=================
PACIFIC LIFE OPEN
(Indian Wells, California, USA; outdoor hard (Plexipave); WTA Tier I)
================= http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/

ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF]:
1r bye
2r + Mirjana Lucic [WC], 6-2 7-5
3r + MARIA KIRILENKO [25,WC,DF], 6-4 6-1
4r - SHAHAR PE'ER [11], 4-6 6-7 (2/7)

Let's look at the positives first. Anna needed to reach the fourth
round to defend her first significant points from last year.

But Anna is of a much bigger stature now. She was seeded to reach the
quarter-finals, and needed to reach them to return to the top ten.

One win shy of the top ten; one win shy of a mouthwatering quarter-
final with Daniela Hantuchová.

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

On court:
http://www.theannachakvetadze.com/ (see Gallery; Diary updated too)

Off court:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/

Mike Werner's photos - by far the best of Anna from this tournament:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=290066
>>>
Anna is one of my favorite players to watch and photograph. She has
tremendous natural talent which comes through in photographs. She
does everything in a graceful, balanced, way, making professional
tennis look easy. This is the first time I've seen her with her hair
not in a pony tail. It is LONG and beautiful. Looks like a horses
tail.
<<<

------------
Second round (Friday 9th March)
------------

+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. Mirjana Lucic [WC], 6-2 7-5

It's not that often that CHOKEvetadze rears her head, but Anna nearly
blew a 4-0 lead in the second set!

Lucic was an interesting opponent, because at 17 she reached the semi-
finals of Wimbledon 1999, beating the great Monica Seles in the third
round, then fell off the face of the Earth. Let's just say that her
father makes Damir Dokic and Jim Pierce look like saints!

This was only Lucic's fourth tournament since the US Open 2003. She
played ITF Dothan in 2004 and 2005, and lost in the second qualifying-
round for Memphis last month.

Lucic is a powerful go-for-broke player who can be extremely
dangerous when she's on, or self-destruct in a deluge of unforced
errors.

Anna and Mirjana both had birthdays that week. Anna turned 20 on 5th
March, so this was her first match as a tweenager. Lucic turned 25
the day she lost to Anna!

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Chakvetadze had a rough go of it towards the end of a 6-2 7-5 victory
over former phenom Mirjana Lucic, nearly squandering 4-0 and 5-1
leads in the second set.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10249828>:
>>>
That second set worries me. Anna was up 6-2 4-1 *40-0 and got broken.
Then she lost the next two games. Then she got broken again serving
for the match the first time. What was going on? :shrug:

She seemed to be on cruise control for most of the match then forgot
she still needed to win it. I don't think it was nerves, lack of
concentration more likely. Or perhaps Mirjana just started to go all-
or-nothing on her shots and it was paying off.
<<<

MLucicSuper <http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=289326>:
>>>
Ok so my brother was there (the pics are coming) and before match
they gave Mirjana roses and a card for 25th Birthday (she was
surprised and happy) she thanked them,and for coming to cheer for
her...

So this is what he said,Mirjana was sick on the court,she was
coughing and sneezing and was blowing her nose the whole time,her
voice was gone too. And she was about to retire in the 4th game,(she
was talking to officials) at one point she said ''am dizzy'' but she
said no no,she gave a signal that she will keep on playing...and
played a good match.had some chances but didnt convert...but wasnt
negative at all...she fought.. at the end the crew gave her a
standing ovation....(we are Croats)....and she thanked them for
coming (they followed her again and took some more pics of her)
<<<

Lucic quotes {before the match}
------------

"This is no experiment. In my head, I really never left. I'm
absolutely back in the game after an incredibly difficult time.
God willing, I will be better than ever.

"There were no injuries; I've been healthy for the last few years,
and I've been practising 100%. I've been waiting for my chance to get
away from the problems and get back to playing consistently."

[Re. Anna]
"She's been playing great, but I'm just focusing one by one right
now. I try not to worry too much. I'm just very excited. I'm going to
go out there and relax. I feel like I'm improving all the time, so
I'll just go out and play my game."

-----------
Third round (Sunday 11th March)
-----------

Ultracute winner, ultracute loser:
+ ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] d. MARIA KIRILENKO [25,WC,DF], 6-4 6-1

Anna also beat Little Maria in the third round here last year - then
6-2 6-3. That win really marked the end of Anna's slump, as she had
come into the tournament having lost 7 of her last 8 matches, and as
the 22nd seed, she upset Little Maria who was the 11th seed, was in
much better form than Anna, and was higher than Anna in my favour at
that time. What a difference a year makes!

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10268731>:
>>>
Great result for Anna. Much more one-sided than I expected. Just
looking at the serving stats, Anna won 72% of her own 2nd serves and
a whopping 77% of Maria's on the return.

Peer will be a very different story I think. Shahar had a difficult
third round opponent in Safarova and she dropped the second set 1-6.
I think the scores will be a lot closer than that. Remember last time
they played Anna won 7-6 7-5.

Anna has played both her matches here at the end of the day's
schedules when I imagine it has cooled down quite a bit. If they get
scheduled during the day she may have to play in the heat for the
first time. I'm not sure whether that would help or hinder her.
<<<

------------
Fourth round (Tuesday 13th March)
------------

- ANNA CHAKVETADZE [8,EF] lt. SHAHAR PE'ER [11], 4-6 6-7 (2/7)

In the first set, Anna lost four games in a row from *2-1 to *2-5.
She broke back for *4-5, only to be broken for the set.

The second set was a bit of a break-fest, with Anna going from *2-1
to 2-2* to *3-2, and failing to serve it out at *5-4.

I like Shahar, whom I find cute and sexy, and I admire the way she
has developed her retrieval-based game into a power-game since I
first saw her play at Wimbledon 2005. Just like Anna, in fact.

But I don't like Shahar anywhere near as much as I like Anna, and
though Shahar's progress has been impressive, it pales in comparison
to that of Anna, who in recent months has won a Tier I title, two
minor WTA titles, reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the
Australian Open (as did Shahar), and briefly reached a career-high
ranking of #10.

It's Anna's worst loss of the year so far, as she had previously only
lost to Maria Sharapova and Amélie Mauresmo (twice), and this is her
first loss of the year where she's failed to win 11 games. And her
first-ever loss in three meetings with Shahar.

And she missed out on a mouthwatering quarter-final with eventual
champion Daniela Hantuchová! :sad:


www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Chakvetadze served for the second set at 5-4, but a determined Pe'er
broke back, racing through the ensuing tiebreak.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10279168>:
>>>
Bad loss.

This match reminded me of some of Anna's matches last year. She won 5
of 6 break points but almost every single time she proceeded to go
0-40 down in her next service game. She couldn't back it up at all
today and got broken six times herself.

Add to that the two double faults she served in the tie-break... not
a match to remember.
<<<

selyoink <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10279310>:
>>>
Expected loss in my opinion but Anna definitely should have won a set
today. Peer was mentally tougher of the two on this occasion and that
was the difference.
<<<

Shahar quotes
-------------

"It was really tough match. Anna is a tough player. I played her
already three times - once at juniors, and two times in the women's
tour. She's a tough player. She's everywhere, and every point she's
in the match, and one of the tough - a tough match.

"I'm kind of player who change always the pace. I never play in one
pace, so I guess every match I change also against every player. And,
of course, it's hard to deal with the different pace. So I know like
for Anna, she likes to hit the ball; she likes to take your pace out.
So, I mean, if you hit to her hard, she likes it, so I had to mix it
a little bit.

"It was very warm outside. I've never been so hot! But coming from a
country which is very hot, too, so maybe my body is okay. But for
everybody it's tough. I was feeling, after the first set, if I will
keep running like that and it will be third set, I would be dead.
I didn't know. But I was just fighting for the second set, and I
start to feel better and better.

"But I think I did the best thing in the best moment. In the
tiebreaker, I was going for my serves. The second set, we had hard
time to keep our serves, and we always broke to each other except
three times. I think on the right moments, I went for my shots and
that's why I won."

----------------
Anna's new coach
----------------

Although her www.wtatour.com profile says she's still without a
coach, it appears that Anna recently began working with Maria
Sharapova's ex-coach Robert Lansdorp.

Lansdorp is quoted as saying:
>>>
It's nothing to tell yet. Anna came to me before IW. First
impressions weren't bad. I decided not to give her too much
information before the tournament, otherwise it may have caused
problems. She will think of new techniques and may lose old.

I told her to come again after 5 days, for example after Miami. Here
then we shall work as follows.

I told Anna to take her emotions under control, No Tears.
<<<

For more information: http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10289736

-------
Doubles
-------

(Anna Chakvetadze [EF]/Victoria Azarenka)[WC]:
1r - (LISA RAYMOND/SAMANTHA STOSUR)[1], 3-6 4-6

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/chakv/ (+3 external links)

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