====================
FORTIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Luxembourg, Luxembourg; indoor hard; WTA Tier II)
==================== http://www.fortis-championships.lu/intro_en.html
Photos & Videos
---------------

Photos:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=210331&page=92 (and 93)
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=208809&page=53
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/ (Luxembourg)

Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiBP-gw0XS8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6jiRsh7WSU

-----------
First round (Monday 25th September)
-----------

+ Daniela Hantuchová d. Tatiana Golovin, 7-6 (7/1) 6-3

The match started at 19:23 CEST on Stadium court, and I followed
live scores on the Internet.

I did this because there's still a chance that Tatiana could be the
next player I induct into my Eternal Fanship, and I wanted to
clarify my true feelings for her against Daniela - a player who is
already there.

And the answer is that I didn't feel anxious when things were going
badly for Daniela, knowing that the match would have a nice winner
either way, but my loyalty was always 100% to Daniela. Tatiana is no
closer to induction than she usually is.

Here are my comments as I wrote them at the time:


First set:
HANTUCH * * * *@__*_ 7(7)
GOLOVIN _* * *__@* * 6(1)

Daniela serving 0-0: 15/0, 15/40 (2 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Dani, held.

Very important for Daniela to get that first game on the board. With
Daniela's recent poor results, and Tatiana coming off her first
Grand Slam quarter-final at the US Open (where she gave eventual
champion Maria Sharapova her toughest match by far), I have to worry
about Tatiana winning by an embarrassing scoreline. :-o

Tatiana serving 0-1: 0/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.
Daniela serving 1-1: held to love.
Tatiana serving 1-2: 30/0 -> 30/30, 40/30, held.

At least Daniela's sending a message that she's going to peg Tatiana
back to 30/30 in her service-games.

Daniela serving 2-2: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.

And Tatiana is sending the same message to Daniela! At least Daniela
has won more games than she did against Tatiana at Birmingham 2004,
when Daniela retired in front of me at 0-6 1-3 with what I later
learned were breathing-difficulties.

Tatiana serving 2-3: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.
Daniela serving 3-3: 15/0, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.

I'm very pleased that Daniela has made it this far without being
broken. At this stage, I'd be slightly more worried if I wanted
Tatiana to win, because (a) Daniela has the advantage of serving
first, and (b) Tatiana squandered break-points at 0-0 (15/40), and
it's always difficult to put missed opportunities out of your mind
if you're a bit of a choker, as Tatiana is. (Daniela is a /lot/ of a
choker, it has to be said.)

Tatiana serving 3-4: 0/30 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), broken.

Daniela choked the first set away from 5-2 up in both her last two
matches; I hope she doesn't do likewise from 5-3 here! :-o Even
Maria Sharapova failed to serve out both sets of her US Open quarter-
final against Tatiana.

Daniela serving for the first set at 5-3: 30/0 -> 30/40 (BP), broken.

This is just what a Daniela-fan doesn't want to see, especially when
she's already on a choking-streak of two matches. I really thought
she was going to be okay at 30/0, and that makes it even harder to
take. The only thing that makes it bearable is how much I like
Tatiana, so I dread to imagine Daniela's emotions right now! ;-)

Tatiana serving to stay in the first set at 4-5: 0/15, 40/15, 40/30,
held.
Daniela serving 5-5: 0/30, 15/30, 15/40 (2 BPs) -> 40/40, ad Dani,
Deuce #2, ad Dani, held.

At 15/40, I was about to write "Tatiana taking full advantage of
what happened at 5-3 - Daniela lets it affect her for far too long",
but Daniela is a fighter, and she did very well to come out of that
dicey game.

She just needs to forget about having served for it at 5-3 (30/0),
and just concentrate on being 6-5* up.

Tatiana serving to stay in the first set at 5-6: held to love.
6-6 tiebreak: Daniela 1/0*, 1/1*, *6/1 (5 SPs), Daniela won the
first set 6-1 at 20:15 (52m).

It's very good for this match that Daniela won that. If she'd lost
the first set after all those chances, she might well have slid to a
quick defeat in the second, as she did in her last two matches. But
now she has every incentive to stay positive and fight as hard as
necessary.

Maria had two sets just like that against Tatiana at the US Open -
failing to serve them out, but winning them on tiebreaks.


Second set:
HANTUCH __@* *@*@ 6
GOLOVIN *@__*____ 3

Tatiana serving 0-0: 0/15, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.

That looks so typical of Tatiana's service-games so far this match.
Daniela needs to do more with those 0/15 openings.

Daniela serving 0-1: 0/15, 15/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad Tati (BP),
broken.

Another choky game from Daniela! The good news for her is that she
got away with it in the first set. The good news for Tatiana is that
she's up a break for the first time in the match.

Tatiana serving 2-0: 15/0, 15/15, 15/40 (2 BPs), broken.

Well done Daniela! :-)

The bad news for Daniela is that she's serving second in this set,
so she can less afford to be broken, and it's more likely that
she'll have to win the match on her own serve, should the
opportunity arise.

Daniela serving 1-2: held to love.
Tatiana serving 2-2: 15/0, 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30, held.
Daniela serving 2-3: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad Tati (BP),
ad Dani, Deuce #2, ad Dani, held.

Three game-points wasted by Daniela, but it's Tatiana who has a
missed opportunity to rue. It's not so much how many game-points or
break-points you waste, as how many games you lose by wasting them.

Tatiana serving 3-3: 0/40 (3 BPs) -> 30/40, broken.

And for the first time, Daniela is up a set and a break. If she
loses the match from here, she ought to be shot, really. ;-) I just
sense that Tatiana is weaker today.

Daniela serving 4-3: 0/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad Tati (BP), Deuce #2,
ad Dani, held.

Daniela's last two service-games have been so similar: 40/15 ->
40/40, break-point saved, ultimately held.

I desperately want Daniela to break in the next game so she doesn't
have to serve for the match!

Tatiana serving to stay in the match at 3-5: 30/0 -> 30/40 (MP #1),
40/40, ad Dani (MP #2), Deuce #2, ad Dani (MP #3) - the scoreboard
froze at 20:58 for about 15 minutes, then updated to confirm that
Daniela won 7-6 (7/1) 6-3 with "Time: 01:40:08". Apparently, Tatiana
finished with a double fault. :-(


Statistics
----------

Daniela got 59% of first serves in, winning 76% of the points when
she did so, and 44% on second serve (Tatiana 63%, 67% and 31%). Both
kinds of first-serve percentage deteriorated in the second set for
both girls, but so did Tatiana's second-serve percentage (38% to
23%), while Daniela's improved (41% to 47%).

Daniela served 8 aces and 5 double faults, Tatiana 7 aces and 4 DFs
(all the aces were on first serves).

Daniela broke 4 times from 11 break-points, while Tatiana was even
more wasteful: 2 times from 8 BPs. Daniela broke once from 1 BP in
the first set, and 3 times from 10 BPs in the second, while Tatiana
broke once in each set.

In points, Daniela won 82-67 (first set 44-38, second set 38-29).

I wish these statistics showed winners and unforced errors, because
W:UE ratios are the most important statistic along with break-point
conversions.

------------
Second round (Wednesday 27th September)
------------

- Daniela Hantuchová lt. DINARA SAFINA [4], 5-7 3-6

I had a good guess at the sequence of scores when I saw this result,
and although Daniela didn't actually lead 5-2 in the first set
again, I found that I was pretty much spot on when I caught up with
what had happened at http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=265356

By now it's all too familiar: Daniela leads 5-3* in the first set,
loses four games in a row, then capitulates in the second set.
Perhaps the only compensation is that Safina is a very bullish
competitor who is known to be deadly from behind: at the French
Open, she beat Maria Sharapova from 1-5 down in the third set!

I'm reminded of what BBC-commentator Alastair Eykyn said at the
French Open: "And you worry about what this might do for Daniela
Hantuchová, because the more games like this which she's in
seemingly unassailable positions and then throws them away, it'll
start to prey and prey and prey on her mind."


First Set:
HANTU _* * *@*____ 5
SAFIN * * *___*@*@ 7

Daniela let Safina get away with 0/30 at 1-1, but she broke for 4-3,
held for 5-3 after saving break-points... then lost four games in a
row. She even had a set-point at *5-4 (40/30).

Daniela has now let a 5-3 lead become 5-5 in the first set of her
last four matches! Only against Tatiana did she get away with this.

No wonder people are starting to call her Hantucho-ke-vá! ;-)


Second Set:
HANTU _*___* *_ 3
SAFIN * *@* * * 6

Serving at 1-2, Daniela wasted five game-points, including 40/0,
before being broken. Has she actually tried seeing a sports-
psychologist?

Shonami Slam: "dani's 1st serve percentage is very high, yet her
winnings on first serve are horribly low. her second serve is saving
her so far in the second set. she should work on putting
some 'umph!' on her first serve cuz it's not penetrating safina a
bit"

With Safina serving at 4-2, Daniela had 0/30 and 15/40, but... same
old story, I'm afraid.

Safina serving for the match at 5-3: 0/30 -> 30/30, 40/30 (MP #1),
40/40, ad Safina (MP #2), Deuce #2, ad Safina (MP #3), ace.

Ironically, Mara Santangelo had four match-points in a second-set
tiebreak against Agnieszka Radwanska at about the same time.
Radwanska went on to win in three sets (not to mention upsetting
Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva in subsequent rounds), so
Daniela's wasn't the worst choke of the day.


Safina: "It was a tough match today. I had to be tough mentally, and
I'm happy with how I finished."


===========================
SONY ERICSSON CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Madrid, Spain; indoor hard; WTA season-ending championships)
=========================== (7th-12th November 2006)

www.wtatour.com (25th September): "In the Doubles Race, 5th-placed
Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) and Paola Suárez (ARG) closed the gap
on 4th-placed Daniela Hantuchová (SVK) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) with
their victory at the China Open. The Latin duo is now just 122
points behind Hantuchová and Sugiyama, who are not planning on
playing together much in the fall."

Doubles Race (top 4 qualify):
1. LISA RAYMOND/SAMANTHA STOSUR (3448 points) - QUALIFIED
2. YAN,ZI/ZHENG,JIE (2947) - QUALIFIED
3. Cara Black/Rennae Stubbs (2004)
4. Daniela Hantuchová/Sugiyama,Ai (1746)
5. virginia ruano pascual/paola suárez (1624)

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

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