Alexandra Fusai News

Alexandra Fusai News
Saturday 2/16/02
Well, the score was the same as yesterday, but today, unfortunately, Fusai/Vis were on the other side of the d. Oh well....
It was Husarova/Sanchez-Vicario d. Fusai/Vis 6-3, 6-3 in the Qatar TotalFinaElf Open Doubles Final in Doha today. Oh well....
Even so, being in the Final is where FV belong - now win a Final, FV!
It was a good week for Alexandra in Doha. Sure there was that 1st round qualifying loss, but it was to an obviously hot player, and shows that Alexandra has not at all "given up" on singles. That's good! Then there were three good doubles wins with Caroline, and a Final which was probably exciting and closer than the score implies. That's five good shows for the crowds, and, hopefully, much FUN for all concerned! Hooray for that!
Now it's on to the Dubai Duty Free Open in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Asia.
Out of consideration for Alexandra's playing in Doha today, Dubai put off her 1st round qualifying to tomorrow. The Dubai qualifying is a tough bunch of gals, though. Alexandra's 1st round will be the 2nd match on Court 4 (1st match starts at 10:30 am, Dubai time) vs. Su-Wei Hsieh, a good player currently ranked #150. The winner of that match then, "after suitable rest", plays Tathiana Garbin, the #4 seed, a very good player currently ranked #83.
I think it was Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, who famously said, "Let's play two!". I will modify that to: WIN TWO, ALEXANDRA! Then WIN SOME MORE!
And HAVE FUN!
(By the way, I think it is reasonable to expect some good Fusai/Vis action in Dubai, as well.....)
Friday 2/15/02
Alexandra and Caroline got another good win today in the Semi's, so it's Finals Time tomorrow in Doha, Qatar. YEA!
It was FV d. Mandula/Wartusch (handily!): 6-3, 6-3 in today's Semi. YEA!
My hunch is that it was more exciting than the score - I wish I could have been there!
Tomorrow's final will be the #3 seeds (FV) vs. the #2 seeded team of Janette Husarova/Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. HS have advanced strongly with a (somewhat odd) 1st round win over Su-Wei Hsieh/Angelique Widjaja (6-0, 6-7(3-7), 6-0), a win 6-1, 6-4 over Emmanuelle Gagliardi/Nichole Pratt in the Quarters, and an amazing Double-Bagel (6-0, 6-0) over Nadejda Ostrovskaya/Maria Alejandro Vento in the Semi.
Arantxa is, of course, one of the all-time greats, and although she has been a bit erratic lately (some personal sadness, it seems), she can still be mind-bogglingly awesome. And Janette seems white-hot - she plays Tamarine Tanasugarn in the Singles Semi's tomorrow.
So HS looks like quite a good team - but so is FV! I suspect both teams will be well-tested, and the crowd will see a very exciting and entertaining match.
WIN THIS TITLE, FV! WIN IT!
And HAVE FUN!
Thursday 2/14/02
Happy Valentine's Day, Alexandra!
I hope you had a HAPPY day today! I know you had a WINNING day today! YEA!
Yes, Fusai/Vis faced the Brit team of Pullin/Woodroffe today in Qatar Quarters - and Fusai/Vis won: 7-5, 6-4. YEA!
This looks like it was a Fusai-typical exciting and crowd-pleasing match, with Pullin/Woodroffe, who entered the Main Draw as "Lucky Losers" (then advanced with an impressive win over the Aussie team of McQuillan/Molik: 6-4, 6-0), fighting hard and playing well, but falling to the fighting harder and playing weller team of Fusai/Vis. As the Brits would say (and probably did): GOOD SHOW!
I hope it was GOOD FUN for all involved - and I suspect it was! Tennis is, first and foremost, a FUN GAME, eh?
The Semi's for Fusai/Vis will be vs. Petra Mandula (Hungary)/Patricia Wartusch (Austria).
Mandula/Wartusch (unseeded) have advanced impressively with a 1st round win over the #1 seeds Sandrine Testud/Roberta Vinci (last year's winners): 6-4, 6-3 - then, in the Quarters, a strong win over the two Tatianas, Panova/Poutchek: 6-0, 6-3.
So Mandula/Wartusch are "hot" - Fusai/Vis are the better team!
WIN, FV, WIN!
And HAVE FUN!
Tuesday 2/12/02
This week, Alexandra is at the Qatar TotalFinaElf Open in Doha, Qatar, Asia, playing singles and doubles.
Well, the singles didn't go too well - Alexandra lost to Roberta Vinci in 1st round qualifying: 6-2, 6-4. Oh well.... (Vinci then won two more rounds to qualify.)
Doubles are going well, however! Alexandra is teaming again with Caroline Vis, as she did at the AusOpen. This is a team with great potential!
In 1st round Main Draw doubles, Fusai/Vis (seeded #3) advanced with a nice 6-2, 6-4 win over Kim Grant/Abigail Spears. YEA!
For 2nd round, it will be Fusai/Vis vs. either the Brit team of Julie Pullin/Lorna Woodroffe or the Aussie team of Rachel McQuillan/Alicia Molik, probably Thursday.
Be my Valentine on Thursday, Alexandra! And WIN! (You win, too, Caroline!)
And HAVE FUN!
Friday 1/18/02
Well, it was real battle today in 2nd Round AusOpen Women's Doubles - Fusai/Vis vs. Boogert/Oremans - many long points, several deuces, and almost 2 hours total. But it was BO who got the win: 6-4, 6-2. Oh well.....
It went like this (FV served 1st): 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4, 3-5, 4-5, 4-6, 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 2-5, 2-6. Oh well.....
(For some reason, the match took place on Court 7, instead of Court 10, as originally scheduled, but that's no biggie.....)
In more detail: In the 1st set, FV were broken, probably at 30, then BO held at 15: 0-2. Then FV held at 15 (2nd chance), and BO held at 30 (1st chance). Then FV went down 0-30, but held with 4 straight points: 2-3. Then BO held at 15 (2nd chance), and FV again went down 0-30, but again held with 4 straight points: 3-4. Then BO went up 40-0, finally holding at 30 on their 3rd chance: 3-5. The next 2 games showed tremendous Spirit from FV, although it was ultimately futile. FV went down 0-30, then 15-40, then after 4 deuces, fighting off 5(!) set points, FV finally held on their 1st chance: 4-5. Then FV had a chance at 30-40 to put the set back on serve (their only break chance of the match, though), but BO took the set after 3 deuces on their 3rd chance (actually 8th chance): 4-6. Oh well....
In the 2nd set, FV was again broken at the start, at 30 (1st chance), then BO held at 15 (1st chance): 0-2. Then FV held through a deuce on their 2nd chance: 1-2. Two identically sequenced 1st chance holds at 15 produced 2-3. Then BO held through 2 deuces on their 3rd chance, and FV were broken at 30 (1st chance): 2-5. BO took the set, and match, with a 2nd chance hold at 30: 2-6. Oh well.....
It actually looked like Alexandra and Caroline played quite well, but Boogert/Oremans just played "weller". It happens.....
So this was not a great start to the 2002 season for Alexandra, but not a bad one either. Let's call it GOOD! Good because there was one very good match and two that were very hard-fought, largely throughout. There were clear indications that Alexandra's Heart and Spirit are still very much in the game, and that indicates that she is still very much enjoying the life. That's GOOD! That's GREAT!
Have a HAPPY, HEALTHY, and FUN 2002, Alexandra!
Thursday 1/17/02
Fusai/Vis are winners in Melbourne! YEA!
In 1st Round Main Draw Women's Doubles at the Australian Open, today, it was Fusai/Vis d. Inoue/Stephens 6-1, 6-4. YEA and WOW!
(For some reason, the match took place on Court 11, instead of Court 14, as originally scheduled, but that's no biggie.....)
It was almost like 2 matches - in the 1st set, FV played about like the best Doubles Team which ever existed, then the 2nd set was quite close and exciting.
It went like this (IS served 1st): 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1, 6-1, 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 5-4, 6-4. YEA!
In more detail: IS held at love, then FV won 6 straight games, as follows: a hold at love, a break at 30 (2nd chance), a hold at love, a break at love, a hold at 15 (1st chance), and a break at 30 (1st chance): 6-1. WOW!
In this 1st set, FV gave up only 1 point on their serve, scoring 24 points to IS's 9. It was all over in only 17 minutes.
But the match wasn't over yet - and the 2nd set was very different from the 1st - although it lasted only 26 minutes.
The 2nd set began nicely with a FV hold at 15 (1st chance), but then IS did likewise (2nd chance): 1-1. Then FV were broken at 15 (1st chance - possibly on a double-fault) putting IS up a break, 1-2, and serving for 1-3. OOPS! IS then had 3 chances for that hold, but FV got the break back after 3 deuces on their 1st chance: 2-2, back on serve. But then FV were broken again, in a progession identical to game #3 - at 15, 1st chance, possibly on a double fault. OOPS, again! Then FV got the break back, again, after a deuce, on their 1st chance (IS had one hold chance): 3-3, back on serve. Then FV went up 40-15 (2 chances to hold), but IS went up a break, again(!), after a deuce. FV then seemed to "shift gears", putting the set back on serve with a love break (4-4), then finally(!) holding at 30 (2nd chance, though): 5-4. IS then had to hold to stay in the match, but they had no chance - FV won it all with a break through a deuce on their 2nd chance. YEA! And WOW!
The way this match went may indicate some very good things: that FV are comfortable with (and capable of) being absolutely dominating, as well as being comfortable with (and capable of) repeatedly coming from behind to win a close and tough battle. Those are VERY GOOD THINGS!
Next for FV (2nd Round) will be vs. KristieBoogert/Miriam Oremans, both of The Netherlands (Caroline is from there, too, but that's okay). Boogert is 28-years-old and currently doubles ranked #67. Oremans is 29-years-old and currently doubles ranked #50.
So this FV vs. BO match looks like 4 veterans, all with fairly good rankings, but (seeded) FV will be favored over (unseeded) BO. That's GOOD!
It may be more like today's 2nd set, though, than like today's 1st set. But that's OK, probably.
WIN AGAIN, Fusai/Vis, WIN AGAIN!
And HAVE FUN!
Wednesday 1/16/02
Apparently because of a back injury to Meghann Shaughnessy, the #11-seeded team of Justin Henin/Meghann Shaughnessy has withdrawn from the Women's Doubles Main Draw and the formerly unseeded team of Fusai/Vis has been seeded #17 and moved into the spot vacated by Henin/Shaughnessy. I'm OK with that!
Because of this new seeding, the 1st Round opponents of Fusai/Vis has now changed from (unseeded) Dechy/Loit to (unseeded) Haruka Inoue/Shelley Stephens. I'm OK with that too!
Haruka Inoue, of Japan, is 24-years-old and currently doubles ranked #165. Shelley Stephens, of New Zealand, is 23-years-old and currently doubles ranked #137.
This team of Inoue/Stephens has the same "young yet experienced" aspect that the Dechy/Loit team has, but Inoue and Stephens have doubles rankings far inferior to those of Dechy and Loit. I'm FINE with that!
So Fusai/Vis will be even more favored than they would have been in a vs. Dechy/Loit match. GOOD! Even so, Inoue/Stephens are not to be underestimated - they can be DANGEROUS!
The match is scheduled for 10am tomorrow, on Court 14.
WIN, Fusai/Vis, WIN!
And HAVE FUN!
Tuesday 1/15/02
Statistical details of the 1st Round Qualifying AusOpen match (Cargill d. Fusai) have now been posted at the AusOpen website (www.ausopen.org). These details show some actually good things re:Alexandra (and some less good). Alexandra bested Ansley in winners (53 v. 38), but also in unforced errors (67 v. 20). (My take on these two pairs of numbers is that winners are fairly clear, but unforced errors are a judgement call - but not-unforced errors are winners, eh?) Alexandra had a bit of a double-fault problem (9 v. 1), but came to the net a lot (except in the 3rd set, it seems), with good results (37 of 55 v. 11 of 16). Also, Alexandra was great on break-point chances (4 of 5 v. 5 of 10). And my hunch is that many of Alexandra's "unforced errors" would have been "winners" in doubles (but singles isn't doubles.....). So: there were clear indications that Alexandra is on track for a good Singles year in 2002, with just a bit of "tweaking" perhaps. However, since Alexandra qualified last year, her singles ranking will now take a bit of a hit. No biggie......
(By the way: Ansley Cargill then went on to win 2 more rounds to qualify, and both were 3-setters, but neither contained a tie-break, and she took the 1st set in both - so it looks like Alexandra was her real challenge - until she lost quickly to Venus Williams in 1st round Main Draw. Good run, Ansley!)
Alexandra has teamed with a "doubles specialist", Caroline Vis, in Main Draw Women's Doubles, and has decided to skip Mixed, so it seems Alexandra still wants very much to be a real "player" at this AusOpen. That's good!
Caroline, of The Netherlands, is an obviously experienced (and very healthy and fit, I hear) 32-year-old, who has mostly played doubles these past several years. This looks like a good pairing, with Alexandra ranked #46 (but a much better player than that ranking!) and Caroline ranked #32. They are unseeded.
First round has Fusai/Vis vs. Nathalie Dechy/Emilie Loit (both of France, also unseeded). In doubles, Dechy is ranked #71 and Loit #58, so Fusai/Vis will be favored. Even so, both Dechy and Loit are smart and talented players, both 22-years-old (young yet experienced), so this may well not be an "easy" match for Fusai/Vis. It will probably be Thursday.
So WIN, Fusai/Vis, WIN!
And HAVE FUN!
Thursday 1/10/02
Well, it looks like it was a good workout for both players, and a great show for the crowd, but when the dust cleared it was Ansley Cargill d. Alexandra Fusai 6-7(5-7), 7-6(7-2), 6-3 in 1st Round Australian Open Qualifying today. Oh well.....
"Technical difficulties" made some of the match unclear to me, but in that portion of the match that I was able to get good details on (basically the first half) it looked like Alexandra played quite well. Yea for that, at least!
From what I could tell, it looks like it went like this (Cargill served first): 0-1, 1-1, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 3-3, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 5-5, 5-6, 6-6, (1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 5-3, 6-3, 6-4, 6-5, 7-5) 7-6, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 5-5, ?-?, 6-6, (2-7) 6-7, ?-?, 3-6. Oh well....
In more detail: In the 1st set, Cargill held sometime after 30-0, then Alexandra held sometime after 15-15: 1-1. Then Alexandra got a break at love for a 2-1 lead, up a break, but then Alexandra went down 0-30, came back to 30-all, but was then broken: 2-2, back on serve. A pair of love holds made 3-3. Then Alexandra again went up a break at 30 on her 1st chance, but then went down 0-30 again, then 30-40, and was broken back through a deuce: 4-4, back on serve. Cargill then held at 30 on her 2nd chance, as did Alexandra: 5-5. Then holds at 15 (1st chance) and 30 (2nd chance) brought 6-6.
In this 1st set, it is good that Alexandra seemed to show a good ability to get a lead, but not-so-good that she seemed to have difficulty keeping it. Alexandra had a clear lead twice - Cargill never really led. Also, it may be that both players were doing some occasionally erratic serving, although most points seemed very long.
In the tiebreak, Cargill served 1st, and was mini-broke, but then Alexandra was also mini-broke, then held for a 2-1 lead. Then Cargill was mini-broke again, and held, to put Alexandra up 3-2. Alexandra then held for 4-2, but was then mini-broke for 4-3: back on serve. Cargill then gave up two mini-breaks to give Alexandra triple-set-point, the first two on her serve. Well, Alexandra needed all three as she was then also mini-broken twice, putting the tiebreak back on serve: 6-5. Alexandra took the set with a mini-break of Cargill: 7-6(7-5). YEA!
This tiebreak was like the main part to this 1st set in that it showed Alexandra well able to get a lead, but having difficulty holding it. Alexandra led repeatedly, Cargill never did. But in the end, it looks like Alexandra's wonderful Spirit got her the set. Nice!
The 2nd set looked quite like the 1st, only more so, but not in a nice way. In the first game, Alexandra went down 15-40, but came back to hold through a deuce, then Cargill went up 40-30, but Alexandra got the break through a deuce for a 2-0 lead. Alexandra then went up 40-0, finally holding at 30, for a 3-0 lead. A hold at love by Cargill produced 3-1, then Alexandra went down 0-30, but 4 straight points and Alexandra was up 4-1 and seemed close to having the match bagged. But it was not to be....
At this point, perhaps mercifully for me, details became highly sporadic, apparently due to server problems in Australia. Cargill held and then Alexandra was broken, sometime after 15-40, to put the set back on serve: 4-3. Another hold by Cargill, and another break of Alexandra, this time sometime after 15-15, gave Cargill her first real lead of the match: 4-5. Then with Cargill serving for the set, Alexandra got the break back, through at least one deuce, to put the set back on serve: 5-5. Two games later, somehow, it was 6-6 and tiebreak time again.
Cargill took this 2nd set tiebreak 2-7, then the 3rd set 3-6, and thus the match. I have no details besides those numbers. Oh well.....
It may be that Cargill just "wanted it more". At least Alexandra made her work for it! And the crowd got a good show! And there are clear indications that Alexandra is playing with much Heart and Spirit, and good Singles successes will be coming soon. That's nice!
So now it's Doubles time! Win some Doubles, Alexandra!
And HAVE FUN!
Wednesday 1/9/02
Alexandra begins her 2002 tour with 1st Round Qualifying, tomorrow, at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Tomorrow, at 10am on Court 5, it will be Alexandra Fusai (seeded #24) vs. Ansley Cargill (unseeded) to determine which one advances to 2nd Round. I saw Cargill, a 20-year-old American currently ranked #230, have a good run at the USTA Kaelin/Diadora 10K here last spring, until she finally lost in the Final. She was fairly impressive - fit, fast, strong, and smart (but not particularly pretty, although her little sister Kristin is a bit of a stone fox). Ansley seemed like, well, "a tough cookie".
Even so, Alexandra is the better player (and far prettier!) - so WIN, Alexandra, and ADVANCE!
And HAVE FUN!
Tuesday 1/1/02
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Alexandra had quite a good 2001 - now 2002 will be a GREAT year for Alexandra! With MUCH FUN!
It looks like Alexandra will be skipping the Down-Under warm-ups and will begin the year with Aussie Open Qualifying.
WIN, AF, WIN!
And HAVE FUN!
(By the way, tonight I am posting AF History 2001, which is, as before, basically AF News reconfigured to forward chronology, instead of reverse. But, again as before, it has some revisions, edits, additions, and re-wordings, etc..... Check it out - click here!)
Go: to previous AF News: click here!