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Kournikova Too Hot for Gorrochategui
by Zak Shaikh On a baking afternoon, with the sun shining gloriously down on a packed out Court 2, Anna Kournikova did not suffer from the notorious fate of 'the graveyard court'. She thrilled the crowd with some fine tennis and charming personality which increasingly dominated the match. The No 17 seed won a tough first set against the Argentine, Ines Gorrochategui, 7-5 as both players returned extremely well - there were five breaks of serve in the opening set alone. As the high profile Russian gradually imposed herself on the match, continually passing from both sides and volleying (when necessary) with confidence, the Argentine took an injury time-out after the first game of the second set. She eventually retired after going 3-1 down, the injury later being revealed as twofold: right shoulder tendonitis and an inflammation of the right knee cap tendon. It was a shame not just for Gorrochategui, but also for Kournikova, who had overcome a tight opening set and was starting to impress us with an all court game well suited to grass. Kournikova later said, "She's a tough player on grass, you know. She's got a lot of experience, knows how to mix it up, so I think I was playing really well to stay with her at the beginning of the set, and then it was my game that began to dominate." Kournikova looks to be enjoying playing on grass while her lack of power, often a hindrance on other surfaces, does not appear to be a problem here as she uses the pace of her opponents' shots. Her volleying is also effective - she won 19 out of 26 points at the net today. Therefore, a clash with Venus Williams in the Fourth Round, providing the American wins later today, could be one of the highlights of the tournament. Looking ahead to this encounter, Kournikova said, "It's going to be a tough match, you know. She (Williams) has a big serve, she's a big girl, so I have to just outthink her and try to play my game, because grass is obviously not her favourite surface." Though Williams is seeded higher, it would be no surprise if Kournikova were to win, since she reached the semi-final in her only other appearance at Wimbledon, in 1997, equalling Chris Evert as the only other woman in the Open era to reach the semi-finals on her debut. Kournikova lost that year to the eventual champion Martina Hingis. |