Print

Mail

wiki links

Golovin capitalizes on local knowledge

Tatiana Golovin of France returns a shot to Zheng Jie of China during the NASDAQ-100 Open at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP

Tatiana Golovin made the most of her home-court advantage in beating China's Zheng Jie 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the NASDAQ-100 Open.

A native of Moscow and a citizen of France, the 18-year-old Golovin moved to Miami last autumn and trained over the winter on the tournament site at Key Biscayne with Andy Roddick's former coach, Tarik Benhabiles.

"It feels really nice to be driving your car to the courts, sleeping in your own bed, knowing everything around," she said. "I just know the courts so well, and I know the conditions and the wind."

After a shaky start, Golovin looked right at home on the Crandon Park stadium court, breaking serve seven times in the final two sets. Seeded 22nd, she won the last five games and matched her best showing at a Tier I event with the quarterfinal win.

"I had to take my time and find my rhythm, and then I really started hitting it," she said.

Her opponent yesterday was to be No. 4 Maria Sharapova, who hit 26 winners to beat No. 10 Anastasia Myskina 6-3, 6-3.

Mario Ancic of Croatia returns to David Nalbandian of Argentina during their match at the NASDAQ-100 Open on Wednesday. PHOTO: AP

"I knew she would not overpower me," Sharapova said. "I just had to be a little patient."

Sharapova won her two previous matches against Golovin, both on grass.

The other semifinal features top-ranked Amelie Mauresmo against Svetlana Kuznetsova.

No. 3 David Nalbandian and No. 6 Ivan Ljubicic will play in the men's semifinals tomorrow. Nalbandian advanced by beating No. 22 Mario Ancic of Croatia 6-2, 6-2, and Ljubicic defeated unseeded Agustin Calleri of Argentina 7-6 (4), 6-3.

No. 9 James Blake plays the defending champion, top-seeded Roger Federer, for a semifinal berth yesterday. No. 4 Andy Roddick, the 2004 champion, will face No. 11 David Ferrer in the other quarterfinal.

Golovin talks like a typical American teen, and US tennis would be happy to claim her, especially this week. For the first time in 16 years, the tournament's quarterfinals included not one American woman.

But Golovin considers herself French and also identifies with the wave of talented young Russian players. Counting Golovin, five Russian women made the final eight.

"We're just really tough, and I think there's a lot of confidence when you're from Russia," she said. "You're kind of expected to win, and there's no other solution but to win."

Mothballs

At Key Biscayne, Golovin has won wearing a line of halter dresses that had been in mothballs since Wimbledon.

She unveiled them there last year and promptly lost in the first round.

"I didn't want to wear them again," she said with a laugh. "I was like, `They stink.'"

No more. Golovin upset No. 6-seeded Elena Dementieva in the fourth round, and she won every set before falling behind Zheng.

Instant replay helped Golovin reach set point in the second set. Zheng hit a shot ruled good for a winner, but Golovin challenged the call, and the replay showed the ball landing long. Golovin then won the next point to force a third set.

Only 34 of 116 challenges (29 percent) were successful in the first seven days of the tournament. Instant replay is being used by the pro tours for the first time at the tournament.

A replay reversal helped Ljubicic win his first-set tiebreaker, but mostly he overpowered Calleri. The 1.93m Croat hit 14 aces, won 36 of 37 points on his first serve and never faced a break point.

Freakish

He showed a nice touch, too: In the opening game of the second set, he won a point with a volley that bounced off the net cord three times before falling for a winner. The freakish shot left both players walking back to the baseline laughing.

At 24-3 this year, Ljubicic is second on the men's tour in victories behind Roger Federer, who has 25. They could meet in the final on Sunday.

"Definitely I feel like the No. 2 player in the world," Ljubicic said. "It's not just a feeling. Also I think the numbers are showing the same."

Nalbandian eliminated Ancic in 56 minutes, hitting 21 winners with only nine unforced errors.
This story has been viewed 1610 times.