MASON, OH, USA - The two top attractions at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open made successful debuts under the lights on Tuesday as Anna Chakvetadze and Patty Schnyder both won first round matches against unseeded opponents in straight sets.
Chakvetadze, ranked No.8 in the world and the No.1 seed at the Tier III tournament, had a disastrous start to her match against Tatiana Poutchek, falling behind 4-0 in a hurry, but turned the tables in a big way, reeling off 12 straight games for a 64 60 victory.
"I was sleeping on the court for the first few games while Tatiana played really solid," said Chakvetadze, who won only four points those first four games. "I didn't sleep well last night because we had a flight early in the morning and I just didn't feel ready to play. And she wasn't making any mistakes. But then I started to find my game again."
In the fifth game of the match Chakvetadze held serve at love, beginning with an ace, a game that seemingly got the ball rolling; from that game on, the Russian would have two aces to one double fault while her Belarusian foe would only have four double faults.
"I think she served too many double faults," Chakvetadze continued. "I've known her for a long time now and she's a nice girl. I can't say I feel bad for her though. How can I feel bad for my opponent?"
The two had played just once previously, and that was just a few weeks ago at Wimbledon, where Chakvetadze also won in straight sets. But today's opening set scare prompted the Russian to comment on the depth of the women's game, including at this tournament.
"Yes I'm the first seed, but you never know," she added. "My ranking is higher than all the other girls in my part of the draw but still there are some players who are playing well, and who play well on hardcourts, so you have to be prepared for every match."
Schnyder, ranked No.15 in the world and seeded No.2 this week, also had a struggle with her first opponent but managed to move on in straight sets, rallying from a 5-3 deficit in the second set to defeat Australian lucky loser Monique Adamczak, 62 75.
"She was moving much better than me," said Schnyder, who saved set point while trailing 5-3 in the second set. "We were holding serve pretty easily throughout the match, so it was good I was able to break her and get it back on serve. I had to work hard to win."
Two of the three other seeds in action enjoyed relatively uncomplicated wins, with No.6 seed Elena Vesnina beating Angelika Bachmann, 63 64, and No.9 seed Jill Craybas beating wild card Alexa Glatch, 62 64. Vesnina was down 4-1 in the second set of her win.
"I'm glad to have come out of the second set," Vesnina said. "I was playing well in the first set, and then I had some rallies in the second where I was getting a little tired. It's a lot more humid here than in Vermont, and Vermont wasn't so hot either."
The Russian helped her nation reach the Fed Cup final over the weekend, winning a point with Nadia Petrova in the deciding doubles rubber against the United States.
"It has been crazy days for us," she said. "Saturday I was cheering for the team then I was nervous from the match on Sunday, then on Monday morning we had a 6am flight, which was about four hours. Now I have to concentrate on singles; I'm not playing for my team, I'm playing for myself. And it's hard to change."
No.5 seed Aiko Nakamura wasn't so lucky, squandering a 4-1 third set lead to Georgian teenager Anna Tatishvili and falling in a third set tie-break, 16 64 76(4).
"If this had been the first match of the tournament for me it would have been worse but I had three matches already," said Tatishvili, who went through qualifying to reach the main draw. "I was used to the court. I was still a bit nervous in the first set, but in the second and third sets I played more relaxed. I didn't care about the score and just started to play my game. In the tie-break, I think she was more nervous than I was."
Also winning first round matches were unseeded players Olga Govortsova, Bethanie Mattek, Varvara Lepchenko and Angelique Kerber, and qualifiers Anda Perianu, Akgul Amanmuradova and Brenda Schultz-McCarthy.
The only remaining first round match, as well as the first four second round encounters, are all on the Wednesday menu at the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.
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