Translated material
Russian avalanche
25 of our compatriots are participating in the US Open
The last Grand Slam tournament of the season, the US Open, kicked off on the courts of the Flushing Meadow tennis complex in New York. A record number of Russians received the right to compete in the main draw - 25 players, including six men and 19 women, including three girls who made it through the qualification barrier. This is Alina Zhidkova and debutants of competitions of this level Lyudmila Skavronskaya and Olga Puchkova.Our players' chances of winning the US Open women's competition increased noticeably after it became known that last year's triumphant Belgian Kim Clijsters, who had suffered a wrist injury, was unable to perform in New York. And American Lindsay Davenport is experiencing serious health problems. Let us remember that last week she was unable to complete the final in New Haven against Belgian Justine Henin-Hardenne due to pain in the shoulder joint.
The largest number of Russians is concentrated in the second quarter of the tournament bracket - seven tennis players. Here are Maria Sharapova, Elena Likhovtseva, Anastasia Myskina, and Nadezhda Petrova, as well as the less titled Anna Chakvetadze, Elena Vesnina and Galina Voskoboeva. With a high degree of probability, we can assume that at least one quarterfinal will be purely Russian. The most ambitious plans for the tournament are made by Swiss Martina Hingis, who returned to tennis after a three-year break in January. This season, she reached the quarterfinals twice at Grand Slam competitions - at the Australian Open and in Paris. Naturally, Hingis, who has secured a place in the top ten in the world rankings with her consistent performances, wants to achieve more.
On the starting day of play, three Russian women simultaneously appeared on the courts in the morning shift. Vera Zvonareva defeated Polish Marta Domakhovska - 7:6 (7:4), 6:3, Vasilisa Bardina was defeated by Israeli Shahar Pir - 2:6, 2:6, Olga Puchkova failed to cope with French Marion Bartoli - 4 :6, 0:6. Then our tennis players had only one loss, but it could not be avoided. In the Russian derby, Ekaterina Bychkova was stronger than Lyudmila Skavronskaya in two tiebreaks - 7:6 (7:1), 7:6 (7:3). In all other fights, our girls won. Anastasia Rodionova knocked out Czech Hana Sromova from the fight - 7:5, 7:5, Maria Kirilenko dealt with Julia Schruff (Germany) - 6:3, 6:4, Alina Zhidkova found the strength to turn the tide of the match against American Jessica Kirkland -- 2:6, 6:2, 6:4. By the way, Zhidkova only reached the second round at the US Open on her sixth attempt. The previous five times, the first round was also her last.
The fights involving the Russians, who were among the favorites of the tournament, turned out differently. Elena Dementyeva easily sent local tennis player Laura Granville to rest - 6:1, 6:4, but the winner of the US Open two years ago, Svetlana Kuznetsova, almost repeated her failure last year when she suffered a fiasco in the opening round. The St. Petersburg woman, seeded sixth, experienced enormous problems in her meeting with the 130th racket in the world, Sandra Klosel (Germany). After a successful first set, there was a failure in the second game. The German imposed her game on Svetlana - exchanging blows from the baseline with virtually no access to the net. In the third set, which lasted almost an hour, the opponents made a huge number of unforced errors - 15 each. True, Kuznetsova again began to sharpen the game, effectively acting deep in the court. Having made one more break, Svetlana still achieved victory - 6:2, 2:6, 6:3.
The pairings of the second round with the participation of Russians in the lower half of the bracket are as follows: Kuznetsova - Albanese (USA), Rodionova - Zheng Jie (China), Zhidkova - Vaidishova (Czech Republic), Kirilenko - Bremont (France), Zvonareva - Kreybas (USA), Dementieva - Laine (Finland), Bychkova - Srebotnik (Slovenia). If there is a successful outcome in the third round, we will have two matches between compatriots: Kuznetsova - Rodionova and Dementieva - Zvonareva.
In the men's competition, Mikhail Youzhny successfully defeated the most experienced Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty, who competed at the Grand Slam tournament for the 40th time - 7:5, 6:1, 6:3. The remaining five Russians entered the fight last night, Moscow time. The most titled active player on the planet, American Andre Agassi, who will retire at the end of the US Open, began his farewell performance with a fierce battle against Romanian Andrei Pavel. To the veteran’s credit, he emerged victorious from this “cabinet” – 6:7 (4:7), 7:6 (10:8), 7:6 (8:6), 6:2. In the 1/32 finals, Youzhny will meet with the Olympic champion of Athens, Chilean Nicolas Massu, while Agassi faces an equally serious opponent - the finalist of the Australian Open, Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis.