WTA: Mar 1-7 2004 Qatar Total Open, Doha, Qatar Tier II $600,000 - 28 players - outdoor: hard draws & schedule .pdf results - schedule draw, .html - qual draw, .html - photo gallery s1 # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne s2 # 5 Jennifer Capriati s3 # 7 Anastasia Myskina s4 # 8 Ai Sugiyama Abierto Mexicano, Acapulco, MEX Tier III (with ATP) site in Spanish, translation via AltaVista $170,000 - 30 players - outdoor: red clay draws & schedule .pdf .html: qual. draw - singles draw - schedule photo gallery s1 # 38 Amanda Coetzer s2 # 41 Shinobu Asagoe s3 # 43 Maria Sanchez Lorenzo s4 # 46 Emilie Loit

Tourney pages: Doha & Acapulco: 2006 - 2005 previous other tourney pages next Doha: #7 Anastasia Myskina 5' 8½", 130½ lbs, RH, 2H-BH Acapulco: #100 Iveta Benesova 5' 7", 123½ lbs, LH, 2H-BH

Doha:
    Anastasia! In Saturday's Doha final, 3rd-seeded Muscovite # 7 Anastasia Myskina, the top-ranked Russian and defending tourney champ, defeated her upwardly-mobile compatriot, 18-year-old St. Petersburger Svetlana Kuznetsova 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 (Anastasia is shown holding the hardware). Anastasia is # 5 in the March 8th rankings, the highest rank of her career.

    Anastasia said: "The fans were backing me, and when fans want you to win you can lift your game. It was a difficult match because Svetlana played incredible tennis... It is always difficult when you are playing against a Russian and Svetlana was out to get me today... When a Russian plays a Russian it is more of a mental game." AP Reuters

    Svetlana said: "I found playing against a Russian quite tough... I didn't play as well as I did against Henin-Hardenne in the semi-finals."

    Anastasia and Svetlana had played only twice previously; Svetlana won the first time, on a hard court at Indian Wells last year, 4-6 7-6(7) 3-6; Anastasia won the second, on clay in Rome, 6-4 7-5.

    Born and still "living" (the Tour only leaves a few weeks a year) in Moscow, 22-year-old Anastasia has now won 7 WTA singles titles in 11 finals, including Moscow, Leipzig, Sarasota, and this tourney, Doha, last year. Coached by Jens Gerlach, Anastasia dispatches her opponents with a Head axe, and is draped in garb by Nike.

    18-year-old Svetlana was born and "resides" in St. Petersburg. She has won 2 WTA singles titles thus far, both in 2002, at Helsinki and Bali. Svetlana also swings a Head bat, but she is attired in Fila togs. She is coached by Stefan Ortega, training in Barcelona. Ranked # 29 last week (the rank used on this week's drawsheets, thus the numbers usually used on this page), Svetlana rose to # 20 this week after reaching the Dubai final where she lost to # 1 Justine-Henin Hardenne. With the 100 bonus points she received for defeating Justine in their SF, Svetlana climbed to # 14 in the March 8th rankings, by far the highest rank of her career.

    The main draw for Doha had 8 seeds, with 4 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers, 2 wild cards and 1 Lucky Loser in the main draw.
    Doha time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) +3 hours (US Pacific Time +11, ET +8). Doha has live scoring, by points.

Acapulco:
    On Sunday in the Acapulco final, # 100 Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic defeated # 92 Flavia Pennetta of Italy 7-6(5), 6-4 (Iveta is shown with the tennis ball trophy).

    It was the first time Iveta and Flavia ever played each other, and it was Iveta's first WTA singles title.

    Lefty Iveta turned 21 last month. She was born and keeps her residence in Most, Czech Republic. Iveta had reached 1 other WTA singles final, in Bratislava in 2002, and has also won 2 ITF tourneys. Iveta is regaining lost ground: she reached a career high rank of # 67 last May, then dropped back (last weeks ranks, same as on the drawsheets, are usually used on this page; this week Iveta is # 99 and Flavia is # 100). The win moved Iveta up 30 places, to # 69. Iveta was wearing a Nike visor in earlier rounds, but in the final she was looking great in adidas "Anna" togs (the 2002 style) with her Porsche-WTA Tour patch covering the adidas logo. She looks very nice and is playing well, so someone should pay her a few bucks to endorse their fine product. Iveta chops with a Wilson axe.

    Flavia, who just turned 22, was born in Brindisi, Italy and "resides" in Milan. She reached a career-high singles rank of # 55 last June, almost slipped back out of the top 100, and now appears to be headed in the right direction again. Reaching the final moved Flavia up 20 places in the rankings, to # 80. This was Flavia's first appearance in a WTA singles final; she has won 6 ITF tourneys. Flavia wears Tacchini and swings a Head bat.

    14-year-old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic reached the QFs in Acapulco before losing to Flavia Pennetta, with wins over Angelika Roesch and Shinobu Asagoe in the first two rounds. Nicole won the Orange Bowl title (for up-to-18-year-olds) in December, 2003, reached the Australian Open juniors final in January, reached the final of the $75,000 ITF Midland tourney last month (after defeating Martina Sucha in her QF and Gisela Dulko in her SF), and last week won the $25,000 ITF tourney in Columbus, Ohio. Unranked last week (last week's ranks are usually listed on this page, matching the ranks on this week's draw sheets), Nicole is ranked # 264 in WTA singles this week, and moved up to # 205 in the March 8th rankings.

    The main draw for Acapulco had 8 seeds, with 2 1st-round byes. There were 4 qualifiers, 2 wild cards, and 1 Lucky Loser in the main draw, plus unranked Nicole Vaidisova, who qualified by reaching the final of the Midland ITF tourney last month. Early round play began at 11am local time.
    Acapulco time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) -6 hours (US Pacific Time +2, ET -1). Acapulco has live scoring, by points, including qualifying.

    The Acapulco photo gallery now has many nice oncourt match photos. The Doha photo gallery, a bit late, now over 40 nice large oncourt photos. Yahoo! has had only a few match photos, Yahoo! France has several more photos this week than the US Yahoo!.

WTA SCOREBOARD: Doha & Acapulco s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Current #1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, retired former #1 Martina Hingis, and active former #1 Jennifer Capriati were nattily attired at the opening ceremonies on Monday in Doha.

Doha, 1st Round, Mon-Tue loser's prize: $4,125 US; points: 1 NR wc Sandrine Testud FRA d #23 s8 Magui Serna ESP 6-3, 6-2 Doha, 1st Round, Tue story #14 s5 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #37 Lina Krasnoroutskaya RUS 6-3, 6-3 #15 s6 Jelena Dokic SCG d #51 Nicole Pratt AUS 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 Jelena Dokic     Jelena said: "I just didn't play in the first set. The match before mine [Anca Barna defeating Conchita Martinez) was quite long and I kind of felt sleepy."     Jelena's family moved to Australia when she was 11, but she reverted her nationality to the country until recently known as Yugoslavia after controversy over the 2001 Aussie Open draw [then-Aussie Jelena played and lost to Lindsay Davenport in the 1st round]. She has not played in Australia since, but has said she will next year. Asked about rumors that she was negotiating with Tennis Australia for a spot on the Aussie Olympic team, Jelena said: "The question simply doesn't arise. I have not played in the Fed Cup and so am not eligible to play in the Games. But someone from Tennis Australia did speak to my manager once or twice." *#57 Anca Barna GER d #21 s7 Conchita Martinez ESP 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 #26 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #101 wc Vera Douchevina RUS 6-1, 7-5 #29 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #87 Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA 6-1, 6-1 #30 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #34 Alicia Molik AUS 6-4, 6-3     Meghann said: "It was very important to return well throughout. [Alicia] is a very good server, and I took care not to be broken. I played from the baseline and moved her around a lot."     After the Australian Open, Meghann went home (Scottsdale, AZ) and practiced hard. Last week she reached the SFs in Dubai before losing to # 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne. Meghann said: "I wanted to pick up my game and hit a lot of balls at home. Now I am very confident. The results were clear in Dubai." #39 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN d #126 q Tian Tian Sun CHN 7-5, 6-2 #44 Elena Likhovtseva RUS d #113 q Roberta Vinci ITA 6-3, 6-2 #60 Jelena Kostanic CRO d #106 LL Angelique Widjaja INA 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 *#408 q Ting Li CHN d #68 Els Callens BEL 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 #75 Jie Zheng CHN d #149 q Stephanie Gehrlein 6-2, 6-3

Doha, 2nd Round, Weds story 1 story 2 loser's prize: $7,700 US; points: 25 #1 s1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL v #39 Maria Vento-Kabchi VEN 7-5, 6-3 Justine Henin-Hardenne     Justine said: "I was a bit slow to start and my shots were very short. I was also playing far behind the baseline. It takes time to get used to the court. Dubai was slow and this is very fast. The first match is always difficult for me. I was in big trouble after two breaks down in the first set. But I knew I could break back." #5 s2 Jennifer Capriati USA v #408 q Ting Li CHN 7-6(4), 6-1 #7 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #44 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 6-1, 3-6, 6-1     Anastasia said: "I am pretty happy with the way I am playing. Both of us have improved a lot."     About her next match, against Jie Zheng, Anastasia joked: "I know they [the Chinese] are very good in table tennis [the world team championships are in Doha this week]. Let me see what happens in tennis." *#30 Meghann Shaughnessy USA d #8 s4 Ai Sugiyama JAP 6-3, 6-2 #14 s5 Silvia Farina Elia ITA d #60 Jelena Kostanic CRO 6-3, 6-3 *#75 Jie Zheng CHN d #15 s6 Jelena Dokic SCG 6-4, 6-1 Jie Zheng     Jie was very happy about the big win. Jie said: "I am feeling good. I will remember this victory for the whole of my life. I didn't expect to win today because Dokic is a good player."     Jelena said: "It was a tight match in the first set. I could have won if I had served better... but somehow I lost my rhythm and I kind of got bogged down there... I know that I am going through a slump. It'll take some time for me to start playing well and win matches."     Bat Track: Jelena, who has been wearing Yonex and swinging a Yonex axe this year, reverted to her previous racquet of choice, Head, for the match against Jie. #26 Nathalie Dechy FRA d NR wc Sandrine Testud FRA 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 #29 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #57 Anca Barna GER 6-2, 6-3

Doha, QFs, Thurs story loser's prize: $14,400 US; points: 49 #1 s1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL v #26 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-1, 7-5 Justine Henin-Hardenne     Justine said: "I played very well in the first set. I was serving well and my shots were accurate. But one can't keep concentrating for long. It is very difficult."     About her SF opponent, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Justine said: "[Svetlana] is a dangerous player. It is going to be a tough match. We had a big match last week in Dubai." #5 s2 Jennifer Capriati USA v #14 s5 Silvia Farina Elia ITA 7-6(6), 6-1 #7 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS v #75 Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 7-5     Anastasia said: "She hits the ball unbelievably hard. The harder you hit it the harder it comes back. I just tried to make her play to get the balls back and make the points longer. I put up some lobs to mix it up. My experience helped me. I was very tired but kept focusing on my points." #29 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS v #30 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 4-6, 6-1, 6-3     Svetlana said: "Meghann was serving unbelievably in the first set. But I knew she couldn't keep it up, otherwise she would have been much higher in the rankings."

Doha, SFs, Fri loser's prize: $26,950 US; points: 88 *#29 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #1 s1 Justine Henin-Hardenne BEL 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 Svetlana Kuznetsova     Svetlana said: "I am happy, I don't have a word to describe my feelings. I am not going to think too much about this game today because I have to play the final tomorrow."     Justine had won her previous 17 matches; her most recent loss was in November 2003. Justine said: "[Svetlana] played extremely well and I wasn't my usual self. I kept fighting but it was not enough... I was a different player today. I played a lot to her forehand which she likes. I also lost three chances to break her. You don't win from there." story *#7 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #5 s2 Jennifer Capriati USA 6-2, 6-2 Anastasia Myskina

Doha, Final, Sat loser's prize: $50,300 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $94,000 US; points: 195 #7 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #29 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

Doha, Doubles Final, Sat loser's prize: $15,800 US winner's prize: $29,500 US s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova & Elena Likhovtseva d Janette Husarova & Conchita Martinez 7-6(4), 6-2 Doha, Qualifying Finals, Monday *#149 Stephanie Gehrlein GER d #106 Angelique Widjaja INA 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 #113 Roberta Vinci ITA d #132 Camille Pin FRA 6-1, 6-0 #126 Tian Tian Sun CHN d #157 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-4, 6-2 *#408 Ting Li CHN d #140 Maret Ani EST 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 Doha, Withdrawals #40 Petra Mandula HUN right thigh strain #6 Serena Williams USA flu

Not playing until Wednesday, Klara Koukalova could relax and be pretty on Monday in Acapulco

Acapulco, 1st Round, Mon after 11am q finals loser's prize: $1,300 US; points: 1 #50 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA v #85 Rita Grande ITA 6-3, 6-1 *#92 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #78 Samantha Reeves USA 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 *#109 Marta Marrero ESP d #97 Gala León Garcia ESP 7-5, 6-2 Acapulco, 1st Round, Tues 11am start #46 s4 Emilie Loit FRA d #658 wc Anne Kremer LUX 6(3)-7, 6-4, 6-1 #61 s7 Arantxa Parra ESP d #104 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-4, 6-4 *#80 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #63 s8 Ludmila Cervanova SVK 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-2 *#128 Mariana Diaz Oliva ARG d #66 Melinda Czink HUN 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 Mariana Diaz Oliva #71 Julia Vakulenko UKR d #386 wc Jessica Fernández MEX 6-3, 6-2 Julia Vakulenko *#122 q Samantha Stosur AUS v #79 Milagros Sequera 6-1, 6-4 *#170 q Mashona Washington USA d #82 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 64 62 Mashona Washington NR wc Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #83 Lubomira Kurhajcova SVK 6-6 retired-- abdominal strain #100 q Iveta Benesova CZE d #303 q Angelika Roesch GER 6-4, 6-0 Iveta Benesova Acapulco, 1st Round, Weds 11am start #43 s3 Maria Sánchez Lorenzo ESP d #74 Klara Koukalova CZE 7-5 6-3 *#115 LL Julia Schruff GER d #58 s6 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 6-2, 6-2

Acapulco, 2nd Round, Weds 11am story loser's prize: $2,200 US; points: 16 *#109 Marta Marrero ESP d #38 s1 Amanda Coetzer RSA 7-5, 6-3 Marta Marrero     Marta said: "I just played my game and had a good night. I was a little nervous but gained confidence and was able to beat [Amanda]." NR wc Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #41 s2 Shinobu Asagoe JAP 6-2, 6-3 Nicole Vaidisova     Nicole said: "I was surprised the match was so easy. I was so happy to have the chance to come to this tournament because it was my first opportunity to play a WTA Tour event. I am fortunate to start at 14 because I would like to have a long career. I want to come back next year for sure." *#100 q Iveta Benesova CZE d #50 s5 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-3, 6-1 Iveta Benesova *#92 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #61 s7 Arantxa Parra ESP 6-4, 6-1 Acapulco, 2nd Round, Thurs 11am #43 s3 Maria Sánchez Lorenzo ESP d #128 Mariana Diaz Oliva ARG 6-3, 6-3 Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo #46 s4 Emilie Loit FRA d #170 q Mashona Washington USA 6-4, 6-4 #71 Julia Vakulenko UKR d #80 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-3, 7-6(2) *#122 q Samantha Stosur AUS d #115 LL Julia Schruff GER 6-4, 6-2

Acapulco, QFs, Fri 1pm loser's prize: $4,000 US; points: 30 #43 s3 Maria Sánchez Lorenzo ESP d #71 Julia Vakulenko UKR 6(5)-7, 6-4, 6-1 Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo hits the ball 2-handed forehand and backhand... Other ladies who hit with two hands from both sides include Monica Seles (sidelined by a left foot stress fracture), Marion Bartoli, Arantxa Parra, Antonella Serra Zanetti, and Seda Noorlander. *#100 q Iveta Benesova CZE d #46 s4 Emilie Loit FRA 7-6(4), 6-1 Iveta Benesova #92 Flavia Pennetta ITA v NR wc Nicole Vaidisova CZE 6-4, 6-3 Flavia Pennetta #109 Marta Marrero ESP d #122 q Samantha Stosur AUS 6-4, 6-3

Acapulco, SFs, Sat 3pm+ loser's prize: $7,500 US; points: 55 *#92 Flavia Pennetta ITA d #43 s3 Maria Sánchez Lorenzo ESP 6-2, 6-3 Flavia Pennetta #100 q Iveta Benesova CZE v #109 Marta Marrero ESP 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 Iveta Benesova

Acapulco, Final, Sun 1pm loser's prize: $14,500 US; points: 85 winner's prize: $27,000 US; points: 120 *#100 q Iveta Benesova CZE v #92 Flavia Pennetta ITA 7-6(5), 6-4

Acapulco, Doubles Final, Sat loser's prize: $4,250 winner's prize: $8,000 Lisa McShea & Milagros Sequera d LL Olga Blahotova & Gabriela Navratilova 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 Mashona Washington during qualifying in Acapulco Acapulco, Qualifying Finals, Mon #100 Iveta Benesova CZE v #239 Olga Blahotova CZE 6-1, 6-4 *#170 Mashona Washington USA d #115 Julia Schruff GER 6-0, 6-2 #122 Samantha Stosur AUS d #168 Anastassia Rodionova RUS 6-3, 7-6(3) *#303 Angelika Roesch GER d #275 Vanina Garcia Sokol ARG 6-4, 6-4

    (Feb 27) Former # 1 Serena Williams has withdrawn from next week's Qatar Open, stating that her knee is OK now (she had surgery on Aug 1, 2003 to repair a torn tendon) but she has the flu. Serena said: "I am really disappointed that I won't be playing Doha. I have been battling the flu for several days and am not quite 100% well yet... I feel I am back in championship form. I'm anxious to resume playing and looking forward to getting back on court and seeing my fans." Serena is now expected to return to WTA play at the NASDAQ-100 Open at Key Biscayne, FL, March 24th, where her sister Venus will also play next.

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