Patty Schnyder--not for sissies

Patty Schnyder on a Family Circle Cup practice court

Anabel Medina Garrigues on a practice court

As if Patty Schnyder didn't give us enough to worry about on Tuesday, with her shaky win over Meilen Tu, today she treated us to a thrill ride in her round of 16 match with Mara Santangelo. Once again, Schnyder had trouble keeping balls inside the court, failed to serve adequately, and just seemed out of sorts again. She did manage to get a break point in the first set, but failed to convert it; Santangelo took the set, 6-3. Finally, in the 8th game of the second set, Schnyder broke Santangelo, and during the last two games of that set, she seemed to suddenly come alive and tighten up her game. That set resulted in a tiebreak, and for those of us who are big Patty Schnyder fans, it was a tense moment.

Not to worry. Patty reeled off winner after winner, and won the tiebreak 7-2. She entered the third set a different player, and easily won it, 6-3. When it was over, she looked up to our seats, where we had hung a large banner, and gave us a big smile and wave. Not too long after that, I saw her hanging out behind the club court, doing stretches and just lying in the grass, probably exhausted.

A local sports columnist calls Schnyder the Little Gun (Kuznetsova is the Big Gun). Here's hoping the Little Gun brings all of her ammunition to her quarterfinal match with Nathalie Dechy.

In a match that was much less emotionally taxing (for me), defending champion Justine Henin-Hardenne, looking fresh in her Wimbledon whites, defeated Karolina Sprem, 6-4, 6-4. The good news is that Sprem played really well, perhaps indicating a return to her form of a couple of years ago. Henin-Hardenne, on the other hand, continued to struggle with her serve. Since she returned from her long illness, she has frequently double-faulted and had trouble getting her first serves in. Things improved a bit for a while, but now she is struggling again.

Then there was Nadia Petrova, who--unlike last night--was all business today. Petrova came out swinging, and--to make matters even more one-sided--her opponent, Lucie Safarova, came out as about half of her former self. Safarova looked tired and sluggish, and her serve had lost its sting. Petrova took the match, 6-1, 6-3.

Though Safarova seemed but a shell of the player we saw throughout the week, this one down day did not change my impression of her. Having watched her all week, I still think there is something very special about her. Her focus and accuracy, and her (usually) marvelous serve add up to one solid player, and she also has that little extra something that elevates her above others her age.

Finally, the people who showed up tonight at the Family Circle Cup stadium learned why Anabel Medina Garrigues is one of my favorite players. Medina Garrigues played big hitter Anna-Lena Groenefeld, and I seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised that the first set went to a tiebreak. Medina Garrigues, one of the scrappiest players around, went from 1-4 down to tiebreak status by doing the kinds of things that clay players do best. Observing that Groenefeld had a tendency to hit the ball out of the court, Medina Garrigues pushed her farther and farther over, and Groenefeld obliged by making the same error over and over. Medina Garrigues constantly changed the speed and style of her serve, and gave Groenefeld all kinds of trouble with it. The error off of Medina Garrigues's trick serve often occurred right away.

Groenefeld held two set points in the first set, but Medina Garrigues saved them both, then lost the tiebreak 7-3.

The second set was a different story, as Groenefeld elevated her game to another level, hitting lightning-fast passing shots past her opponent, and serving exceptionally well. Medina Garrigues did save one match point, but serving at 3-5 and deuce, after missing her chance to get the break point, she walked to the net, laid her racquet on it and hung her head. The crowd cheered her back to her service game, but it was all over in moments. Medina Garrigues exited the stadium to the sound of loud cheering and applause, and I was glad that so many people got to see what a fine player she is.

Of the eight players remaining, seven are seeded. The exception is Catalina Costano, who received a walkover today when Marion Bartoli had to retire in their match. Bartoli withdrew from doubles play last night because of an injury, and limped through most of her first set with Costano before calling it quits. Costano, who took out Nicole Vaidisova, deserves the quarterfinal slot; she will play Petrova.