NUSA DUA, Indonesia, 12 September 2003 — Thailand’s fifth-seeded Tamarine Tanasugarn moved into the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament here yesterday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Chinese qualifier Jie Zheng. She now meets Russian second seed Elena Dementieva for a place in the semifinals.
Local favorite Angelique Widjaja also went through beating Tathiana Garbin of Italy 7-5, 6-3 while Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi beat Croatian qualifier Ivana Abramovic 6-1, 7-5. However, third seed Conchita Martinez was the biggest casualty of the day losing 6-1, 6-3 to in-form Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela.
Martinez barely survived her first round match because of a stomach virus, and looked sluggish against Vento-Kabchi, whose confidence was boosted recently by her first victory over a top 10 player when she beat Chanda Rubin at the US Open. She also qualified at Stanford last month and went to reach the semifinals.
Playing steadily from the baseline, Vento-Kabchi made few errors against an inconsistent opponent who rarely found her touch. “Basically, that was my strategy,” said the Venezuelan. “I was playing a great player, a Grand Slam champion, and she has so much experience. When I played her last time I had to run so much I couldn’t walk the next day.”
Vento-Kabchi trains in Florida with Pat Etcheberry, who also works with French and US Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne. He has helped her get in shape, and her game has also benefited from a successful doubles partnership with Indonesia’s Widjaja, with the pair reaching the quarterfinals of both Wimbledon and the US Open.
“Definitely playing doubles has helped with my singles as well,” said Vento-Kabchi.
“I started playing with Angie in February, and we just clicked right away. It’s very hard to find someone you can have the right chemistry with, and it’s very important to have that and to get along with your partner. So far we enjoy being together and it’s helped both of our singles.”
The start of play was delayed for over an hour by heavy rain, and the match was played under heavy skies, a far cry to the sunshine that Martinez favors. “I do prefer playing in the sunshine. This weather makes you feel a little heavy, but it’s the same for both,” said the Spaniard.
Henin-Hardenne’s Accusers
Retract Doping Claims
Accusations leveled by Kim Clijsters’ camp that US Open champion Justine Henin-Hardenne used performance enhancing drugs were retracted yesterday. Former French Open semifinalist Filip De Wulf apologized unreservedly for the claims which Henin-Hardenne on Wednesday had dismissed as “ridiculous”.
De Wulf, in an open letter to Henin-Hardenne in the Belgian media, said: “Justine, I want to apologize to you. I never wanted my comments to cast a shadow on your fantastic win in New York. The notion of doping never crossed my mind, rather I was referring to energy supplements like creatine to explain your spectacular muscular development. But even this suggestion was too much. I have committed a serious professional error.”
The dietary supplement creatine is not a banned substance. Her fellow accuser, Leo Clijsters, writing on his daughter’s website, said: “My response to the question why is Kim now being beaten by Justine is this - ‘don’t you see that Justine has gained a lot of power, that she’s become stronger and all of that means she’s the logical winner’.
“That answer doesn’t seem abnormal.”
He added: “If she continues to work and play that way she will be beating Kim and all the others on a regular basis.”
Rain Prevents Play
in Bucharest
Non-stop rain prevented play in the 380,000-euro ATP clay court tournament here yesterday. The four remaining second round matches as well as the quarterfinals have been scheduled to take place today.
Wimbledon Sticks to
Traditional Slot
The 2005 Wimbledon tennis championships will continue to take place in its customary two week period in June and July, tournament organizers the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club confirmed in London yesterday.
There had been speculation that the 2005 event would take place later to allow players a three-week gap between the French Open, the only Grand Slam played on clay and Wimbledon, the only Grand Slam played on grass, rather than the two week adjustment period currently in place.
But All England chief executive Christopher Gorringe said the views of spectators as well as players had to be taken into account.
Nalbandian Adds to
Argentine Cup Woes
Argentina’s Davis Cup hopes suffered another setback yesterday with the news that world No. 9 David Nalbandian has been forced out of next week’s semifinal against Spain because of abdominal and wrist injuries. The news of 2002 Wimbledon runner-up Nalbandian’s exit comes after world No. 5 Guillermo Coria withdrew Wednesday with an adductor injury. Mariano Zabaleta has been called into the squad to replace Coria where he will join Gaston Gaudio and Agustin Calleri.
