Bienvenue sur le site officiel de Vera Dushevina. Vous trouverez sur ce site tout l'actualité de Vera ainsi que de nombreuses photos, videos et plein d'autres choses. Bonne visite! |
 |
 |
|
Russian goes fire up Vera By PAUL MALONE MOSCOW teenager Vera Douchevina admits beating top Russians is more exciting for her than defeating higher-ranked foreigners. Douchevina, the 11th ranked of the Russian forces who have turned women's tennis upside down, will have older compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova, the US Open champion, in her sights at Melbourne Park tomorrow in her first grand slam fourth round match. Douchevina, who skittled countrywoman and world No. 11 Vera Zvonareva in the Australian Open second round, trains in Moscow with other young Russians, including Open second round casualties Anna Chakvetadze, 17, and Dinara Safina, 18. Grand slam winners Kuznetsova, 19, and Maria Sharapova, 17, train in Spain and Florida, respectively, and it reduces the direct contact between the established Russian stars and some of the lean and hungry contenders who want to be as successful. The 18-year-old Douchevina, a 7-5 6-4 winner over German Anna-Lena Groenefeld yesterday, shrugged when asked if the major titles won by Sharapova, Kuznetsova and 21-year-old Anastasia Myskina last year made her more ambitious to move up the rankings after progressing from No. 108 to No. 65 in the past 12 months. "She [Sharapova] is younger and I don't know . . . I am happy for them," Douchevina said. "She and Kuznetsova have very interesting games, very powerful games. "I played Kuznetsova in Warsaw on clay [in April] and she beat me 6-0 6-1. As this match is on a hardcourt it was good for me to see her match today." Italy's 15th seed Silvia Farina Elia, 32, says she feels her age in the locker room around the new wave of teenagers of which Czech Nicole Vaidsova, the third round opponent for top seed Lindsay Davenport, is the youngest survivor at 15. "I feel a little far away from them, even the games they play," Farina Elia said after her 6-1 6-0 third round hammering of British qualifier Elena Baltacha. Kuznetsova's laboured 6-3 7-6 (7-5) defeat of Brazilian Mariana Diaz-Oliva put more time between the fifth seed and the two days of international notoriety she endured when Belgian authorities disclosed she had tested a positive test to stimulant ephedrine at an exhibition match last month. Another Russian top 10 player, US Open runner-up Elena Dementieva, has done nothing to hose down speculation that she blames Kuznetsova for being implicated herself by Belgian sports minister Claude Eerdekens in the controversy surrounding Kuznetsova. Dementieva, who had been one of two other players implicated for almost 24 hours before he named Kuznetsova, said on Thursday she had not spoken to Kuznetsova about the issue and did not know if she ever would. When asked if she would speak to Kuznetsova again at all, Dementieva declined to answer the question. "It's in the past," she said. Tennis courts have been a refuge for Kuznetsova, especially against opponents like Diaz-Oliva, who was not credited with a winner in the first set and only eight in the second to the Russian's match total of 33. But Kuznetsova failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set, during which she became agitated over a catalogue of missed opportunities. She regained her focus to come from 3-5 in the third set to book a round of 16 clash with Douchevina. Douchevina's winning scoreline was the same by which Groenefeld beat her in their first round encounter in Canberra last week. Groenefeld, the top-ranked German, hit 35 winners to Douchevina's 14, but her 44 unforced errors were 21 more than the Russian produced. |
|
© www.vera-dushevina.com Webmaster: Isabelle Anneet |
|
