 Photographer: Francesco Panunzio
Date: 21 May 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 14 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 14 Aug 2003 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 02 Oct 2004 |  Photographer: None / Not Applicable
Date: 30 Jan 2004 | |
|
| 16 Mar 2005 - ITF - James Harrisson | |
| The Seeds of Success |
The second day of play at the 35th Banana Bowl in Sao Paolo saw the completion of the first round in the boys’ and girls’ competitions and major upsets were, in either draw, few and far between.
Of the 16 seeds in the girls’ competition only two failed to make it past the opening round in Sao Jose dos Campos. After sixth seed Eugeniya Rodina crashed out in the first round yesterday for the second year in a row, the only big surprise of the second day was the defeat of Irena Pavlovic by Brazilian Teliana Pereira. Roxane Vaisemberg, also playing on home soil disposed of wildcard compatriot Isabela Rodrigues without dropping a game. Third seed Nikola Frankova of the Czech Republic, made it through to the last 32 to set up a tie with Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru whom she beat in the final of last week’s grade 1 event in Asunción, Paraguay. Other victorious seeds on day two were Florencia Molinero (8, Argentina), Katerina Kramperova (10, Czech Republic) and Liset Brito (13, El Salvador).
In the boys’ draw, top seeds Dusan Lojda of the Czech Republic and German Aljoscha Thron both made it satisfactorily through to the second round. Also triumphant was Andre Miele, who, along with Raony Carvalho, leads the field of an impressive 11 Brazilian players in the last 32. Not everything went to plan, however, as two more seeds were eliminated from the competition. 12th seed, Argentinean Emiliano Massa was knocked out by yet another stunning performance by Brazilian qualifier Andre Moreira, while Luis Henrique Grangeiro, also from Brazil eventually beaten in the third set by 676 ranked Sebastian Gallego.
Some more exciting breaking news from the 35th Banana Bowl is the arrival of two electronic racket-stringing machines. These wonders of modern technology have slashed in half the amount of time needed to restring a racket (now just 25 minutes). This means that, going flat out, the operators managed to re-string 120 rackets on day 2 in Sao Paolo. This service is proving invaluable, as at this high standard of tennis, breaking strings is inevitable.
Also new this year is wireless broadband Internet access, allowing players, officials and spectators to remain permanently linked to the worldwide web and constantly up to date with breaking news.
^ Back to Top
|
