Translated material
Victory is within reach
Of the three Russians, only Sharapova started with a victory
The final women's tennis tournament is taking place in Madrid, in which $3 million is up for grabs. Of the three Russians who took to the court on the first day, only Maria Sharapova managed to defeat her opponent from Slovakia, Daniela Hantuchova - 6:4, 7:5. Two other Russians, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze, lost to their competitors. Chakvetadze lost to the first racket of the world, Belgian Justine Henin - 1:6, 6:7 (4:7), and Kuznetsova - Ana Ivanovich from Serbia - 1:6, 6:4, 5:7.The results of the opening matches with the participation of the Russians were to some extent programmed, if you look at the statistics of personal meetings of each pair of players. Maria Sharapova extended her lead over Hantuchova, whom she played for the seventh time, bringing her winning streak to six matches. Kuznetsova lost to Ivanovich for the fourth time out of five meetings, and Chakvetadze was unable to break the clean sheet in her confrontation with Henin, losing to her for the third time in a row.
However, there is no point in drawing premature conclusions from what happened, since all three matches of the Russians were set more in a major rather than a minor mood. Due to the numerous injuries that have tormented Sharapova this season and due to which she managed to win only one tournament in San Diego, America in early August, the fight with Hantuchova could, in a sense, be a turning point. Indeed, recently Sharapova either did not perform at all, following the recommendations of doctors, or she sheathed her rackets already in the first rounds. Apparently, having been among the participants in the final tournament, the Russian woman acquired new motivation, which will help her prove herself at the end of the season. Sharapova has experience of performing at such a tournament. Moreover, the experience is positive, which is important. Three years ago she already won this tournament. True, at that time she was not so worried about health problems. In any case, the match with Hantuchova showed that our athlete’s physical condition does not yet cause concern. After the match, Sharapova admitted that it was especially important for her to understand how things were going with her shoulder. During the fight, Maria did not feel any pain. Now the only question is whether this reserve will be enough to hold the next matches.
As for other Russians - Svetlana Kuznetsova and Anna Chakvetadze, both athletes can count the past season as an asset, as the matches with Ivanovich and Henin showed. The meteoric rise of Chakvetadze, who won four championship titles this year, was followed by a natural decline. This was demonstrated in recent tournaments with the participation of the 20-year-old Muscovite. Nevertheless, in the match with Justine Henin, the talented tennis player, the only Russian player in the “yellow group,” did not at all look like a “whipping girl.” If the first set was dictated by the Belgian, then in the second the Russian showed worthy resistance, bringing the game to a tie-break, in which she still lost. However, according to the captain of the Russian tennis team, Shamil Tarpishchev, the fact that Chakvetadze made her debut at this championship, being one of the eight participants, can already be regarded as an undoubted success.
By the way, contrary to the prevailing stereotype, Shamil Tarpishchev is not inclined to consider last year’s winner Justine Henin the absolute favorite of this year’s tournament. This season has indeed been very successful for the Belgian. She won nine titles, managed to avoid serious injuries, and built a flawless competition and training schedule. However, according to the Russian captain, there is no obvious superiority in her game over her rivals. And other tennis players can use this moment as a trump card under favorable circumstances.
The situation was somewhat different for Svetlana Kuznetsova. If you follow the ranking list, then the second racket of the world should have prevailed over the fourth number. However, this time Svetlana was unable to rewrite the unfavorable statistics of meetings with Ivanovich. “This season I always miss something in the finals of tournaments. Somewhat small. But I know my mistakes, I know how to correct them,” Svetlana said before the championship in Madrid. So far, the work on the mistakes has not been very successful, although Kuznetsova did everything possible. Her fight was the longest on the first day of play. The athletes spent more than two hours on the court. Having lost the first set (1:6), Kuznetsova nevertheless found the strength to temporarily tip the scales in her favor, but again lost at the end of the third set - 5:7.
The victory over the Russian was not the only reason for Ivanovich’s joy. She turned 20 on Tuesday, and tournament organizers brought a huge cake with candles onto the court. Time will tell whether Ivanovich's game will be worth the candle.