The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Sweet revenge for Mary Pierce

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 10, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Sweet revenge for Mary Pierce

LOS ANGELES: Mary Pierce surprised Kim Clijsters 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2) at the WTA championships on Tuesday, in a wildly uneven rematch of their U.S. Open final.

Top-ranked Lindsay Davenport improved to 7-0 lifetime against Nadia Petrova of Russia with a 6-2, 7-6(1) victory.

Defending champion Maria Sharapova defeated Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, making the Swiss 0-3 in opening matches at the season-ending tournament.

Davenport didn't face a break point on her serve. She fired nine aces and connected 74 per cent of her first serves against Petrova, a first-time singles qualifier in the championships.

``That really made the difference,'' Davenport said. ``I've always struggled a little bit here because there's no backdrop. I lose my depth perception.''

Error-prone

Sharapova earned the only break of the third set in the second game. She, however, blew two match points while leading 5-2 and even faced a break point on her serve in the final game. The contest witnessed 62 unforced errors and 55 winners.

``It was up and down,'' Sharapova said. ``I felt a little awkward in some situations because I haven't been match fit of late. I'm absolutely exhausted.''

Davenport, Sharapova, Schnyder and Petrova are in the Green group. The top two in each group will advance to the semifinals.

The results:

Black Group: Mary Pierce bt Kim Clijsters 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2).

Green Group: Maria Sharapova bt Patty Schnyder 6-1, 3-6, 6-3; Lindsay Davenport bt Nadia Petrova 6-2, 7-6(1). — AP

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