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Venus Gets Revenge, Kournikova Advances
Venus Williams got revenge for her loss of one year ago crushing
Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4 6-1.
Shaughnessy had a special year in early 2001. She beat world #5
Conchita Martinez at Gold Coast. She made the Scottsdale final with wins
over Clijsters and Seles. She made the Hamburg final with a win over
Amanda Coetzer. She made the Round of Sixteen at both Roland Garros and
Wimbledon. She made the Top Fifteen. And, to top it all off, she beat
Venus Williams at Stanford.
"That was a great win but I had to start from scratch," said
Shaughnessy, "I started serving well and returning aggressively but she
got a little more rhythm and I started playing defensively."
Back problems have slowed Shaughnessy this year and her results are quite
a bit off. After a solid start, she offered little in the way of
resistance against Venus and as a result Shaughnessy will fall out of the
Top 20.
As for Venus, if she can do well at Stanford, she can gain some ground on
Serena. But realistically, she has no hope of regaining #1 before the U.
S. Open, and probably not there.
Two in a Row for Anna
Anna Kournikova insured her return to the top fifty thanks to a straight sets win over an Indonesian qualifier Wynne Prakusya 7-5 6-4. The win sets up a quarter-final meeting with top seed Venus Williams.
Kournikova's victory over Prakusya completed her first
back-to-back win since February. She had lost 12 of her previous 15
matches before she arrived in California.
"I didn't play as well as I played in the first match (against eighth seed
Anna Smashnova) but it's great to not play well and still win," Kournikova
said.
"Two months ago, I wouldn't have been able to pull it off but I stepped
back a little from my tactics and when I began to be more aggressive, the
results were there.
"The fact that I won two matches in a row is exciting. No matter that
happens tomorrow, it's already been a great tournament and great step
forward."
Kournikova is 0-7 against Williams, including two losses here in 1999 and
2000 and two earlier this season in Antwerp and Dubai.
In other matches, Lisa Raymond moved herself back into the Top 25 with
a 6-1 6-4 win over Marissa Irvin. As for Jelena Jankovic, she pretty
definitely justified her wildcard. She beat #7 Daja Bedanova 7-6 2-6 6-3
to reach her first WTA quarterfinal. She's nearly doubled her point total;
from #262, she'll move to the #185-#190 range. Which means she'll at least
be getting direct entry into qualifying at Slams and some small
tournaments. Bedanova can't complain too much; she moves up to #16.
In doubles, Conchita Martinez got a small measure of revenge as she and
Janette Husarova beat Jelena Dokic and Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-2 6-3. Nobody
stops Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs, though; they rolled over Rita Grande
and Patricia Tarabini 6-3 6-1.
Results
Lisa Raymond (USA) def. Marissa Irvin (USA) (6-1, 6-4)
Anna Kournikova (RUS)Wynne Prakusya (INA) (7-5, 6-4)
[1] Venus Williams (USA) def. Meghann Shaughnessy (USA) (6-4, 6-1)
Jelena Jankovic (YUG) def. [7] Daja Bedanova (CZE) (7-6 (8), 2-6,
6-3)
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