Montreal WTA Rogers Cup photo diary, day 4
Originally published on: 26/02/10 14:26
The tennis world may be focused on Federer’s impending fall from grace, but its tight at the top of the women’s game as well.
See what our man n Montreal makes of it all.
Just a week ago Jelena Jankovic blew her shot at becoming world No.1, leaving Ana Ivanovic to breathe easy for at least another week.
But after crashing out of the Rogers Cup yesterday to Tamira Paszek 6-2 1-6 6-2, the French Open champion’s short reign at the top may be coming to an end – and our snapper caught just what it meant to the young Austrian.
“It’s not so nice for me to beat two Canadians, but what can I do?” – Jelena Jankovic
After exchanging a kiss with Ivanovic at the net, Paszek ran into the arms of coach Larri Passos sitting in the front row, and later admitted she was “almost crying in his arms” after posting the biggest win of her career.
There were other shock exits too, not least Maria Sharapova’s withdrawal with a shoulder injury now destined to keep her out of the Russian Olympic team and putting her US Open in doubt. Ai Sugiyama advances in Montreal as a result.
Back on court, world No.31 Dominika Cibulkova followed up her victory over Elena Dementieva by eliminating Nadia Petrova 7-6(2) 6-2, and now faces Jankovic, who dismissed her second Canadian opponent of the week with a 6-0 6-4 win over Aleksandra Wozniak.
“It’s not so nice for me to beat two Canadians,” Jankovic said. “What can I do? The crowd will hate me, but that’s just the luck of the draw.”
Dinara Safina has been quietly going about her business, defeating Patty Schnyder 6-2 6-2 to book a quarter-final with Svetlana Kuznetsova just a week before the Russian pair partner up in Beijing.
Kuznetsova put and end to Portuguese teen starlet Michelle Larcher de Brito’s run in Montreal – but not without a fight. The Russian finally saw off the 15-year-old 7-5 2-6 6-4.
“It was a really tough match,” said Larcher de Brito, whose performance here will make her the highest-ranking Portugese female player of all time next week. “It was a fun match actually. I enjoyed myself. It was a good fight.”
Elsewhere, Anna Chakvetadze suffered a disappointing defeat at the hands of Marion Bartoli 4-6 7-5 7-6(4) after a marathon match that ended nearly four hours after it began, including a 50-minute rain delay.
And Victoria Azarenka progressed after Virginie Razzano retired with a leg injury trailing 7-6(4) 2-0.
Now get the WORLD’S BEST TENNIS MAGAZINE here
