WTA Feb 2-8 Toray Pan-Pacific Open, Tokyo, JPN Tier I $1,300,000 - 28 players - indoor: carpet draws & schedule .pdf scores & draws qualifying draw, .html photo gallery s1 SR4 # 11 Venus Williams s2 # 5 Lindsay Davenport s3 # 8 Elena Dementieva s4 # 9 Ai Sugiyama rankings on most tourney pages are for the previous week, the same ranks used for the draw

Tourney pages: Tokyo: 2006 - 2005 previous other tourney pages next #29 Maggie Maleeva 5' 6¼", 130½ lbs, RH, 2H-BH #5 Lindsay Davenport 6' 2½", 175 lbs, RH, 2H-BH

    In the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Sunday, # 5 Lindsay Davenport of the US (last week's ranks are now generally stated on this page because they are used for the draw, this week Lindsay has dropped to # 6) defeated # 29 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-4, 6-1 (photos shown).
    Lindsay won the 1st 2 games of the match, Maggie the next 3. Then Lindsay dominated the rest of the way.

    Lindsay said: "I've always played well here. It's an honor to win a tournament four times, especially one as prestigious as this... I just tried to play as aggressive as possible. The surface here is fast and that really helps my serves and groundstrokes." story
    Lindsay also said: "Maggie is a great player, we had a lot of tough matches before, so I wanted to really try and play aggressive and go for my shots. I was just trying to play like I did all week and not let Maggie dictate. story

    Maggie said: "I tried everything today, but she was just too good."

    27-year-old Californian Lindsay has now won this tourney 4 times, including last year, so over 10% of her total of 38 WTA singles titles have been in Tokyo. Lindsay wears Nike and hits with a Wilson "H Tour" (the same model # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne is using). Earlier this week Lindsay was saying she might retire soon because she hasn't been reaching enough finals.

    28-year-old Maggie, who has 2 older sisters that also did time on the WTA tour, has won 10 WTA singles titles. Maggie wears Yonex and swings a Yonex bat. Maggie only reached the 2nd round in Tokyo last year, so her ranking will rise a few places (Lindsay, having won last year, could only hold her ground by winning again). Maggie also finished 2nd in doubles, partnered with Elena Likhovtseva, so she has had a very good week.

    Maggie and Lindsay are now tied 3-3 in career matches, but Lindsay leads Maggie 3-1 indoors. Each has won every other match against the other, so next time it is Maggie's turn.

    It's the Bat: Jelena Dokic, whose agent was unable to reach an agreement to renew her Fila contract, was seen in Tokyo wearing Yonex for the first time and is swinging a Yonex stick as well (Jelena previously wielded a Head racket). Daniela Hantuchova is also now using a Yonex bat; Daniela previously hit with a Babolat (she is still wearing Nike, however).

    Jelena Dokic played her 1st tourney of the year in Tokyo; she did not changed her nationality, but the acronym for Serbia & Montenegro was been changed from "YUG" to "SCG". You figure it out.

    There were 3 wild cards and 4 qualifiers in the 28-player main draw. Venus Williams was been given a boosted "special ranking" (as she was in Melbourne) due to her abdominal muscle injury last year, making her top seed although her actual rank was # 11.
    The time zone for Tokyo is GMT (UCT, ZULU) +9 hours (US Pacific Time +17, Eastern Time +14). Main draw play started at 11am local on Tues, Weds, & Thurs, and at 1pm local on Fri, Sat, & Sun.

    Considering that this is a Tier I event, the official website is very weak. The site has finally sprouted a photo gallery, although the pics are posted late. It has been better in previous years. Why do WTA tourney websites get worse as years go by?

WTA SCOREBOARD: Tokyo Indoor s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? WTA players posed for the press at a pre-Pan Pacific party on Monday front: Maria Sharapova, Daniela Hantuchova, Nadia Petrova, Ai Sugiyama, Venus Williams back: Elena Likhovtseva, Alicia Molik, Shinobu Asagoe

Pan Pacific Open, 1st Round, Tues loser's prize: $8,300 US; points: 1 #21 s8 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #40 Alicia Molik AUS 6-1, 6-7(7), 7-5     Daniela was up 4-0 in the 2nd set when Alicia suddenly got into the match. Daniela had a match point at 7-6 in the 2nd set tiebreaker but failed to convert. Then she had to come back from a break down twice in the final set, breaking Alicia in the final game to take the match.     Daniela said: "It was very important for me to beat her... I was in control and then fell apart in the second set. I was able to come back and pull it out and the difference this time was attitude and confidence... It felt great. It was the third time we played each other [this year] and Alicia was a sort of becoming a nightmare for me." AP - Reuters #29 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #30 Lisa Raymond USA 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 #32 Maria Sharapova RUS d #133 wc Yuka Yoshida JPN 6-1, 6-1 SR33 #181 Tatiana Panova RUS d #82 wc Jie Zheng CHN 6-4, 6-3 *#42 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN d #38 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 6-3, 7-6(5) #54 Laura Granville USA d #96 LL Alina Jidkova RUS 7-5, 6-2 #55 Saori Obata JPN d #84 LL Julia Vakulenko UKR 7-5, 6-3 Pan Pacific Open, 1st Round, Weds #10 s5 Chanda Rubin USA d #69 q Rita Grande ITA 6-3, 6-0 #15 s7 Jelena Dokic SCG d #52 wc Cara Black ZIM 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1     It was Jelena's 1st match of the season. Jelena said: "This is a tough tournament to start at because everyone has already played. She sliced everything and played quite well so I was happy to get out of it."     Jelena also indicated that she will play in Australia next January. Jelena said: "I was very close to going to Australia this year. I was just not quite ready physically. I'd love to start my season there, I think it's much easier and it will be good to get some more tournaments." story *#74 q Els Callens BEL d #25 Lina Krasnoroutskaya RUS 6-3, 6-4 *#153 q Janette Husarova SVK d #35 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-6(8), 6-3 *#62 q Akiko Morigami JPN d #41 Shinobu Asagoe JPN 6-4, 7-6(5)

Pan Pacific Open, 2nd Round, Weds loser's prize: $15,600 US; points: 42 #6 s2 Lindsay Davenport USA d #42 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 6-2, 6-1 Lindsay Davenport     Lindsay said: "It felt pretty good. We probably had a few closer games than the score showed... I'd like to win it a fourth time [Lindsay won the Pan Pacific in '98, '01, & '03] but that will be tough. I like the fast court, but just hope to keep playing well." story #21 s8 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #32 Maria Sharapova RUS 7-6(6), 6-1 Daniela Hantuchova Pan Pacific Open, 2nd Round, Thurs *SR33 #181 Tatiana Panova RUS d #8 s3 Elena Dementieva RUS 7-6(5), 6-3 Tatiana Panova     Elena was also upset in her 1st match at the Australian Open. Elena said: "I couldn't focus at all and was out of concentration... I practiced a lot with Tatiana in Australia trying to help me out. She is a tough player to play against. I normally have a slow start at the beginning of the year. I find it difficult to find my rhythm. It's strange, because I practiced a lot at the end of the year. Hopefully I'm just having bad days. But I'm confident that I'll start playing well again." story #9 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #74 q Els Callens BEL 6-3, 6-3 Ai Sugiyama     Ai said: "I got a fever two days ago and it was still bad last night. I was worried about whether I should play or not, but when I got up this morning, I was better than I had expected. I wanted to play a good match once I decided to go out to the court, so I pushed myself hard and tried to do my best. I knew it would be tough, because it was [El's] fifth match on this surface. I'm going to play a doubles match later [then] take a rest as soon as possible and prepare for my next match tomorrow." story #10 s5 Chanda Rubin USA d #62 q Akiko Morigami JPN 7-5, 6(3)-7, 63 SR4 #11 s1 Venus Williams USA d #55 Saori Obata JPN 6-3, 6-4 Venus Williams     Venus said: "I felt a lot of support from the crowd even though I was playing Obata... I don't always feel appreciated. I don't need to be everyone's hero but I like to be respected... I thought my serve was good today. I was holding serve fairly easily and got a lot of points off my serve."     About her next opponent, Chanda Rubin, Venus said: "She plays a similar game to me. Power tennis, risk in her game. Other than the serve, our games are pretty similar." story #15 s7 Jelena Dokic SCG d #153 q Janette Husarova SVK 7-6(7), 6-7(2), 6-1 Jelena Dokic #29 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #54 Laura Granville USA 6-1, 6-3

Pan Pacific Open, QFs, Fri loser's prize: $29,000 US; points: 75 #6 s2 Lindsay Davenport USA d #21 s8 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-2, 6-2     Lindsay said: "This is probably the best match I've played so far this year. My game revolves around being positive and shot selection, and I was able to do that today... I feel that if I hit my shots well there's not a lot the other player can do. I just try not to let the other player dictate the rally." story *#29 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #9 s4 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-1, 6-1 Maggie Maleeva     Ai said: "I was just trying to break my opponent's rhythm and be aggressive. But I ended up making more errors than usual and the result was negative." story #10 s5 Chanda Rubin USA d SR4 #11 s1 Venus Williams USA walkover-- lower right leg muscle strain     Due to injuries, Venus has played only 4 matches since losing to her sister Serena in last July's Wimbledon final. Venus said: "I originally had the problem during the Australian Open. I consulted with the doctor and there is nothing I can do. I really wish things could be different, but they aren't... Today, it was very difficult for me in practice to move or play in any way, shape or form that was normal for me. It's the lower right leg, below the knee and basically, it's hard to move." story #15 s7 Jelena Dokic SCG d SR33 #181 Tatiana Panova RUS 6-1, 6-1     Jelena said: "I had a very tough season last year - on and off the court. I went from being number four to not being able to play so well. I felt my head was not there... My head is the key to winning matches. I started working very, very hard at the end of last year and it paid off. I think I've got my focus back, because I'd lost it a little bit." story

Pan Pacific Open, SFs, Sat story loser's prize: $54,300 US; points: 135 #6 s2 Lindsay Davenport USA d #15 s7 Jelena Dokic SCG 6-1, 6-0 Lindsay Davenport     Lindsay said: "If I serve well and hit a good first groundstroke it's very effective on this surface... I think Jelena was hurt today and that's unfortunate for the fans, but I just tried to play my game."     Jelena had injured her left groin during her second round match against Janette Husarova. Jelena said: "With the other semifinal being canceled, I thought I would give it a try. I was doubtful for yesterday but thought if I just hit the ball well I could survive. But with Lindsay, it's a different story." *#29 Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #10 s5 Chanda Rubin USA walkover-- left knee injury     Chanda has had surgery on her left knee twice. Chanda said: "I was looking to go out and play yesterday. But this morning I knew I definitely would not be able to play this match."

Pan Pacific Open, Final, Sun loser's prize: $102,000 US; points: 210 winner's prize: $189,000 US; points: 300 #6 s2 Lindsay Davenport USA d #29 Magdalena Maleeva BUL 6-4, 6-1

Pan Pacific Open, Doubles Final, Sun s3 Cara Black & Rennae Stubbs d s4 Elena Likhovtseva & Magdalena Maleeva 6-0, 6-1 Pan Pacific Open, Qualifying Finals, Mon loser's prize: $4,500 US #62 Akiko Morigami JPN d #84 Julia Vakulenko UKR 6-2, 6-1 #74 Els Callens BEL d #158 Bethanie Mattek USA 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 #69 Rita Grande ITA v #161 Zi Yan CHN 6-0, 6-1 *#153 Janette Husarova SVK d #96 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-4, 6-2 Pan Pacific Open, Withdrawals SR4 #11 s1 Venus Williams USA QFs-- lower right leg muscle strain #10 s5 Chanda Rubin USA SFs-- aggravated left knee injury #6 Jennifer Capriati USA back #12 s6 Nadia Petrova RUS prior left hip flexor strain not yet healed #37 Katarina Srebotnik SLO right elbow torn muscle

    (Feb 2, 2004) # 6 Jennifer Capriati withdrew from the Toray-Pan Pacific Open due to continued trouble from an injury she suffered at the WTA Championships last November. The problem, currently reported as a back injury, was called a "strained hip flexor" which caused pain that traveled up her back in November, 2003. Jennifer has yet to play this season.

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