 |
| Latest News |
| Search Articles |
| Audio Listing |
| Photo Galleries |
|
|
|
|
| 13 Aug 2003 | |
| Temperatures reach the high 30's on Day 2 |
Temperatures again reached the high 30’s for the second day of the World Junior Tennis Finals, testing the stamina of everyone taking part. Once again, seeded and unseeded teams battled it out in their respective groups.
The Czech Republic boys again faced tough opposition, this time from the unseeded Japanese team. Having fought off the very determined Venezuelans on Monday, they were today up against the solid Japanese team. A gripping drama developed with the singles at one a piece. No 2 Japanese player, Kei Nishikori, is proving unstoppable at this event and has yet to drop a set. For the second time, both teams had to fight it out in a deciding doubles rubber but the Japanese were single-minded in their approach and refused to give the home side an opportunity to get into the match. Finally, Japan sealed the tie 2-1, much to the dismay of the strong Czech contingent who turned out in force to cheer on their juniors.
Another gripping tie took place between two Latin American teams, Chile and Venezuela. The latter proved yesterday that they are very gutsy, and will not give in without a fight and once again demonstrated this steely resolve in a closely fought tie, with each side refusing to give an inch. Venezuelan duo Roberto Maytin and Arnaldo Lovera went into the doubles rubber with the pressure of knowing that they had to win the third and final rubber. After a hard fought battle the Venezuela boys were triumphant with a doubles victory of 75 63 clinching the tie 2-1.
The Italians succumbed to the might of No 1 seeds USA who beat them in straight sets. Meanwhile, Ecuador and Croatia battled long and hard with each of the rubbers going to three sets. In the second singles, Ecuatorian Juan Martin Paredes served some great shots and eventually broke the concentration of Mikhail Karpol 64 46 86.
Six of the boys competing here this week will hope today to maintain their commendable record of not having dropped a set, namely Donald Young and Leo Rosenberg of the USA, Kei Nishikori (JAP), Andrei Karatchenia (BLR), Roberto Maytin (VEN) and Kevin Botti (FRA). Five of the eight seeded nations defeated their opponents today whilst Nos 2, 3 and 8 seeds, Czech Republic, Croatia and Chile respectively each lost 2-1 in their ties.
In the girls’ competition, despite battling hard, the Kiwi team lost in straight sets to the USA who took the tie 3-0. Logan Hansen (USA), who was a semi finalist at Les Petis As, succeeded in breaking the concentration of Brittany Tee in the first rubber. Following their earlier win, the American girls seemed to have victory in their sights and were not willing to accept anything less, winning the second match 63 61.
No 1 seeds Russia, who can boast that they haven’t conceded a single set in the first two days of the competition, won their first match as expected and looked very confident opposite the Uruguay girls with Regina Kulikova scoring an emphatic victory over Agustina Ferrari, 60 61. The Uruguay team conceded the second and third rubbers allowing Russia to take the tie 3-0.
Morocco failed to came through a tough tie against Australia, seeded 6, with Michelle Brycki (AUS) overcoming Majdouline Akrate (MAR) in the first rubber 62 63. The Aussies clinched the tie 2-1 as the doubles match ended in a tense three set thriller, with the Tyra Calderwood/Brycki duo winning the match 36 64 61.
There was great excitement over on court number six as the teams from Romania (5) and Poland (unseeded) did battle in the late afternoon sun. The tie was finally decided in the third and final rubber with the pairing of Raluca Olaru and Alexandra Dulgheru defeating the Polish Radwanska sisters 64 64. However, this came after two hard fought singles rubbers with Olaru refusing to give an inch in the first singles match, producing a series of powerful serves which eventually led to a 63 64 victory, despite the determined efforts of Agnieszka Radwanska.
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic looked determined to wrap up proceedings against Bolivia as swiftly as possible and are yet to concede a rubber in this year’s competition. Sona Novakova cruised to a 62 60 victory over Jessica Aguilera in the first singles rubber, whilst team mate Nicole Vaidisova, (number 39 on the ITF junior ranking), also won in straight sets 62 63 in the second match.
Despite the blistering heat that made conditions difficult, the Brazilian team stormed through their second round-robin tie in a straight sets victory against the Thai girls. Whilst Canadian Erika Perez claimed the first singles rubber with a comfortable win over Croatian No 2, Maja Sujica, 62 61. In the doubles, Canada rounded off a string of good results and took the tie 3-0.
More upset over on court three as No 8 seeds, Italy, struggled against the unseeded Japanese team who claimed victory in the second rubber with Ayumi Morita coming up with some great shots to win 75 62. There was a tense atmosphere on court as the doubles pairings of Emiko Ito/Morita (JAP) and Astrid Besser/ Corinna Dentoni (ITA) fought hard to win the tie in a three set thriller, resulting in a 36 64 61 win for Japan.
Looking to tomorrow, the deciding matches in each group will mean some exciting battles ahead and will no doubt make for some intense and spirited play.
^ Back to Top
|
|
|
|
