By Christopher N Rourke
October 30 2004

Interestingly, some of Jankovic's support camp were present to watch this quarter final - even though Jankovic would not meet either opponent (assuming she defeated Mauresmo in tomorrow's semi final) till the final. Petrova seemed like the star player here, looking
striking in a turquoise outfit. Shaughnessy seemed a
little dowdy in comparison. Shaughnessy began well,
on her own service, but it was clear from the start
that Petrova had the edge in terms of power off the
ground. The power differential was further
illustrated by Petrova's first service game, which was
as destructive as it was swift.


Several errors off the wayward Petrova forehand gifted
Shaughnessy an early break to lead 3-1. Movement
around the ball is Petrova's key problem: she often
catches the ball late, off a very long swing, which is
problematic in itself. When everything connects and
Petrova has created adequate space around the ball,
Petrova's forehand is the more dazzling, explosive
wing. Unfortunately, Petrova frequently mis-times the
stroke, thus it leaks as many points as it wins. In
contrast, her heavy backhand is by far her strongest -
and most consistent - wing. Playing less scrappy
tennis than her opponent, Shaughnessy capitalised on
the break and closed out he set 6-3.


Petrova does have a great serve, however: powerful,
with technically-excellent stroke-production; very
little can go wrong on this stroke. Arguably, her
second serve, heavily spun or sliced, is the best on
the women's tour. In the second set Petrova picked up
her game, cut down the errors and forced Shaughnessy
into a lot of retrieving, her looped shots not an
adequate enough response for Petrova's - when the
latter isn't making copious errors. Petrova reversed
the momentum of the match to take the second set 6-3.


By the third, Shaughnessy's game began to crumble
under the onslaught of Petrova's more attacking
approach. Petrova romped into the second semi-final,
winning 6-2 in the third. She will now meet the world
no. 18, Elena Bovina who lead Alina Jikova 6-7(3) 6-2,
3-0 , before the latter had to retire through a thigh
strain.