Navratilova Arrives In Eastbourne As Action Starts
Martina Navratilova, arguably the greatest ever female tennis
player, has arrived at Devonshire Park for the Hastings Direct
International Championships. Navratilova, who has won the
singles event a record 11 times, is partnering Liezel Huber
in the doubles. Their first round game against Nathalie Dechy
and Rennae Stubbs is scheduled to be Tuesday’s fourth
match on Centre Court.
Daniela Hantuchova meanwhile, was a high-profile casualty
of Monday’s first round singles matches. The Slovakian,
ranked 18th in the world, lost 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to Russian Elena
Likhovtseva who will meet either Catalina Castano or Shenay
Perry in the last 16.
Britain’s Claire Curran won her first doubles match
alongside her American partner Shenay Perry, convincingly
beating Akiko Morigami (JPN) and Aiko Nakamura (JPN) 6-1 6-1.
However British number three Katie O’Brien went out
6-3, 6-1 to sixth seed and world number 14 Francesca Schiavone.
O’Brien started well and was looking good at three games
all in the first set but Italian Schiavone lost just one of
the next ten games in blustery conditions on Court One.
O’Brien said: “In the first set I was good but
in the second I made too many errors and gave it to her a
bit too easily. This time last year I was ranked around 320
in the world and now I’m at 235 so I hope to continue
to improve. It is good experience for me to play in the same
tournaments as the top players.”
Nathalie Dechy beat Shahar Peer 6-1, 6-4 to set up a second
round meeting with world number one Amelie Mauresmo, who is
looking forward to getting back on the grass courts. She said:
“I feel ok on the grass and it’s a surface I like
playing on. This tournament is good preparation for Wimbledon.”
Kim Clijsters is also keen to start the defence of her Eastbourne
title: “It’s good to be back on the grass and
it is fun to be here. Last year I was amazed by how good the
courts are at Eastbourne. I’ve been hitting the ball
well in practice but now it’s a matter of getting some
matches in.”
First day ticket sales at the event were the highest since
1996 despite the morning play being delayed slightly by rain.
Tennis fans flocked to Devonshire Park to see the top three
ranked players at Eastbourne for the first time since 1979.
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