Jennifer Capriati and Amelie Mauresmo each won comfortably at the Italian Open on Wednesday. The biggest challenge for the pair was trying something that both are fairly uncomfortable at: coming to net.
Capriati, who is seeded fifth in the tournament, dismissed Venezuela's Maria Vento-Kabchi 6-2, 6-1 in just 45 minutes. In an all-French contest, No. 2 Mauresmo faced some resistance in the first set but ultimately prevailed against childhood rival Nathalie Dechy 7-5, 6-3.
Capriati acknowledged that it seemed like she "didn't have to do much."
PHOTO: EPA
Asked for further analysis on what she was working on, she said: ``trying to be aggressive when I can and move forward.''
"Even if I'm not going to the net, kind of follow the shot through to the net, even if it's a winner or not," she said.
Playing on the slow, red clay courts of Rome, getting to the net and being more aggressive is not easy. Especially for baseliners like Capriati, Mauresmo and nearly every other player on tour these days.
Unlike most other players, however, Capriati and Mauresmo have incredibly powerful groundstrokes. Strokes that can often set up easy net approaches and volleys.
Mauresmo stepped up her game -- and began moving forward more -- when she broke to go up 6-5 in the first set.
"I think that was the time I really adjusted myself to the conditions and to this match," she said. "After that I was really more effective and really going forward a little bit more, because I was staying back a little bit too much at the beginning."
Third-seeded Anastasia Myskina and No. 4 Nadia Petrova were not offensive enough and were each eliminated Wednesday.
The 50th-ranked Elena Likhovtseva beat fellow Russian Myskina 7-5, 1-6, 6-3.
Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who entered the tournament on a wild card and is ranked No. 71, came back from a set down to beat the Russian Petrova 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Pennetta had the home crowd behind her, but she was not giving the fans much to cheer for in the first set.
"`Mamma mia, I'm really doing badly,'" she said she told herself.
"I was hurrying too much early on. But in the second set I realized that the harder I was hitting the more she was winning, so I decided to keep the rallies going longer, spend more energy running and she lost it in her head," the Italian said. "That was the key to the match."
Capriati, who like Mauresmo had a first-round bye, dominated her match from start to finish.
Capriati registered her best result of the year last week, losing to Mauresmo in the German Open semifinals. She will face No. 12 Paola Suarez of Argentina, a 6-2, 7-5 winner against France's Tatiana Golovin, in the third round.
Mauresmo notched her first victory of the season in Berlin last week after Venus Williams pulled out of the final with an ankle injury.
Mauresmo will next face No. 13 Conchita Martinez of Spain, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 winner against Karolina Sprem of Croatia.
In other matches Wednesday, No. 7 Ai Sugiyama defeated France's Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-4; No. 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat Spain's Marta Marrero 6-0, 6-4; and Dally Randriantefy of Madagascar ousted fellow qualifier Vera Douchevina of Russia 6-0, 6-3.
Randriantefy will next play top-seeded Serena Williams.
The US$1.3 million Italian Open is a major clay-court tuneup for the French Open, which starts May 24.
Hamburg Masters
Top-ranked Roger Federer cruised into the third round and defending champion Guillermo Coria extended his winning streak on clay to 28.
Federer, winner of two of the last three Grand Slam events, needed one hour to dispatch Nicolas Lapentti 6-3, 6-3 to improve his career-best start in a year to 28-3. Federer won Wimbledon in 2003 and the Australian Open at the start of the year.
Coria, seeded second behind Federer, beat Luis Horna 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the second round.
Coria hasn't lost a clay-court match dating back to the semifinals of last year's French Open. He's now 13-0 on clay for the year, with titles in Buenos Aires and Monte Carlo.
Carlos Moya, coming off his Italian Open victory last week, kept alive his quest for a second straight title by beating Alberto Martin 6-2, 6-3.
Horna had never won a set off Coria in four previous matches. He succeeded Wednesday, but in the end fell victim to 54 unforced errors. Coria had only 16 in the battle of two baseliners.
Coria's winning streak on clay is the longest since Thomas Muster won 38 consecutive matches in 1995-1996. Muster also won 40 in a row in 1995.
In the third round, Coria will play 16th-seeded Tommy Robredo, who beat Mariano Zabaleta 6-4, 6-2. Federer plays 13th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who rallied to beat Julian Knowle 0-6, 6-4, 6-2.
On another wet and cool day, former US Open champion Marat Safin came from behind to defeat Sargis Sargsian 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Lleyton Hewitt survived nine set points and recovered from a 5-1 deficit in the second set to beat Tommy Haas 6-4, 7-5.
Top-ranked Kim Clijsters has confirmed her withdrawal from the French Open because of tendinitis in her left wrist, organizers said Wednesday.
American Mardy Fish has also pulled out with a hip injury, ceding his place to Britain's Greg Rusedski. Also forfeit is Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who will be replaced by Alex Corretja of Spain, organizers said.
Clijsters' spot in the May 24-June 6 grand slam tournament on clay at Roland-Garros goes to Catalina Castano of Colombia.
The Belgian was runner-up in 2001 and 2003 at the French Open. Her injury was first diagnosed two months ago as a stress reaction. Later, a half-inch tear was found in her left wrist.
Even though she's right-handed, Clijsters has a strong double-fisted backhand, making it impossible to play at the highest level with an injured left hand.
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