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ACURA CLASSIC (San Diego, California, hard, WTA Tier I)
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Qualifying
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AIKO NAKAMURA [4]:
1q + Meilen Tu, 6-1 6-1
2q + SHIKHA UBEROI [16], 6-1 6-0

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First round
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+ Peng,Shuai d. Marķa Emilia Salerni [Q], 7-5 6-1
+ Akiko Morigami d. Maja Matevzic, 6-1 6-0
- Marion Bartoli lt. Lisa Raymond, 1-6 6-0 6-3
- Aiko Nakamura [Q] lt. Alina Jidkova [Q], 6-2 6-2

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Second round
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+ Peng,Shuai d. ELENA DEMENTIEVA [3], 7-5 6-4
+ Akiko Morigami d. FLAVIA PENNETTA [15], 6-1 7-5

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Third round
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+ Peng,Shuai d. DINARA SAFINA [16], 7-6 (7/2) 6-0
+ Akiko Morigami d. Sania Mirza [Q], 6-2 4-6 6-4

Akiko may be Selesian, but I must confess I'm much keener on the
flairsomely talented Sania Mirza. What an anticlimax for Sania after
her 6-2 6-1 thrashing of Nadia Petrova in the previous round! I was
hoping for a Mirza v Anna Chakvetadze quarter-final - instead, it
was a repeat of the ITF Surbiton 2004 final (in which Morigami beat
Chakvetadze 6-4 1-6 6-1).

Akiko also beat Sania at Cincinnati two weeks ago, but at least when
they met in the first round of Wimbledon, Sania won 6-3 3-6 8-6 -
enabling me to watch her in the second round and be very impressed!

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Quarter-finals
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+ Peng,Shuai d. KIM CLIJSTERS [7], 6-4 6-4

An amazing win for the young Selesian (two hands both sides) Peng
Shuai.

Clijsters says it best: "She's probably one of the best hitters I've
played so far. I tried to change it up but she had an answer for
everything. I don't think I played bad. In fact, I don't put any
blame on myself; she just played so well and didn't miss.

"I think she has a great future ahead of her. She's been probably
the best player I've played in a long time. I think she can
definitely became a top three."

I can't help wondering what impression Shuai might have made on me,
had she not had to play the Chinese National Olympics instead of
Wimbledon.


+ Akiko Morigami d. Anna Chakvetadze, 6-3 6-4

Poor Anna! I must admit to having a pretty big soft spot for this
ultra-cute Russian girl, and this was a bit of an anticlimax for
Anna after beating 9th seed Elena Likhovtseva 6-3 6-1, but this
tournament as a whole was a good step forward in Anna's career -
winning three matches to reach her first Tier I (and Tier II or
higher) quarter-final.

Akiko seems to have raised her game dramatically to a new level in
recent weeks, and at the grand old age of 25, it's an encouraging
sign for any younger players who seem to be stuck on a plateau of
expertise.


WTA's quarter-final wrap:
http://www.wtatour.com/newsroom/stories/NewsArticle_7725_rx.asp

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Semi-finals
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- Peng,Shuai lt. MARY PIERCE [6], 6-2 6-2
- Akiko Morigami lt. Ai Sugiyama,
6-4 4-3 retired (right-knee tendonitis)

I wasn't sure whether to root for an all-Selesian final (Peng v
Morigami), or Mary Pierce who is an old favourite of mine. It was an
amazing semi-final line-up for a Tier I.

Tournament-website (with match-reports):
http://www.acuraclassic.com/

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/
http://www.geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/selesians.html