WTA: Feb 28-Mar 6 2005 Dubai Women's Open, Dubai, UAE Tier II $1,000,000 - 28 players - outdoor: hard Live Scores draws, .pdf draw, .html results - schedule news photos: Yahoo! France news photos: Yahoo! US tourney photo gallery WTA Photo Gallery # 1 Lindsay Davenport # 3 Serena Williams # 5 Anastasia Myskina # 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova

Tourney pages: Dubai: 2006 - 2004 previous other tourney pages next Dubai: #27 Jelena Jankovic 5' 9½", 134½ lbs, RH, 2H-BH Dubai: #1 Lindsay Davenport 6' 2½", 175 lbs, RH, 2H-BH

    On Saturday in the final of the Dubai Women's Open, 28-year-old top-seeded # 1 Lindsay Davenport from Laguna Beach, California, USA, defeated just-turned-20-years-old unseeded # 27 Jelena Jankovic from Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro (residence: Bradenton, Florida, home of that Bollettieri Academy you may have heard about) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 (photos shown). It was # 1 Lindsay's first tourney win of 2005; she has lost in finals to both Serena Williams (Australian Open) & Maria Sharapova (Tokyo Pan Pacific Open) this year.
    Lindsay complimented Jelena on a fine match. Lindsay said: "In the public's mind, they were expecting me to win, based on the ranking and my experience, but once the match started and I saw how [Jelena] was playing I knew it was anybody's match... It was very tight. I never knew what was going to happen, but I played a great point at 4-all [in the third set] when I was down a break point. It was a really long rally and I came up with some great shots in that rally and that really saved me...
    "I very much wanted to win my first title of the year. I never played my greatest here this week but I came through some difficult situations and hopefully winning this will give me a lot more confidence." AFP story Reuters story

    Lindsay now leads Jelena 3-0 in career matches; both previous meetings were in 2004 and both were 2 sets.

    28-year-old Californian Lindsay Davenport has now won 46 WTA singles titles in 79 finals, including 3 Grand Slam tourneys and the 1996 Olympic title. She won 4 in a short order in 2004 at Stanford, LA, San Diego, and Cincinnati. Before the ascent of the Williams sisters, Tracy Austin was quoted as rating Lindsay's serve as the best in the WTA. Lindsay hits the ball hard and deep, but she is not as mobile as some players.
    Lindsay wears Nike and hits with a Wilson bat, but like most Wilson-packing pros this year, photos show that she has cast aside her 95 sq." head "H Tour" model for a new "nCode", the "nTour" model, a control racket 27.25" long, available with either a 95 or 105 sq." head, 10.8 or 10.4 ounces strung, balanced 1 point head-heavy, with a stiffness rating of about 61. They run about $200. All former H-Tour users are likely to be carrying nCode nTours or Six-Ones this year.
    Lindsay, who was trained in her youth by Robert Lansdorp, has been coached by Adam Peterson since March, 2003.
Davenport career record
Lindsay Davenport Wallpaper

    20-year-old Jelena Jankovic was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia but lists her residence as Bradenton, Florida, home of the IMG Bollettieri Academy. Jelena won her 1st WTA singles title in her only previous final last year in Budapest; she also has 1 ITF singles title. Jelena, who did not start playing tennis until the relatively late age of 9½, prefers hardcourts and her backhand. She swings a Yonex MP-2i (Ultimum Ti Muscle Power 2i) axe, an 11-oz. (strung) 27.5" racket, 5 points head-light, with a stiffness of 65, and a 102 sq." head (because these bats have been around a while--it was Anna Kournikova's weapon of choice when she was forced to leave the Tour in 2003--you can pick one up for only $99). Jelena wore adidas in her younger days, but now wears Lacoste togs. At last report Jelena is still coached by Nick Bollettieri & Co.
Jankovic career record

    (Feb 28) A Raise This Week: The WTA announced today that the Dubai folks have raised their prize money for this year's tourney at the last moment. The total payout has been increased from the standard Tier II amount of $585,000 all the way up to $1,000,000, matching the amount paid the ATP guys who played there last week. This is not surprising, since the Dubai tourney has a reputation for taking good care of the good girls of the WTA, and Dubai Duty Free is a WTA sponsor, in addition to sponsoring this tourney.
    The increased prize money in singles does not match the men's on the draw sheet. In every round, the ladies prizes now listed are less than what the ATP says the men were receiving. The men's champ, according to the ATP website, got $187,500, while the ladies champ will receive $154,000. However, the balance was probably put into higher qualifying and doubles money for the women, which would be a very good thing. The ranking points for the tourney were not increased, as the prize total is still somewhat below Tier I status.

    Dubai time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) +4 hours (US Pacific Time +12, ET +9).

WTA SCOREBOARD: Dubai s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? Nathalie Dechy made a friend at Zabeel Stables on Monday, and Venus & Serena Williams took a camel ride on Tuesday, with the Burj Al Arab hotel in the background

Dubai, 1st Rnd, Mon 2:30pm, Tue 12:30pm loser's prize: $6,850 US; points: 1 *#22 Silivia Farina Elia ITA d #8 s5 Venus Williams USA 7-5, 7-6(6) Mon Silivia Farina Elia     Silvia led 4-1 in the 1st set, then Venus fought back to 5-5. In the 2nd set, Silvia led 5-2, but Venus was able to bring it to a tiebreaker. Silvia said: "I thought the match would never finish. [Venus] fought back brilliantly. But I was a little tired toward the end of the second set. I am proud because this is the first time I beat her." AP story     Venus was troubled by a blister on her right hand. Venus said: "It would normally have been a quick match. [Silvia] really doesn't have the weapons to hurt me. The blister was really a factor. I just couldn't serve well and I just couldn't keep the balls in." *#28 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #9 s6 Alicia Molik AUS 7-6(8), 6-2 Tue Daniela Hantuchova     Daniela said: "It was such a tough first-round match and I am glad to come through. [Alicia] was serving so well. I just decided to hang in there and keep fighting. I gradually gained good rhythm on my returns and began reading her serves. I tried to go for my shots and be aggressive, and thankfully it all came through for me." AP story #13 s7 Nathalie Dechy FRA d #41 q Vera Douchevina RUS 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-6(4) Tue #14 s8 Patty Schnyder SUI d #29 Magdalena Maleevia BUL 7-6, 6-2 Mon #16 Elena Bovina RUS d #20 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 Tue #17 Elena Likhovtseva RUS d #102 wc Selima Sfar TUN 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) Tue Elena Likhovtseva *#27 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #19 Paola Suarez ARG 6-3, 6-1 Mon Jelena Jankovic took a camel ride on Tuesday before her match-- it was her only chance, since her match was played during the player party for which the camels had been made available *#52 q Na Li CHN d #21 Ai Sugiyama JPN 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 Tue *#37 wc Conchita Martinez ESP d #25 Shinobu Asagoe JPN 6-3, 6-4 Mon Conchita Martinez *#35 q Marion Bartoli FRA d #33 Gisela Dulko ARG 6-4, 6-4 Tue *#98 wc Sania Mirza IND d #36 Jelena Kostanic CRO 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-1 Mon Sania Mirza *#64 q Jie Zheng CHN d #42 A Medina Garrigues ESP 7-6(4), 6-2 Tue

Dubai, 2nd Round, Tue-Wed 2pm WTA Wed story loser's prize: $12,850 US; points: 25 #1 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #64 q Jie Zheng CHN 6-2, 7-5 Wed Lindsay Davenport     Lindsay said: "I struggled a lot on one side of the court. The wind was really tricky. I felt I made some errors and rushed some games, and [Jie] got some balls back and was aggressive at times and at other times she made errors. But I felt like when I concentrated and played more aggressive tennis then I played well. It was a good match to play." #3 s2 Serena Williams USA d #16 Elena Bovina RUS 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wed Serena Williams switched from a Wilson Hammer rackets to Wilson nCode rackets this year, but she hammers them as much as she ever has. Of course, Serena was cited for a (n)code violation for smashing her racket.     Serena said: "It was really windy and all my shots were just out of here. I wasn’t used to the conditions and the ball was out and hitting the fence and I had to kind of gather myself. When I won the second set I was really relaxed and at peace with myself, and then I just got a little too anxious in the third and was missing a few shots." #5 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS d #35 q Marion Bartoli FRA 4-2 retired--left patella tendonitis Wed Anastasia during the match, and being interviewed by UAE-TV on Wednesday     Anastasia led 4-2 when Marion called for the trainer to examine her left knee, and the decision to retire was announced. The AFP reports that later Marion's left knee was almost twice the size of her right. Marion had also been in great pain on Tuesday during her 1st round victory over Gisela Dulko. Hopefully Marion can take a break and recover soon, but the timing is bad for her with the Tier I mini-majors coming up the next 4 weeks at Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. *#98 wc Sania Mirza IND d #6 s4 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-4, 6-2 Tue Sania Mirza     Not only did Sania win, she overcame a 0-4 deficit in the 1st set by winning 6 straight games after receiving treatment for an ankle injury. Sania said: "My ankle was killing me. It was the third time in three weeks and I was crying because I was in so much pain. I was disturbed because always my ankles are getting injured. But I got it re-taped and took a pain-killer, and that started to work after about 15 minutes.     "I don't know quite how I did it because I couldn't move that well. I was scrambling to the ball but I think I made hardly any errors from 0-4 down. I tried to get winners really fast becaise I thought I might not be able to move. I think from about 4-3 [Svetlana] started to get upset. I knew she was getting tense and that was why I wanted to put more pressure on her which I succeeded in doing. The crowd inspired me." AFP story     Svetlana said: "I started well and she was nervous, but I didn't do anything to make [Sania] play like that. She had nothing to lose and she played great, but I attacked hardly at all and didn't make her move. But this is the game - this is what happens."     On Wednesday, Sania said: "I had a light workout this afternoon for about 20-25 minutes… there wasn’t much discomfort, I should be ready to play tomorrow... Each opponent is different, so each match is different. Jankovic is an all-court player with good groundstrokes. It won’t be an easy match, but my confidence level is high… I’ll go out there and play my natural game." Telegraph of Calcutta story *#37 wc Conchita Martinez ESP d #13 s7 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-1, 6-2 Wed #14 s8 Patty Schnyder SUI d #52 q Na Li CHN 6-3, 7-6(8) Wed Patty Schnyder *#28 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #1 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 7-5, 6-4 Wed Daniela Hantuchova     Daniela said: "It is a difficult court to play on. Very fast and sometimes you feel you have no control over the ball... It was really difficult out there and I just tried to make sure I put as many balls as possible in court, and not go for too many crazy shots or go for the lines."     About her recent improvement, Daniela said: "...I can handle difficult situations better. It's been one of the most important things for me that I have gained experience and know better what to do at crucial times." AFP story *#27 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #22 Silivia Farina Elia ITA 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Tue Jelena Jankovic

Dubai, QFs, Thurs 2pm Reuters story AP story WTA story loser's prize: $24,065 US; points: 49 #1 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #37 wc Conchita Martinez ESP 6-1, 6-4 Lindsay Davenport     Lindsay said: "[Conchita] broke me a few times but I still managed to come back, and I feel good about that." #3 s2 Serena Williams USA d #28 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-4, 6-3 Serena Williams     Serena said: "I definitely had fun today. It was a nice match. I didn't want to get off to a slow start again, especially against someone like Daniela. I moved better today, and I just think I was a little more focused. It's getting used to this court and the balls, and each day I get better." *#14 s8 Patty Schnyder SUI d #5 s3 Anastasia Myskina RUS 6(0)-7, 7-6(2), 6-2 Patty Schnyder     After winning the 1st set tiebreak to love, 2004 French Open champ Anastasia was broken (at love) in the 1st game of the 2nd set, but recovered and held a match point at 6-5. Anastasia lost that crucial point, and Patty took the 2nd set tiebreak and then the match.     Anastasia said: "I'm really disappointed with my performance since Australia. I'm doing a lot of unforced errors and I'm really unconfident on the court right now. But we can't play 365 days a year good. We're human beings and can get tired or have a bad day. We can't just go on the court and be a robot. We just have to prepare for the next tournament and be positive, no matter what." #27 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #98 wc Sania Mirza IND 6-2, 6-2 Jelena Jankovic

Dubai, SFs, Fri 2pm & 7pm loser's prize: $45,150 US; points: 88 #1 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #14 s8 Patty Schnyder SUI 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 Lindsay Davenport     Lindsay was troubled by stomach illness during the match, particulary during the 2nd set, where she trailed 4-5 and was 3 points from defeat. Lindsay said: "In the first set I felt so wild. I was trying so hard and the balls were just flying on me. It was so hard keeping balls in. Finally I got my shots inside the lines and didn’t go for so much and I was able to play a little bit more percentage tennis... I was up 2-1 in the second and for the next four games I was feeling really nauseous, like I was going to get sick. It’s hard when there’s people around because you really don’t want that to happen. I was trying to keep the points short for a few games there. I was never in too much danger. At 4-4 I held pretty easily and then for 7-5. I was just able to eke out the second set, and the third set I just played a lot better and [Patty] started to make a lot more unforced errors... I think she was a little disheartened to lose the second set... I will probably take some more medicine, lay down and rest, and eat some bland food. At least I have plenty of time to relax before the final which isn't until tomorrow night." AFP story     About the 3rd set, Patty said: "That was a let-down. I was really frustrated because I felt my game slipping away and [Lindsay] was playing better and better and that's not a nice feeling. I had a chance to win in the second set and I sensed the moment, but my shots were not there." *#27 Jelena Jankovic SCG d #3 s2 Serena Williams USA 6-0, 4-3, retired-- right shoulder injury Jelena wanted a real victory, but trainer Phillipa Stewart told Serena she had best retire     Serena said: "When I came into this event I had a shoulder problem. I honestly believe it’s the [Tretorn] balls, because the last time I had this problem was at the [WTA] Championships. They used the same balls and that resulted in a severe stomach strain. Ever since I’ve been practicing I’ve been getting the same symptoms. My arm’s hurting really bad where I serve. My whole arm hurts, except for my hand and my wrist. That’s doing excellent right now. But everything else hurts, which could lead to another abdominal strain. I have a strained shoulder tendon, I guess. It hurts really bad. Obviously, hitting to my forehand was definitely a smart thing to do. One more forehand, I think I was gonna die. Serving is obviously very hard, because to wind up is difficult." Reuters story     Jelena said: "From the beginning of the match [Serena] wasn’t serving the way she usually serves. I’m disappointed she couldn’t play a real match and that she had to pull out.”     When asked, Jelena also criticized the balls. Jelena said: "I think these balls are kind of flying. It’s really hard to get a feel."     Just a coincidence: Jelena withdrew from the Antwerp and Doha tourneys (the past 2 weeks) due to right shoulder pain.

Dubai, Final, Sat 7pm loser's prize: $84,500 US; points: 137 winner's prize: $159,000 US; points: 195 #1 s1 Lindsay Davenport USA d #27 Jelena Jankovic SCG 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Dubai, Doubles Final, Sat 5pm loser's prize: $49,300 US winner's prize: $26,280 US cdr3 s1 Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suarez d cdr14 s2 Svetlana Kuznetsova & Alicia Molik 6(7)-7, 6-2, 6-1 Paola & "Vivi" during the match, and with the hardware afterwards-- this was the top doubles team's 1st tourney win of 2005 (Paola was sidelined by injury until last week in Doha) Dubai, Qual Finals, Mon Feb 28 #35 Marion Bartoli FRA d #143 Galina Voskoboeva RUS 6-1, 7-5 #41 Vera Douchevina RUS d #61 Ana Ivanovic SCG 6-4, 6-3 #52 Na Li CHN d #186 Cara Black ZIM 6-2, 6-7(8), 6-3 #64 Jie Zheng CHN d #70 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 Dubai, Withdrawals #18 Karolina Sprem CRO low back injury

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