| It's rush hour on the international calendar. This week is the busiest in the international tennis calendar. It is the only one in 2004, during which three ATP and WTA tournaments are held at once. The Russians have not yet won singles titles this season, and our girls have a very real chance to achieve victory at the competition in Memphis (USA) - here Vera Zvonareva is “seeded” number one, and Maria Sharapova is number three.
In the homeland of legendary rock singer Elvis Presley, women compete alongside men, also a rare occurrence on the elite tournament schedule. Representatives of the fairer sex have a very modest prize fund here ($190 thousand), but what is most important for participants is the opportunity to add to their track record with successful performances. Zvonareva was exempted from playing in the opening round; in the second round she will meet with Italian Tatyana Garbin. Sharapova, if she defeats Spaniard Conchita Martinez-Granados, gets into the bracket against Tatyana Panova, who began her path through qualification in Memphis. Panova is now striving to return to the top 100 in the world rankings as quickly as possible. She lost ground significantly, missing more than half of last season due to injury. Three victories in qualifying and success in the main draw match with Italian Rita Grande already guarantee the Russian woman a 15-20 step up in the world classification. Alina Zhidkova, who permanently resides overseas, also advanced to the 1/8 finals, defeating Australian Samantha Stosur.
The best tennis players on the planet gathered at the second category tournament in Antwerp (Belgium), which has a more substantial prize fund, where $585 thousand is up for grabs. However, shortly before the start of the fights, last year’s winner Venus Williams and Elena Bovina withdrew. Both have problems with injured legs: the American is worried about her right, the Muscovite is worried about her left. But even without these girls, the line-up of participants is very strong, and in the final a repeat of the decisive match of the Australian Open between two Belgians is expected - the first racket of the world Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, who is pursuing her in the WTA rankings. On Monday evening, King Albert II of Belgium awarded both girls the Order of the Crown for their outstanding achievements in sports. This is one of the highest state awards.
The fourth racket of the tournament, Elena Dementieva, is accompanied by the second Russian player, Dinara Safina. The BTA recognized her as “player of the week” based on the results shown at the competition in Paris. Marat's sister Safina managed to go from a qualifier to a semi-finalist there, upsetting two tennis players from the top 20 in the world ranking along the way. Experts attribute Safina’s strengthening of her game to the fact that in the off-season a new coach, Uber Chuduri, joined her preparation, although Dinara still trains under the guidance of her mother Rauza Islanova. The 17-year-old Russian woman already defeated German Anka Barna this week (6:4, 6:4), and another Russian Safin-Dementiev derby is not ruled out in the quarterfinals.
The second attempt of the famous Croatian Goran Ivanisevic to show a decent result after a seven-month absence from the ATP tour also failed. The 33-year-old Wimbledon 2001 champion received a special invitation from the organizers of the competition in Rotterdam with a total bonus of 840 thousand euros. Here the owner of the court, Sieng Schalken, quite transparently hinted to Goran that it was time for him to end his career - 6:3, 6:2. The favorites of the “summit” in Holland are the Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero and the leader of the “ATP Championship Race” Roger Federer (Switzerland). American Andy Roddick chose to play in Memphis, while Marat Safin and Andre Agassi decided to rest this week.
An agreement came into effect between the Association of Professional Tennis Players and the Italian company Merloni, according to which the Indesit brand became the title sponsor of the ATP Championship Race, as well as single and double auxiliary ratings. Previously, Indesit sponsored the volleyball Champions League for several years, and the current agreement with the ATP is for three years. Ilya TRISVIATSKY |
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