On a rain-interrupted first day of Wimbledon, top-seeded Justine Henin and seventh-seeded Serena Williams eased into the round two.
Justine Henin of Belgium needed just 55 minutes to beat Argentine qualifier Jorgelina Cravero 6-3 6-0.
The 25-year-old Belgian took the opportunity following her victory to dismiss suggestions that she was considering a retirement in two years time due to injuries. Read more »
Former champion Martina Hingis, seeded-ninth, had to save two match points in the second set against a British wildcard Naomi Cavaday. The Swiss reached the second round defeating the promising teenager 6-7 7-5 6-0.
At the moment when Hingis was so close to losing the match, her extensive experience had a major role; she didn’t seem nervous at all. On the other hand, her opponent Cavaday, ranked 232nd in the world, wasn’t strong enough to seal the victory when she had the two match points in her hands, and after the lost opportunity, she simply lost confidence and mental strength to eventually let Martina win the deciding set 6-0.
BTW, the court where Hingis played her opening match is sometimes called the “Graveyard of Champions” since many seeded players were upset there, which is what nearly happened to the Swiss today.
In the second round, world No.11 Hingis will face Aiko Nakamura of Japan.
It’s great that Jankovic is ambitious and determined, and I really enjoy watching her play, but I’m worried that she competes in too many tournaments — that might take a toll on her body.
In my opinion, she really didn’t need to take part in the Ordina Open. After winning Birmingham, she rushed to play in the Netherlands, instead of training and saving energy for Wimbledon, the major tennis event of the year.
And there, at the Ordina Open, she had that tiring final against Chakvetadze on Saturday – only two days before the start of the grass-court Grand Slam. The match against Chakvetadze lasted the whole day, due to many rain suspensions. The rain made the court slippery - a perfect place to get injured!
Should Jankovic have saved herself at least a bit for Wimbledon? Look at Sharapova for example – she played at the DFS Classis, but skipped the Ordina Open, and is getting ready for Wimbledon. To me this is much more reasonable.
But who knows. Maybe Jankovic feels that her body is perfectly fine with her playing that many matches. After all, she knows it better than me.
We all know how successful Jelena Jankovic has been in 2007. The Serb has risen to a career-high No. 3 and won titles on all surfaces — Auckland (hard), Charleston (clay), Rome (clay), and Birmingham (grass). There is only one player that Jelena has never defeated; that is world No. 1 Justine Henin, who was too strong for Jankovic in each of their six meetings.
At the Ordina Open on Thursday, defeating Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals, Jelena Jankovic won her 50th match of the year and became the first woman in over 30 years to achieve the feat that fast. In this way she has accompanied legends such as Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova. Read more »
Saturday was the finishing day of two grass-court events – the $600,000 International Women’s Open and the $175,000 Ordina Open. Finals at both tournaments were tough three-setters; at the International Women’s Open Justine Henin defeated Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2), while at Ordina Open Anna Chakvetadze beat Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-3.
Top seed Justine Henin of Belgium has defended her Eastbourne title assuring us that she’s a strong favorite for Wimbledon after defeating France’s Amelie Mauresmo, reigning champion of the upcoming grand slam.
To reach the final, the 25-year-old Belgian beat Agnieszka Radwanska, Nicole Vaidisova, and Marion Bartoli. Read more »
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