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Page 2
Promoters may have been a bit worried about the draw for this year's European Championships (officially renamed the Swisscom Championships on Thursday). Firstly, the hope of the nation, Martina Hingis, had withdrawn from the tournament, citing an ankle injury which may have cost her the top ranking the week before at Filderstadt. Then following were a number of other top ranked players who cited various injuries - Monica Seles withdrew due to a shoulder injury and Jana Novotna cited a back injury which she sustained at the Grand Slam Cup in Munich. But in the end, it didn't seem to deter the popularity of this Tier I event as it still boasted a rather strong draw, headed by world #1 Lindsay Davenport and #5 Venus Williams as the top 2 seeds. And, yes, it still had its glamour girls in the tournament, with Anna Kournikova and Mary Pierce. It was a solid tournament for top players who have had rather limited success this year - a great opportunity for them to get back on track and to try and qualify for the 16-draw Chase Championships at the end of the year. Amanda Coetzer, now ranked #13 after reaching a career high of #3 this time last year, reached the quarter finals without dropping a set, before she met in-form #1 Lindsay Davenport. Mary Pierce, on the verge of entering the Top 10 again, had some solid wins until meeting power-girl Venus Williams in the quarters. Irina Spirlea admittedly lost a bit of enthusiasm this year after failing to advance past the 4th round of a grand slam after missing the chance to reach a grand slam final last year, by the skin of her teeth. But she convincingly reached the semis by eliminating a player who has given her lots of trouble in the past, 3rd seed Conchita Martinez, and in the quarters stopped an in-form 8th seed Dominique van Roost from advancing, before herself falling to the brutal power of Lindsay Davenport. In terms of winners, it was the first doubles trophy for the Williams sister pairing (although they had each won two grand slam mixed doubles trophies this year), defeating Elena Tatarkova and Mariaan de Swardt in a three set final. They had eliminated top seeds Lindsay Davenport and Natasha Zvereva in the first round. However Lindsay Davenport was much more successful in the singles draw, living up to her #1 status by taking the trophy without dropping a set (reminiscent of her US Open triumph). Her straight set demolition of Venus Williams in the singles final was testament to her ability to handle the pressures attached to the #1 status and it will definitely be interesting to see how the rankings pair out over the next few weeks as Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport battle it out for the end-of-year top spot finish.
The copyright of the article Pierce routs Seles in Moscow - Page 2 in Women's Tennis is owned by . Permission to republish Pierce routs Seles in Moscow - Page 2 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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