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J&S CUP (Warszawa, Poland, WTA Tier II)
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Second round
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- VERA ZVONARËVA [3] lt. Ana Ivanovic, 6-2 6-4
- Daniela Hantuchová lt. ELENA BOVINA [5], 6-4 4-6 6-3
Bepa and Daniela should have played each other in the second round, according to the original draw... but now I've lost them both!
There must be a conspiracy to keep them apart - perhaps the groundspersons don't relish the prospect of how many squeegees would be needed if these two played each other!
The scoreboard was down, so I followed Bepa's match at:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=163539
I was worried that the result would be like this, with Bepa's confidence being so low, and Ivanovic (who looks like a female version of the James Bond villain Jaws in
The Spy Who Loved Me and
Moonraker) being so talented and dangerous.
The scores-thread tells of many winners by Ivanovic, while Bepa seems to have been in one of her most defensive modes, and did a really bad job of holding serve. According to the report on CEEFAX, "Zvonarëva could not cope with the aggression of the 17-year-old, who beat Svetlana Kuznetsova last month."
But the most depressing stuff I've ever read about Bepa is in the
Vera Zvonareva rise to the top thread !!!! It's so sad to see her own fans who saw the match saying she looked "disinterested", was not enjoying tennis any more, that her legendary fighting spirit wasn't there.
At least the second set was an improvement, with Bepa playing more aggressively and fighting through some very long games in the first half of the set.
FIRST SET
Started 11:39 CEST.
('
*' = held serve, '
@' = broken)
Zvon _@__*___ 2
Ivan @ @* *@* 6
Ivanovic won first set at 12:07.
SECOND SET
Zvon *@__*___ 4
Ivan __@* *@* 6
Bepa serving 0-0: long game of 5 deuces, 3 break-points saved.
Ivanovic serving 0-1: broken to 15.
Bepa serving 2-0: another 5-deuce game, Bepa broken on 4th BP.
Ivanovic serving 1-2: recovered from 15/40 to hold.
Bepa serving 2-2: held after one deuce.
Ivanovic serving 2-3: held to love.
Bepa serving 3-3: broken to love.
Ivanovic serving 4-3: held to 30.
Bepa serving to stay in the match at 3-5: held to 15.
Ivanovic serving for the match at 5-4: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15, won match at 13:00.
Ivanovic: "I just tried to play my game, to attack her and get a little bit into the court and get her on the move, and I think I did that pretty well. I'm really happy the way it went today.
"It's taken a lot of work. I've practised very hard the last few months, and I'm pretty happy to see the results so fast. Now, I'm going to practice even harder to continue to improve my game."
Ivanovic does sound like an exciting talent from what I've read about her, and the very little I've seen. I look forward to watching her play at Wimbledon.
Doubles (with Silvia Farina Elia):
1r + Liga Dekmeijere/Nana Miyagi, 6-0 6-1
qf - Tatiana Perebiynis/Barbora Strýcová, 7-5 4-6 6-4
Photos:
http://www.jandscup.pl/eng/gal_2005.php?z=30&data_id=55 [p. 4 of 7]
(Bepa stunningly beautiful - even Maria Kirilenko looks plain in comparison!)
--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/zvona/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/verazvonareva/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/
J&S Cup - Warsaw
You also hit a point when you said who Ana Ivanovic reminded you of! I'm surprised as a James Bond fan (esp. of the Roger Moore films), I didn't notice it earlier! Let's all wish the lovely Bepa well for future tournaments. My support for her is as strong as ever.
