PREVIEW: Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open

July 17-23, 2006
Tier III
Cincinnati, Ohio USA
2005 Results: (1) Patty Schnyder d. Akiko Morigami 6-4, 6-0

Regardless of the fact that this is a strong Tier III event in Cincinnati, Ohio, this year’s attendance will undoubtedly be boosted as former world No. 1 Serena Williams is making a long-awaited comeback to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Serena, who will move up to No. 139 on tomorrow’s rankings, has not played since the Australian Open in January. After taking the past six months off to regain her fitness and strengthen her right knee, she is now ready to once again compete and play tennis on a regular basis.

Although almost all of the media attention has been placed on Serena, world No. 8 and 2005 defending champion Patty Schnyder is the top seed, followed by No. 11 Anastasia Myskina as the second seed.

The Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open has a main draw of thirty-two singles players and sixteen doubles teams competing for $175,000 (USD) in prize money.

Seeded Players:

1. Patty Schnyder
2. Anastasia Myskina
3. Daniela Hantuchova (withdrew with right foot injury)
4. Katarina Srebotnik
5. Jelena Jankovic
6. Marion Bartoli
7. Tatiana Golovin
8. Gisela Dulko
9. Sania Mirza

Key Matches:

First Round between (2) Anastasia Myskina and (W) Serena Williams
If Serena had a chance to pick any of the players in the main draw to open her comeback against, she probably would have not picked second seed Anastasia Myskina. Serena holds a 2-0 advantage over the 2004 Roland Garros champion, but unless Serena had a major breakthrough over the past six months, her lack of fitness and matchplay will be glaringly evident against Myskina. Anastasia Myskina is is nowhere near the form that brought her a Grand Slam title two years ago, but she is on the verge of reaching the top ten once again and should give Serena Williams a warm welcome back to the professional tennis circuit.

First Round between (7) Tatiana Golovin and Vera Zvonareva
Tatiana was showing some excellent signs of progress in her career before a nasty ankle injury in March handed her a tough setback. She has had a rough road to recovery, but she did help the French Fed Cup team remain in the world group during their difficult tie against the Czech Republic this past weekend. Russia’s Vera Zvonareva will prove to be a tricky opponent for the young Frenchwoman, especially as Vera is slowing starting to pull herself out of a career slump after winning the title at Birmingham last month. If Golovin’s ankle is up for the rigors of playing on the hardcourts, she should be able to get past Zvonareva.

First Round between Shenay Perry and Bethanie Mattek
A lot of talk has been made about the status of United States’ tennis program, but Shenay Perry is offering a small glimmer of hope for the immediate future. She shocked the world when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon a few weeks ago, and in fact lasted longer at the Grand Slam than any other American singles player. She will be facing one of her countrywoman in the first round at Cincinnati, Bethanie Mattek, who made headlines at Wimbledon because of her fashion statements and tube socks. Mattek has been on the Tour for the past six years, and despite hovering in the top 200 for the past three seasons, she has yet to crack the top 100. She reached No. 101 in May, but since then has slipped down to No. 105. Shenay Perry has an excellent chance of defeating Mattek, especially as she holds a 2-0 record against her on hardcourts. If Perry makes it past Mattek and Serena somehow guts out a win against Anastasia Myskina, we could be seeing a showdown between the past and future of America’s tennis in the second round.

Tournament Information Online

Official Website
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournament Profile
Main Draw
Live Scoring
Photo Gallery

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