Nadia Petrova wins 2006 Family Circle Cup
It was a sad day, not only for me, but for hundreds of people in Charleston who wanted Patty Schnyder to finally win the Family Circle Cup. Charleston fans like Schnyder because she likes the Charleston tournament so much, and because she provides them with some of the most intelligent, original tennis they are likely to see. Having taken out defending champion and clay court prodigy Justine Henin-Hardenne, Schnyder entered the finals as a giant-killer and a crowd favorite, but she was stopped by Nadia Petrova, who also won last week's green clay tournament on Amelia Island.
Petrova dominated the first set, winning it 6-3. Schnyder seemed more confident in the second set, and played it much the same way she played against Henin-Hardenne--keeping the ball in the court and using her trick serve effectively. At this point, Petrova was wilting from the heat, and at the end of the set, which Schnyder won 6-4, Petrova called for the trainer. Her legs were cramping and she was close to having heat illness. Petrova also used her medical break after the break between sets was over.
When they returned to the court, everything turned around again. Petrova broke Schnyder at her first opportunity, and when it was 3-0, we still thought Patty's chances were fairly good. But Petrova then became completely dominant, broke Schnyder again, and before we knew it, it was 5-1. To Patty's credit, she saved five match points, but the sixth one worked, and Petrova became the 2006 Family Circle Cup champion.
In her interview, Schnyder said that her serve fell apart, but I couldn't disagree more. Schnyder has always had a good second serve, and it was as strong today as it always is: When she didn't make her first serve, her second serve was often good enough to keep her out of trouble. In the final set, she seemed to try for too much, instead of just keeping the ball in the court and waiting for the error, as she did with Henin-Hardenne. In her interview, she said that her concentration was off and she wasn't seeing the ball as clearly as usual. Her leg was wrapped from an injury in the Henin-Hardenne match, and it was painful for her to do her kick serve, she said, but the injury did not inhibit her in any other way.
On most other occasions, I would have been very pleased with the outcome, since I am also a Petrova fan. But I so wanted Patty to win, especially after she did the allegedly impossible and took out Henin-Hardenne.
As bad as this loss must feel to Schnyder, it can't feel as bad as her loss in the 2002 Family Circle Cup finals. Then, an unseeded Patty Schnyder took out Amelie Mauresmo, Serena Williams, world number one Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Pierce to get the finals--a feat of almost indescribable proportions. Having done all that, she was then defeated by another unseeded player, Iva Majoli (and yes, it is highly unusual for two unseeded players to reach the finals of a Tier I tournament, or any tournament).
In the doubles final, Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy easily took the first set against top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. Raymond and Stosur had a bye and two walk-overs on their way to the finals, so they had hardly played any tennis, especially after their shocking elimination from the first round of Amelia Island. But by the second set, they figured out what was going on and were dominant from then on. They won, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
During the course of play, Shaughnessy managed to hit Stosur three times with the ball, and at one point toward the end of the match, Ruano Pascual had a time limit warning called on her because she and Shaughnessy were so cracked up over something that the laughter prohibited Ruano Pascual from serving.
Petrova dominated the first set, winning it 6-3. Schnyder seemed more confident in the second set, and played it much the same way she played against Henin-Hardenne--keeping the ball in the court and using her trick serve effectively. At this point, Petrova was wilting from the heat, and at the end of the set, which Schnyder won 6-4, Petrova called for the trainer. Her legs were cramping and she was close to having heat illness. Petrova also used her medical break after the break between sets was over.
When they returned to the court, everything turned around again. Petrova broke Schnyder at her first opportunity, and when it was 3-0, we still thought Patty's chances were fairly good. But Petrova then became completely dominant, broke Schnyder again, and before we knew it, it was 5-1. To Patty's credit, she saved five match points, but the sixth one worked, and Petrova became the 2006 Family Circle Cup champion.
In her interview, Schnyder said that her serve fell apart, but I couldn't disagree more. Schnyder has always had a good second serve, and it was as strong today as it always is: When she didn't make her first serve, her second serve was often good enough to keep her out of trouble. In the final set, she seemed to try for too much, instead of just keeping the ball in the court and waiting for the error, as she did with Henin-Hardenne. In her interview, she said that her concentration was off and she wasn't seeing the ball as clearly as usual. Her leg was wrapped from an injury in the Henin-Hardenne match, and it was painful for her to do her kick serve, she said, but the injury did not inhibit her in any other way.
On most other occasions, I would have been very pleased with the outcome, since I am also a Petrova fan. But I so wanted Patty to win, especially after she did the allegedly impossible and took out Henin-Hardenne.
As bad as this loss must feel to Schnyder, it can't feel as bad as her loss in the 2002 Family Circle Cup finals. Then, an unseeded Patty Schnyder took out Amelie Mauresmo, Serena Williams, world number one Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Pierce to get the finals--a feat of almost indescribable proportions. Having done all that, she was then defeated by another unseeded player, Iva Majoli (and yes, it is highly unusual for two unseeded players to reach the finals of a Tier I tournament, or any tournament).
In the doubles final, Virginia Ruano Pascual and Meghann Shaughnessy easily took the first set against top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. Raymond and Stosur had a bye and two walk-overs on their way to the finals, so they had hardly played any tennis, especially after their shocking elimination from the first round of Amelia Island. But by the second set, they figured out what was going on and were dominant from then on. They won, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
During the course of play, Shaughnessy managed to hit Stosur three times with the ball, and at one point toward the end of the match, Ruano Pascual had a time limit warning called on her because she and Shaughnessy were so cracked up over something that the laughter prohibited Ruano Pascual from serving.
posted by Diane at 8:36 PM
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