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Top seed Hantuchova faces tough Bali Classic tennis
Bruce Emond , The Jakarta Post , Nusa Dua, Bali | Mon, 09/08/2008 11:01 AM | Sports
Top seed Daniela Hantuchova will face some tough opposition Sunday in her bid to lift the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic trophy.
The world number 12 from Slovakia, whose year has been disrupted by a right heel injury, received a first-round bye in the draw released Sunday, but her section is crowded with players known for their giant-killing potential.
In the second round she will meet either qualifier Olga Savchuk of Ukraine or the free-swinging Russian Alla Kudryatseva, who caused one of the year's biggest upsets by defeating Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon.
Hard-hitting Savchuk was a class above Indonesian veteran Lisa Andriyani in Sunday's qualifying round, romping to a 6-0, 6-0 whitewashing.
However, Lisa's compatriots Ayu Fani Damayanti and national number one Sandy Gumulya came through qualifying to ensure an Indonesian presence in the main draw of the tournament, which begins Monday.
In the quarterfinals Hantuchova is drawn to meet sixth seed Li Na. The Chinese player, a semifinalist at the Beijing Olympics last month, also has a potentially tricky opener against teenager Ayumi Morita.
The Japanese wildcard, who plays two-handed off both sides, reached the quarterfinals in Bali last year as a qualifier.
Hantuchova, the runner-up in 2007 to American Lindsay Davenport, is drawn to meet third seed Flavia Pennetta in the last four.
The Italian, who reached the last eight at the U.S. Open last week, opens her campaign against American Vania King.
Second seed Patty Schnyder, who also received a bye in the first round, faces either Meng Yuan of China or Kazakh wildcard Yaroslava Shvedova.
The 29-year-old Swiss player's section includes dangerous floater and eighth seed Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, who made her breakthrough this year by triumphing in Stanford.
Her semifinal opponent could be fourth seed Nadia Petrova, who is still trying to recapture the form that brought her a career-high ranking of 3 in 2006.
The Russian is drawn for an interesting quarterfinal match against Italian fifth seed Francesca Schiavone, the 2005 runner-up in Bali.
SANDY SETS SUCCESS: Sandy Gumulya of Indonesia returns the ball during her qualifying match against Shika Uberoi of India in the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Sunday. Sandy won 6-1, 6-3. (JP/Arief Suhardiman)
Schiavone, world ranked 27, opens against Indonesian number one Sandy Gumulya, who came through qualifying with a 6-1, 6-3 dismissal of India's Shikha Uberoi. The U.S-raised Uberoi played erratically and appeared troubled by the heat and humidity on Sunday.
"I'll do my best, but my opponent is of course higher ranked than me," said the 22-year-old Indonesian, currently ranked 265 in the world.
Ayu Fani may have a stronger chance of making the second round when she plays Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova, the tallest female player on tour at 1.9 meters, on Monday.
The Uzbek's game is built around a powerful first serve, but it can break down when her opponents exploit her limited mobility.
Ayu perfectly executed her strategy of keeping compatriot Lavinia Tananta on the run for a 6-2, 6-4 win Sunday to reach the main draw.
Ayu, 19, started nervously, losing her serve and facing more break points in the third game. She eventually settled down and began to find her range, successfully moving Lavinia from side to side and advancing for putaway volleys to take six consecutive games.
"I was a bit nervous at first, but I had decided to go out and play fast to keep her moving, because she's a small player," the Balinese said.
She was untroubled by the lower back muscle strain that caused her to default from last week's Sportama tournament semifinals in Jakarta, she added.
"I decided that I had better save myself for here because I want to do well in this tournament," she said, adding the strain made serving and hitting her backhand difficult. "I came back to Bali for physio, and started practicing again on Thursday."
Lavinia had her chance in the second set, breaking Ayu in the first game.
But her serve was inconsistent throughout the match and she was unable to hold on to take the advantage.
"She kept me under pressure from the beginning and I didn't take the opportunities she gave me," Lavinia, 20, said. "I'll just have to spend a bit more time on the practice court."
Monday's Schedule of Play:
Center Court (starting 3 p.m.):
Marta Domachowska (Pol) vs. Shuai Peng (Chn)
Francesca Schiavone (Ita) vs. Sandy Gumulya (Ina)
Ayumi Morita (Jpn) vs. Li Na (Chn)
Court 1 (starting 3 p.m.):
Meng Yuan (Chn) vs. Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz)
Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) vs. Ayu Fani Damayanti (Ina)
