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2004
WTA Tour Championships News
Brad Falkner | November
12 , 2004
French Open champion Anastasia
Myskina produced the first upset of the WTA year end championships
with a convincing 7-6 (5) 6-4 victory over top ranked Lindsay
Davenport.
Up a set and two service breaks Anastasia Myskina looked to
have the match firmly in hand. On the other hand it
was only two nights ago in her first match of the championships
that Myskina allowed the identical lead over Serena Williams
to slip through her fingers.
Myskina, whose first career win over Daveport occurred last
month in her home town of Moscow at the Kremlin Cup, used
that win for motivation.
“I played her just a couple of weeks ago. So my
memory was pretty fresh. I knew exactly what I had to
do against Lindsay. And probably this tournament and
that match gave me more confidence to play against her because
before I was losing to her really easy.” Myskina said.
Myskina worked the outer perimeter of the court to perfection
honing in on Davenport’s forehand, forcing the hometown
favorite to commit an uncharacteristic 25 unforced errors.
“I knew I had to move her around and she missed more
forehands. When I first played her I was young and had huge
respect. Now I know how to play the best players.'' Myskina
said.
``That's the best she's played against me,'' Davenport said.
``I was just a little off on my shots. When I had some chances,
I made some errors. I tried to stay aggressive, tried to move
my feet and I couldn't.''
Davenport owns a 351-point lead over No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo,
who still has a chance to regain the number one ranking. Davenport
needs to advance to the championships final to guarantee she'll
end the year at No. 1 for the third time in her career.
``If I finish the year two, it's been a great year,'' said
Davenport ``If I finish one, great. If she plays well here
and wins it, she absolutely deserves it.''
Vera Zvonareva’s 2004 season came to end at the
hands of Maria Sharapova, who’s straight
set 6-4, 7-5 victory was not as close as the score indicated.
Shrapova swung freely from both wings producing 58 winners
compared to a scanty 12 by Zvonareva. It seems that
it was more than Sharapova’s ground attack that proved
costly to Zvonareva.
“The balls are so heavy. It is impossible for
me to play me game. So I have to play a different game.
There’s no control in these balls for me” contested
Zvonareva.
Playing in the tournament for the first time, Zvonareva finished
last in her four-woman group with a 0-3 record.
Sharapova became the first woman in he 2004 championships
to advance to the semifinals with her straight set win. Satisfied
with her first two matches in the round robin Sharapova was
delighted to register victories over two opponents that she
had struggled with in the past. The Wimbledon Champion
had losing records against Kuznetsova and Zvonareva, but beat
both of them at the championships.
“I had a losing record against both of them so it’s
definitely a good revenge,” Sharapova said. “It
feels good to be in the championships and beating some of
the top players in the world.” ``I got my whole game
together,'' Sharapova continued. ``When you have some confidence,
if you're down a break point, you can still come back.''
In the evening’s final encounter Amelie Mauresmo schooled
U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 for the fourth
time this year. The win qualifies Mauresmo for the semifinals.
The Frenchwoman still has a chance to overcome Davenport's
ranking despite never winning a Grand Slam title in 2004.
Davenport will wrap up her round-robin play Saturday against
Serena Williams, who only needs to win a set against Davenport
to reach the semifinals in the season-ending tournament. Davenport
likely needs to beat Williams to get into the semifinals.
Davenport, Myskina, Elena Dementieva and Williams are in the
Red Group. Davenport and Myskina have 1-1 match records. Williams
is 2-0 and Dementieva is 0-2.
Mauresmo, Kuznetsova, Sharapova and Zvonareva are in the Black
Group. The two players with the best record from each group
will advance to the semifinals. Sharapova and Mauresmo
are both 2-0, Kutznetsova is 1-1, while Zvonareva finished
0-3.
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