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Sports Line
Perebiynis to challenge Serena Williams
(October 11) ITMS Sports client Tatiana
Perebiynis (24) has reached the second round at the $ 1.34
million Kremlin Cup in Moscow. After defeating up and coming
Dutch teen Michaella Krajicek (WTA 31) in three sets Tuesday,
she will now face reigning Australian Open champion Serena
Williams (WTA 7) in the first match on centre-court today.
Perebiynis’ first round win over Krajicek made it four
in a row for the Kharkov, Ukraine, native, who had to play
herself through the qualifying tournament at the WTA Tour
tier I event. She will now enter the first ever career meeting
with Williams just days after the 26-year old American had
declared herself ready to retake the number one spot in the
world rankings.
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Germany finishes 4th in Euro Baseball Championship
(September 17) A bit of luck is all that
ended up separating the German baseball national team from
playing for a spot in next year’s Olympic tournament.
Finishing last week’s European Championship in Barcelona
in fourth place with an impressive 6 – 2 record, the
Germans just missed out on the required top three finish by
one run.
Regardless of the tournaments final standings, the team’s
strong performances in Spain did more than enough to boost
Germany’s reputation as an up and coming powerhouse
in European baseball. Just three years removed form playing
in the second tier European b pool, the German’s managed
to establish themselves amongst Europe’s elite by qualifying
for baseball’s world cup tournament for the second time
in a row. Of course, Germany’s premiere on the big stage
is yet to come, as the team will now turn its focus on this
year’s baseball world cup, held in Taiwan, November
5 – 18.
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Aspelin, Knowle capture U.S. Open men's doubles title
(September 7) Long-time ITMS Sports client
Simon Aspelin and Austrian Julian Knowle won their first grand
slam title on Friday by defeating Czechs Lukas Dlouhy and
Pavel Vizner 7-5 6-4 to win the U.S. Open.
The 10th seeds broke once to win the first set and then snatched
the crucial break in the seventh game of the second set before
33-year-old Aspelin served out for victory two games later.
"I felt a little nervous today but we handled it pretty
well and it is so nice to win," said Aspelin, who is
the fourth Swede to win a men's doubles title at the U.S.
Open.
"I have only been in a quarter-final before and the
last few days we've been playing great."
Ninth seeds Dlouhy and Vizner had been looking to become
the first all-Czech pair to win a grand slam title in the
open era, having come close at the French Open this year when
they lost in the final.
Knowle said he was happy that Aspelin had been the one to
serve out for victory.
"It looked pretty good there at 40-15 and then Pavel
came up with a great return," he said.
"Then they got back to deuce. It was very difficult
but I am really happy that we could manage to win it."
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Gajdosova puts up brave fight against
favorite in New York opener
(August 27) Jelena Jankovic had to overcome
a potent late rebellion from Jarmila Gajdosova before finally
advancing 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) into the second round of the US Open
on Monday. The Serb seed put the ITMS Sports client into a
hole, forcing the challenger to save three match points while
trailing 6-2, 5-3, 0-40. But that was only the start of the
attempted comeback, with Gajdosova saving three more as she
took the second set into a tiebreaker on the way to a third
loss against Jankovic.
Jankovic, a 2006 semi-finalist, holds four titles this season
after bursting into prominence over the past year. The Serb
improved to
63-18 on the season as she won her ninth match at the US Open.
For Gajdosova it was a relief to be back on court after a
testing summer. The 20-year-old injured her left knee after
Wimbledon and was able to play in only one event all summer,
re-injuring her knee in Toronto. Less than a week ago, it
did not look like she would be able to play the final Grand
Slam of the season.
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Gajdosova injury dashes WTT playoff
hopes for Explorers
(July 27) The Kansas City Explorers needed
to beat the Sacramento Capitals by at least two games Wednesday
at Barney Allis Plaza to advance to the World Team Tennis
playoffs.
It all came down to the last set of the last match of the
regular season. Throughout the season the Explorers had consistently
played Jarmila Gajdosova as the last match and she had never
failed her team, winning every single time when the match
was on the line. Night in night out, the 20-year old WTT rookie
would deliver the goods when it counted.
The Explorers were once again keeping their hopes alive as
late as the early games of the fifth and final set, women’s
singles. Jarmila Gajdosova broke the Capitals’ veteran
Elena Likhovtseva at game point in the third game, tying the
team score at 17-17. But in the next game, Gajdosova ran forward
to track a short shot from Likhovtseva and planted wrong on
her left knee. She immediately went down in noticeable pain.
Gajdosova refused to stay down and fought the pain to continue
but was never the same as Likhovtseva ran off the next four
games and closed out the match.
An MRI the next day showed that Gajdosova had suffered a
meniscus tear which will require 4-6 weeks rest and could
threaten Gajdosova’s plans to play the US Open later
this summer.
“The injury was really unfortunate,” said Explorer
veteran David Macpherson. “Elena’s magic number
was only three. That put a lot of pressure on Jarmila.”
The Explorers finished an improved 9-5 but just missed out
on making the postseason for the first time in recent memory.
In the end, the Explorers most likely will lament a four-game
skid that came on the heels of a 6-0 start to the season.
Of course, they had the Bryan brothers for four of those six
victories. And two of the four losses came against league
leader Springfield. Another came in a 21-20 supertie-breaker
loss in Sacramento.
“Judging from everyone’s reaction, this was definitely
a step forward,” said coach Brent Haygarth. “We
had a solid team. Hopefully, we can build on this team and
get Gajdosova back.”
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Israel Fed Cup qualifies for first ever World Group
(July 16) Israel notched its 10th successive
Fed Cup victory yesterday, as Shahar Peer downed Yvonne Meusburger
6-3, 6-1 to give Israel the win against Austria and lead the
team through to the World Group for the first time.
Anna Smashnova, who last year surpassed Spaniard Aranxta
Sanchez-Vicario for most ties played in Fed Cup history, enjoyed
the historic victory from the sidelines electing not to play
in the last singles rubber allowing 17-year-old Julia Glushko
to mark her debut for Israel. With an unassailable 3-0 lead
in the Israel-Austria contest, Julia Glushko lost the final
singles point to Austrian teen Melanie Klaffner, 6-4, 6-3.
Klaffner then returned with Tamira Paszek to take on Peer
and Tzipi Obziler, who in 34-degree heat scored an easy 6-3,
6-1 win to complete a 4-1 victory and take a place among the
world's elite eight women's tennis nations.
"I'm trying to digest what we did here," said team
captain Oded Jacob. "We had a lucky break with Sybille
Bammer's illness and with the fact that the Austrians decided
to host on the clay in Linz. If things go on like that, who
knows where we'll get to?"
Reflecting on her career, Smashnova said: “Winning
the French Junior Open and reaching the world’s top
15 were the main highlights of my singles career and after
15 years of Fed Cup, reaching the World Group absolutely rounds
off my career. Tennis has given me a good vocation.”
Smashnova tips Peer for the top. “She’s a very
good talent. She works hard and is determined.” As for
young Israelis starting out in the sport, “playing professionally
is a commitment. You must make sacrifices and be hard on yourself,
but it’s not all bad as the traveling can be fun.”
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Germany rallies for 3-2 win over Japan
in Fed Cup playoff
(July 15) Tatjana Malek and Anna-Lena Groenefeld
defeated Rika Fujiwara and Ayumi Morita in the deciding doubles
rubber Sunday as Germany rallied for a 3-2 victory over Japan
in a Fed Cup World Group playoff.
After both sides split the opening-day singles, Erika Takao
put Japan ahead 2-1 with a 6-3 6-2 win over Germany's Angelique
Kerber.
Germany tied the playoff when Malek defeated Morita 6-4,
6-3 in the second reverse singles match.
Malek then returned to the court to partner Groenefeld in
the doubles, the final match of the best-of-five tie, defeating
Morita and Fujiwara 6-3, 6-4.
Germany will now return to the World Group in 2008, with
Japan to play in World Group II.
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Undefeated Gajdosova, Explorers roll
over New York in WTT
(July 11) The Explorers continued their season-opening
roll Tuesday, routing the New York Sporttimes 23-13 in New
York.
The Explorers, 3-0, won all but the last set in a match that
featured the season debut of the Bryan brothers.
Mike and Bob Bryan, who reached the men’s doubles final
last week at Wimbledon, opened the match by whipping Mirko
Pehar and Jesse Witten 5-1.
Jarmila Gajdosova and Corina Morariu put the Explorers up
10-4 with a 5-3 win over Ashley Harkleroad and Hana Sromova
in women’s doubles. Bob Bryan and Gajdosova won the
mixed doubles match over Witten and Harkleroad 5-3 and Gajdosova
beat Sromova 5-3 in women’s singles.
Dusan Vemic had the only loss for the Explorers, falling
to Witten 5-3 in men’s singles. Vemic won the overtime
set that ended the match.
The Explorers, 3-0, play Wednesday at Delaware and Friday
at St. Louis before returning home Friday to take on Houston.
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Perebiynis advances at Wimbledon
(June 27) ITMS Sports client Tatiana Perebiynis
(UKR) has advanced to second round at the EUR 16, 751,532
Wimbledon Championships in London. The 24-year old Kharkov
native defeated Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi (WTA
129) 6-3 and 6-3.
The win marked Perebiynis’ fourth straight victory
after sweeping through last week’s qualifying tournament
at Roehampton.
Next up is an encounter with Spanish doubles specialist Virginia
Ruano Pascual (WTA 96), who defeated compatriot Anabel Medina
Garrigues (WTA 26) 6-3, 2-6 and 6-2.
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Gajdosova advances in Wimbledon
(June 26) ITMS Sports client Jarmila Gajdosova
(SVK) has advanced to the second round of the EUR 16,751,532
Wimbledon Championships in London. The 20-year old from Bratislava
defeated American veteran Meghann Shaughnessy (WTA 33) 6-2
and 6-4.
Next up for Gajdosova is an encounter with world no. 3 Jelena
Jankovic of Serbia, who defeated Great Britain’s own
Anne Keothavong 6-2 and 6-0.
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Perebiynis qualifies for Wimbledon
(June 21) Wild card entry Tatiana Perebiynis
was ecstatic after sweeping aside Stephanie Foretz in straight
sets to secure a place in the ladies' singles main draw of
her ‘favorite tournament’.
The 24-year-old demolished her French opponent 6-2, 6-4 in
a match which saw Foretz make far too many unforced errors.
Perebiynis described the feeling of qualifying as ‘unbelievable’.
“When you don’t qualify for two or three years
you lose that feeling,” she said. “It’s
the first time in the last two years and it feels really good.
I’m really happy.”
However, the Ukrainian is not satisfied with qualifying for
Wimbledon; she wants to progress beyond the early rounds.
“If I have a good draw I have a chance to go further,”
she added. “I don’t want to just qualify. It’s
just really emotional.”
Perebiynis is no stranger to Wimbledon. In 2005 she reached
the mixed doubles final with Paul Hanley. She also reached
the semi-finals at The Championships last year in the ladies’
doubles, after qualifying in the event with Yuliana Fedak.
Her best singles achievement was in 2004 when she reached
the third round.
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Groenefeld, Gajdosova win German tennis
bundes league
(June 11) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (22) and
Jarmila Gajdosova (20) led TC Rueppurr Karlsruhe to the national
team title in the German tennis bundes league on Sunday. The
pair secured the club’s deciding rubber in Sunday’s
championship tie against TC Benrath in Dusseldorf by beating
Julia Schruff and Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in straight sets.
Earlier in the day, Groenefeld defeated Schruff in the No.
2 singles match 6-2 6-3.
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