==================
SONY ERICSSON OPEN (Miami, Florida, USA; outdoor hard; WTA Tier I)
================== http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/

DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [16,EF]:
1r bye
2r + Michelle Larcher de Brito [WC], 7-5 6-0
3r v VERA ZVONARËVA [18,EF]

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Photos
------

On- & off-court:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=hantuchova
Search Getty Images for "hantuchova"

On-court only:
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=278875&page=24

Sonja's Miami-photos (various players including Daniela in Post #40):
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=291289

Off-court only:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/3/photogallery/?Event=miami2
http://www.wtaworld.com/showthread.php?t=278892&page=14 (to 16)
http://www.tennis.info/Miami7.html (Player Party)

------------
Second round (Friday 23rd March)
------------

+ DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [16,EF] d. Michelle Larcher de Brito [WC],
7-5 6-0

Daniela avoided "the biggest disaster in the world" against the girl
who only turned 14 on 29th January!


PA SportsTicker {before the match}:
>>>
When 16th-seeded Daniela Hantuchová takes the court, her first match
will be against 14-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito, who engineered
a stunning first-round upset between the raindrops on Wednesday.

The first female Portuguese player in the main draw of a Tier I
event, Brito displayed uncommon nerve for a teenager in a 6-3 2-6 7-6
(7/3) victory over American veteran Meghann Shaughnessy.

"I just went out there and just tried my best," Brito said. "It
wasn't going to be an easy match but I played my best. I was really
nervous."

A product of the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida,
Brito is ranked 64th in juniors, the only player in the top 200 born
in 1993. She was able to handle Shaughnessy, who is nearly twice her
age and has five career WTA Tour titles.

Brito's reward is a match with Hantuchová, a native of Slovakia who
ended a five-year victory drought last week by winning at Indian
Wells for the second time. Hantuchová was a prodigy herself, winning
at Indian Wells as an 18-year-old in 2002.
<<<

Davenport <http://tennisrulz.com/forum/showpost.php?p=29433>:
>>>
Michelle is no pushover either. She's 14 and attends Nick B.'s
academy in Bradenton. She DF'd 13 times, but that was obivously
because of nerves. Her groundstrokes muvt have been simply amazing to
break Dani at least 2 times. She had many chances in this match (even
the 2nd set), but Dani, with more experience, prevailed. Michelle was
born in Jan. 1993 and this is her 3rd career match. The first in
$75,000 Midland and the 2nd, her 1st round win over Shaugnessy.
Michelle Larcher de Brito is a prodigy to look out for.
<<<

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
No.16 seed Daniela Hantuchová played the feature night-match against
phenom Michelle Larcher de Brito, winning in straight sets, 7-5 6-0.
The Portuguese 14-year-old was playing her first Tour event here.
<<<

Wintermute <http://www.wtaworld.com/showpost.php?p=10352582>:
>>>
I thought this would be a bit embarrassing at the start because she
couldn't hold serve at all. Luckily neither could Michelle. In fact I
think Michelle would have had a nice lead if it weren't for the fact
that she can't serve. She was however winning almost all points on
Daniela's second serve.

Once Daniela got going it was mostly plain sailing. Michelle served
13 DFs in total. :eek:

Good result for Daniela in the end. :)
<<<

First set
---------
HANTUCHOVÁ @ @__* * *@* 7
LARCHER DE _@ @* * *___ 5

LdB serving 0-0: broken to love.
Daniela serving 1-0: broken to 30 on a double fault.
LdB serving 1-1: broken to 15.
Daniela serving 2-1: she squandered a point for 3-1 at 40/30, then
saved one break-point with an ace, but was broken after Deuce #2.

LdB serving 2-2: 0/30 -> 30/30, 30/40 (BP), 40/40, ad LdB, the 14-
year-old became the first player to hold serve!
Daniela serving 2-3: recovered from 0/30, winning 4 points in a row
to hold serve. Champions respond to whatever the opponent does -
break or hold.

LdB serving 3-3: held to 30, despite 2 double faults.
Daniela serving 3-4: held to 30 with the help of an ace.
LdB serving 4-4: held to love.

Now we're at the sharp end of the set, which is what separates the
girls from the women.

Daniela serving 4-5: held to 15.
LdB serving 5-5: broken to 15 on a double fault.
Daniela serving 6-5: 30/0, 30/15, 40/15 (2 SPs), Daniela won the
first set 7-5.


Second set
----------
HANTUCHOVÁ @*@*@* 6
LARCHER DE ______ 0

LdB serving 0-0: she had 40/15, then lost every point left in the
game, finishing with a double fault.
Daniela serving 1-0: held to 15, finishing with 2 aces.
LdB serving 0-2: broken to love.
Daniela serving 3-0: 0/30 -> 30/30. Ace. 40/30, 40/40, ad D, held.
LdB serving 0-4: 0/40 -> 30/40, broken.
Daniela serving 5-0: 0/15. Ace. 15/15, 30/15, 30/30, 40/30 (MP #1),
40/40, ad LdB (BP), Deuce #2, ad D (MP #2), Daniela won 7-5 6-0.


Daniela quotes
--------------

"It was pretty tough [coming out of Indian Wells]. The couple days
after the tournament I felt like I needed to rest and get my energy
back, but today I felt again very good on the court.

[Re. Larcher de Brito]
"Her face looks very young, very cute! <laughing> I thought her
attitude was very good, and from the baseline she's hitting the ball
very well. I think she's got a good future ahead of her.

"She has nothing to lose. If I win, okay, that's what I'm supposed to
do. If I lose, it's the biggest disaster in the world. It wasn't easy
to handle that, but I'm really glad how I handled it mentally, and
stayed positive and went for my game."

No 23-year-old wants to be dispapsinated by a 14-year-old, but gee,
that's the worst attitude going into a match you're supposed to
win! :tape:


Larcher de Brito quotes {before the match}
-----------------------

"I have watched her play a couple times but I don't know much about
her. I'll just go out there and play my best and just have fun with
it. I'm excited to play her."


-------------------
Third-round preview (Sunday 25th March)
-------------------

* DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [16,EF] v VERA ZVONARËVA [18,EF]

So we come to it at last. The great battle of our time. Although Bepa
and Daniela are 22 and 23, thanks to a conspiracy to keep them apart
(and the courts dry!) they've only met once before. That was at
Auckland 2006, and Bepa won 6-2 6-2.

But Daniela comes into this tournament on the crest of a wave, having
won the second WTA singles-title of her career at Indian Wells last
week.

Daniela followed up her Indian Wells 2002 title by losing her opening
match at Miami to Cara Black. But five years later she's more mature,
and she was so calm and confident in winning the Indian Wells final -
in contrast to the IW 2002 final where she was lucky to close it out
when she did, because she was starting to choke. I think she's
finally ready for consistency.

Consistency isn't a word I would associate with Bepa! She's climbing
back up the rankings after an 18-month slump from the start of 2005
(I guess I jinxed her by inducting her into my Eternal Fanship
then! ;-)), but she can be brilliant one day and awful the next.

It was Bepa who removed world #1 Maria Sharapova from Indian Wells in
the fourth round, paving the way for Daniela to succeed Maria as
Indian Wells champion. But Bepa came out the next day and lost
6-4 7-5 to Li,Na in the quarter-finals, blowing leads of 4-2 in the
first set and 5-1 in the second!

So it's difficult to predict whether Bepa will upset Daniela today;
my gut-feeling tells me that Daniela will win.

Daniela's the one who is renowned for choking, but it was Bepa, not
Daniela, who choked at Indian Wells. So it might just be Daniela who
has the edge if it's close, although Bepa will certainly fight to the
bitter end - she recovered from 4-6 *3-5 to beat Maria!

Both girls are fantastic all-court players, with groundstrokes of
flairsome power. Daniela will be looking to spread Bepa and open up
the court for winners, but Bepa has amazing skills of lateral
retrieval, so I'm sure that the lucky spectators will see plenty of
dropshots and forecourt-play from the best two volleyers in my
Eternal Fanship.

I'm very excited about this mouthwatering match, but it's a shame
that only one of them can reach the fourth round (neither of them has
ever been beyond the third round here). Daniela deserves better
because she just won Indian Wells, and Bepa deserves better because
she upset Maria at Indian Wells but failed to take over the #1
seeding.

Whenever two members of my Eternal Fanship play each other, and I'm
torn between which one I want to win, I consider two factors:
who /deserves/ it more, and who /needs/ it more.

So if Indian Wells was Daniela's turn to win a tournament, then Miami
should be Bepa's turn, and my loyalty leans slightly to her. Reaching
the fourth round (and hopefully beyond) would benefit Bepa's career
more than it would benefit Daniela's career, I think.

My Reason says Bepa, but my Passion says Daniela.


Sandra Harwitt
<http://www.sonyericssonopen.com/content/20070324205426.html>
>>>
Hantuchová arrived at the Sony Ericsson Open with a big smile on her
face, having reached the finals of last week's Pacific Life Open
final, losing to 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. [yeah,
right!]

As for the No. 20 ranked Zvonarëva, she's already made one final this
year at the Auckland tournament in January. Always touted as a
talent, Zvonarëva has had a hard time keeping her game at a
consistent level.

Hantuchová is on a roll right now, so she's not likely to be zapped
by Zvonarëva.
<<<

Sebastian <http://blogs.tennisuniverse.com/zvonareva/News/6637>:
>>>
Vera sets up showdown vs Hantuchova!

Vera won her second round match yesterday against friend Meilen Tu 64
62 to advance to the Third Round of Tier I tournament in Miami where
she will play recent Indian Wells winner, red-hot Daniela Hantuchova
for a spot in the fourth round most likely against Justine Henin-
Hardenne.

Now against in-form Hantuchova, it will be a tough match! The H2H
favors Vera with her winning the only encounter 62 62 last year in
Auckland, but Daniela is the favourite in this match, because of her
form. But Vera is capable to win this!
<<<

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

(Daniela Hantuchová [EF]/Martina Hingis)[WC]:
1r + (KATARINA SREBOTNIK/AI SUGIYAMA)[5], 6-4 6-2

I guess Daniela and Ai did split up after all. Ai reportedly said
that Daniela's commitment to singles was excessive, but Daniela can
teach Ai a thing or two, yeah oh, yeah oh! ;-)

------------------------
Order of play for Sunday
------------------------

Court 2 (start 10:00 EDT = 14:00 GMT = 15:00 BST)
1. MD 1r: (JONAS BJÖRKMAN/MAX MIRNYI)[1] v Eric Butorac/Jamie Murray
2. MS 2r: NIKOLAY DAVYDENKO [4] v Simon Greul
3. MS 2r: Gastón Gaudio v RADEK ŠTEPÁNEK [24]
4. WS 3r: DANIELA HANTUCHOVÁ [16,EF] v VERA ZVONARËVA [18,EF]
5. WS 3r: Yaroslava Shvedova [Q] v TATHIANA GARBIN [24]
6. (not before 17:00 EDT) MD 1r: Korolev/Manrique v (BRYAN/BRYAN)[2]

--
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/