Daniela put up a good fight against 10th seed Patty Schnyder in the
second round of the Olympics before losing 6-3 1-6 4-6 in a match
with several momentum-shifts.

It's disappointing though, because the Olympics only come around
every four years (i.e. once every sixteen Grand-Slam tournaments),
so I was hoping for Daniela to find something extra-special here.

I did not see the match myself, with tennis currently being woefully
ignored by the BBC (including Freeview Interactive), but I followed
live scores and statistics at www.nbcolympics.com, so this report is
very much based on personal insight.

It was very much a baseline duel, with Daniela only coming to the
net ten times in the match, Schnyder only four times. And that's the
way I like tennis, after all. Daniela should maximise her brilliant
baseline-game whilst coming to the net at the right times to
dominate and win points.


FIRST SET

Hantuchová * * *@* * 6
SCHNYDER * * * 3

The match started at 10:14 EEST, with Daniela serving first. Games
went with serve until 3-2 then Daniela, to my delight, broke for 4-2
and held for 5-2, ultimately serving out the first set 6-3 at 10:40
EEST.

Daniela served very impressively in the first set, winning 93% of
points when she got her first serve in, and 67% on second serve.
Schnyder, by contrast, won 68% on her first serve and 40% on her
second serve.

Daniela had a winner:unforced-error ratio of 6:12 (four forehand
winners, two backhand winners) in the first set, Schnyder a woeful
4:22.

However, tournaments vary considerably in what is considered an
unforced error, and I've a feeling the Olympic judges are very
severe - for example, Karolina Šprem and Gisela Dulko also had very
high unforced-error counts in their first-round match.


SECOND SET

Hantuchová * 1
SCHNYDER *@* *@* 6

The second set was a totally new story, as Schnyder broke in the
second game and held for 3-0. Daniela held for 1-3, but Schnyder
broke again in the sixth game, and won the set 6-1 at 11:08 EEST.

What a contrast in Daniela's serving from the first set to the
second! In the second set she won 57% of points on first serve, and
only 33% on what used to be probably the best second serve in
women's tennis. Schnyder won 67% on her first serve and 73%(!) on
her second serve.

Their unforced-error counts were the other way around from the first
set, Daniela with a W:UE ratio of 6:20, Schnyder 7:12.


THIRD SET

Hantuchová *@ @* 4
SCHNYDER @* @ *@* 6

The third set looked set to be a continuation of the second, as
Schnyder broke in the opening game and held for 2-0.

But Daniela broke back for 2-2, Schnyder broke for 3-2, and Daniela
broke again for 3-3. The momentum seemed to be shifting back to
Daniela when she held for 4-3.

Schnyder held for 4-4, and now Daniela's chances looked very much
the 50% I gave her before the match.

Sadly, Schnyder broke Daniela for 5-4 and, just like the Eastbourne
final when Daniela lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova, she couldn't survive
her opponent serving for the match. Schnyder won 3-6 6-1 6-4 at
11:54 EEST.


Daniela got 57% of first serves in during the match, winning 76% of
points when she did so; Schnyder 67% in, 59% won. Daniela served one
ace, three service-winners and three double-faults; Schnyder four
aces.

What really let Daniela down was her second serve. She won just 15%
of points on her second serve in the third set (bringing her average
for the match down to 35%), while Schnyder won 66% of points
on /her/ second serve.

Daniela's overall W:UE ratio was 21:52 (15 forehand winners, 6
backhand winners), Schnyder 25:52. Daniela broke 3 times from 7
break-points, Schnyder 5 times from 9 break-points.

Match-statistics:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/results/5040105/detail.html

Daniela's Olympic photo-thread (serious eye-candy!):
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=128442

Better luck against Schnyder in the doubles this afternoon!

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

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