On Court:
Beautiful Amelia Island, Florida is host of this week’s Bausch and Lomb Championships tennis tournament. Although it is a Tier II event, most of the top players have either withdrawn or chosen to rest after back to back Tier I’s in California and Miami. Russian Nadia Petrova headlines the tournament as the top seed, followed by Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.
This tournament also marks the start of the clay court season on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. The B & L Championships do not use traditional red clay, but instead they showcase green clay courts.
The main draw contains fifty-six singles players and sixteen doubles pairings competing for $600,000 (USD) in prize money. You can read the rest of On the Baseline’s exclusive preview by clicking here.
Last Week’s Recap:
Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia rebounded her career by taking the ladies singles title at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, Florida. Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion, claimed the trophy by beating some of the best players in the world, including world No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo, Martina Hingis, and Maria Sharapova. Although Kuznetsova took the U.S. Open trophy in 2004, she had a rough 2005 season, including an opening round loss at the U.S. Open.
Kuznetsova defeated No. 4 Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-3 and reclaimed her spot in the top ten.
In the ladies doubles event, the pairing of Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur won their fourth straight doubles title by defeating Martina Navratilova and Liezel Huber 6-4, 7-5.
The Hawk-Eye instant replay system had a successful–as long as you are not Maria Sharapova–debut. As expected, it met with mixed reactions. Most of the fans loved it and it definitely added a whole new dimension to the game. Maria Sharapova had a rough go of it; she issued eleven challenges throughout the tournament, and all were overruled.
Jennifer Capriati came out of hiding and actually gave some interviews. She has not yet retired, but she has not stated when she will be back to practicing, let alone back on tour.
Ups and Downs:
Amelie Mauresmo has tightened her hold on the No. 1 spot, thanks to her semifinal finish at the NASDAQ-100 Open. Miami champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has bumped Venus Williams out of the top ten by jumping from No. 14 to No. 10.
Martina Hingis cracked the top twenty five and is now taking a few weeks of rest. If she wants to be a legitimate threat at next month’s French Open-the only Grand Slam singles title that she has not won-she needs to rest now and prepare for the grueling clay court season.
Serena Williams continues to rapidly descend down the rankings; she is now down to No. 88. And her fall will not stop there; she failed to turn up at Amelia Island and she is defending 74 quarter-finalist points. This should put her out of the top 100 when the next rankings are released.
Word has it that the Williams sisters have been medically cleared to resume practicing, and they are still scheduled to play next week’s Family Circle Cup, but in my opinion, fans better not yet hold their breath.
Fortunately for American fans, a rising teenager is only two spots away from overtaking Williams. Vania King, one of the up and coming stars that I mentioned in a previous post, is now at a career high of No. 90.
As of April 3, 2006
No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo – 3511 points
No. 2 Kim Clijsters – 2941 points
No. 3 Justine Henin-Hardenne – 2858 points
No. 4 Maria Sharapova – 2753 points
No. 5 Lindsay Davenport – 2524 points
No. 6 Mary Pierce – 2436 points
No. 7 Nadia Petrova – 2198 points
No. 8 Elena Dementieva – 2086 points
No. 9 Patty Schnyder – 1906 points
No. 10 Svetlana Kuznetsova – 1416 points
SONY ERICSSON WTA Media Information System
2005 Ranking Points which came off today: NASDAQ-100 Open, Tier I
Injury Roster:
No. 5 Lindsay Davenport – bulging disk in back
No. 6 Mary Pierce – foot injury
No. 21 Tatiana Golovin – torn ligaments in left ankle
Tournament Information Online
Bausch and Lomb Championships Official Website
Live Scoring
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournament Profile
Main Draw
ESPN 2 TV Listings
