Tennis: Qualifiers' day of reckoning

It is eight years since a qualifier won the Auckland women's international tournament, but two have survived to contest today's quarter-finals.

The names Sandra Cacic and Marion Maruska do not exactly echo in the tennis hall of fame, but they won the event in 1996 and 1997.

Whether Israeli Shahar Peer or Slovakian Janette Husarova can emulate them and win the ASB Classic is doubtful.

They have played five matches in as many days to get this far, are both clearly fit but face tough hurdles today.

The 17-year-old Peer, one of the world's best juniors, eliminated Italian Mara Santangelo in three sets yesterday, and meets Slovenia's Katarina Srebotnik today.
Santangelo had beaten defending champion Eleni Daniilidou the previous night but could not capitalise on that win yesterday.

Husarova sailed past an unwell Marina Erakovic in straight sets 6-4, 6-0 yesterday and meets fourth-seeded Japanese player Shinobu Asagoe today.

Erakovic, with a head cold, admitted there had been thought given to whether she should play yesterday.

"I went out and tried my best. It is tough when you're sick but you have to put that aside," the 16-year-old Aucklander said.

Had she been fit, she would have had a good chance against world No 202 Husarova.

Given her state of health, she needed to win in straight sets but she was broken in the seventh game of the first set and when she squandered a break point to get level at 5-5, that was that.

Erakovic looked sluggish in her movements and the second set raced by for Husarova, who won the 1997 doubles here.

Still, Erakovic said she was proud of what she had achieved.

"It was a great experience and definitely helped my game," she said.

"The difference between juniors and seniors is that every point matters more. Everybody is a lot more focused."

Erakovic now heads for the Australian Open junior championships and has two US$10,000 Futures tournaments in Wellington and Blenheim and a couple of ITF events in Australia to keep her occupied for the next two months.

Erakovic was joined on the road out of the Classic by the other wildcard entry, Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

She lost 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 to Srebotnik, throwing away a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak before being blown aside in the second set.

The most entertainment of the day came from French No 5 seed Marion Bartoli. She advanced into the quarter-finals with a 2-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over American Jill Craybas, but the numbers don't convey the drama.

The first set was straightforward. Then there were rain stoppages, Gallic shrugs and tears from Bartoli - a semifinalist here last year - as she battled a dodgy shoulder, a toilet break for the French player and a generous helping of histrionics.

As for today, Bartoli, the world No 41, described her chances of being fit to play second seed Jelena Jankovic as "50-50".

"I tried to forget the pain, but it was really hard. I will see how it goes in the warm-up but I will not take any risks before the Australian Open."

More and more the Classic is looking like a showdown between the top seeds, both of whom won in a canter yesterday.

American top seed Amy Frazier cruised past lefthander Lucie Safarova, losing four games, while Jankovic, recovering from the flu, took just 46 minutes to eliminate Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives.

But asking Frazier to look into her crystal ball about what she'll be doing on Saturday, finals day, is a fruitless exercise. "I'm really happy with the way I played today. But everyone is so good and every day is a different day," she said.

One New Zealander is still standing in the Classic. Leanne Baker and her Italian partner Francesca Lubiani play Americans Teryn Ashley and Laura Granville in the final match tonight with a semifinal doubles spot on the line.

Today's schedule
First match starts at 11am
Court one:
K. Srebotnik (Slovenia) v Q-S. Peer (Israel), followed by 4-S. Asagoe (Japan) v Q-J. Husarova (Slovakia), followed by 5-M. Bartoli (France) v 2-J. Jankovic (Serbia), followed by 1-Asagoe/Srebotnik v E. Dominikovic (Australia)/G. Voskoboeva (Russia) followed by but not before 7pm, 1-A. Frazier (US) v T. Panova (Russia), followed by L. Granville/T. Ashley (US) v L. Baker (NZ)/F. Lubiani (Italy).