Quick match
Kournikova, Rubin advance in Oklahoma City
Posted: Thursday February 25, 1999 12:42 AM
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Kournikova's serve stayed in the 100-mph range much of the night, giving her an easy win. Jack Atley/Allsport |
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (Reuters) -- Second seed Anna Kournikova of Russia needed just 51 minutes to dispose of Kristina Brandi 6-3, 6-1 Wednesday in the second round of the $180,000 IGA Superthrift Tennis Classic.
Kournikova, ranked 13th in the world, was making her tournament debut. She advances to the quarterfinals to face fifth-seeded Chanda Rubin, the only other seeded player in action. Rubin bested Australian Nicole Pratt 6-3, 6-2.
Two unseeded Americans also advanced to the quarterfinals. Alexandra Stevenson of San Diego beat Russian Tatiana Panova 2-6, 7-6 (8-4), 7-5 and Jane Chi of Meridian, Idaho stopped Mashona Washington of Houston 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.
Venus Williams, the defending champion and top seed, plays her first match on Thursday against fellow American Kim Po.
Kournikova had five service breaks in eliminating the 68th-ranked Brandi. The Russian's serve stayed in the 100-mph range much of the night and Brandi managed just one service break.
"This was my first match in two weeks and I felt great," Kournikova said. "I tried to attack her second serve. I tried not to give away so many points. I would say my game was A-plus. I did everything my coach told me. This is a great place to prepare you for the really important tournaments."
Brandi got behind 5-1 in both sets and never got her game going.
"I think Anna played pretty well," Brandi said. "She took advantage of my serve. I'd say she played pretty well. I played OK. The surface here is fast, very fast and I had a lot of trouble. I have played top players before -- Monica Seles, Amanda Coetzer -- so her ranking didn't bother me."
Rubin was pleased with her second-round win.
"I feel like I am hitting the ball well and competing well," the 28th-ranked Rubin said. "It's great to just get into the flow of the tournament. The next round is going to be difficult and I'm looking forward to seeing how high I can raise my level of play."
Stevenson will meet the Williams-Po winner in the quarterfinals.
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