2010 Wednesday news

AEGON International | Eastbourne

Bally blasts past Zheng

Elena Baltacha, the battling British no1 and wildcard, served up another shock victory over a top quality Chinese opponent at Devonshire Park in dramatic drama.

The Scot was expected to only be playing for pride, but bemused Jie Zheng (pictured right) in the opening set by running away with an emphatic 6-2 opening set.

Zheng came out fighting for a quarter-final place and turned on the style to wipe the floor with the well-supported Brit nicknamed Bally.

The decisive set saw a ding-dong contest fall in favour of Bally and then towards the petite but powerful Chinese ace. Helped on with some brave shots, a handful of unforced errors and the vocal crowd on Court No2, Bally edged victory for an sensational 6-2 1-6 6-3 triumph.

There were other topsy-turvy matches, with strong Aussie Sam Stosur - a recent runner-up at Roland Garros - pushed to the limits in the opening match of the day on Centre Court against Daniela Hantuchova.

Stosur's trademark kick serve worked well in the opening set, but she was unable to flex her muscles against such a wily opponent and double faulted to lose the second set.

With long-legged Hantuchova playing as brightly as her fashionable orange outfit, and Stosur appearing exhausted after her exploits in Paris, the final set could have gone either way. But no3 seed Stosur (pictured above)
stepped up a gear and hit a number of powerdrives to tilt the scales and register a tense 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 success in just under two hours helped by 13 aces.

Stosur, a semi-finalist at Eastbourne 2007, said: "We've had some close matches and I've played quite well here so far. The more matches I get on grass the better I feel, so I hope this year I can do the best I've ever done on grass."

In stark contrast, former world no1 and Eastbourne 2005 champions Kim Clijsters was in total control on Centre Court for a second successive day to rapidly make mincemeat out of lacklustre Lucie Safarova 6-1 6-0 in 39 whirlwind minutes.

Clijsters (pictured right), the no5 seed, showed no sign of not being match fit following her foot injury that kept the Belgian ace out of the 2010 French Open and admitted: "Victory was good, quick and perfect but I've always liked playing on grass.

"Today was even better than yesterday and that's a good sign. I'm playing good tennis and that's the most important thing for me."

Marion Bartoli, a former Wimbledon runner-up and regular at Eastbourne, had a fight on her hands to survive against impressive Hungarian Agnes Szavay and register a gritty 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Bartoli, the no8 seed, was slow off the starting blocks and looked likely to dumped out after falling behind 3-1 in the second set. But in a game of cat and mouse, the French ace kept her nerve to bounce back. She is in her fourth successive quarter-final at Devonshire Park, and is aiming to surpass her hat-trick of semi-final finishes.

?The noise from Belarussian Victoria Azarenka (pictured left) on Court No1 was the most entertaining aspect for fans, as she outplayed British qualifier Heather Watson without any troubles to cruise home 6-1 6-1.

Watson's progress at the event means that the Guersney-based youngster, the 2009 US Open Junior champion, climbed into the world's top 250 for the first time in her short career on the WTA Tour. This was her first foray into the second round of a main draw.

Azarenka said: "My coach watched her match yesterday, she's a very good player and moves very well. It was a difficult match, we had tough rallies and I'm happy the way I handled it."

?Russian wildcard Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 Eastbourne champion, fought back from match point in the second set to see off Romanian Sorana Cirstea (pictured right) in a marathon 150 minutes 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(4).

Kuznetsova arrived at Eastbourne having been dumped out of the French Open and dropping out of the world's top 10 for the first time in four years. But the former US Open champion had played with nerves of steel to stutter into the quarter-finals against the odds to defy critics.

France's fashionista Aravane Rezai, who claimed the scalp of defending Eastbourne champion Caroline Wozniacki in the previous round, had to wave the white flag and concede with a right wrist injury after trailing 6-2 3-0 to Spaniard María José Martínez Sánchez.

In the all-Russian battle, qualifier Ekaterina Makarova romped home against Nadia Petrova - a regular at Eastbourne and former finalist - with a stunning 6-2 6-0 success.

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Matches played

2ndSamantha Stosur AUS(3)Daniela Hantuchova SVK6-3 3-6 6-4
2ndHeather Watson GBR(q)Victoria Azarenka BLR1-6 1-6
2ndMarion Bartoli FRA(8)Agnes Szavay HUN3-6 6-4 6-4
2ndKim Clijsters BEL(5)Lucie Safarova CZE6-1 6-0
2ndSorana Cirstea ROUSvetlana Kuznetsova RUS(WC)6-4 6-7(6) 6-7(4)
2ndNadia Petrova RUSEkatrina Makarova RUS(q)2-6 0-6
2ndM-J. Martinez Sanchez ESPAravane Rezai FRA6-2 3-0 retired
2ndJie Zheng CHNElena Baltacha GBR(WC)2-6 6-1 3-6

2009 Wednesday results

Eastbournetennis.com | 17 June

M. Bartoli defeated A. Chakvetadze || 7-5, 6-3                             
E. Makarova d. A. Mauresmo || 7-6, 7-6                           
V. Dushevina  d. N. Petrova || 5-7, 1-0, retired                             
A. Medina Garrigues d. S Bammer || 7-5, 6-1                              
A. Wozniak d. J. Zheng || 7-6, 6-3                             
C. Wozniacki d. S. Stosur || 6-1, 5-7, 6-1                           
A.Radwanska d. N. Li || 3-1, retired                          
V. Razzano d. E. Dementieva || 6-0,  3-6, 7-6

2009 Wednesday news

Eastbournetennis.com | 17 June

Controversy was served up throughout the day in the strong women's draw that overshadowed the ailing British interest in the incredibly weak men's draw, with Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova and Anna Chakvetadze (pictured below) all showing rare glimpses of feeling the pressure.

chakvetadze didn't shake hands with bartoliThe scheduling of the matches caused hundreds of disgruntled Centre Court ticket holders to move across to no1 Court and no2 Court for the attractive contests involving Mauresmo and Bartoli respectively - both grass court experts and crowd favourites at Devonshire Park.


The complaints about putting two British players on Centre Court, back-to-back, upset paying fans who had forked out hard-earned cash for a prime spot only to be greeted by Alex Bogdanovic followed by James Ward.

So the crowds arrived at the outside courts quicker than a Andy Roddick thunderbolt serve in order to grab a decent viewing point. And the press - journalists and photographers - were also part of the mass exodus that left Eurosport's TV cameras showing very few spectators on Centre Court

Mauresmo made a slow start against Ekaterina Makarova, bounced back to force a tiebreak but gifted the Russian qualifier the opening set. With the ex-Eastbourne and former Wimbledon champion playing safety shots and sliced forehands, she was furious to concede a game at the turnaround to lead 4-1.

french ace mauresmo lost her ragSix games later and Mauresmo (pictured) lost her rag and thumped a tennis ball high out of Devonshire Park into the adjoining Blackwater Road - duly given a code violation warning before bowing out on another epic tiebreak 13-11.

“I don’t have any explanations!" fumed Mauresmo, " I took chances and it didn’t work. The main thing is to forget about this match and just look forward to Wimbledon."

And Marion Bartoli's opponent Anna Chakvetadze refused to shake hands at the end of their 7-5 6-3 tie that lasted just under two hours. This was because the Russian strongly objected to the ex-Wimbledon semi-finalist calling her coach/trainer in order to delay the inevitable defeat.

Bartoli explained: “I played some really great points at tough times but grass is definitely my best surface. The match was really tough physically and mentally, but I think physically - at the end - I was a little bit better than her!” 

French ace Bartoli smiled: “The faster the court the better I play, and I’m a lot fitter than last year. If I can believe in myself I can go far.”

russian ace petrova smashed her racquetAnd Petrova (pictured) smashed one of her racquets in frustration seconds after withdrawing for the second time in three years at Devonshire Park. 

The Gdansk-based Russian took a 7-5 lead and conceded the opening game in the second set against compatriot Vera Dushevina but was unable to continue against the qualifier because of a lower back strain. 

Another retirement saw defending champion Agneizska Radwanska gifted a quarter-final spot after China's Na Li threw in the towel because of a niggling injury. Last week's runner-up at the grass courts in Birmingham trailed 3-1 to the Polish ace who has managed to avoid a quarter-final clash with Elena Dementieva.

Top seed Dementieva made a most appalling start on Centre Court to lose 6-0 in the opening set to ever improving French star Virginie Razzano. But the Russian bounced back to level matters only to wilt in the third set tiebreak for a 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 reversal.

Teenager Caroline Wozniacki, long tipped by ex-players as a future Wimbledon champion, showed exactly why she is highly respected within the game by turning over Sam Stosur 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in a closer Centre Court battle than the result suggested.

navratilova spoke to eastbournetennis.comMartina Navratilova, the 11-time Eastbourne champion, told eastbournetennis.com that the Danish 18-year-old has "an outside chance to win Wimbledon this year". And with free text alert information reaching fans within Devonshire Park about Navratilova's wise words, Centre Court got busier and busier to see the immensely talented Wozniacki.

Stosur, who reached the last four at Eastbourne 2008, was bewildered by the defeat but admitted: "Caroline is a great player, it showed up some things that I need to improve going into Wimbledon. I didn’t get a good start at all, started rushing things and trying to finish points much too soon."

The Australian added: “In the second set at 6-5 I took my chance, stepped it up and started going for it like I should have done in the first set. Then in the third I reverted back to my old ways. "

Anabel Medina Garrigues' 6-1, 7-5 over Eastbourne regular Sybille Bammer of Austria completed the quarter-final line-up.