I was sad when I heard that Amelie Mauresmo had lost the first set, 1-6, against Elena Dementieva at the Madrid Open on Wednesday. Maybe the best I could expect of one of my favorite, fading, players was to make it to the third round (upsetting No. 15 Zheng Jie on the way.) But she came back (!!), playing brilliant tennis for the next two sets and beating the world No. 5 in three 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Please, tennis gods, let this be a late career surge and not a fluke!
Alona Bondarenko scored another Russian upset on Wednesday – taking out a tired Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round, 6-3 6-2. Alona (ranked 46th) now owns Kuznetsova 3-1. 8th seeded Nadia Petrova joined her compatriots in the losers’ circle – going down to the unseeded Patty Schnyder in three.
Here are some highlights (check out Amelie’s awesome down the line one-handed backhand!):
Dinara Safina avoided the upset bug, beating tough-gal Li Na in straights. Azarenka and Dushevina (over Schiavone) also made it through.
Tomorrow’s matches on the women’s side include: Chakvetadze vs A Bondarenko, Jankovic vs Vesnina, Azarenka vs A Szavay, Safina vs Safarova and Kleybanova vs Wozniacki.
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