WTA Nov 1-7 Advanta Championships, Philadelphia, PA Tier II $585,000 - 28 players - indoor: hard draws & schedule .pdf Philly Weather Yahoo! news "Advanta" photos WTA Photo Gallery s1 # 2 Amelie Mauresmo s2 # 3 Anastasia Myskina s3 # 7 Maria Sharapova s4 # 8 Jennifer Capriati Bell Challenge, Quebec City, CAN Tier III site in French English via AltaVista $170,000 - 30 players - indoor: hard draws & schedule .pdf Quebec Weather Yahoo! news "Bell Challenge" photos WTA Photo Gallery s1 # 26 Mary Pierce s2 # 34 Daniela Hantuchova s3 # 51 Mashona Washington USA s4 # 58 Jill Craybas

Tourney pages: Philadelphia & Quebec City: 2005 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Quebec City: #72 Martina Sucha 5'7", 125½ lbs, RH, 2H-BH Philadelphia: #2 Amelie Mauresmo 5'9", 152 lbs, RH, 1H-BH

    On Sunday in Quebec City, in the final of the Bell Challenge, 24-year-old # 72 Martina Sucha of Slovakia defeated qualifier # 118 Abigail Spears of the US 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 (Martina is shown after match point).

    Martina said: "It was really tough. We both were very tired from the tough matches that we had this week. This one had a lot of rallies, but she had more matches, so she may have been more tired. I'm so happy to have been able to win this one in my last event of the year... In the third set, I was serving better. I was able to hold my serve and break her, and she also helped me with some of her errors. I'm happy with how I finished the game." story

    Abigail said: "I didn't get any freebies from [Martina]. She made me work. She served and hit the ball really well. She's so solid that you have to put a lot of pressure on her. I was just trying to make her give me some free shots [in the third set], so I could catch my breath.
    "This was a great week for me. I'm happy with how I played all week. This is the best tournament for me, and I can definitely take a lot of confidence from this week into the rest of the year and going into the Australian Open.

    Meanwhile in Philadelphia, in the final of the Advanta Championships, top-seeded 25-year-old # 2 Amelie Mauresmo of France won her 2nd title in a row by defeating 6th-seeded 20-year-old # 11 Vera Zvonareva from Moscow, Russia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 (photo shown).
    About her strategy after the 1st set, Amelie said: "I wanted to take control of the game and make her play. I was reading her game much better, moving much better. I also was able to pump myself up... I felt really fresh when she started to go down physically a little bit. That helped a lot." story
    Vera said: "[Amelie] started to play better for sure... I had to play my game and not give her a chance to attack me always. I tried to always give her a hard time... It's my first Tier II final, so it's a great experience."

    The websites for this week's tourneys are basically awful. The Quebec City site is in French only, and does not work well via computer translation. The Philly site has NO RESULTS, let alone live scoring. Philly did have a photo gallery last year; maybe they will this year, too, but there is no link yet.

Philadelphia:
    Amelie now leads Vera 5-0 in career matches. Vera might get another chance to defeat Amelie at the WTA Championships in LA later this week.

    24-year-old Amelie Mauresmo was born in St. Germains en Laye, France and has a residence in Geneva, Switzerland. Amelie is now 15-14 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

    20-year-old Vera Zvonareva has won 2 titles (Bol in 2003, Memphis in 2004) in 5 WTA singles finals. Vera wears "The Mark with 3 Stripes" and chops with a "Fischer Pro Tour FT" axe (about 6 of the WTA top 100 have been using Fischer bats, but the number seems to be going up).

    The main draw for Philadelphia had 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers, 1 lucky loser, and 2 wild cards in the main draw.
    The time in Philadelphia is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) minus 5 hours. That is US Eastern Standard Time, PST +3 hours.

Quebec City:
    Martina and Abigail had never played each other before.

    23-year-old Martina Sucha has now won 2 WTA titles in 4 finals (the other was in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2002); this was her 3rd final of 2004. She reached a rank of # 37 in 2002.

    23-year-old Californian Abigail Spears was playing in her 1st WTA singles final (she has won 3 ITF singles titles). Her career-high rank is # 110, reached last month, but she should be in the top 100 when the new rankings come out on Monday.

    The main draw for Quebec City had 8 seeds, with 2 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers and 2 wild cards in the main draw.
    The time in Quebec City is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) minus 5 hours. That equals US Eastern Standard Time, PST +3 hours.

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

Philadelphia, 1st Round, Mon-Wed Mon story - Tues story loser's prize: $4,025 US; points: 1 #10 s5 Venus Williams USA d #27 Lisa Raymond USA 6-2, 6-1 Tues Venus Williams     Venus said: "Lisa is a very good player and can play very well and plays well against me. I wanted control early in the match and was able to do that... I'm on the up and up. With my height, movement and power it's a combination that doesn't exist on the Tour and I have to take advantage of it."     Lisa said: "I never really settled down, never relaxed. I never got my rhythm in the match. Maybe if I had held at the 2-3 game, I may have felt more comfortable in the match." #11 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #146 q Sybille Bammer AUT 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5)Mon #13 s7 Nadia Petrova RUS d #77 Tatiana Panova RUS 6-2, 6-0 Tues Nadia Petrova #14 s8 Alicia Molik AUS d #62 Marlene Weingartner GER 6-2, 6-4 Weds #22 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #128 Tina Pisnik SLO 6-3, 6-0 Weds #26 Amy Frazier USA v #75 wc Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-2, 7-5 Mon Amy Frazier     Although only 15, Nicole has already won 2 WTA singles titles (both this year, in Vancouver and Tashkent), so this was no easy win for Amy. Amy said: "I'm happy with the way I played today. [Nicole is] young and I didn't know much about her before, so I'm quite happy. She has proved she belongs here and she's a very tough player." #33 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #50 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 Tues Jelena Jankovic #36 Jelena Kostanic CRO d #97 LL Anne Kremer LUX 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 Tues #38 Iveta Benesova CZE d #49 Kristina Brandi PUR 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 Mon #44 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #117 wc Kelly McCain USA 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 Tues #87 Yuliana Fedak UKR d #126 q Teryn Ashley USA 0-6, 6-2, 6-1 Mon *#239 q Rossana Neffa-del los Rios PAR d #149 q Meilen Tu USA 6-4, 6-4 Mon

Philadelphia, 2nd Round, Weds-Thurs Weds story - Thurs story loser's prize: $7,600 US; points: 25 #2 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #38 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Thur     Amelie said: "I feel comfortable playing here and hopefully it will keep going well... I needed a couple of games to get into the rhythm. I was able to count on my first serve today and that helped a lot. I was also able to close it out pretty quickly, which gives me a lot of confidence...     "I really want the # 1 spot back. I feel very proud about it, knowing I was the first French to do that [be # 1 in the WTA rankings]. I want to do everything I can to get it back." #3 s2 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #239 q Rossana Neffa-del los Rios PAR 6-4, 7-6(0)Thur     Anastasia said: "It was a pretty good match for me. [Rossana] was playing really well. I didn't expect so much from her since she's been out with injuries." #7 s3 Maria Sharapova RUS d #36 Jelena Kostanic CRO 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 retired-- right adductor strain Weds Maria Sharapova     Jelena was stopped by a right adductor muscle strain, but her whole leg was hurting. Jelena said: "My whole right leg started to bother me in the second set. I couldn't run, wasn't quick enough so it changed the match."     Before the injury, Jelena felt in control of the match. Jelena said: "I had to mix it up for [Maria]. It's the way I can play against her and it worked. I can hit hard or mix it up, I can play both games. But then it's harder to make them stronger because I have to work on two games... She's obviously a good player. But I know now I can play with her and can probably beat her. But today wasn't my day."     Maria said: "I wasn't playing my game in the beginning. [Jelena is] a grinder, that's her strength. So I started changing things, started coming to the net more. She played really well so I had to pick up my game." #8 s4 Jennifer Capriati USA d #44 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Weds Jennifer Capriati     Although Jennifer is 8-0 against Meghann, she has plenty of respect for Meghann's game. Jennifer said: "[Meghann is] a tough opponent because obviously her serve is huge. When you play someone so much you can kind of predict where they're going to go."     Meghann said: "It was definitely a battle. I played well the whole match, so I'm dissappointed I lost. In the end [Jennifer] was a little more aggressive and that's the difference." #10 s5 Venus Williams USA d #87 Yuliana Fedak UKR 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) Thur Venus Williams     Venus said: "[Yuliana] played at the top of her game today and it was a good challenge. Today was a good match for me to hit a ton of balls and be ready for tomorrow [her Friday quarterfinal against Amelie Mauresmo]."     Yuliana said: "I realized I could play with [Venus] after the first couple of games. I haven't had so many matches this year especially against top players. This was a great way to end the year. It makes me really look forward to next year." #11 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #22 Nathalie Dechy FRA 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Thur Vera Zvonareva     Vera still has a shot at making the cut for next week's WTA Championships (where the winner will get $1 million, and the other 7 players in singles take home between $100,000 and $250,000), but she needs to win this tourney to get in, no small feat. Vera's opponent in the quarterfinals will be Jennifer Capriati, who is also battling for a remaining spot in the Championships. #13 s7 Nadia Petrova RUS d #26 Amy Frazier USA 6-4, 6-3 Thur Nadia Petrova     Nadia said: "This was a different year for me because I was in a position where I had points to defend. I feel I did pretty well and have kept my ranking. I'm hoping next year will be an even better year for me." #14 s8 Alicia Molik AUS d #33 Jelena Jankovic SCG 7-5, 6-3 Thur

Philadelphia, QFs, Fri Fri story loser's prize: $14,100 US; points: 49 #2 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #10 s5 Venus Williams USA 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 Amelie Mauresmo     Amelie said: "I was playing some of my best tennis in the third set today."     Venus' loss took her out of contention in the "Porsche Race for the Championships", and gave Vera Zvonareva the 8th and final spot in the WTA Championships next week in LA.     Venus said: "It was a story of my errors. [Amelie] definitely can't hit me off the court, but I'm always putting play forward, which is my style of play, but I made too many errors. I think next time I'll be ready." *#13 s7 Nadia Petrova RUS d #3 s2 Anastasia Myskina RUS 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 Nadia Petrova     Nadia said: "When you see two Russians playing each other you know neither wants to lose. I had to be mentally strong against [Anastasia] because she's a very consistent player. You rarely see her make many mistakes." #7 s3 Maria Sharapova RUS d #14 s8 Alicia Molik AUS 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 Maria Sharapova *#11 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #8 s4 Jennifer Capriati USA 6-0, 6-1 Vera Zvonareva     The win, combined with Venus Williams' loss, put Vera into the field of 8 for the WTA Championships next week in Los Angeles. Vera said: "I felt really confident and was able to play my game. I felt really good out there... This win is really important to me, not only because I get into the Championships, but also I beat a Top 10 player."     Jennifer said: "[Vera is] fast. When someone gets confidence, the more confident they get, the better they play, and I wasn't putting enough juice on the ball today...     "I have not been playing for a while. It was tough to be able to do what I wanted with the ball today... I still consider this a great year. I've been pretty consistent this whole year, especially at the Grand Slams. Now I will take some time off and regroup mentally."

Philadelphia, SFs, Sat Sat story loser's prize: $26,500 US; points: 88 #2 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #7 s3 Maria Sharapova RUS walkover-- right shoulder strain     On Saturday Maria Sharapova withdrew from her scheduled semifinal against Amelie due to a strained right shoulder. Maria had hurt the shoulder 2 weeks ago in Zurich, and unfortunately aggravated the injury in her quarterfinal win over Alicia Molik.     Maria said: "I’m very disappointed I am not able to continue my play in Philadelphia. I was having a really good tournament and I’m sure it will still be an exciting final weekend. I just wish I could be a part of it." #11 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS d #13 s7 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-3, 7-6 Vera Zvonareva     After winning the 1st set, Vera (who had lost her only previous match against Nadia) led 5-2 in the second. Then Nadia caught up to force the tiebreaker. Vera said: "I was playing good tennis, then I lost my concentration for a few games. But then I found my game again."     Nadia said: "I know it's difficult to come back for any player. I tried my hardest."     Nadia's singles season is over, but she will be playing doubles in the WTA Championships next week with partner Meghann Shaughnessy.     About clinching a trip to the WTA Championships by winning her quarterfinal, Vera said: "It took the pressure off me. Last year was a great year for me and this year was even better."     About Sunday's final against Amelie Mauresmo, Vera said: ""I'll just go on court, enjoy myself and do the best I can."

Philadelphia, Final, Sun loser's prize: $ 49,500 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $ 93,000 US; points: 195 #2 s1 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #11 s6 Vera Zvonareva RUS 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 career matches: Amelie leads 5-0

Philadelphia, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $29,000 US winners' prize: $15,500 US s3 Alicia Molik & Lisa Raymond d s4 Liezel Huber & Corina Morariu 7-5, 6-4 Philadelphia, Qual Finals, Sun Oct 31 *#149 Meilen Tu USA d #97 Anne Kremer LUX 4-6, retired *#146 Sybille Bammer AUT d #114 Catalina Castano COL 6-4, 6-1 #126 Teryn Ashley USA d #206 Angelika Bachmann GER 6-2, 7-5 *#239 Rossana Neffa-del los Rios PAR d #137 Galina Voskoboeva 6-4, 6-3

Mary Pierce at her pre-tourney press conference

Quebec City, 1st Round, Mon-Tues Mon story - Tues story loser's prize: $1,300 US; points: 1 *#155 q Sesil Karatantcheva BUL d #51 s3 Mashona Washington USA 6-0, 6-2 Tues Sesil got a do for the tourney fashion show... then Sesil went forth and modeled     Sesil said: "[Mashona] played really good tennis, but I played very well, and I guess I played better today... I was disappointed that I didn't get straight into the main draw, but now in this case, I think it was good because I was able to play more matches and gain more [ranking] points."     Mashona said: "This is my last tournament of the year, and I would have liked to have done better, so I'm disappointed. I didn't quite have it today, and it showed, especially losing 6-0 in the first." #58 s4 Jill Craybas USA d #70 Marissa Irvin USA 6-7(2), 6-2, 7-6(2) Weds #59 s5 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA d #136 Sandra Kleinova CZE 6-3, 6-2Mon     Tammy said: "I'm happy to get through to the next round because the first round is never easy. I just concentrated on my game and served well today. For me, those are the two most important things...     "It was tough in the end.  Even though I was leading 5-1, she raised her game.  I know she's a fighter, so it was important for me to stay focused and keep attacking." #60 s6 Claudine Schaul LUX d #74 Anca Barna GER 6-2, 7-6(6)Tues #61 s7 Laura Granville USA d #91 Camille Pin FRA 6-1, 6-1 Mon *#73 Alina Jidkova RUS d #66 s8 Samantha Stosur AUS 7-6(2), 6-3 Tues #72 Martina Sucha SVK d #413 wc Melanie Marois CAN 6-0, 7-5 Tues #76 Lubomira Kurhajcova SVK d #85 Aniko Kapros HUN 7-6(2), 5-7, 6-3 Mon #78 Shenay Perry USA d #147 wc Marie-Eve Pelletier CAN 6-1, 6-4 Tues *#118 q Abigail Spears USA d #84 Lindsay Lee-Waters USA 7-5, 6-3 Tues *#1123 q Melanie Gloria CAN d #94 Stephanie Foretz FRA 6-4, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) Tues     17-year-old Montreal-born-and-residing Melanie Gloria has a career-high rank of 772, and her highest rank in juniors has been 147. She is already having a great week, winning her way through qualifying and scoring this 1st round upset.     Melanie said: "I'm really happy, I don't know what to say. I didn't expect this at all, just like the other days in qualifying."     Melanie had two match points on Stephanie's serve at 6-5 in the third set, but could not convert. Melanie said: "The same thing happened to me in my last tournament two weeks ago. I had two match points but had to go to a tie-break, and I ended up winning. I just kept thinking about that and stayed focused, thinking that if I did it once, then I can do it again." *#260 Stephanie Dubois CAN d #108 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-1, 6-2 Weds #111 Mariana Diaz-Oliva ARG d #311 q Elena Vesnina RUS 6-3, 6-2 Tues #132 Maria-Emilia Salerni ARG d #135 Jennifer Hopkins USA 6-2, 7-6(3) Mon

Quebec City, 2nd Round, Weds-Thurs Weds story - Thurs story loser's prize: $2,200 US; points: 16 #29 s1 Mary Pierce FRA d #111 Mariana Diaz-Oliva ARG 6-3, 6-4 Thur     Mary said: "I was surprised and happy. I wasn't sure if I would play or not. I didn't play too bad. [Mariana] also played well... I had a drop in my concentration at the beginning of the second set. I was not 100 percent in my shots, but it was enough."     Mary will play Alina Jidkova in the quarterfinals. Mary said: "[Alina is] definitely a very good player. She had a good win against Serena [Williams] last week, so she'll have a lot of confidence right now. I hope it will be a good match." *#1123 q Melanie Gloria CAN d #30 s2 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 Weds Melanie Gloria at her post-match press conference     Melanie said: "I was so surprised. I knew [Daniela] was ranked around # 30, so I really didn't expect to win. I just went out there and played my game... I was nervous in the first set but got the crowd going early, which helped me a lot. After winning the first set, I was kind of shocked and I think my game went down a bit. But I stay focused and broke her in the first game and went on from there."     Daniela said: [Melanie] had nothing to lose, but I made too many mistakes. If I played like I did in the second set, I would have been okay. In the second set, I was going for my shots, but in the third, I got tight again like in the first. I seem to have a hard time when I'm playing matches where I should win. This is something I need to work on next season. I always play better if I'm playing against someone ranked higher than me, when I have nothing to lose.     "It may have helped that she had four matches before [3 qualifying + the 1st round]. She played well, and this is obviously good for her and good for the tournament to have a Canadian through to the next round." *#118 q Abigail Spears USA d #58 s4 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-2 Thu *#76 Lubomira Kurhajcova SVK d #59 s5 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 7-5 Weds     Lubomira said: "It was a tough match. I served better than [Tammy]. I played well here last year, reaching the quarterfinals, so I like this tournament. The surface here is very good for me." *#72 Martina Sucha SVK d #60 s6 Claudine Schaul LUX 6-3, 6-0 Thu *#132 Maria-Emilia Salerni ARG d #61 s7 Laura Granville USA 7-6(0), 7-5 Weds #73 Alina Jidkova RUS d #260 Stephanie Dubois CAN 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(5) Thu     Alina said:: "I think I was more consistent in the end, and [Stephanie] tried to go for too much. I think experience helped me out... It was a tough match. I think I could've done better. I was really tired but tried to do everything I could - change the pace, run like crazy. I just kept fighting." *#155 q Sesil Karatantcheva BUL d #78 Shenay Perry USA 6-2, 6-3 Thu     Sesil said: "It may have looked easy on paper, but it definitely was not easy. There were a lot of long rallies, and [Shenay] played very well. It was a good match for the crowd, which is the most important thing."     About her goals for the tourney, Sesil said: "Normally, I would say, 'To win the tournament.' This time, I have a new mentality which is to focus on just the next match and not look too much further."

Quebec City, QFs, Fri Fri story loser's prize: $4,000 US; points: 30 *#73 Alina Jidkova RUS d #29 s1 Mary Pierce FRA 6-4, 7-6(8)     There was only 1 service break in the entire match. Alina said: "I tried to use the same tactics as last week - mix it up and not just rally... Holding serve was the key for me. I wish I had a good serve at 6-4 in the tie-break, but it was nice to win on an ace."     Mary said: "[Alina] played a good match and served very well. I made too many errors in the second set, which made a big difference." #72 Martina Sucha SVK d #155 q Sesil Karatantcheva BUL 6-1, 4-6, 6-4     Martina said: "I expected a tough match. "I'm happy that I won. Both of us held serve very well. I just tried to focus on every ball because I knew she would fight until the last point. I knew it wouldn't be easy."     This was 15-year-old Sesil's 5th WTA tour event. Sesil said: "[Martina] really went for her shots, and I couldn't do much. She was hitting really flat and didn't let me move in."     None of the 8 seeds reached the semifinals. Martina said: "There were a few surprises, but I think that can be a trend in tennis because the players are very close from No. 30 to 100. It's very unpredictable who will win." *#118 q Abigail Spears USA d #76 Lubomira Kurhajcova SVK 6-4, 7-6(4) #132 Maria-Emilia Salerni ARG d #1123 q Melanie Gloria CAN 6-4, 6-0 Maria-Emilia Salerni     #1123 Melanie Gloria should be ranked somewhere around #345 next week. Melanie said: "This week, I learned that I can play against some of the best players in the world."

Quebec City, SFs, Sat Sat story loser's prize: $7,500 US; points: 55 #72 Martina Sucha SVK d #132 Maria-Emilia Salerni ARG 6(3)-7, 7-5, 7-6(6) Martina Sucha     Martina said: "I held serve the whole set, but I started to think too much about winning and let my emotions take over, which is very dangerous.     About the final against Abigail Spears, Martina said: "Hopefully, my offensive game will work better than today. We both had tough matches today, so we'll be equal." *#118 q Abigail Spears USA d #73 Alina Jidkova RUS 7-6(4), 4-6, 7-6(4) Abigail Spears     Abigail said: "I'm pretty excited about [my first WTA Tour singles final]. This match was so close, and even if I lost, I think I would have been happy with the way I played."     Abigail was 0-4 against Alina before this match. Abigail said: "In the first match that we played, I was a little nervous. And in the last match, in Beijing, I didn't really fight. This time, I stayed calm and kept a positive attitude."     Alina said: "I gave her everything I had. [Abigail] was hitting winners all over the place, and there's nothing you can do when your opponent plays like that."

Quebec City, Final, Sun loser's prize: $14,500 US; points: 85 winner's prize: $27,000 US; points: 120 #72 Martina Sucha SVK d #118 q Abigail Spears USA 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 Martina Sucha

Quebec City, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $8,000 US winners' prize: $4,250 US Carly Gullickson & Maria-Emilia Salerni d Els Callens & Samantha Stosur 7-5, 7-5     Carly said: "We're so happy to have won this in our first time playing together. It was a really close match and our opponents were such strong doubles players. This was my first title, and it feels great." Quebec City, Qual Finals, Mon Nov 1 #118 Abigail Spears USA d #268 Kelly Liggan IRL 6-1, 6-4 #155 Sesil Karatantcheva BUL d #409 Carly Gullickson 6-1, 6-4 *#311 Elena Vesnina RUS d #210 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK 6-3, 6-0 *#1123 Melanie Gloria CAN d #308 Diana Ospina 6-3, 6-4