Translated material
Porsche for Yankovic
Nadezhda Petrova lost to the first racket of the world
Several tennis tournaments took place this week. The attention of Russian fans was focused on three of them - in Tokyo, Stuttgart and French Metz. In Japan, after a break due to injuries and illnesses, Mikhail Youzhny appeared on the court again. In Germany and France, Nadezhda Petrova and Dmitry Tursunov made it to the finals.In the decisive round of the women's competition in Stuttgart, Petrova faced the leader of the championship race and, from this week, the first racket of the world, Jelena Jankovic from Serbia. Such a castling in women's tennis became a reality after the defeat of the now former first racket of the world, American Serena Williams, in the opening match of the competition from Chinese Na Li. In the semi-finals, Yankovic beat Williams' older sister Venus - 6:7 (6:8), 7:5, 6:2 and advanced to the hope of Petrova, who in turn defeated Victoria Azarenka from Belarus - 6:4, 6 :4.
By the way, it was Venus Williams and Victoria Azarenka who became insurmountable barriers for two other Russians, Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva. In the quarterfinals, Safina lost to the American, and Dementieva to the Belarusian. Nevertheless, thanks to the wide representation of our tennis players at the tournament, one of the Russians still made it to the final.
After defeating the Belarusian, Petrova admitted that she was happy to play in the final again. “At the moment I am demonstrating my best game. It's nice because I feel like I'm close to the top. All the hard training at the beginning of the season is now paying off,” she said.
However, this year in Stuttgart, Nadezhda was unable to repeat her result from 2006, when she defeated the Frenchwoman Tatyana Golovin in the decisive round of the competition. This time Petrova failed to beat the world ranking leader. The final turned out to be fleeting and was limited to two sets. Jankovic won - 6:4, 6:3.
In fact, few doubted Yankovic's victory. She had a huge psychological advantage on her side, because out of seven previous fights with Petrova, it was the Serbian athlete who won five. Petrova only got the better of Jankovic twice. But that was three years ago. In addition, Jankovic, regardless of the outcome of the final, achieved what every player strives for - she topped the ranking of tennis players and therefore played confidently, without tension. According to tradition, the champion of the competition in Stuttgart, in addition to a check for $92,450, is also presented with the keys to a Porsche sports car, so Yankovic has joined the ranks of car enthusiasts.
Another Russian, Dmitry Tursunov, reached the final of the men's tournament in Metz, France, where he was opposed by court owner Paul-Henri Mathieu late yesterday evening. According to the Russian, by the end of the season he started playing in a new way, in the sense that stupid mistakes were a thing of the past. Indeed, during the competition, the Russian knocked out the Frenchman Terry Assien from the fight. This match was the only one that lasted three sets. All others limited themselves to two parties. Tursunov's victims were Argentinean Jose Acasuso, then Spaniard Carlos Moya and in the semifinals Czech Radek Stepanek (6:3, 6:4).
Meanwhile, another Czech, Tomas Berdych, won the first tournament of the season. In Tokyo, he interrupted the unbeaten streak of the talented Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro - 6:1, 6:4. After the match, the Argentine, commenting on the reasons for his defeat, said that the Czech's brilliant play at the beginning of the match came as a surprise to him and unsettled him. “After the first set I started to play a little better, but it was too late. I didn’t have a chance to cope with his tennis today,” the Argentine admitted.
For the Russians, this tournament was interesting from the point of view of the return of Mikhail Youzhny to the court. The Russian made up for his failure in singles (Yuzhny lost to German Rainer Schuttler in the third round) with a victory in doubles. In a duet with Misha Zverev, who plays for Germany, Youzhny beat Czech Lukas Dlouhy and Indian Leander Paes - 6:3, 6:4.
The champion of the women's tournament in Tokyo was the Danish Caroline Wozniacki, who defeated the Estonian Kaia Kanepi - 6:2, 3:6, 6:1. Let us remind you that the Russian Maria Kirilenko, who started in these competitions, sheathed her racket after the first round. This week Kirilenko and other Russian women will take part in the Kremlin Cup. However, even before the start of qualification, the Moscow competition lost several participants at once. Due to injuries, American Serena Williams and Frenchman John-Wilfried Tsonga, as well as Hungarian Agnes Savay, will not come to Moscow. Due to the latter's refusal, the fifth racket of the world, Ana Ivanovic from Serbia, entered the main draw of the competition, who entered the tournament too late. Agnieszka Radwanska will also not take to the courts at the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex. A Polish woman had problems with her passport.