Schnyder sails on, Molik upset at Bali
Schnyder sails on, Molik upset at Bali
Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali
Swiss second seed Patty Schnyder was all business in opening
her campaign at the US$225,000 Wismilak International on
Thursday, but Alicia Molik took an unwanted detour on her
comeback trail.
The athletic left hander, who received a bye in the first
round, defeated Spanish doubles specialist Virginia Ruano Pascual
6-2, 6-3 for a quarterfinal spot at the hardcourt tournament.
Despite the scoreline, Ruano Pascual played well in the second
set, breaking Schnyder's service and leading 3-1 before the Swiss
rattled off five games in row.
"She's a tough player. I changed my game a bit when I fell
behind," said Schnyder, who increased her head-to-head record
against Ruano Pascual to 6-0.
Schnyder next plays Aiko Nakamura of Japan. The world number
84 upset fifth seed Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany 6-3, 1-6, 6-
1.
"We played a tough three setter in Cincinnati," Schnyder said
of their match on her way to winning the U.S. Open warmup in
July. "I know it will be tough and I'll have to stay focused. The
courts here are slow so everybody has a chance."
Based on the seedings, Alona Bondarenko's defeat of third seed
Molik was the biggest upset of the day, but the Australian is
still recovering from a five-month hiatus due to an inner ear
infection that affected her balance.
The 77th ranked Ukrainian "came out swinging", Molik said
later, drilling her opponent's backhand to reach 5-1 and serve
for the first set.
As she did in her first round match against Mariana Diaz
Oliva, Molik began a fightback, saving two set points before
breaking the 21-year-old Ukrainian's serve. She held serve and
then saved three more set points to break Bondarenko once again.
Bondarenko, unlike Diaz Oliva, did not let her lead slip.
Molik's lack of matchplay and the confidence that brought her
a world ranking of 8 in February told when she served to tie up
the set in the 10th game.
The Ukrainian won three points in a row to reach 40-30 and,
after a long baseline rally in which both women drove each other
from side to side, Molik slapped a tired forehand wide.
Bondarenko raced away with the first four games of the second
set before Molik broke her and then held at love. It only delayed
the inevitable; Bondarenko followed by holding at love and then
broke Molik for a 6-4, 6-2 triumph.
"I played into her rhythm," the all-courter from Adelaide
admitted. "There were short balls I should have come in on but I
didn't."
Sixth seed Flavia Pennetta rallied from a first set loss to
beat China's Jie Zheng 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to set up an all-Italian
quarterfinal against fourth seeded Francesca Schiavone.
As with the U.S. Open earlier this month, Ekaterina Bychkova
was unable to string two victories together.
She beat defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in New York
City in the first round, only to lose in the second. Here, she
followed her upset of 8th seeded Indian Sania Mirza with a 6-4,
6-3 loss to Maria Elena Camerin, the third Italian through to the
quarterfinals.
The 23 year old from Venice reached the semifinals here last
year, but she will have to hope for a great day on Friday if she
wants to match that result. She meets top seeded American Lindsay
Davenport, who beat her in straight sets in their only meeting
two years ago.