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Even as the top seed Li Na and ninth seed Ana Ivanovic look to draw inspiration from their recent Australian Open performances, Nadia Petrova has an inspiration of her own. |
With Victoria Azarenka’s withdrawal, no one in the main draw was in contention for the Diamond Ball trophy, but Petrova has got her foot in the door making it into the main draw as one of the eight qualifiers.
The Diamond Ball trophy is awarded by Qatar Tennis Federation (QTF) to a player who wins the title thrice.
Azarenka had won it in 2011 and 2012, and could have made it three in a row this year but pulled out due to foot inflammation.
Petrova won the Qatar Total Open title twice in the same year, in two different cities. In 2006, Petrova won the Doha event by defeating France’s Amelie Mauresmo in the final 6-3, 7-5. Three months later, Petrova played in the Berlin, Germany tournament – also the Qatar Total Open (owned by the Qatar Tennis Federation) – and won the title with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Justine Henin of Belgium.
The 100th-ranked Russian couldn’t make it to the 64-player draw directly, but breezed through the qualifiers into the main draw.
Petrova posted 6-3 6-3 wins over both her qualifying opponents – Poland’s Marta Domachowska and Ukraine’s Yuliya Beygelzimer on Saturday and yesterday respectively — to set up a first round clash with China’s Shuai Peng.
China’s Li, who won the last month’s Australian Open, is set to leap over Azarenka as the world number two next Monday as the Belarussian will lose all her 900 points she earned last year from winning Doha’s Premier 5 WTA tournament.
At 32, Li continues to combine an ability to peak well with an enduring physical resilience and an impressive capacity for striking the ball flat and hard.
Even though Williams has almost twice as many ranking points as Li, the woman from Wuhan may create significant momentum if she captures another title in her first outing since her Melbourne miracle.
India’s Sania Mirza practices at the Khalifa International
Tennis and Squash Complex yesterday. Mirza is playing
doubles with Zimbabwe’s Cara Black and the duo is seeded fourth.
Much may depend on how Li has handled the Australian euphoria and the subsequent return to earth. She said she is better prepared for dealing with a Grand Slam aftermath this time than after winning the French Open in 2011.
“I really wasn’t prepared for that,” Li admits. “Now it’s different because I really prepared to win this Grand Slam. This time I was thinking about if I win or if I lose, what kind of life I will have, so for sure it’s different than last time.”
For a while now Li has appeared better organised, more focussed, and more confident, and she has given much of the credit for this to her coach Carlos Rodriguez, with whom she began working in 2012.
“Carlos has a lot of experience because before me he was coaching Justine Henin (seven times a Grand Slam winner),” said Li. “We have talked about what we should do next, of course.”
She could have a quarter-final with Ana Ivanovic, the former world number one from Serbia who upset Serena Williams at the Australian Open, although the biggest threat to Li appears to be Agnieszka Radwanska, the thoughtfully skilful former Wimbledon finalist from Poland.
Radwanska ended Azarenka’s Australian Open defence last month before falling in the semi-final, but now is seeded to go all the way to a final with Li. She has a potential quarter-final with Caroline Wozniacki, the former world number one from Denmark.
Another former world number one, Jelena Jankovic, should face Radwanska’s Melbourne conqueror, Dominika Cibulkova, in last 16, while Petra Kvitova, the former Wimbledon champion who is seeded for a semi-final with Li, could also have a say in the destination of the title.
Monday’s Order of Play
CENTRE COURT (start 3:30 pm)
S Peng (CHN) vs [Q] N Petrova (RUS)
- Not Before 5:30pm
V Williams (USA) vs [Q] P Martic (CRO)
[Q] T Pironkova (BUL) vs [11] R Vinci (ITA)
- Not Before 8:00pm
[Q] P Cetkovska (CZE) vs [14] S Stephens (USA)
COURT 1 start 3:30pm
M Barthel (GER) vs A Beck (GER)
[Q] S Hsieh (TPE) vs F Pennetta (ITA)
V Lepchenko (USA) / A Panova (RUS) vs [WC] J Jankovic (SRB) / A Kleybanova (RUS)
V Dushevina (RUS) / A Parra Santonja (ESP) vs I Buryachok (UKR) / V Diatchenko (RUS)
COURT 2 start 3:30pm
[WC] F Al Nabhani (OMA) / M Honcova (SVK) vs K Pliskova (CZE) / K Pliskova (CZE)