary] really played well this week. Even today, both of us started playing well... I think that she was tired. She’s coming back [from a series of injuries] and it’s always tough physically. Even though she was tired, she was in a better shape that when I played her last year in Filderstadt. She moved much better than she used to." interview excerpt

    20-year-old Kim has now won 20 WTA singles titles in 33 finals. She chops with a Babolat "Pure Drive" axe and wears Fila togs (and will not play in this year's Olympics due to loyalty to Fila-- the Belgian team is wearing all adidas). Kim is to marry former ATP #1 Lleyton Hewitt, no date has been specified. Kim hurt her left ankle in January at the Hopman cup in Perth, Australia, and apparently has a bone chip loose inside there (the media has been vague about it), but she wants to avoid surgery if possible. Kim says ankle has not bothered her in this tourney.

    29-year-old Mary has won 15 WTA singles titles (including the 2000 French Open and the 1995 Australian Open) in 34 finals. She wears Nike, and swings a Yonex "Ultimum RD Ti-80" bat. After her 2000 win at Roland Garros, she was plagued by a series of injuries, which only tapered off last year. This was Mary's first tourney of 2004.

    "We operate when possible, otherwise we just tape it up." Friday, Marlene Weingartner of Germany was forced to withdraw from her SF doubles match because she suffered a left foot stress fracture. Unfortunately, this will likely put Marlene out of action for a few months at least.
    Wednesday, Sandrine Testud was forced to retire from her match due to an abdominal strain. The WTA injury rate in Paris this year is way up high; Sandrine was the 7th player to withdraw or retire. Nathalie Dechy of France (born in Guadeloupe, lives in Belgium) joined the withdrawal list on Tuesday, due to a strained thigh muscle that was not improving. Nathalie said: "Unfortunately during practice, I strained my thigh... I was hoping to compete here but it hasn’t improved after treatment this week . I saw the doctors today and they told me that I could damage the muscle further if I played."

    There were 3 wild cards, 4 qualifiers, and 1 Lucky Loser in the 28-player main draw, plus unranked Sandrine Testud, a former top-20 player who is returning from retirement to play another WTA Tour season or two (but is not listed as a wc on the drawsheet). The top 4 seeds had 1st round byes.
    The Gaz website tries hard to be good, and now has added a dedicated page for the singles draw and results. They also had live chat with Nathalie Dechy, but a chat with Elena Dementieva was cancelled.
    The time zone for Paris is GMT (UCT, ZULU) +1 hours (US Pacific Time +9, Eastern Time +6). Early round play started at noon local time.

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

Paris Open, 1st Round, Mon AP story - BBC story loser's prize: $4,025 US; points: 1 #18 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #41 Emilie Loit FRA 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 #20 s7 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #89 wc Alexandra Stevenson USA 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-2 #89 Alexandra Stevenson     Alexandra's game crumbled during the 3rd set, when she was broken (with 3 double faults and 5 unforced errors) in her last 2 service games. Silvia said: "I was really waiting and hoping for that. [Alexandra's}] game revolves around her serve. But she's a very dangerous player indoors. Her ranking doesn't mean anything. She's got a top-20 game."     Silvia added: "She has excellent groundstrokes and I really had to fight hard to stay in the second set. I think when we started the third set she lost her concentration, and that's why I was able to win the last set quite easily." *#45 Maria Sanchez-Lorenzo ESP d #25 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-2, 4-6, 6-4     About the next round, Maria said: "I'm looking forward to playing Kim [Clijsters]. It's not every day you get to play someone as good as her, so it's a nice chance to see how my game compares to hers." #29 Tina Pisnik SLO d #54 Denisa Chladkova CZE 6-2, 6-1 Paris Open, 1st Round, Tues story *#136 wc Tatiana Golovin FRA d #19 s6 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR 1-6, 7-5, 3-1 retired-- muscle cramping #136 Tatiana Golovin     Tatiana said: "It is one of my best wins. Even though I already played her in Australia, the match here was more intense, more physical. It was really important for me because I know now that I am able to defeat players who belong in the top 20..." interview #22 s8 Magui Serna ESP d #38 Petra Mandula HUN 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 Magui Serna *#49 q Karolina Sprem CRO d #43 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 6-2, 6-3 #40 q Dinara Safina RUS v #71 q Jelena Jankovic SCG 6-4, 2-0 retired-- left thigh strain #80 wc Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA d #63 LL Claudine Schaul LUX 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 Paris Open, 1st Round, Weds #32 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d NR Sandrine Testud FRA 5-3 retired-- left abdominal strain     Sandrine left the WTA tour after the 2002 Wimbledon to have a child. Now, at age 31, she wants to play another season or two. Sandrine said: "It's a shame, I felt good on the court... [Then, after abdominal pains began] I couldn't serve anymore. It made no sense to keep going. After the three games I played in Italy before coming here, I had a slight pain but an ultrasound before the tournament reassured me. I got some rest and I thought I could play serenely... It's a pity because I needed to play games, to pile them up. The body can get used to repeated games just like it can get out of that habit. I know that I still risk having a few physical problems". story     Sandrine next plans to play in the Doha, Qatar tourney March 1st. #35 Elena Bovina RUS d #60 q Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 #36 Mary Pierce FRA d #65 Arantxa Parra ESP 7-5, 6-2     Mary skipped Australia, so this was her first match of the season. She fell behind 1-5 in the 1st set before getting into the match. Mary said: "The first rounds are always the most difficult to get through, and not competing since the Fed Cup didn’t help. I was tense and worried in the beginning, and then I calmed down and everything went fine. interview

Paris Open, 2nd Round, Weds story loser's prize: $7,600 US; points: 25 #8 s2 Elena Dementiva RUS d #80 wc Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 Elena Dementieva     Elena said: "It wasn't my best match that's for sure. I was a bit nervous because it was my first match and Stephanie played at a very high level. But I'm happy to be through to the quarter-finals and hope to do better later this week." #20 s7 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #29 Tina Pisnik SLO 6-0, 6-4 Silvia Farina Elia Paris Open, 2nd Round, Thurs AP Reuters #2 s1 Kim Clijsters BEL d #45 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo ESP 6-1, 6-0 Kim Clijsters     Kim was not bothered by her taped-up left ankle, which was injured in Australia last month. Kim said: "I felt nothing... I played really well... I had the feeling I was moving well around the court. After spending two and a half months in Australia, I was glad to be back in Europe to see my family, my friends and my dog." *#40 q Dinara Safina RUS d #15 s3 Patty Schnyder SUI 4-6, 6-2, 6-1     Dinara said: "It's the toughest match I've had in the last two years." *#35 Elena Bovina RUS d #17 s4 Jelena Dokic SCG 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-0     Jelena said: "I should have won it in the second set and especially in the tiebreak. Another time I would have won. [Elena] was lucky."     Elena said: "Maybe [Jelena] had a bad day today and she got negative." #18 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #49 q Karolina Sprem CRO 7-6(4), 6-3 *#36 Mary Pierce FRA d #22 s8 Magui Serna ESP 6-2, 6-4 Mary Pierce     75% of Mary's 1st serves were good. Mary said: "That's what I've been spending time on with my coach this winter. I'm just happy to see my service is working so well out on court." story *#136 wc Tatiana Golovin FRA d #32 Daniela Hantuchova SVK walkover-- upper respiratory infection     Daniela said: "I’m extremely disappointed, for myself, for the fans and for the tournament. This is the first time in my career I have had to pull out of a tournament. Normally I always try and play no matter what the circumstances. I was really looking forward to playing here after playing so well last week and this is a tournament I like a lot. I caught a cold on the plane on the way here from Tokyo on Sunday and I was hoping I would feel better as the week went on but when I’m capable of. I was lucky my match with Sandrine last night didn’t last that long as I might not have been able to finish. I’m very sorry and I look forward to coming back here next year and playing well."     Daniela will reportedly take a break now, and return to WTA play March 8th at Indian Wells, California, the tournament she won in 2002. story

Paris Open, QFs, Fri 1:50pm start BBC AP loser's prize: $14,100 US; points: 49 #2 s1 Kim Clijsters BEL d #20 s7 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 3-6, 7-5, 6-3     Silvia served for the match at 6-3, 5-3, but then Kim came roaring back, and Silvia won only 3 points in the next 4 games. Kim said: "I really made a whole pile of errors today... I knew it was going to be a hard game, particularly because I lacked match practice. I made too many mistakes in the first set because I was trying to win the points too quickly." *#136 wc Tatiana Golovin FRA d #8 s2 Elena Dementiva RUS 6-4, 6-4 Tatiana Golovin *#40 q Dinara Safina RUS d #18 s5 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 Dinara Safina *#36 Mary Pierce FRA d #35 Elena Bovina RUS 6-3, 6-4

Paris Open, SFs, Sat 1:30pm start BBC AP loser's prize: $26,500 US; points: 88 #2 s1 Kim Clijsters BEL d #40 q Dinara Safina RUS 6-1, 6-1 Kim Clijsters     Kim said: "I played aggressively from the start."     About the final, Kim said: "Mary looks very fit and strong and keen. The final will be fun. The crowd will be on her side but that's normal." #36 Mary Pierce FRA d #136 wc Tatiana Golovin FRA 6-0, 6-4 Tatiana Golovin & Mary Pierce     Mary made 83 percent of her first serves, and won the point on 70 percent of them. Mary said: "We've worked very hard on my serve and the results are showing. Only one day left and hopefully I'll go all the way."     About reaching her first final since the 2000 French Open (which she won), Mary said: "Is it really as long ago as that?... It's a great feeling. A lot of things have happened since 2000... I just feel I'm getting back on track and things can only get better."

Paris Open, Final, Sun 1:30pm start loser's prize: $49,500 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $93,000 US; points: 195 #2 s1 Kim Clijsters BEL d #36 Mary Pierce FRA 6-2, 6-1

Paris Open, Doubles Final, Sun loser's prize: $15,600 US; DR points: 137 winner's prize: $29,000 US; DR points: 195 s3 Barbara Schett & Patty Schnyder d Silvia Farina Elia & Francesca Schiavone 6-3, 6-2 Paris Open, Qualifying Finals, Mon loser's prize: $2,150 US #40 Dinara Safina RUS d #63 Claudine Schaul LUX 7-5, 6-1 #49 Karolina Sprem CRO d #68 Marlene Weingartner GER 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 #60 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP d #189 Daja Bedanova CZE 6-4, 6-4 *#71 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #65 Arantxa Parra ESP 6-2, 6-4 Paris Open, Withdrawals #3 Amelie Mauresmo FRA shoulder #4 Serena Williams USA knee #19 s6 Anna Smashnova-Pistolesi ISR R1 retired muscle cramping #23 Nathalie Dechy FRA left thigh strain #31 Magdalena Maleeva BUL rest & recovery #32 Daniela Hantuchova SVK R2 walkover upper respiratory infection #71 q Jelena Jankovic SCG R1 retired left thigh strain NR Sandrine Testud FRA R1 retired left abdominal strain

    Most of the photos from this week's tourney at Yahoo! US could be found by searching for Paris Open. Some more photos could be found at the Yahoo! France Tennis Photos pages. Caution: the photos from AFP (Agencie France Presse) are sometimes non-current "file" photos. Reuters and AP photos are usually current.

    (Feb 7, 2004) # 3 Amelie Mauresmo of France and # 4 Serena Williams of the US have both withdrawn from the Paris Open (Gaz) tourney. Amelie's back has not yet recovered from torn muscles sustained in the QFs of the Australian Open, and Serena's left knee, on which she had tendon repair surgery on last August, is not yet ready for play. Serena defeated Amelie in last year's Paris final.

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