April 3-9, 2006
Tier II
Amelia Island, Florida
2005 Results: (1) Lindsay Davenport d. (12) Silvia Farina Elia 7-5, 7-5
Not surprisingly, the draw this week at the 2006 Bausch & Lomb Championships is rather weak for a Tier II tennis tournament. Most of the top players were in action at the Pacific Life Open and/or the NASDAQ-100 Open, so they could use a week off after four straight weeks on Tour. Last year’s champion Lindsay Davenport and France’s Mary Pierce were scheduled to headline this tournament, but both were forced to withdraw with injuries.
This week’s seedings were based on the March 20 rankings, and Nadia Petrova comes in as the top seed, followed by Patty Schnyder. Had today’s rankings been used, last week’s NASDAQ-100 Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova would have received the No. 3 seed position, but instead she has the No. 5 spot, behind Francesca Schiavone and Nicole Vaidisova.
Located in beautiful Amelia Island, Florida, the Bausch and Lomb Championships is one of the oldest WTA tournament stops in the United States. The Bausch and Lomb Championships begins the Tour’s transition from hard courts to clay. Although this is a clay court venue, it is not the traditional red European clay, but rather green clay.
The main draw contains fifty-six singles players and sixteen doubles pairings competing for $600,000 (USD) in prize money.
Top Ten Seeds:
1. Nadia Petrova
2. Patty Schnyder
3. Francesca Schiavone
4. Nicole Vaidisova
5. Svetlana Kuznetsova
6. Elena Likhovtseva
7. Anna-Lena Groenefeld
8. Flavia Pennetta
9. Dinara Safina
10. Nathalie Dechy
Draw Analysis:
Nadia Petrova
Heading into the Bausch and Lomb Championships as the top seed, Nadia Petrova has an excellent chance of taking her second WTA title of the year. She appears to have overcome her latter round jitters, as she upset Amelie Mauresmo for the title in Qatar in February. She reached the quarterfinal round at the NASDAQ-100 Open, but was defeated in a rematch against Amelie Mauresmo.
Petrova has reached the semifinal round at Amelie Island two years running, but lost to Lindsay Davenport both times. As Davenport is not defending her 2005 title, Petrova may stand a chance at reaching the final round.
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova, although she is only the No. 5 seed, can be considered a main threat to Petrova, especially if she is playing as well as she did in Key Biscayne. She won the title at last week’s NASDAQ-100 Open by defeating Martina Hingis, Amelie Mauresmo, and Maria Sharapova. With her title, Kuznetsova moves back into the top ten after jumping four spots from No. 14.
She is in the same quarter of the draw as Patty Schnyder, and could face the Swiss in the quarterfinals. Kuznetsova was scheduled to play Schnyder in the fourth round of the NASDAQ, but Schnyder defaulted in a walkover due to an ankle injury. Kuznetsova and Schnyder are tied at 2-2 in career meetings.
Tournament Information Online
Bausch and Lomb Championships Official Website
Live Scoring
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournament Profile
Main Draw
ESPN 2 TV Listings
