WTA Oct 17-23 Zurich Open, Zurich, SUI Tier I $1,300,000 - 28 players - indoor: hard Live Scores: c1 - c2 - order & results WTA .pdf: draws & OOP - match notes draws, .html Photos:   Yahoo "Zurich Open"   tourney gallery - 2004 photos post-match quotes Euro TV schedule Zurich: weather - map - venue map Tages-Anzeiger.ch Tennis (in German) # 2 Lindsay Davenport # 4 Amélie Mauresmo # 7 Mary Pierce # 8 Elena Dementieva Zurich WTA Photo Gallery

Tourney pages: Zurich: 2006 - 2004 - 2003 previous other tourney pages next Zurich: #2 Lindsay Davenport 6' 2½", 175 lbs, RH 2H-BH Zurich: #10 Patty Schnyder 5' 6¼", 125 lbs, LH 2H-BH

    On Sunday in the final of the Zurich Open 29-year-old top-seeded # 2 (# 1 again next week) Lindsay Davenport from Laguna Beach, California, USA, won the tourney for the fourth time, defeating local favorite 26-year-old 6th-seeded # 10 Patty Schnyder from Wangen, Switzerland 7-6(5), 6-3 (photos shown).

    Lindsay said: "The whole week was very tough, especially the 1st set in the final. It was a really up and down match, and a very close tie-break. After winning the first set I found my consistency, could break Patty, and finally won the match.
    "This tournament is huge and I'm very happy that I could win it once more. I've always played well here and it's nice to come back to a place where I'm so successful.
    "It was a struggle to win here... To play against [Patty] is really tough because she mixes the balls very well. Every ball has a different spin or is played with a different height. You never get into your rhythm...
    "If I'm playing the next year as successfully as this year and if I stay healthy and happy, I definitely will come back next year to Zurich." post-match quotes

    Patty had three set points at 6-5 in the 1st set, but couldn't convert. And Patty was up a break at 3-1 in the 2nd set, but then Lindsay won 5 straight games to take the title. Patty said: "On the set points the only chance I had was on one second serve, but [Lindsay] hit it really deep and there was nothing I could do.
    "I faced an opponent today who was ready for everything. I gave it everything I had and it wasn't good enough. When she starts hitting really deep and hard its tough to stay with her. She deserved to win and I can feel good that I really made her earn it." WTA story


    Lindsay leads Patty 8-2 in career matches; Patty got her most recent win over Lindsay on green clay at Amelia Island in 2003. Patty's first win over Lindsay was in 2002, in Zurich, in the final of this same tournament: 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 6-3.

    Lindsay Davenport has now won 51 WTA singles titles (including 6 titles in 2005) in 86 finals. Lindsay hits the ball hard and deep with fine groundstroke form, but she is not as mobile as some players. Trained in her youth by Robert Lansdorp, Lindsay has been coached by Adam Peterson since March, 2003.
    Lindsay wears Nike and swings a Wilson "nCode" bat, the "nTour" model, a control racket 27.25" long, available with either a 95 or 105 sq" head (Lindsay uses the 95 sq"), 10.8 or 10.4 ounces strung, balanced 1 point head-heavy, with a stiffness rating of about 61. They run about $200. Lindsay reportedly has her bats strung with 16-gauge Babolat VS Touch gut.
Davenport: wallpaper - career record

    Patty Schnyder was born in Basel, Switzerland, and resides in Wangen when she has time away from the Tour, but has said she would like to move to Australia when she retires. Patty has won 10 WTA singles titles (including 2 titles in 2005) in 17 finals.
    Patty wears adidas and bats left-handed with a Head Liquidmetal Prestige MP racket, a 27" bat with a 98 sq" string area, weighing 11.9 oz strung, stiffness rating 63, balanced 8 points head light. Patty reportedly has her bats strung with 16-gauge Kirschbaum Super Smash Spiky, a polyester monofilament with a textured outer wrap.
    Super Smash Spiky is designed for players who, like Patty, use a lot of spin. Left-handed Patty plays a tactical game of varying spins that causes great difficulty for some opponents. Formerly coached by Hubert Choudury, Patty is now coached by her husband Rainer Hoffmann, an information technolgy specialist whom she married on December 5, 2003. When in Switzerland, Patty also sometimes has received training, along with her compatriot Martina Hingis, from Martina's mother, Melanie Molitor.
Schnyder: wallpaper - career record

    Former WTA # 1 Martina Hingis (who is Swiss, and whose agency, Octagon, runs the tourney) was at the Zurich Open draw on Oct 15, and is attending the tourney.

    The Zurich tourney photo gallery is displaying good pics by André Springer, which are about 500x330 pixels. News photos are also relatively plentiful.

Zurich: interactive satellite photo of Zurich centered on Hallenstadion - Switzerland news
    The main draw for Zurich has 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There are 4 qualifiers in the main draw. Qualifying (3 rounds) starts on Saturday, qualifying finals are on Monday.
    The time in Zurich is UCT (GMT, Zulu, Greenwich...) plus 2 hours. That is Eastern Daylight Time in the US + 6 hours, PDT+9 hours. Early round play begins at 1pm.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Zurich s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? On Saturday, Oct 15 in Zurich, retired former WTA # 1 Martina Hingis helped out with the draw, then wowed the crowd by singing The Theme from Star Wars, translating the complex Bill Murray lyrics from English to all Swiss languages on the spot. Martina was also looking good at the players party on Tuesday night (sit up straight, Martina). I think I need a bigger bat... (current Swiss # 1 Patty Schnyder at pre-tourney festivities on Sunday, Oct 16)

Zurich, 1st Rd, Mon-Wed 1pm losers' prize: $8,300 US; points: 1 #9 s5 Nadia Petrova RUS d #40 wc Conchita Martinez 6-4, 7-6(5) Wed Slice Day: Nadia lining up a slice backhand, Conchita doing likewise, and Nadia's topspin backhand (see more Wednesday slices in the 2nd round pics) #10 s6 Patty Schnyder SUI d #34 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-1, 6-3 Tue Patty serving to Gisela, Gisela's right-handed backhand, and Patty's left-handed forehand #12 s7 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #25 Vera Zvonareva RUS 6-2, 3-0 retired-- right shoulder injury Mon Anastasia tossing the ball for her serve, and Vera's forehand *#19 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #13 s8 Alicia Molik AUS 6-3, 4-2 retired-- inner ear vestibular neuronitis Tue     2004 Zurich champ Alicia retired from the match due to impaired balance and vision from a viral infection of the middle and inner ear called vestibular neuronitis, which has plagued her since April. As a result of the illness, former # 8 Alicia will drop out of the top 20 next week.     Alicia's agent Lisa Chaffey said: "[Alicia is] still struggling... It's something she's working through... she's not sure she'll make a full recovery... She doesn't want to be seen as whining or whingeing... She's still entered in Hasselt and Philly, and she will see out the year and then we'll reassess things." Sportal.au story #14 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #15 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3) Tue Nathalie's backhand, 2004 US Open champ Svetlana wondering what happened to winning, and Nathalie after match point *#32 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #16 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 2-6, 6-4, 2-0, retired-- left hamstring strain Mon #17 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #29 q Ai Sugiyama JPN 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 Tue Daniela serving to Ai #20 Ana Ivanovic SCG d #23 Tatiana Golovin FRA 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 Tue #22 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #47 q Roberta Vinci ITA 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 Wed #27 LL Flavia Pennetta ITA d #39 q Kveta Peschke CZE 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wed *#43 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #36 Shinobu Asagoe JPN 6-4, 7-6(7) Tue *#61 wc Magdalena Maleeva BUL d #35 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 6-1, 6-1 Mon Maggie flying a serve to Anna, and Maggie's backhand     Maggie, the third of three Maleeva sisters to be very successful in the WTA (the others: Manuela and Katerina), announced earlier this year that she is retiring at the end of the season. Zurich is her final tourney; she is off to a good start.

Zurich, 2nd Rd, Wed-Thu Thu WTA story losers' prize: $15,600 US; points: 42 #2 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #17 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 Thu Daniela serving, and Lindsay launching a backhand     Daniela was unable to convert two match points when she led 5-4 in the 2nd set. Lindsay said: "I knew it would be tough [playing Daniela]... She became a little bit emotional when she didn't win those match points, and seemed really down even starting at 5-5, so I was just trying to take advantage and move forward...     "It was like two different matches. I was playing really badly to start off with, missing a lot of returns and she was playing really well. At the two match points, I thought 'I'm on the plane going home tomorrow' but then it can change around that quickly. I hung in there, played some good points and found myself in a third set. Her level went down in the third set and I was hitting the ball much cleaner then. To play her here in the first match is probably the most difficult draw I could have had, so I'm glad to get through it." Reuters story *#43 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #4 s2 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 6-2, 6-0 Thu Katarina's forehand, Amelie's forehand, and Katarina after match point     Amelie also lost her first match last week in Moscow. Amelie said: "I'm physically exhausted, I have nothing left in the tank. I played really badly, the same as I did in Moscow. I really don't want to be on the court at the moment playing like this, and I think I need to take a rest to get the motivation back."     Katarina said: "[Amelie] can probably say now she was tired, but all the players are tired. I have four matches behind me, plus two doubles, and physically I'm also tired. I think today that I really played better than she did, because everything she tried I had an answer for.     "This is the best win so far in my career. Beating the world number four gives me a lot of confidence. I really like the court in Zurich which helped today. I already have a few matches played on the surface so I got a lot of confidence from my wins earlier on in the tournament. Today I just used that and played some of my best tennis." Reuters story #8 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS v #14 Nathalie Dechy FRA 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 Wed Elena lining up a slice backhand, Nathalie's forehand, and Elena after match point *#22 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #9 s5 Nadia Petrova RUS 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 Thu #10 s6 Patty Schnyder SUI d #61 wc Magdalena Maleeva BUL 6-3, 6-2 Wed Patty's backhand, Maggie lining up a slice backhand, and Patty after match point     Maggie received a standing ovation after the last match of her career. Maggie said: "I tried to prepare and play like any other match, but at the end when it was 6-3 and 4-1 it was a little bit difficult. I really thought I could win the match, but then [Patty] was serving so well and I thought this was it probably, and I got a little sad.     "The send-off was pretty nice. I didn't expect it. They asked me to stay and say something but that would have been impossible. I just couldn't, but it was very nice that the people stood up." Reuters story #12 s7 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #32 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 6-1, 6-4 Wed     Silvia broke Anastasia's serve in the first game-- then Anastasia won nine straight to go to 6-1, 3-0, after which Silvia couldn't quite get back into it. No photos of this match have been available on the Internet. *#20 Ana Ivanovic SCG d #19 Jelena Jankovic SCG 6-2, 6-1 Thu Ana taking a backhand swing, and watching one on its way #27 LL Flavia Pennetta ITA d #41 LL Sesil Karatantcheva BUL 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 Thu Flavia's backhand

Zurich, QFs, Fri noon losers' prize: $29,000 US; points: 75 #2 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #22 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Lindsay ready to swat a slice backhand, Francesca's topspin backhand (Francesca hits one-handed, so she should be good with a frisbee), and Lindsay tossing the ball for a serve *#12 s7 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #8 s4 Elena Dementieva RUS 6-3, 6-7(1), 6-4 Anastasia's service toss, Elena firing a forehand, and Anastasia's backhand     Anastasia, who has a 9-5 career record against Elena, lost to her last week in the Moscow quarterfinals. Anastasia said: "It's every time like this between us. We grew up together, we play together, we still compete together, so it's tough between us... When I lost to [Elena] in Moscow I was playing the wrong game, and today I played smarter. In Moscow I tried to play her game, hitting the ball hard and no rallies at all. Today I tried to play more rallies and move her around. And I was serving better than in Moscow for sure." Reuters story #10 s6 Patty Schnyder SUI d #27 LL Flavia Pennetta ITA 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 Patty running down a forehand, Flavia staring down a backhand, and Patty after match point #20 Ana Ivanovic SCG d #43 q Katarina Srebotnik SLO 6-3, 6-1 Ana Ivanovic     Ana said: "I was really pleased with my game today, I was hitting the ball really well." AP story

Zurich, SFs, Sat 1:30pm losers' prize: $54,300 US; points: 135 #2 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #12 s7 Anastasia Myskina RUS 6-0, 6-4 Lindsay's forehand, Anastasia's backhand, and Lindsay's backhand     Unfortunately for Anastasia, Lindsay played better than she had on Thursday and Friday. Lindsay said: "I started off great, better than the last two matches. I had a good chance to finish sooner, but [Anastasia] stepped it up there. I'm very happy overall with the way I played today. She's a tough competitor, runs all sorts of balls down and hits the ball very flat and deep, and it's hard to get a hold of the ball sometimes." WTA story #10 s6 Patty Schnyder SUI d #20 Ana Ivanovic SCG 6-2, 6-1 Patty's backhand, Ana's forehand, and Patty after match point     Patty said: "I was happy with my performance and I was able to overcome [Ana's] hard hitting... The first four to five games I had to stick with her pace and her hard serves. She hit some clever shots, like slower ones to my backhand."     Patty, who was disappointed by a lack of crowd support during her quarterfinal, thanked the home crowd for their support after the match. Patty said: "I didn't know what to expect and I was very happy. They were there for me." AP story     Patty will play Lindsay Davenport in the final on Sunday. Lindsay leads Patty 7-2 in career matches; Patty got her most recent win over Lindsay on green clay at Amelia Island in 2003. Patty's first win over Lindsay was in 2002, in Zurich, in the final of this same tournament: 6-7(5), 7-6(8), 6-3.     Patty said: "It's very hard for me to play [Lindsay] when she serves unbelievablly and hits the ball 200 kmph, but if I have a chance to make her move, and change the spins and get her out of her rhythm a bit, I will."

Zurich, Final, Sun 1:30pm loser's prize: $102,000 US; points: 210 winner's prize: $189,000 US; points: 300 #2 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #10 s6 Patty Schnyder SUI 7-6(5), 6-3 Lindsay firing a cannonball, Patty chasing a backhand, and Lindsay after match point

Zurich, Doubles Final, Sun losers' prize: $31,450 US winners' prize: $59,000 US cdr9 s1 Cara Black & Rennae Stubbs v cdr36 Ai Sugiyama & Daniela Hantuchova 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 6-3     It was Rennae Stubbs 51st career WTA doubles title, and current doubles # 1 Cara Black's 24th. Zurich, Qual Finals, Mon Oct 17 losers' prize: $4,500 US *#43 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #27 Flavia Pennetta ITA 4-6, 7-6(1) retired-- left shoulder strain #29 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #41 Sesil Karatantcheva BUL 6-1, 6-2 #39 Kveta Peschke CZE d #49 Jill Craybas USA 6-2, 6-4 #47 Roberta Vinci ITA d #197 Agnes Szavay HUN 6-3, 6-4 Zurich, Withdrawals #5 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL hamstring #6 Venus Williams USA left knee #7 s3 Mary Pierce FRA r quadriceps strain #24 Dinara Safina RUS r wrist sprain

(Oct 19, 2005) On Wednesday in Zurich, 26-year-old 6th-seeded # 10 Patty Schnyder from Wangen, Switzerland, defeated 30-year-old wild card # 61 (and once # 4) Magdalena Maleeva from Sofia, Bulgaria, who was playing in the last match of her career, 6-3, 6-2.     Maggie, the third of three Maleeva sisters to be very successful in the WTA (the others: Manuela and Katerina), announced earlier this year that she is retiring at the end of the season, and Zurich was her final tourney.     Maggie received a standing ovation after match. Maggie said: "I tried to prepare and play like any other match, but at the end when it was 6-3 and 4-1 it was a little bit difficult. I really thought I could win the match, but then [Patty] was serving so well and I thought this was it probably, and I got a little sad.     "The send-off was pretty nice. I didn't expect it. They asked me to stay and say something but that would have been impossible. I just couldn't, but it was very nice that the people stood up." Reuters story     Magdalena Maleeva played in her first pro tourney in 1989, at age 14. She reached the top 20 in 1993 (that year she defeated # 162 Lindsay Davenport in Brisbane). Also that year, Maggie was in the unfortunate position of playing against # 1 Monica Seles in Hamburg, Germany when Monica was stabbed in the back by a spectator.     Maggie finished 1995 by winning the Oakland, California, tourney, defeating Lori McNeil, Venus Williams, Mary Joe Fernandez, and Ai Sugiyama, and in January 1996 reached her career-high rank of # 4.     In 1998 Maggie had shoulder surgery, and she was off the WTA Tour from March 1998 until May 1999. At Pattaya City in November 1999, ranked # 131 in her 11th tourney after recovering from the surgery, she won 8 straight matches (including qualifying) to take the title.     Maggie worked her way back to the top 20 in 2001, and stayed there for most of the next 3 years. Maggie won 10 WTA singles and 5 doubles titles in her career, and totaled over $4.3 million dollars in prize money. Magdalena Maleeva record     Maggie said: "I am most proud of my win in Moscow in 2002 beating Venus [Williams], Mauresmo and Davenport. And I'm very proud of making the decision to come back after my shoulder surgery. I could easily have called it quits, but I worked very hard, and winning that first tournament in Pattaya after coming back meant a lot to me too. The wins later in my career were much more satisfying than early on." WTA story     An earlier report said that Maggie would now go to work teaching tennis at the Maleeva Tennis Club, which she has opened with her sisters in their hometown, Sofia, Bulgaria [she is also co-owner of a clothing company]. Maggie told a Reuters reporter she might coach later, but for now, Maggie said: "I want to stay home, read books, see friends and just hang out, and then when I get bored I can either do stuff at the club which is five minutes away from where I live, or I can be involved in the clothing company." Reuters: Curtain Falls On Maleeva Era Tennis Week: End Of An Era: Maggie Maleeva Retires Magdalena-Maleeva.net

    (Oct 21, 2005 revised) # 13 Alicia Molik has withdrawn from next week's tourney in Hasslet, Belgium, due to her ongoing balance and vision difficulties caused by a viral infection of the middle and inner ear called vestibular neuronitis, which has plagued Alicia since April. As a result of the illness, 2004 Zurich champ Alicia retired from her match against Jelena Jankovic in Zurich on Monday. Alicia, who has been ranked as high as # 8, will drop out of the top 20 next week.
    Alicia said: "At this stage I think I need a long period of time away, first of all to become healthy again, to get over my illness, and second of all to remain happy and to do things to occupy myself.
    "I've been fighting this for a long time now. I've done the best I could possibly have done, and I think it's time to do something for myself for a change. I want to take a lot of stress out of my life.
    "This could improve, it could stagnate or it could remain with me for a lengthy period of time. I need to accept that, if that's the case." WTA story - Reuters story
    Alicia's agent, Lisa Chaffey said: "It's nowhere near any kind of retirement... There's not set time period in mind, she's just dedicated to having as long off as needed, because when she does come back she wants to be at the standard she was at." Reuters story

    3rd-seeded Mary Pierce, who won the tourney in Moscow last week, withdrew from the Zurich Open due to a right quadriceps strain. She was been replaced in the draw by Lucky Loser 16-year-old # 41 Sesil Karatantcheva from Sofia, Bulgaria (and the Bollettieri Academy in Bradenton, Florida), who got Mary's 1st-round bye due to the late withdrawal.

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