Davenport cuts feisty Fujiwara down to size
Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Top seeded Lindsay Davenport weathered some patchy play to comfortably dispose of 85th ranked Japanese Rika Fujiwara on Wednesday night and reach the quarterfinals of the US$225,000 Wismilak International here.
The 29-year-old American admitted she was not in top form, experiencing difficulty in finding her range in her first match in Southeast Asia in her 12-year career. Yet, despite being a David and Goliath contest of sorts -- Davenport stands 189 cm, 34 centimeters taller than her opponent -- the world number two's greater weight of shot never left the outcome in doubt.
"I took time to settle in, to get to know Rika's game," this year's Australian and Wimbledon runner-up said after the 6-3, 6-2 victory at the hard court tournament. "I didn't play my best, I know I have to get better, but I usually have some problems in the early rounds."
The heavy-hitting champion, who had a bye in the first round, came out firing from her opening service game, reaching 3-0 before the Japanese held serve. But Fujiwara scampered after everything sent her way, running down shots into the corner, hitting some crisp volley winners when she came in to the net and reaching two break points on Davenport's serve at 1-3.
She failed to convert on the opportunity, but showed she was not going quietly by holding serve at love at 2-5. Again, she reached a break point on the Davenport serve in the next game, and once again the American saved the day.
Davenport broke Fujiwara's serve at the opening of the second set and was relatively untroubled from then on. A minor pothole on her path to the inevitable was a questionable line call at 3- 1; after the changeover, Davenport went over and gave a close inspection of the spot where she thought her ball had landed in.
"I was looking for a mark but there wasn't anything. I'm a pretty good judge if a ball goes in or not, and I really thought it was good," said Davenport, who sealed the match with an ace.
The other three seeds in action on Wednesday -- Italians Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone and China's Li Na -- also came through in straight sets.
Sixth seeded Penneta, playing a second round match after only arriving from New York City on Tuesday, had too much experience and consistency for qualifier Martina Muller of Germany. Muller won three games in row after trailing 0-2 in the first set, but her game gradually fell apart in the afternoon heat as Penneta won 6-3, 6-1.
"She's a fighter but neither of us played very well today," the 23 year old Italian, still delighted from finishing runner-up with Russian Elena Dementieva in the U.S. Open women's doubles, told The Jakarta Post.
Schiavone is a study in contrasts, a muscular 25 year old who can turn on the power but also tone it down for some deft touch play. The fourth seed was having none of the drama of her nearly three-hour first round win against American Jamea Jackson on Monday. She opened up 4-1 leads in both sets as she overcame 76th ranked Laura Pous Tio of Spain 6-3, 6-2 to book her last eight place.
Chinese seventh seed Li Na beat compatriot Zi Yan -- the qualifier who defeated Indonesian number two Wynne Prakusya 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday -- in a routine 6-3, 6-4 workout to reach the quarterfinals.
Second seeded Patty Schnyder, who also got a first-round bye, starts her campaign on Thursday against Spanish doubles specialist Virginia Ruano-Pascual.