Monica suffered a shock defeat in her opening match in the second
round at Doha, as she was beaten 7-5 7-5 by wild card Lina
Krasnoroutskaya (Monica had beaten the same opponent 6-4 6-4 in the
quarter-finals at Tokyo).

This is a big surprise, as the signs of Monica successfully defending
her Qatar Open were looking very good after she reached the Tokyo
final, and had declared herself fully recovered from her ankle-injury
at the start of this tournament.

But Krasnoroutskaya, ranked #96, played very well apparently, as she
stunned Monica with powerful serves and forehands. Perhaps she is
finally beginning to fulfil the talent I've heard about. "It's one of
the most memorable wins of my career," she said.

This is what Monica had to say: "I didn't get my serve and
groundstrokes right. I made far too many mistakes. And, on top of
that, Lina kept the pressure on me as she played some terrific shots."

I think we just have to put this loss down as "one of those days".
It's too early to say that the KoUKaLová defeat and the
Krasnoroutskaya defeat add up to a slump, especially as she was
injured in the former. Other than those two days, Monica has played
very well this year so far, and we have reason to be optimistic about
the rest of 2003.

Photos:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030210/168/38oui.html
(Arabic robes)
http://www.wtatour.com/assets/story_image/BigGroupCeremony021002.jpg
http://www.wtatour.com/assets/story_image/MyskinaSelesNav021003.jpg
http://www.wtatour.com/assets/story_image/MonicaQatari-desert.gif
http://www.wtatour.com/assets/story_image/MonicaQatar-desert2.jpg
(the last four are by Angelo Tonelli)

You must see the movie, the sand in my eyes
I walk through a desert-song when the heroine dies
[David Bowie, "The Secret Life Of Arabia"]


In a disappointing week for Selesians, the only ray of sunshine was
Raemon Sluiter's run to the quarter-finals in Marseille, beating
Thomas Enqvist 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6), and Cyril Saulnier (who had upset
Fabrice Santoro in the first round) 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 6-2. He was beaten
by top seed and eventual champion Roger Federer 6-4 4-6 6-4.


Good luck Monica in Dubai! The draw there gives Monica and Iroda
another chance to set up their first meeting, this time in the
quarter-finals. Here's their quarter of the draw:

MAGDALENA MALEEVA (7) v Emmanuelle Gagliardi
Iroda Tulyaganova v qualifier
Tatiana Panova v Francesca Schiavone
MONICA SELES (4) bye

The winner could meet Amélie Mauresmo in the semi-finals, or possibly
Lina Krasnoroutskaya! ;-) Noteworthy players in the top half of the
draw include Iva Majoli, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Jennifer Capriati,
and Doha champion Anastasia Myskina.

--
Andrew Broad
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~broada/tennis/seles/