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Post by Brinyi on Jul 11, 2005 9:26:12 GMT -5
Apparently Brandi was having stomach problems she thinks was saused by the high heat. Wynne said she was surprised Brandi made so many errors and basically just had to keep the ball in play. Brandi said she was sorry because everyone was counting on her, and left her press conference in  . |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 11, 2005 10:05:14 GMT -5
Desi tennis champs take to streets!
Indo-Asian News Service
Bangalore, July 11, 2005
Traffic stalled and hundreds of office goers stopped to take a look as India's tennis superstars Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza on Monday took to the streets of Bangalore for a friendly contest.
The 30-minute game, a promotional build-up to the Sunfeast Open 2005 in Kolkata from Sep 19-25, was held near the Vidhan Soudha, the stately secretariat in the heart of the city, during peak office hour.
Vehicular movement came to a standstill as Mahesh and Sania battled at the makeshift court to demonstrate their powerful serves, volleys and rallies.
The friendly encounter saw Mahesh beat Sania 6-1 in the only set they played. However, in response to the cheering spectators asking for more, they agreed to play another set, which ended in a tie-break.
"Though the Sunfeast Open tournament is being played in Kolkata, we wanted to popularise tennis across the country in a novel way. Since Bangalore is the home of Sunfeast (a division of ITC Ltd) and Globosport, the sports management firm set up by me, we thought of launching the campaign from here," Mahesh told reporters after the game.
The weeklong Sunfeast Open will see in action world's leading women tennis players and new generation Indian stars like Sania and Shikha Uberoi. As part of the Tier III Women Tennis Association (WTA) Tour championships, the event will be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, with a total prize money of $170,000.
"We will announce the list of participants six weeks before the tournament begins. The response for entries has been good so far. Besides Sania and Shikha, the event will feature some of the leading players in the international circuit," Mahesh disclosed.
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Post by janie on Jul 11, 2005 16:31:34 GMT -5
Mahesh! Sania took him to a tiebreak?  As for the Fed Cup thing, I feel bad for poor sick Kristina Brandi  , but the fact is, she didn't have a chance -- it was DESTINY for Wynne & co. to win with their half-baked team!  (and it didn't help that Vilmarie really stunk up the joint!! SHE'S the one who should be feeling sick!)  |
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Post by janie on Jul 19, 2005 18:15:40 GMT -5
Yippee, Sania beat Teutonic Barbie 4 &3 in Cincy!  |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 19, 2005 18:46:50 GMT -5
Yippee, Sania beat Teutonic Barbie 4 &3 in Cincy!     |
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Post by janie on Jul 21, 2005 7:47:51 GMT -5
Fabulous report on Sania's match in wtaworld GM. The author is Albireo, and he's very, very good. I'm starting to realize that Sania is going to have a great advantage most places she plays, thanks to rabid Indian ex-pat fans living everywhere around the globe. Also, I didn't realize that Sania is small, but it sounds like she was dwarfed by Teutonic Barbie.
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 21, 2005 9:01:39 GMT -5
It's like Daniel Nestor, cheered wildly by thousands of ex-pat Canadians wherever he goes.  |
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Post by janie on Jul 21, 2005 9:49:09 GMT -5
Canadians don't strike me as a wildly-cheering species! (though Nestor DOES deserve it!!) |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 21, 2005 10:16:18 GMT -5
 Canadians don't strike me as a wildly-cheering species! (though Nestor DOES deserve it!!) One year at IW there were about 10 or 15 Canadians with red and white t-shirts cheering at all of Danny's doubles matches! I think they were retired folks -- lots of West Coast folks retire in the Palm Springs area. Anyway, I thought it was great, being a Nestor Worshiper. |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 21, 2005 15:40:05 GMT -5
Sania leads our buddy Brandi 7-6 3-1 |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 21, 2005 15:55:55 GMT -5
Sania leads our buddy Brandi 7-6 3-1 7-6 7-5  |
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Post by janie on Jul 21, 2005 16:16:23 GMT -5
WOOHOO!!! India's Mo Connolly strikes again!!!  |
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Post by janie on Jul 21, 2005 19:05:49 GMT -5
EVANSVILLE 10s, round 1: (1) Wynne Prakusya INA def. Bo Verhulsdonk NED 6-1 6-4  (but I can't help but like this "Bo Verhulsdonk" person! |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 21, 2005 19:15:46 GMT -5
Bo knows bumpkins! |
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Post by janie on Jul 21, 2005 19:35:34 GMT -5
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 22, 2005 13:37:47 GMT -5
Evansville 2R: PRAKUSYA Wynne (INA) 1 def. FINK Amanda (USA) 6-4 5-2 Retired  |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 22, 2005 13:44:07 GMT -5
quarterfinal opponent is JONES Beau (USA) 7, somewhat rampant as she was the losing finalist in Baltimore to Madison Brengle last week and a former Boise State Uni standout.
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Post by janie on Jul 22, 2005 15:55:50 GMT -5
Wynne played Bo, then gets Beau? With a Fink in between? Excellent! |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 22, 2005 16:28:02 GMT -5
Wynne played Bo, then gets Beau? With a Fink in between? Excellent! :lmao: |
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Post by janie on Jul 23, 2005 5:48:11 GMT -5
How could I leave without reporting this: Wynne Prakusya (1) def. Beau Jones (7) 62 62 |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 23, 2005 7:17:11 GMT -5
Top seed remains on a roll
By TIM ETHRIDGE Courier & Press sports editor 464-7416 or ethridge@evansville.net
July 23, 2005
Evansville's sweltering weather isn't slowing the top seed at the $10,000 Fifth Third Classic tennis tournament.
"Actually, this is what it's like at home," said Wynne Prakusya, a 24-year-old Indonesian who won her third consecutive match on Friday in the USTA event at the University of Evansville. "I don't want to go inside (air-conditioned Carson Center) because it's so cold in there." ;D
Prakusya defeated last year's runner-up, seventh-seeded American Beau Jones, 6-2, 6-2. Today, she'll play unseeded American Sarah Taylor, who upset No. 4 Romana Tedjakusuma of Indonesia 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.
Today's other semifinal, set for 10 a.m., matches No. 8 seed Lisa D'Amelio of Australia against unseeded Krista Miller of the United States.
D'Amelio defeated American Riza Zalameda 6-7, 6-2, 6-0, while Miller topped No. 2 seed American Raquel Kops-Jones 6-2, 3-6, 3-2 (retired illness).
Prakusya also teamed with Tedjakusuma to reach today's 5 p.m. doubles final against Miller and Christian Tara. Both teams won when opponents withdrew.
Today is Family Day, with a free clinic from 9-10 a.m. featuring court drills, games and prizes. Admission to all the competition is free.
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 24, 2005 19:54:46 GMT -5
The strength to go on
Netter wears memory of tsunami
By TIM ETHRIDGE Courier & Press sports editor 464-7416 or ethridge@evansville.net
July 21, 2005
The orange band on Wynne Prakusya's right wrist reads "kami peduli" in block letters.
On a small scale, it reminds Prakusya of the family and friends she has left behind, again and again, as she follows her dream of playing professional tennis. On a much larger one, it reinforces the memory of a terrible Christmas night in 2004, when a massive tsunami claimed 95,000 of its estimated 165,000 victims in her homeland.
In Indonesian, kami peduli means "we care."
"It was a terrible time - it is still a terrible time - in my nation," said Prakusya, the top seed in this week's Fifth Third Classic USTA event at the University of Evansville courts. "Where the storm hit, in Aceh, everything is now flat. The only building left standing is the Muslim mosque.
"That," she said, tugging at the orange band, "shows you that God must have a plan."
Prakusya was at her family home in Java, on the opposite side of the island of Jakarta, when the tsunami struck. Like others worldwide, she watched the television images with horror as the tidal wave struck Aceh.
"The waves, they were 10 meters high (about 40 feet). They swallowed things up," she said. "It was unbelievable. And I'm there, wondering, 'What is tsunami?' "
That Prakusya was in Indonesia when the waves struck was accidental. In August of 2002, she was ranked No. 74 in the world in singles, and was playing in the main draw at many Women's Tennis Association events. In that period, she reached the second round at three of the four majors - the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open.
But pain in her left knee began slowing the 5-foot-3, 110-pound right-hander, and eventually she was forced to take nine months off to rest.
Prakusya returned to competition in February and has stayed busy ever since. Now ranked No. 396, she played her first tournament in Croatia, then one in Indonesia, one in Vietnam, one in Thailand and two in South Korea, reaching the semifinals of a $25,000 event on hardcourt. On July 10, she represented Indonesia in Federation Cup play in Puerto Rico, then flew to the mainland to compete in Evansville this week and near Kansas City next week. There will be other events across the United States this summer.
It's a hectic life - she has played on five of the seven continents, missing out only on Africa and Antarctica - but one she's grown accustomed to.
"I started playing when I was 6 years old, and got really serious and started traveling when I was 12," said Prakusya, who turned 24 on April 26. "But when I was 15, 16, 17, I really got to where I missed having a life outside of tennis. I would get very homesick, and I would cry every time I left for another tournament.
"But as I got older, I realized that this is my life, this is my career. And when I couldn't play, I learned how much I would miss it. This is what I love."
So she returned to the road, playing every chance she gets. On Wednesday, she won her first match in Evansville, 6-1, 6-4 over towering 6-foot Bo Verhulsdonk of the Netherlands, who tried without much success to overpower her smaller opponent. Prakusya and her doubles partner, Romana Tedjakusuma of Indonesia, on Tuesday won their opening match, 6-1, 7-5 over American Beau Jones and Russian Alicia Pillay.
Prakusya hopes to continue to win, to reach the doubles final scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Saturday and the singles final at 11 a.m. on Sunday. But she knows there are obstacles along the way.
"There are so many good players, so many younger players," she said, finishing up an intensive 10 minutes of stretching following her match in Wednesday's debilitating heat. "They all want to get better, to move on, to go higher."
So, too, does Prakusya. She has been on the cusp of the big time, competing against the likes of Lisa Raymond, Jennifer Capriati, Anna Kournikova and Venus Williams.
And she's been on the sidelines, suffering her own pain and the pain of thousands of victims of the worst natural disaster in this millennium.
"It's like on 9/11, when innocent people die, it's so terrible," Prakusya said. "That is when you have to look inside, at your own strength and at God's, and find strength to move on."
Prakusya straightened the orange band on her right wrist, in order to better read "kami peduli" - we care.
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 24, 2005 19:55:52 GMT -5
Top seeds toppled in Fifth Third semifinals
By a correspondent
July 24, 2005
It didn't pay to be favored in the semifinals of the $10,000 Fifth Third Classic on Saturday at the University of Evansville.
Top-seeded Wynne Prakusya battled for 2 hours, 38 minutes but fell 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (5) to unseeded American Sarah Taylor in one semifinal.
In the other, No. 8-seeded Lisa D'Amelio of Australia fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. to unseeded American Kristi Miller.
Taylor was ranked No. 68 in the world in 2003, when she reached the gold-medal match of the Pan American Games while representing the United States, but has steadily dropped in the ratings after having to take a leave of absence with a shoulder injury.
Before the injury, she had played in nine majors, including four U.S. Opens and three Australian Opens.
She has served as a volunteer assistant coach at Harvard.
Prakusya, of Indonesia, was up to No. 74 two years ago before a lingering knee injury slowed her progress.
On Saturday, the two battled through the 95-degree heat until Taylor eventually prevailed in the tie-breaker.
Taylor has been playing in higher level events, including $25,000 tournaments at Allentown, Pa., and College Park, Md., and a $50,000 event at Los Gatos, Calif.
Taylor advances to today's 10:30 a.m. singles final to face Miller, who will be a sophomore at Georgia Tech University.
Prakusya didn't go away empty-handed on Saturday, teaming with Indonesian travel partner Romana Tedjakusuma to win the doubles title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Christian Tara of Lake Bluff, Ill., and Miller, whose hometown is Clearwater, Fla.
Fans are invited to UE at 10 a.m. today to enjoy strawberries and cream, the traditional morning fare at Wimbledon. In the rare case of rain, the matches will be played at Advantage Court and Fitness.
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Post by vaiva on Jul 25, 2005 12:45:33 GMT -5
Whatever happened to the Funky Hair? Did she play this year at all?  |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 25, 2005 12:48:56 GMT -5
Vaivita, Funky hair is apparently still recovering from knee surgery she had late last year in Australia. She was expected back a few months ago but there were apparently complications.
/me blames Australia
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Post by vaiva on Jul 25, 2005 13:32:10 GMT -5
I blame them too, jealous creatures. Apparently, I ckecked wtaworld and rumour has it that FH tried to train for several weeks and still had pains in the knee. The second surgery(!) is either this Friday or was last Friday Plus, her grandmother just passed away last month  |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 25, 2005 13:38:49 GMT -5
Thanks Vaivita. Poor Angie. |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 27, 2005 7:26:19 GMT -5
Sania wins first round, runs into Venus Williams
New Delhi, July 27 (UNI): Sania Mirza seems to have made it a habit of stunning higher ranked players as the Indian edged past Eleni Daniilidou of Greece in three sets to set up a second round clash with reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the $585,000 Bank of the West Classic WTA Tier II tournament at Stanford, United States.
Sania, who had lost her final qualifying match against Shahar Peer of Israel, entered the main draw as lucky loser after Chanda Rubin pulled out of the tournament citing an ankle injury.
In the see-saw first round match yesterday, Sania beat the Greek 7-6(7/4), 2-6, 6-3 -- according to the information received here today.
Sania now faces Venus Williams in the second round and it would require a miracle of sort to upstage the American.
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Post by vaiva on Jul 27, 2005 9:19:20 GMT -5
Yay, Sania! I love miracles |
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Post by Brinyi on Jul 27, 2005 22:33:02 GMT -5
No miracles so far, 6-3 Venus
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, but the fact is, she didn't have a chance -- it was DESTINY for Wynne & co. to win with their half-baked team! 
(but I can't help but like this "Bo Verhulsdonk" person! 
Marcos Baghdatis 