Many of us had heard the name "Lapushchenkova," but had never seen the player until today, when she reached the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Anna Lapushchenkova is a 23-year-old Russian who plays right-handed, with a (serious) two-handed backhand. Lapushchenova began playing in ITF tournaments in 2002, but did not play regularly until 2005.
The new semifinalist has won ten ITF events, six of which were played on clay. She played in her first Sony Ericsson WTA tour main draw in 2007, and has continued to play in ITF tournaments. Lapushchenkova is ranked number 138 in the world; at the end of 2009, she was ranked number 172. Her career-high ranking was 95, which she attained in the summer of 2008.
In Stuttgart, Lapushchenkova has now defeated Olga Govorstova, 6th seed Victoria Azarenka and Lucie Safarova. She has also double-faulted 52 times--25 in her three qualifying matches, and 27 in her three main draw rounds.
She played brilliantly today. Boy, that backhand was a thing of beauty. The angles that she gets on that thing. She is fearless. Double fault, what double fault. She just reared up and went for it again. Confidence, what lack of confidence after losing the middle set with a breadstick. She went out there and gave her own bread stick. She was awesome today. First time I saw her play and it was unfortunate that all the fans left after Henin's match (boy that one deserves its own write up) but I enjoyed the matches today. Can Sam Stosur be any more of a sour puss. Good grief woman, at least smile after a win. She is just so mechanical. The match though with Henin and Jankovic just made my list of contenders for best match of the year. I saw some of the Brisbane match and did not think it was any good. But this match here in Stuttgart showed tennis at its finest. It shows how tennis can be played when you have 2 relatively healthy players who move as well as Jankovic and Henin do. It was great to see. For me the highlight of the match was just how Henin's aggressiveness seems to have toned itself down. She played aggressive but with margins for error. Neither player called a coach down court side. Awesome. Just loved it. Funny thing is neither of these ladies are my faves so it really allowed me to watch the match and just enjoy it as a fan. Pity it could not have been later in the tournament.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have seen more of the Henin-Jankovic match; what I saw was high quality. I was disappointed that JJ lost, however.
ReplyDeleteI got to see more of the Safarova-Lapushchenkova match. I actually found it quite entertaining. That backhand!
I've been around Stosur on many occasions, Karen, and she is a charming and rather open woman. She's just all business on the court.
I saw her in Warsaw qualifications few times ...
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