===========================
BAUSCH & LOMB CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Amelia Island, Florida, USA; green clay; WTA Tier II)
=========================== http://www.blchamps.com/

DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [3,EF]:
1r bye
2r + Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-1 6-3
3r + Dominika Cibulková [WC], 6-1 6-4
qf - SYBILLE BAMMER [13], 6-2 2-6 2-6

I'm pretty satisfied with these results overall. Clay is Daniela's
worst surface, but she's competent on all surfaces, and it's a
measure of her general class as a tennis-player that she beat two
good claycourters by convincing scorelines.

Sybille Bammer has become very dangerous this year, but if it wasn't
for her, Daniela might not have won Indian Wells. The reason I was
confident, going into the Indian Wells final, was that Bammer had
detained Svetlana Kuznetsova for 2h40m in their semi-final, which
finished 4h31m later than Daniela's semi-final (but nothing should
detract from Daniela's brilliant performance in the final the next
day).

Njay16 <http://tennisrulz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5902>:
>>>
Her patience has improven tremendously, as shown in Indian Wells.
I think she has a nice chance to sneak through and get to the
quarters [of claycourt-tournaments].
<<<

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

Off court:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/photogallery/?Event=ameliaisland

On court:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=hantuchova

Daniela looked particularly delectable in her second-round
match! :hearts:

Golden scans:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10452148
http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10431987

Daniela practising at Miami:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=278875&page=30


------------
Second round (Tuesday 3rd April)
------------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [3,EF] d. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-1 6-3

Llagostera Vives is a good claycourter, who won Tier IV Rabat in May
2005 (her lone WTA singles-title), followed by a fourth-round
appearance at the French Open 2005, where she lost 6-2 6-3 to Maria
Sharapova.

But she didn't play at all from April to December 2006 - sidelined
with a right-wrist injury. She's been on the comeback-trail since
January, with modest success and a current ranking of #422 - up from
#571 after winning her first WTA main-draw singles-match of the year
to reach the second round here.


First set
---------
HANTUCHOVÁ *@* *@* 6
LLAGOSTERA ___*___ 1

Llagostera Vives serving 1-4: 40/15 -> 40/40, ad D (BP), Deuce #2,
ad D (BP #2), broken.
Daniela serving 5-1: 0/15, 40/15, first set Daniela.


Second set
----------
HANTUCHOVÁ _*@* *@ @ 6
LLAGOSTERA *___*__@_ 3

Daniela serving 0-1: 0/30 -> 40/30, held.

Llagostera Vives serving 1-3: 0/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad D (BP),
Deuce #2, ad LV, Deuce #3, ad D (BP #2), Deuce #4, ad LV, held.

Llagostera Vives serving 2-4: 0/40 -> 40/40, ad D (BP #4), broken.

Daniela serving 5-2: Ace. 15/0. Double fault. 15/15, 30/15, 30/30,
30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad LV (BP #2), Deuce #2, ad LV (BP #3), broken.

Llagostera Vives serving 3-5: 0/40 (3 MPs) -> 40/40, ad D (MP #4),
Daniela won 6-1 6-3.

So Daniela wobbled quite a bit towards the end: twice 0/40 -> 40/40,
and broken for the first time in the match when she served for it.


-----------
Third round (Thursday 5th April)
-----------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [3,EF] d. Dominika Cibulková [WC], 6-1 6-4

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1249
>>>
...and finally No.3 seed Daniela Hantuchová, who won an evening match
against her Slovak compatriot, Dominika Cibulková, 6-1 6-4, rallying
from 3-0 down in the second set.
<<<

I expected a tougher match than this. Domi had upset 14th seed Anabel
Medina Garrigues 7-6 6-2 in the first round here, followed by a
6-1 6-3 thrashing of #75-ranked Vera Dushevina in the second round,
and when Dani and Domi met in the first round of Auckland, Daniela
won 6-1 3-6 6-2.

I've never seen Domi play, but from what I've read, her speed is her
greatest asset. She has a very pretty face, but her legs have become
muscular and unattractive in the last year or so.

It's nice to see a pretty, young Slovenka beginning to establish
herself on the WTA Tour. But somebody is coming, somebody who is more
powerful than Domi is, and Domi is not fit to undo the strap of her
sandal.

I'm referring to Magdaléna Rybáriková, who reached the Girls' Singles
final at Wimbledon 2006 - which she would have won if she had
persisted with the tactics that won her the first set, rather than
reverting to sliced backhands.

Magda is the closest thing to a Daniela-clone I've ever seen:
combining wonderful facial beauty with a tall, slender figure, she
even emulates Daniela's trademark backhands down the line and
backhand drop-volleys - albeit not with quite the same flair as
Daniela.

Unfortunately, Magda was sidelined from July to October 2006 with a
serious foot-injury that set her back a long way, and she's now
struggling on the ITF Women's Circuit instead of establishing herself
on the WTA Tour as Domi is now doing. So Domi is fast becoming more
famous than Magda, even though Magda is sexier and more talented.


First set
---------
HANTUCHOV _@*@*@* 6
CIBULKOVÁ @______ 1

Domi serving 1-0: 40/30, 40/40, ad Dani (BP), Deuce #2,
ad Dani (BP #2), Deuce #3, ad Dani (BP #3), broken.

Dani serving 3-1: 40/30, 40/40, ad D, Deuce #2, ad Domi (BP),
Deuce #3, ad Domi (BP #2), Deuce #4, ad Dani, held.
Domi serving 1-4: broken to love.
Dani serving 5-1: 30/0, 30/15. Ace. 40/15, first set Dani.


Second set
----------
HANTUCHOV ___*@*@
CIBULKOVÁ *@*____@

Dani serving 0-1: 30/15, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad Domi (BP #2),
Deuce #2, ad Dani, Deuce #3, ad Domi (BP #3), broken.

Dani serving 2-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/30, 40/30, 40/40, ad Domi (BP),
Deuce #2, ad Domi (BP #2), Deuce #3, ad Dani, Deuce #4,
ad Domi (BP #3), Deuce #5, ad Dani, held.

Domi serving 3-3: 40/0 -> 40/40, ad Dani, broken.
Dani serving 4-3: 0/15, 15/15, 15/40, broken.
Domi serving 4-4: 15/0, 15/15, 40/15 -> 40/40, ad Dani (BP), broken.

Dani serving 5-4: 15/0. Ace. 30/0, 30/15, 40/15 (2 MPs), Dani won 6-1
6-4.


-------------
Quarter-final (Friday 6th April)
-------------

- DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [3,EF] lt. SYBILLE BAMMER [13], 6-2 2-6 2-6

Daniela is mistress of the three-setters this year - especially when
she's won the first set - but this was the first time since August
2006 that she won the first set but lost the match.

Bammer will be 27 on 27th April, but she's having by far her best
year on the WTA Tour: she's the only player to defeat Serena Williams
in 2007 so far (at Hobart), and has followed that up with her maiden
WTA singles-title at Pattaya City, and a semi-final at Indian Wells
where she beat #14 Ana Ivanovic and #19 Tatiana Golovin for the first
top-20 scalps of her career; Daniela, at #14, was her third top-20
scalp.

Bammer is just in that awkward category where it's not a great scalp
to beat her because she's inconsistent (she's lost to Vasilisa
Bardina, Sara Errani and Emilie Loit this year, as well as twice to
the brilliant Anna Chakvetadze), but she's a very dangerous floater.

So the pressure was all on Daniela, but there's no shame in losing to
Bammer IMO.

Jeff Elliott for Reuters:
>>>
Bammer seemed to wear down Hantuchová in the match that took two
hours, eight minutes to complete. Bammer was only able to convert
five of 17 break-opportunities, but it was enough to knock out the
world's 14th-ranked player.
<<<

http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1250
>>>
Next up for Petrova is No.13 seed Sybille Bammer, who continued her
breakout-year with a hard-fought 2-6 6-2 6-2 victory against No.3
seed Daniela Hantuchová in the afternoon. The win was her third over
a top-20 player; she earned her first two during her semi-final run
at Indian Wells just a few weeks back.
<<<

First set
---------
HANTUC *@*__@*@ 6
BAMMER ___*@___ 2

Bammer serving 1-3: 15/40 -> 40/40, ad B, held.

Daniela serving 3-2: 0/15, 30/15, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad B (BP #2),
Deuce #2, ad B (BP #3), Deuce #3, ad B (BP #4), Deuce #4,
ad B (BP #5), Deuce #5, ad B (BP #6), Deuce #6, ad B (BP #7), broken.

Bammer serving 2-5: 0/30, 15/30. Double fault. 15/40 (2 SPs).
First set Daniela.


Second set
----------
HANTUC ____* *_ 2
BAMMER @*@* * * 6

Daniela serving 0-0: 40/30, 40/40, ad B (BP), Deuce #2, ad B (BP #2),
broken.
Bammer serving 1-0: 40/15 -> 40/40, ad B, Deuce #2, ad B, held.
Daniela serving 0-2: 30/0 -> 30/40 (BP), broken.

There was a delay at 0-3...

Daniela serving 1-5: 30/15, 30/40 (SP #1), 40/40, ad D, held.
Bammer serving 5-2: Ace. 15/0, 40/0 (SP #2), second set Bammer.


Third set
---------
HANTUC __*___*_ 2
BAMMER @* *@* * 6

Daniela serving 1-3: 0/30 -> 40/30, 40/40, ad B (BP), broken.
Bammer serving 4-1: 40/0 -> 40/40, ad B, held.
Daniela serving 1-5: 0/40 (3 MPs) -> 40/40, ad B (MP #4), Deuce #2,
ad D, held.
Bammer serving 5-2: 0/15, 40/15 (MP #5), 40/30 (MP #6), 40/40,
ad B (MP #7), Bammer won 2-6 6-2 6-2.


Bammer quotes
-------------

"I wasn't playing well in the first set; after that, I decided to
forget about it and just try to play my best in the second and third
set. At the end, I was a little tight, but I was lucky and closed it
out. It gives me a lot of confidence to reach the semi-finals here."


Sybille Bammer's Player Blog
<http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=1244
>:
>>>
{Thursday, April 5, 2007}

My next match is against Hantuchová or Cibulková - they're playing
now. I don't know so much about Cibulková; I have read her name a few
times but that's all, so my coach is on the court watching that match
and will tell me about it when he gets back. I played Hantuchová
once, in Stuttgart last year, and I lost in three sets. She's in
great form, winning Indian Wells. She'll be a really tough match. But
I'll give my best whoever it is, and keep fighting. I'll try
everything to win!

{Friday, April 6, 2007}

Well I won my quarter-final against Daniela Hantuchová today, 2-6 6-2
6-2, and I'm very happy about it. In the beginning I was a little
nervous and didn't play well; I made lots of unforced errors and she
was playing great. But after I lost the first set, I really started
to play my game and it worked well. In the second and third set, I
was playing more like a clay-court player, being aggressive but also
using angles and getting a lot of balls back.

Before Indian Wells I had never beaten a Top 20 player, but this is
my third Top 20 win. I'm doing better and better against the best
players. I'm more relaxed and believe in myself more. In today's
match I fought really hard, and because of that I made her hit a lot
more balls than her previous opponents, I think. I tried to get as
many balls back as I could, trying to get them really deep in the
court, and so she had to start the point over again. When we played
half a year ago, I don't think I played as well and I still had my
chances, so today I was confident I could do better.

I'm also thrilled because this is my first clay-court semi-final on
the WTA Tour. Actually, this was the first time I even made the
quarter-finals on clay! Before Indian Wells, I got to play on clay in
Acapulco; I thought going there would help me prepare for the clay-
court season. Unfortunately, I didn't move so well in that tournament
and lost against a qualifier in the first round. But she was playing
really well and I think I was sliding too much!
<<<

=======
FED CUP
======= http://www.fedcup.com/
World Group II: First round {21st-22nd April}
---------------------------

* SLOVAK REPUBLIC v CZECH REPUBLIC (Bratislava, Slovakia; outdoor red
clay)

Mojmír Mihal is captain of the Slovak team, and not Daniela as
previously stated. It seems that I read a faulty Slovak->English
translation (even UK Teletext said Daniela would be captain), and I
apologise for propagating this misunderstanding.

Players have yet to be assigned to either team, but I am already
looking forward to mouthwatering matches among Daniela, Nicole
Vaidišová, Magdaléna Rybáriková, Lucie Šafárová, Dominika Cibulková,
Iveta Benešová, Martina Suchá, and so on.

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/hantu/ (+2 external links)

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