|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Back in form Capriati, Frazier take victories at State Farm Classic
Posted: Tuesday February 29, 2000 01:34 AM
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Jennifer Capriati took another step toward becoming one of tennis' elite again when she dominated Alexandra Stevenson 6-3, 6-0 in the first round of the State Farm Women's Tennis Classic on Monday night. Capriati, currently ranked No. 14 but unseeded in Scottsdale, won the last 10 games and took 50 minutes to advance to the second round of the $535,000 event, the first WTA Tour tournament in the Phoenix area since October 1991. "I just want to keep playing well," said Capriati, who reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January -- her first Grand Slam semi since the 1991 U.S. Open. "I've started well, and I'd like to keep going, get into the top 10, hopefully. Maybe higher. Who knows?" No. 39 Stevenson had a 3-2 lead in the first set. Then Capriati started her run by holding service and breaking the 19-year-old Stevenson, one of two Scottsdale entrants who were surprise semifinalists at Wimbledon last year, for a 4-3 lead. Two games later, the set was Capriati's as she blew Stevenson away with powerful serves and accurate groundstrokes. In the fifth game of the second set, Capriati faulted on five straight serves, but recovered after the fifth to win the point. She also faulted on her next serve, but won that point with a drop shot, then got a serve in and won the game when Stevenson returned long. Capriati won all four points in the last game, improving her match record to 7-2. "Maybe I lost a little concentration on my serve," she said. "But I was able to get it back, and that's changed now. If I miss a serve, I can get back quickly." "I'm very disappointed," said Stevenson, who lost to Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon. "I've beaten myself a couple of times in the last three months, and I need to stop doing that." Amy Frazier, another player returning to top form, beat Anke Huber 7-6 (1), 6-2. Frazier, ranked No. 19, reached the top 25 last season for the first time in 3 1/2 years. She improved to 6-3 with the win, dropping No. 17 Huber to 1-5. "I think I played a teeny bit better," said Frazier, who was 31-20 last year when she won the Japan Open and reached the semifinals of five other tournaments. The afternoon session was good for most American players, with Chanda Rubin defeating Cara Black of Zimbabwe 6-3, 6-3, and Meghann Shaughnessy beating Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4 in a duel of wild-card entries. Lucic also reached the Wimbledon semifinals last year. But Ai Sugiyama of Japan interrupted the string of U.S. wins with ease against Lisa Raymond, ousting her 6-2, 6-3. In the first doubles match of the event, second-seeded Lindsay Davenport and Anna Kournikova teamed up for the first time and overpowered Kimberly Po and Barbara Schett 6-1, 6-2. Davenport normally doubles with Corina Morariu, but Morariu played in Oklahoma City last week and skipped Scottsdale. She and Davenport reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in January. Kournikova and Schett were teamed at the same tournament and reached the quarterfinals.
Davenport said she and Kournikova agreed Saturday to enter the doubles draw.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
