Mauresmo stays afloat

It's one double fault Petra Mandula will not want to forget for a long time in her career.

Leading 5-4 and 40-30 with the deciding set firmly in her grip, she double faulted on her serve to literally hand over the match to defending champion Amelie Mauresmo in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open yesterday.

That one double fault denied the qualifier from upsetting a top seed in her career and saw the defending champion slip through unscathed 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 result for a quarter-final face off with Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

Mandula took her time to settle in as she lost the opening set 2-6. But she made amends taking the next at a similar score to force the match into the deciding third set.

Leading 5-4 and 40-15, the Hungarian double faulted to allow her French opponent to tie for deuce. And when Mandula hit a forehand wide to tie the score 5-5, Mauresmo knew she was on top of her opponent.

"I think the point that made the difference was when I broke her at 5-4," said a relieved Mauresmo.

"I think she got a bit nervous and edgy after I broke her," Mauresmo reflected.

Mandula too felt she had her chances. "I should have made use of the chances that came my way," regretted the 97th ranked Hungarian girl.

"I was shaky and I knew I had a chance to win against a top player. I am really disappointed that I have not achieved my goal," she added.

Mauresmo was as surprised by Mandula‚s fightback as the healthy crowd that had gathered at the centre court. "She kept on improving with each game and she really fought for all her points," Mauresmo said of Mandula‚s second set win. But the tie-breaker decided it in favour of the defending champion.

"What worries me more than losing the game is that I have not been able to keep myself focused on the game out there. There are too many things happening around me and I keep shifting my focus to these things rather than staying on top of my game," Mandula lamented.

In another match played later on centre court, Anastasia Myskina brushed aside Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2 to become the last player to complete the quarter-final line up for the competition.

Results:

Singles: Justine Henin-Hardenne bt Anca Barna 1-6, 6-2, 6-4; Jennifer Capriati bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-1; Amelie Mauresmo bt Petra Mandula 2-6, 6-2, 7-6; Anastasia Myskina bt Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-3, 6-2; Conchita Martinez bt Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-7, 6-2; Iroda Tulyaganova bt Magdalena Maleeva 7-6, 7-5; Lina Krasnoroutskaya bt Patty Schnyder 6-1 (retd.).
Doubles: Svetlana Kuznetsova/Martina Navratilova bt Magdalena Maleeva/Trudi Musgrave 6-4, 6-4; Lina Krasnoroutskaya/Nicole Pratt bt Iveta Benesova/Olga Blahotova 6-4, 6-4; Janet Lee/Wynne Prakusya bt Rita Grande/Iroda Tulyaganova 2-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Order of play

Centre Court (Start at 2 pm):
Quarter-finals: Lina Krasnoroutskaya v Amelie Mauresmo; Iroda Tulyaganova v Monica Seles. (Start at 7 pm): Jennifer Capriati v Conchita Martinez; Justine Henin-Hardenne v Anastasia Myskina.

Court No. 1 (Start at 2 pm):
Cara Black/Elena Likhovtseva v Evie Dominikovic/Jelena Kostanic; Emmanuelle Gagliardi/Kim Grant v Maria Vento-Kabchi/Angelique Widjaja; Lee/Prakusya v Krasnoroutskaya/Pratt.