Thursday, March
20, 2003
Main Draw Matches
and Practice
Due to the number of matches
being played simultaneously, it is not possible to
bring you our normal coverage of all matches and scores. Please visit the
official Nasdaq web site
for scores and draws and we will bring you highlights of our day from
behind the lens.
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| Jennifer Capriati of
the USA |
Eleni Daniilidou of
Greece |
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| Alex Corretja
of Spain |
Fernando Verdasco of
Spain |
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| Tim Henman of
Great Britain |
Lleyton Hewitt
of Australia |
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| Katarina Srebotnik of
Slovenia
beat Tatiana Golovin of
France 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 |
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| Stephanie Foretz of
France lost to Daja Bedonova of
the Czech Republic 3-6, 3-6 |
Marta Marrero
of Spain beat Klara
Koukalova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-0 |
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| Carly
Gullickson of the USA
beat
Joannette Kruger of South
Africa 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 |
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| Vince
Spadea of the USA
beat
Christophe Rochus of Belgium
6-3, 6-4 |
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| Feliciano Lopez of
Spain lost to Mark
Philippoussis of Australia 6-7(5) 4-6 |
Flavio Saretta of
Brazil beat Alberto Martin of
Spain 6-3, 6-1 |
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| Dinara Safina of
Russia beat Anna
Kournikova of Russia
6-1, 6-4 |
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| Felix Mantilla of
Spain beat Lars Burgsmuller of
Germany 6-3, 6-1 |
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| Meilen
Tu of the USA
beat Bethanie
Mattek of
the USA 6-1, 6-7(4), 7-6(4) |
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| But the score is
only part of the story of this incredible match. Tu began
suffering from cramps at the end of the second set after losing
a tie-break. Almost from the beginning of the match, the
relentless and powerful ground strokes of Mattek had kept the
much smaller Tu racing around the court chasing balls from
corner to corner. The 90 degree heat and the relentless sun
shining from a cloudless sky inevitably took its toll. The pain
that Tu was suffering became obviously worse as the match
progressed. It was clearly hindering her ability to move and
serve and it seemed as though she would retire at any minute.
But she fought valiantly through the pain and somehow managed to
keep going - even though Mattek won 5 of the first 6 games of
the third set to lead 5-1. But even though the cramps became
worse, Tu kept getting up from her chair for the next game.
Mattek clearly expected to win and seemed surprised that Tu kept
playing. This over-confidence on the part of Mattek led to a
noticeable weakening of her game and a succession of errors
that, remarkably, allowed Tu to fight her way back into the
match. Tu won the next 2 games to make it 5-3 and, finally,
Mattek realized that she had to maintain the pressure on her
injured but mentally-tough opponent. The next 2 games were won by
Tu after Mattek seemed to go to the other extreme and tried to
hit pounding winners that consistently went wide or deep. With
the score at 5 games all, and Mattek serving, Mattek did not win
a point in her service game and it seemed as though a miracle
was going to occur for Tu whose face
now reflected her suffering after every single point. But
serving for the match was a task that was altogether too much
for her and, barely able to stand, she served a succession of
double faults that allowed Mattek to win the game and force a
tie-break at 6 all. Although each point of the tie-break was a
monumental effort for Tu, she kept neck-and-neck with Mattek
until, at 4 all, the unbelievable happened and Tu won the next 3
points to win the set and the match. After the match, Tu sat
for a minute or so in obvious severe pain and then collapsed.
She was treated on the court to reduce her body temperature by
the trainer and tournament doctor before being taken from the
stadium on a stretcher for more extensive treatment. She later
made a full recovery.
We have intended to take an opportunity of introducing you to
the technicalities of the chair umpire's score card. This seems
a good time so that you can track this remarkable match point by
point. If you like this feature, let us know and we will bring
you more score cards in the future for exceptional matches.
Click here for the score
card.
Click here for an explanation
of the layout and symbols used |
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| Iva
Majoli of Croatia |
Shuai
Peng who trains locally at the Evert Academy. |
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| Of
course, we always bring you pictures of odd bods around the
grounds.... |
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Go to Friday, March 21 |
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