Kournikova reaches Cloister quarters

Anna to play Virginia event CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Russian tennis star Anna Kournikova has committed to play in a $25,000 minor league event here beginning May 11. Kournikova, who has never won a WTA Tour singles tournament, will be the top seed in the USTA Women's Pro Championship at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville. Kournikova is using the minor league event to rehabilitate from an injury that forced her to quit a match at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C., in April, her management company, Octagon, said in a statement. More established players also have used the lower tier of tennis tournaments to regain confidence or tweak their games. Kournikova, ranked No. 72, reached a career high ranking of No. 8 in May 2001.

SEA ISLAND, Ga. (AP) -- Amy Frazier and Anna Kournikova advanced to the quarterfinals of the Cloister Cup with second-round victories Thursday.

Top-seeded Frazier rallied to beat Shuai Peng 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, while Kournikova -- seeded second and playing in her first competitive tournament in a month -- needed just an hour to beat Gabriela Volekova, 6-0, 6-2.

Frazier lost the final four games of the first set, then fell behind 3-2 in the second before winning the final 10 games.

"She played so well for the first set and a half," Frazier said of Peng, who got into the main draw by winning two qualifying matches. "I just couldn't find my rhythm."

Kournikova, who overcame a lackluster performance Wednesday to beat Maria Fernanda Alves in the first round, had no trouble dispatching of Volekova.

The Russian is recovering from tearing her left abductor muscle on April 9 at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C. She won the first nine points and lost just seven points in the first set.

Down 2-1 in the second, Kournikova relied on crosscourt winners and drop shots to keep Volekova on the run, winning the next five games.

"I just felt comfortable the whole match," Kournikova said. "I guess the girl lost her confidence after I got off to such a hot start.

Frazier will take on seventh-seeded Christina Wheeler in the quarterfinals Friday. Kournikova will face Sunitha Rao.

 

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