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Kournikova Works Hard to Advance in Rome Copyright © 1999 Associated Press ROME (Monday, May 3, 1999)- Anna Kournikova credited conditioning for getting her through the first round of the Italian Open Monday after a two-hour struggle against a low-ranked Italian who finally quit with an injury. The ninth-seeded Russian, one of the teenage stars filling the stands at the Foro Italico, has certainly played better tennis than she showed against Rita Grande, who is No. 54 in the WTA's rankings. Kournikova ran up 30 unforced errors in the first set alone and battled throughout the match to hold service. Yet at the end of the day she came out the winner - 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 2-0 when Grande gave up because of leg cramps. "I wasn't tired at all and could have done another workout. Rita began cramping after two hours," said Kournikova in her analysis of her winning edge. The Russian was the highest seed to see action on the opening day of the $1 million clay court tournament. The top eight seeds, led by Martina Hingis, all received first-round byes. This season is turning into a real test of Kournikova's ambitions. The 17-year-old has yet to win a WTA tour event in her career and her results have been inconsistent. In her best showing this year, she reached the final at Hilton Head before losing to Hingis in straight sets. The two are doubles partners in Rome. Grande has only one career match win over a top-10 player, but picked up her game against Kournikova before cramps took their toll. Kournikova blamed some of her problems on the slow courts, her opponent's home-crowd advantage and a new racket she was using. Grande challenged the explanations. "Racket or no racket - I don't believe her. I made her play badly," the Italian said. Grande had taken the tiebreaker by winning its last five points - four on Kournikova mistakes off groundstrokes. Two unseeded Americans advanced. Tara Snyder beat Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, while Kristina Brandi overpowered countrywoman Sandra Cacic, 6-4, 6-2. The only other seed to see action, No. 11 Dominique Van Roost of Belgium, crushed Nicole Arendt of the United States 6-1, 6-0. Other winners included Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir, Italy's Adriana Serra Zanetti and Belgium's Sabine Appelmans. |