======================
PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES
(Antwerp, Belgium; outdoor hard (Decoturf); WTA Tier II)
====================== http://www.proximusdiamondgames.be/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF]:
1r + Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 6-2
2r + Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2
qf + NADIA PETROVA [3], 6-3 6-4
sf - AMÉLIE MAURESMO [1], 3-6 6-3 2-6

Anna moves up from #12 in the rankings to a career-high #10 this
week! Her place in the top ten was guaranteed when Dinara Safina lost
in the quarter-finals after Anna had beaten Petrova.

Anna: "It's nice, but I won't play in Dubai and Doha the next weeks
so I will drop out again. I don't really care that much about my
ranking anyway. I just want to improve my game, win matches and then
my ranking will take care of itself."

It's disappointing that Anna doesn't get to stay in the top ten for
long now, but not caring about her ranking is a very sensible
attitude. Too many players ruin their careers by playing to protect
their rankings, rather than planning their tournament-schedules to
help themselves in the long run.

Ranking is just a number. Nothing beats the thrill of holding up a
trophy.

Wintermute:
>>>
For the first time in her career, Anna has an 18th best tournament
result, that being LA with 14 points, to fall back on should she
suffer a first round defeat. Not too many players have this, only
about half the Top 20. It is a mark of consistency.
<<<

------
Photos
------

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=chakvetadze
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=280396&page=6 (pp. 6-8)
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1137
http://www.sport.be/proximusdiamondgames/2007/eng/inbeeld/ (Days
3,5,7,8)
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=285991
Search Getty Images for "chakvetadze"

Anna's diary updated (16th February):
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/

-----------
First round (Monday 12th February)
-----------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. Eleni Daniilidou, 6-4 6-2

I was very pleased to see that Anna beat such a dangerous opponent by
such a comprehensive scoreline! :-)

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yso4pm (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Both Chakvetadze and Daniilidou initially made too many unnecessary
errors. The Russian managed to up her level somewhat, and only needed
one break to reel in the first set, 6-4.

Then the Greek hardly resisted anymore, and Chakvetadze won the
second set with 6-2.
<<<

------------
Second round (Wednesday 14th February)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. Sybille Bammer, 4-6 7-6 (7/4) 6-2

Anna had some difficulty closing out both of the sets that she won:
she led *5-2 in the second but needed a tiebreak, and also had a bit
of a wobble at 5-0* in the third.

Associated Press (AP):
>>>
Bammer still fought off five match-points before finally giving in to
fatigue and her opponent.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2ap5o6 (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze had the best start, but it was Sybille Bammer who
took the first set in the end.

In the second set, the Russian initially took a 5-2 lead, but still
had to allow for Bammer to make it to a tiebreak.

In the tiebreak Chakvetadze came up best, and the third set was for
the Russian as well, 6-2. She is the first to move onto the quarter
finals.
<<<

http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10057965
>>>
Anna Chakvetadze survived a scare against red-hot Austrian Sybille
Bammer, when she fought back from one set down to advance to the
quarter-finals, 4-6 7-6(4) 6-2.

In the first game of the match, Chakvetadze went up 15/40 but could
not convert the early break-points. Both women went on to hold
comfortably until Bammer forced a set-point on the Chakvetadze serve
at 5-4.

The 19-year-old Russian was inconsistent and hit numerous unforced
errors. Bammer, who just won the Pattaya City tournament last week,
played a steady baseline-game and just waited for Chakvetadze to make
the mistake in the rally. This is exactly what happened on set-point
for the Austrian, and suddenly the No. 12 player was down a set.

In the opening game of the second set, Chakvetadze again took a 15/40
lead on the Bammer serve, but this time pounced on the break-point
and cruised to 5-2.

Surprisingly, the double break of serve was not enough for Anna to
make it one set apiece. She started hitting unforced errors again,
which enabled Bammer to take the set to a tiebreak.

At this point, Chakvetadze stepped it up a notch and played a solid
breaker to even up the match. In the final set, she raced out to a
5-0 lead before closing out the match 6-2.
<<<

-------------
Quarter-final (Friday 16th February)
-------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] d. NADIA PETROVA [3], 6-3 6-4

Anna extends her ownership of Petrova to 4-0! And this is the most
impressive result of the four, because the first two were in
Petrova's slump of August 2006, the third was the Moscow final when
Petrova was tired and injured, but this time Petrova had won Paris
the week before, and was very much in-form.

Petrova had showed signs of stomach-pain in her second-round win over
Vera Zvonarëva (what a pity that we couldn't have had another
mouthwatering Anna v Vera match, as at Birmingham and Eastbourne),
but Anna's 4-0 head-to-head speaks much louder than any excuses that
could be made for Petrova.

I find it ironic that Anna owns Petrova, Petrova owns Vera, and Vera
owns Anna. It's all psychological: Anna's previous victories over
Petrova give her a huge edge, so she goes onto court believing she's
going to beat Petrova, while Petrova - who is quite frail mentally -
probably goes on court thinking, "Oh no, I don't want to suffer
another upset against /her/ again."

It really is amazing that Anna owns a player of Petrova's standing -
a top-eight player who wins Tier I/II titles quite regularly now. I
would have thought that Petrova would have blown Anna off the court
with her huge muscular power at least once by now, but Anna's defence
is so strong, with wonderful anticipation, and she knows how to make
her defensive shots awkward for the attacking player.

Anna had a W:UE ratio of 23:19 and converted 5 of 10 break-points;
Petrova had a W:UE ratio of 19:29 and converted 2 of 8 break-points.


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
In getting to the final four, Chakvetadze extended her win-streak
against compatriot and No.7-ranked Nadia Petrova to 4-0 by winning
6-3 6-4.

Petrova, who was on a 5-0 win-streak after winning last week's Paris
[Indoors] title, was clearly frustrated by her inability to break
Chakvetadze's rhythm.

In the second set, Petrova took a 3-1 lead, but allowed Chakvetadze
back into the match. At 5-4, Petrova couldn't hold serve, and
Chakvetadze took the win.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/25f3fx (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Earlier today, the 19-year-old Russian beat her five-years-older
fellow compatriot Nadia Petrova.

Petrova consisted of frustration only as she had to allow for two
breaks, enough to give in the set.

In the second set she took a 3-1 lead, but she also allowed
Chakvetadze to come back into the match again. At 5-4 she could no
longer keep her cool; Chakvetadze broke again, and moves on to the
semi-finals.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10071767>:
>>>
Anna played some smart tennis and really wound Nadia up. However, her
serve did get her into trouble when she got broken early in the
second.

Anna is at a big disadvantage in a point when she doesn't get her
first serve in. Sam Smith on Eurosport was actually analysing it. She
said that Anna's service grip is the same as Dementieva's. She grips
so far round the racquet handle that it's impossible to generate
enough topspin on a second serve to be able to hit it with any power
and still get it in. I'm sure Anna knows this is the element of her
game she most needs to improve but it seems that maybe a few small
corrections could really help her.
<<<

soup: "What was wrong with Nadia's serve today? It was far from
normal, lucky for Anna..."


http://www.tennisreporters.net/chakvetadze_antwerp_021607.html
>>>
Russia's newest wonder girl; Chakvetadze breaks Top 10

FROM THE PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES IN ANTWERP – Anna Chakvetadze keeps
on churning, and after her 6-3 6-4 win over Nadia Petrova in the
quarter-finals, cracked the Top 10 for the first time.

Amazingly, the 19-year-old is 4-0 against her elder Russian, who has
been a solid Top-10 player for two years.

"I don't know if her game suits me, I think she made a lot of
unforced errors today," Chakvetadze told TRnet. "But she played a lot
of matches lately, so she could be tired. I didn't know I could reach
the Top 10 today. It's nice, but I won't play in Dubai and Doha the
next weeks so I will drop out again. I don't really care that much
about my ranking anyway. I just want to improve my game, win matches
and then my ranking will take care of itself."

Petrova came off a title run in Paris last week, where she beat red-
hot Czech Lucie Šafárová in the final. Chakvetadze lost in the French
capital against Amélie Mauresmo in the quarters, but will have a
chance to get her revenge on Saturday, when the two square off for a
final berth.

The '07 Hobart champion looks forward to face Mauresmo in a neutral
ambiance. "In Paris, the atmosphere was not nice," Chakvetadze
said. "You know that the crowd will support Amélie, but they were not
fair to both players. Here in Antwerp everyone is supporting Kim, but
they show respect for the others as well."

Chakvetadze is not your average up-and-comer. Where most talented
youngsters bring a flat-out power game to the court, Anna C. plays a
little more with her head.

"First of all, I'm not as tall as [Nicole] Vaidišová or [Ana]
Ivanovic," she says. "I can't hit as hard, so I need to find other
ways to win. I try to look for weaknesses in my opponent's game and
play accordingly."

The inventive and quick Russian, so reminiscent of Martina Hingis,
had her breakthrough year in 2006, starting the season just inside
the Top 40, but finishing strong with a career first title at the
Tier III in Guangzhou and a Tier I win in Moscow. Her impressive year
end run put the 19-year-old among the world's best 15 players.

"I never thought I would win a Tier I last year. When I won my first
tournament in Guangzhou, that gave me a lot of confidence. This
helped me to do well in Moscow."

In her early days on tour, Chakvetadze frequently lost control of her
emotions on court, breaking into tears when a match didn't go her
way. She starts laughing and says, "You haven't seen me play in the
Under-14s."

On the Sony Ericsson Tour website, Chakvetadze has said she wants to
break the Top 5 within three years. "No, no, that's not true," she
said. "The WTA wanted to know my goals so I just said 'Top 5 would be
nice,' but it's not something I'm really aiming for."

In order to settle in amongst the elite, Chakvetadze knows she still
has work to do. She's 14-2 in 2007, and has won 24 out of her last 27
matches. "I need to further improve my confidence so I can play well
on the important moments. And my serve and fitness need to get
better, too."

At the Australian Open, Chakvetadze faced top-seeded compatriot Maria
Sharapova in her first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal. She served for
the first set at 5-4, but eventually went down in straight sets. She
moved the ball around nicely, but couldn't hit her spots when it
counted.

"People said I played well that match, but I didn't win the important
points. Maria played better than I did that day, but it was good I
made the quarters."

One might think that Chakvetadze would have Parisian dreams, but
likes the bright big Apple better.

"I would love to win the US Open. It was the first Grand Slam I
played in 2004 and I beat [the then No. 3 Anastasia] Myskina when I
was just coming up. I just love the whole atmosphere in New York.
I also have a lot of friends there."

© TennisReporters.net 2007
<<<

----------
Semi-final (Saturday 17th February)
----------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [7,EF] lt. AMÉLIE MAURESMO [1], 3-6 6-3 2-6

Anna is now 0-3 against the muscular Mauresmo (including Paris the
week before), but at least she's doing better against Mauresmo every
time: 4-6 2-6; 6-7 5-7; 3-6 6-3 2-6.

Anna hasn't lost to anyone besides Mauresmo and Maria Sharapova so
far this year - or for the loss of fewer than 11 games. This time
last year, she only had one win against three heavy losses to players
ranked outside the top 15.


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Mauresmo, the No.1 seed, fought hard to defeat the No.7-seeded
Chakvetadze, capitalizing on a quick start in the third set to clinch
her third win in three career-meetings with the Russian, 6-3 3-6 6-2.
<<<

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2yfqgc (www.proximusdiamondgames.be)
>>>
Chakvetadze was not a bad match at all, but still was way too light
at decisive moments: 6-3 3-6 6-2.
<<<

BBC Sport:
>>>
World number three Mauresmo is looking to find some form after a slow
start to the year.

She broke Chakvetadze's serve in game seven on her way to securing
the first set, but the 19-year-old Russian fought back to take the
second set after an early break.

Mauresmo then moved up a gear in the decider to claim her second win
over Chakvetadze in a week, following their quarter-final in Paris
last week.

But there were worrying signs for the Wimbledon-champion, who seemed
to be carrying a leg-injury in the final set.
<<<

Darren Ennis/Emma Davis (Reuters):
>>>
Following a litany of unforced errors by her 19 year-old opponent,
Mauresmo broke serve for the first time in the seventh game, and went
on to take the opening set.

Chakvetadze hit back in the second set, breaking Mauresmo's serve in
the fourth game, and holding off two break-points of her own in the
next to level the match.

Despite suffering some pain in her upper legs, Mauresmo moved up a
gear in the final set, and took control of the tie.
<<<

http://www.tennisreporters.net/mauresmo_antwerp_021707.html
>>>
Chakvetadze and Mauresmo met at last week's Paris quarterfinal, when
Mauresmo advanced in straight sets. One week later, just 200 miles
north from the French capital, "Momo" again claimed the win:
6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

Chakvetadze played well until she lost her rhythm and dropped serve
at 3-4. The Russian hit two double faults and a couple of backhand
unforced errors, providing Mauresmo with a 5-3 lead.

The top-seeded Frenchwoman benefited from more Chakvetadze errors to
produce a love game and claim the first set.

Chakvetadze kept hitting unforced errrors from both sides at the
start of the second set. Mauresmo held break points in the 19-year-
old's first two service games, but wasn't clinical in her finishing.
Chakvetadze survived and got back into the match after she broke
serve in Mauresmo's next service game. The seventh seed hit a
screaming forehand down the line on break point for a 3-1 lead. She
served for the set at 5-3 and convincingly put herself back on even
terms.

Chakvetadze had the momentum heading into the third set but missed a
crucial forehand on a weak Mauresmo second serve at 15-30 in the
opening game. She couldn't break and followed up with an erratic
game, hitting two double faults and backhand unforced errors to put
Mauresmo in the driving seat.

The former No.1 raced out to 4-0 when the Russian was broken again.
At 4-2, she could have put the match back on serve, but hit three
consecutive forehand errors from 15-30. Mauresmo ended the match with
another break to secure her third straight final appearance in
Antwerp.

© TennisReporters.net 2007
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10078352 and
http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10087381>:
>>>
Anna couldn't sustain the level she had in the second set and went
down 0-4 in the the third set. She looked very frustrated with
herself. Amelie played reasonably well but was smart. She came into
the net at the right points and piled the pressure on Anna to come up
with good passing shots forcing the error.

Anna has not served as well recently as she did in Moscow,
particularly against Dinara in the first round. I think her shoulder
has hindered her to an extent.

Anna has acknowledged that her serve needs work. However, I do think
it's a little deceptive. I've seen players have trouble with it.
Yesterday Anna was serving to the ad court some very short second
serves up the T to Amelie's backhand and Momo wasn't getting on to
them at all.
<<<

Mauresmo quotes
---------------

"Winning without playing well is pretty fun too. I didn't feel that
confident today, couldn't find my right rhythm, and did not return
the balls well. There simply were too many ups and downs in my game.

"I simply didn't get into the right rhythm. I was really going
forward to take control of the match. I found my concentration again."


Anna quotes
-----------

"I lost concentration for three or four games in the third set, and
that's why I lost the match.

"But it has definitely been a good tournament for me, despite losing
today.

"I just have to gain more confidence when I play more important
players. To win, you have to play all important balls with a bit more
aggression.

"Before, I had said I wanted to be in the top 10. For me, it's more
important now to improve my game, and to win some matches and
tournaments.

"The first thing is my fitness. I'm working on it. I have some parts
of my game which I know I have to work on too. My serve and a couple
of things I don't want to tell you about. We will see."

[Re. winning a Grand Slam]
"A lot of players will talk about it. It's a dream for everyone. Of
course I would like to win a Grand Slam, but I don't know when, and
I don't want to talk about it.

"For me, I'm getting tired if I play too many matches. I need some
rest afterwards, so I think I will play three tournaments on clay
this year. Hopefully I will be ready for three in a row."


=========================================== {2006}
HASTINGS DIRECT INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Eastbourne, England; grass; WTA Tier II)
===========================================
http://eastbourne.lta.org.uk/

I have uploaded all my photos for Monday 19th June 2006, in one big
zip-file, to:
http://www.divshare.com/download/142364-4bf

If anyone is unable to download from DivShare, please let me know
(I chose DivShare because it promises never to delete my files).

The players I photographed on Monday:

Anna Chakvetadze (17 photos)
Daniela Hantuchová (14)
Shahar Pe'er (7)
Martina Suchá (6)
Elena Likhovtseva (4)
Katarina Srebotnik (3)
Vera Dushevina (3)
Aiko Nakamura (2)
Akiko Morigami (2)
Nathalie Dechy (2)
Monica Seles (1)
Tsvetana Pironkova (1)
Virginia Wade (1)
Chris Evert (1)
Ai Sugiyama (1)
Jarmila Gajdošová (1)
Anastassia Rodionova (1)
Shenay Perry (1)
Yuan,Meng (1)

Permission to copy my Eastbourne photos is granted provided that:
(a) no money is exchanged;
(b) they are labelled as "Copyright 2006 Andrew Broad".
Please let me know if you do use them on another website.


I have also uploaded my comments (such as they are) on Anna's
first-round doubles-match - of which I was an eye-witness - to:
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/reports.html

I have also updated my Wimbledon 2006 report to add quotes from The
Daily Telegraph.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Anna_Chakvetadze/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jeldani/