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| Capriati third seed to fall |
26 febbraio 2004
DUBAI - Duty Free Women's Open
Third seeded Jennifer Capriati's bid for a
comeback received a minor jolt when she crashed out 6-4, 7-6(2) to Greek
wild card Eleni Daniilidou even as top seed and World No.1 Justine
Henin-Hardenne booked her place in the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-5 win
against Selima Sfar in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open
yesterday.
Capriati was the third seed to fall by the
wayside in as many days, after sixth seed Francesca Schiavone had followed
the seventh Jelena Dokic in their first round encounters.
However, victory for Daniilidou did not come easily as Capriati staged a
valiant fight late in the second set only to go down in the tie-break.
"I would have loved to stay back here longer and that was one of the main
things that kept me fighting till the end," Capriati said after the match.
"But I am proud of what I have achieved and I am not too displeased with
myself as I think I am still very rusty," Capriati admitted.
The former World No.2, who has had her career highs and lows, had specially
chosen Dubai to make a comeback on the tour after spending the past three
months nursing a bad back.
"What I have is a degeneration in the back, so I guess I will have to
live with that," she said of her injury. "But I am really glad to be
back on court. I was giving it my 100 per cent, though my 100 per cent was
not just enough," Capriati added.
Daniilidou broke Capriati in the fourth game and another time towards the
end to take the first set 6-4.
In the second, the 21-year-old Greek with a ranking 30 places below Capriati's
No.5, was on course for the set and match at 5-3.
But Capriati fought back to save three match points and go clear at 6-5.
"I should have closed it out, but it never happened," Capriati said.
"The third set would have been too much and I doubt whether I would have
been able to handle it."
Daniilidou was thrilled at such a great against an illustrious opponent.
"I wanted to stay positive all the time. The top players don't give you many
chances, so my key was to stay aggressive," the Greek said as she prepared
to face eighth seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the quarters today.
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