Preview: JPMorgan Chase Open

August 7-13, 2006
Tier II
Carson, California
2005 Results: (5) Kim Clijsters d. (9) Daniela Hantuchova 6-4, 6-1

The 2006 JPMorgan Chase Open presented by Herbalife officially begins today with last week’s winner at the Acura Classic, Maria Sharapova, headlining a talented field of top players. Russians Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova hold the top two spots in the main draw, but the biggest story of the tournament is Lindsay Davenport and Serena Williams’ comebacks from injuries. Serena played at the Western and Southern Financial Group Women’s Open a few weeks ago, but her run was ended in the semifinals by Vera Zvonareva. Although Serena has in fact played in recent weeks, the JPMorgan Chase Open is the first tournament that Lindsay Davenport has played since Indian Wells in March. Along with Sharapova, Petrova, Davenport, and Williams, the main draw also contains Elena Dementieva and Dinara Safina.

A Tier II event, the JPMorgan Chase Open has a main draw of fifty-six singles players and sixteen doubles teams competing for $600,000 (USD) in prize money. Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova, Elena Dementieva, and Lindsay Davenport all received first round byes.

Top Ten Seeds:

1. Maria Sharapova
2. Nadia Petrova
3. Elena Dementieva
4. Lindsay Davenport
5. Dinara Safina
6. Anna-Lena Groenefeld
7. Daniela Hantuchova
8. Flavia Pennetta
9. Ai Sugiyama
10. Ana Ivanovic

Draw Analysis:

Top Quarter
Maria Sharapova is hot off her win at the Acura Classic, but her performance during the final against Clijsters was hardly top quality. I lost count of her unforced errors toward the end of the match, but it was in the upper 30’s by the middle of the second set. She received a first-round bye, which should give her a chance to recover both physically and mentally from last week. The main threats to Sharapova in her quarter could be Dinara Safina or Ai Sugiyama.

Second Quarter
Elena Dementieva does not have an easy draw and could run into trouble in the third round from either Shahar Peer or Shuai Peng. Peer knocked Dementieva out of Roland Garros in straight sets in May and has an aggressive game that could easily frustrate the Russian and take advantage of her weak serve. Another player to watch in this section of the draw is Russian teenager Anna Chakvetadze. Chakvetadze was a surprise quarter-finalist at the Tier I Acura Classic last week, and will be looking to build on her momentum at this week’s event.

Third Quarter
Lindsay Davenport is making a much-anticipated comeback to tennis this week and is scheduled to play her first match against either Australia’s Samantha Stosur or a qualifier. Should Davenport face Stosur, she will need to play aggressively from the start, keep Stosur behind the baseline. and try to keep her from coming to the net. Davenport is not known for her fast movement on court and Stosur’s combination of volleys and drop shots may be enough to upset the former world number one in her opening match. Apart from Stosur, other threats to Davenport in the third quarter include sixth-seeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Jelena Jankovic, and Ana Ivanovic.

Bottom Quarter
The fourth quarter of the draw may be the weakest section, even though it contains second-seeded Nadia Petrova and Serena Williams. Petrova started the year strong and won four titles, but her results since the French Open have been disastrous. She lost to Anna Chakvetadze in her first match at the Acura Classic, and she has drawn either Sybille Bammer or Virginia Ruano Pascual in the second round. Serena will play her first round match against Russian teenager Maria Kirilenko, who has posted some excellent results this season, including a round of sixteen finish at the NASDAQ-100 Open. Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova is also in this quarter and could face Serena in the third round.

Past Champions Entered in the Main Draw:

Amy Frazier - 1994
Lindsay Davenport - 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004
Serena Williams - 1999, 2000

JPMorgan Chase Open Information Online:

Official Website
Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tournament Profile
Main Draw
Television Schedule

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