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Ashley is Off This Week

    There were even newspaper reports in Pittsburgh of Ashley playing this week in Pittsburgh but that isn't the case after all.  The paper clearly picked up on the entry list by the USTA.  Ashley was on that list until the last minute.  Looking over the draw it isn't as impressive as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette originally reported.  Amy Frazier ends up the number one seed.

Advanta Championships and More Upcoming Tournaments

    Ashley will face Elena Likhovtseva in the first round of the Advanta Championships in Philadelphia.  Should Ashley get by Likhovtseva, Megann Shaughnessy would likely be the second round opponent.  Ashley defeated Likhovtseva in their only meeting at Strasbourg earlier this year.  Elena was playing with a slight injury that finally forced her to retire in Strasbourg.  That should still play into Ashley's favor.  Once Ashley is confident against an opponent she usually continues to play very well against the opponent.  Ashley defeated Shaughnessy early this year at the Family Circle Cup.

    In other news Ashley is the number one seed at two upcoming USTA events.  Ashley is on the entry list for the tournaments in Pittsburgh, PA and Eugene, OR.  Ashley did very well at both these events last year.  Ashley could fall by about 10 spots in the rankings as points for these tournaments fall off in the next couple of weeks.  However if Ashley does well in Philadelphia look for her to pull out of these two tournaments.  She will need to go to at least the quarterfinals to gain close to the points she will lose in the following two weeks.  However if Ashley was to make the quarters in Philly and then go out and make a semi-final and a win at the $50K tournaments she could get back inside 40 in the rankings.  Winning both of these tournaments wouldn't be out of the question either and there is some tough competition in the draws of both tournaments, including players with wins over Ashley at WTA tournaments.

Tokyo Results

    Ashley missed out on a good opportunity to go to at least the semi-finals of a tier III WTA tournament on Thursday, losing to 215th ranked Zi Yan of China, 7-6, 6-4.  Obviously a close match but Ashley was unable to close the deal on Yan which would have set up a match with Jie Zheng also of China for a spot in the semi-final. 

    Ashley was on a collision course with what is starting to become a bit of a rivalry although largely one sided so far.  Ashley was on course to meet rising Russian star Maria Sharapova in the semi-final.  Many have billed these two as potential rivals playing against each other for tournament wins in the future.  Maria has won both professional match-ups and there last junior match up.  However Ashley has proven she can handle the Sharapova power.  Ashley pushed Maria to the maximum last year in Pittsburg finally losing 6-4 in the third.

    The match up failed to materialize after Ashley lost to Yan in the second round, possibly thinking to far ahead in the tournament.  Ashley got into the second round by defeating Maika Ozaki of Japan, 6-0, 6-0 in the first round.

Tokyo Is Next Up

    As many of you know Ashley lost in the second round to Barna in Shanghai.  Ashley defeated Anca in their only other meeting.  Anca has been on the rise right along with Ashley and got the win this time. 

    Ashley is now in Tokyo getting ready for the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships 2003.  It looks like Ashley will be seeded #3 at this tournament.  It will still be a tough draw with Sugiyama likely the number one seed.  The draw also fields Sharapova, Widjaja, Morigami, Gagliardi and Morariu.  You can follow the action at http://www.jpnopen.org/e/index.htm

Ashley Defeats Black in Shanghai

    Ashley got back in the win column defeating Cara Black 6-1, 6-4.  Ashley got off to a fast start and cruised for the win against a formidable opponent in Black.  Ashley will next face the winner of the Anca Barna v Yoon Jeong Cho match.  Ashley is 1-0 against Barna defeating her last year in the Bronx.  Anca was the number one seed.  Ashley has never faced Cho as a professional. 

    Ashley is also teamed up again with Jelena Dokic in doubles.  So far these two haven't played well together but they have Craybas and Cargill in the first round and that should be a win for what is unsuccessful team so far to date.

Ashley Plays Her Typical Game

    Ashley played "trademark" tennis in defeating Douchevina on the Grandstand stadium in the first match of the day on the opening day of the 2003 US Open.  Ashley turned in what may be her cleanest match of the year with only 9, yes count them, 9 unforced errors.  It kind of reminds you of Hingis just a bit, which is the exact kind of play many thought would take Ashley to the highest levels of the game.

    Ashley was also very proficient on her first serves punching in 71% and 56% of her second serves.  Ashley had two Aces and no Double Faults.  Ashley had 13 winners to Douchevina's 22 but the unforced errors made the difference.  Ashley broke Douchevina 5 times while only losing serve twice.  The one worrisome stat for Ashley in the match was in converting her break chances as she was only 5 of 18.  Douchevina was 2 of 5 in break chances.

    Ashley will have to improve her break conversion percentage against Zvonareva, her next opponent.  Zvonareva will convert at the pace Douchevina did but she won't offer as many chances to Ashley.  Ashley can beat Zvonareva but she will have to convert the break chances.  Zvonareva doesn't hit much harder than Ashley but she is very consistent.  Ashley however has a foot speed advantage over Zvonareva and we all know, "speed kills."

Ashley Plays at 11

    Ashley will play at 11:00 a.m. on the Grandstand Stadium.  She likely won't be the feature match on the USA network (in the states) but you may see excerpts of the first round match, especially if she is winning.  Ashley plays Vera Douchevina (RUS).  Vera has played very well lately and Ashley hasn't played much this summer.  Hopefully the one match last week was enough to knock the rust off her game.

Ashley Draws A Qualifier

    Well there's good news and bad news for Ashley today.  Ashley has drawn an opening round qualifier at the US Open.  That isn't all peaches and cream but she has to like having a golden opportunity to get her first round win at the US Open.  The down side is she could draw someone like Anna-Lena Groenefeld who is playing some top notch tennis right now.  Looking over the remaining qualifiers however doesn't put any kind of real fear in you if your Ashley I don't think.

    The second round will likely present Vera Zvonareva, a sure winner for television that day.  Now can Ashley be the winner of the match.  Vera is definitely on the rise, and is about a year ahead of Ashley in her rise to the top.  This match could play right into Ashley's hands however.  She won't be expected to win, and that is when Ashley can surprise an opponent. 

    Should Ashley get by Zvonareva, Ashley's first Grand Slam round of 16 is almost a guarantee.  Ashley's opponent in the 3rd round would likely be Shaughnessy.  That shouldn't be an obstacle to the round of 16.  There Ashley would find Clisters.  Another match sure to grace the television but likely where Ashley's run would end.  It would be a great run at this stage however.  With the tendonitis in her arm and a long layoff, to go to the round of 16 would be a great accomplishment at this year's Open for Ashley.

Ashley Loses In First Round at Pilot Pen (8/18)

    Ashley lost in the first round of the Pilot Pen Tennis Championships in New Haven, Connecticut.  Ashley lost to Tatiana Perebiynis 6-1, 7-6.  Perebiynis, replaced Stevenson in the draw when Stevenson pulled out due to an injury.  Perebiynis was a lucky loser.

    Ashley hasn't played in several weeks.  That obviously showed in the first set.  The second set was much closer at 7-6, showing Ashley was up to the challenge but just wasn't match tough. 

    Ashley has now lost five matches in a row.  The longest losing streak of her professional career.  Ashley seems to be going through an adjustment period just as she did when she turned pro a couple of years ago.  Ashley has proven she can play at this level, now she is just working on the long term transition.

Ashley is Back (8/17)

    Ashley is back on tour after taking a few weeks off to rest and recoup from some tendonitis.  The tendonitis was making it a little difficult to serve.

    Ashley has received a wildcard into the main draw of the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament being contested this week in New Haven, Connecticut.  Ashley will face Alexandra Stevenson in the first round.  The second round will be either Granville or Sugiyama.

Ashley is a Hit on Talk Shows (8/3)

    If you didn't see it, Ashley was a big hit on two national talk shows this past week.  Ashley made appearances on "The Best Damn Sports Show" and on the Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.  (You can read highlights to the former below.) 

    Ashley probably did her best job on Kilborn's show.  Ashley was great on both shows.  With Kilborn's who the second talk show appearance she ever made, she appeared a little more comfortable on her second talk show.  Why not, that is the natural progression of life.  More experience, equals better performance. 

    Improved performance is what Ashley's fans are waiting for on the courts.  It's not as if she hasn't improved already.  In fact as of the French Open she was the most improved player in regards to ranking on the whole WTA tour.  Ashley's fans are anxious to see Ashley continue to improve is all. 

    Look for Ashley to compete in a warm-up or two before the U.S. Open and I think you will see Ashley finally go a couple of rounds this year at the Open.  Who knows, depending on the draw, you may see more.  Ashley could use a bit of a friendly draw, just to gain more experience if nothing else.  Challenging the top ten on a regular basis will likely be left to Ashley for next year.

Ashley Makes Two Television Appearances (7/31)

   Ashley made her debut appearances on two different television shows this week.  Ashley appeared on a sports talk show as well as a general talk show.

    Ashley was on the Fox Sports Net show "The Best Damn Sports Show Period."  The show is a two hour show that talks about all sports in general.  This show isn't just a football, basketball and baseball show.  They talk all kinds of sports, including Tennis.  The lead in for Ashley was Patrick McEnroe.  Not a bad lead in at all.  Between segments they had a dummy set of of Ashley riding a waverunner and waving to the camera.  That's when you noticed the new hair style or more accurately, hair color.  Ashley now has a light brown hair color and a cut the surrounds her face a bit more than her old style.  It suits her very well.

    Naturally these guys had to compare her to Anna.  With the comparisons to Anna seemingly over a show of this magnitude can bring to the fore again.  On the opening, they did compare Ashley to Anna and Patrick McEnroe tried to defend her a little by stating that might not be fair, Ashley might not like it.  Well, Ashley handled it all very well and talked about what a compliment it is to be compared to Anna.  Anna is very pretty and she has been in the top ten where Ashley's main points.  Ashley is correct.  They were also the points Ashley usually makes when the subject of Anna comes up.

    They also talked about Ashley's fine spring and her clay court game.  Ashley said she is very steady on the clay.  Ashley also said that she thinks the thing she needs to do more is become a little more aggresive and come to the net more.  Ashley does have a good volley and she stated as much as well. 

    They talk then turned to Maria Sharapova and all her grunting.  Ashley said the grunting didn't bother her but on a particular serve she let it bother one time.  She said she thought the ball was hit much harder than it actually was because of the volume of the grunt.  Ashley said it caught her by surprise and she missed.

    The segment then wrapped up with Chris Rose (the host) commenting on the great job Ashley did on her very first talk show.  Ashley did handle herself very well.  She wasn't nervous at all and didn't lose her train of thought at anytime.

   

Bank of West and Acura are Next

    The next two tournaments for Ashley are the Bank of the West Classic and the Acura Classic.  The Bank of the West is up first.  This will be Ashley's first appearance at the Bank of the West Classic.  "In its 33rd year, the Bank of the West Classic is the oldest women-only tennis tournament in the world. The much anticipated move in 1997 to Stanford University established the Bank of the West Classic as the premier outdoor professional tennis tournament in the region."  The tournament will be contested July 21 - 27.

    There are nine top Americans playing including Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati.  Also scheduled to play is Anna Kournikova.  Ashley has recently been quoted as saying that Anna is one of the players she would most like to play.  Maybe she will get her chance at the Bank of the West Classic.

    The Acura Classic  immediately follows the Bank of the West Classic and is contested down in San Diego July 26 - August 3.  "The Acura Classic, now going into its 20th year, has announced that it has increased its total prize money to $1 million for the 2003 tournament, making it the largest Tier II professional women’s tennis tournament in the world. The 29% increase in prize money over last year’s $775,000 purse marks the biggest one-year increase in the event’s history. In a related announcement, tournament organizers also revealed that in 2004 it will move up to Tier I status on the WTA TOUR, becoming one of the 10 largest non-Grand Slam women’s tournaments in the world."

    Some of the top players are playing the Acura Classic.  They include Clisters, Henin-Hardenne, Venus Williams and Jennifer Capriati.  No word yet on if Anna Kournikova will appear. 

    These two tournaments are played on hard courts, Ashley's favorite surface.  The draw will determine just how far you can expect Ashley to go in these two tournaments to a degree.  You could see Ashley in the semi-final of the Bank of the West Classic.  A quarter final appearance would be very encouraging at the Acura Classic.  A disappointment would be a pair of first round losses.  That is probably unlikely unless she draws one of the top 8 in the first round of both tournaments.  After the top 8 at this stage of Ashley's development in her game she has the skill to step up and beat anybody out there right now.

    Ashley is working hard to improve.  Obviously improvement doesn't come overnight.  If she gets a break or two in the draws of these two tournaments you could see Ashley make another big step in her progress.  She has most of the physical skills needed.  Her second serve still needs some work and maybe a little honing of the ground stokes but overall she is right there on the verge of excellence.  Tournament play at this level is what she needs to continue to improve.  She will learn how to construct her points against the best players and she will be able to improve her mental toughness, which is probably one of the most difficult things women tennis players struggle to improve, even in the top five.

    Afterthoughts and the Future for Ashley

            Ashley and Wimbledon didn’t meet with a good result if you are a Harkleroad fan but that isn’t to say all the news is bad. 

            Ashley did have three losing streaks extended but that still doesn’t diminish her great spring and early summer.  Ashley was on the road for nine weeks for the first time in her professional career.  While that was exciting for her it did wear her down in the long run.  It was still a great experience and a good learning experience for her.  Now she just has to figure out how to regulate her play and her time off. 

            The unfortunate part for Ashley and all her fans is that she now has lost four matches in a row, three matches in a row to Maria Sharapova and four matches on grass including doubles matches

            All this really wasn’t all that unexpected by www.harkleroad.sport or many in the know when it comes to tennis.  A lot of the talk on the yahoo club page early in the spring was how Ashley would handle the early stress of becoming a full time WTA tour player.  The prediction here was that she was going to go to some semi-finals and she was going to go out in the first round a few times.  That is almost exactly what happened.  She went to some semi-finals early this spring and arguably should have made at least one final.  That is where experience comes in, in today’s tennis.  Ashley will make some finals and win some tournaments.

            Right now what she needs is some rest.  Nine weeks is a long time on an extended tour when you are on your first extended tour.  At the highest level of any sport, you can’t be down physically or mentally, even a little bit.  That is largely what happened to Ashley after the French open.  She may have even thought it was going to be easy, on a subliminal level.  In her interviews however she did say she was getting a little tired and ready to go home for a rest.

            In an interview with the British press she discussed the difficulty of the last nine weeks.  Realistically if you’re going to participate in the French Open and Wimbledon, how else do you accomplish any goals if you don’t go over for at least six weeks?   Well six weeks is less than nine weeks.  Jet lag does come into play if you are an American on the European tour. You don't want to fly back and forth too much.  The alternative would be to take some time off in the middle of the European tour and do some site seeing while you are there.  Just don’t play the entire time.  You also have to consider as a player all the tournaments from March to early July.  Once you get into the top twenty you can probably play only the tier I, tier II and the slams and have a successful spring. If you’re in the top twenty that is all you need to play.  It was exciting for Ashley to anticipate and go play all the tournaments she did play this spring.  Next year Ashley will be much wiser and more experienced and 2004 will be an even more successful spring.   

            Ashley clearly made some progress this spring.  She had some success and some failure.  The “failure’s” however probably taught her a lot more about what she needs to do to be even more successful in the future.

            The long-term prognosis for Ashley is still somewhat clouded however.  It’s not easy to pinpoint the exact reasons either.  There are still some questions to consider and Ashley still has some improvement to pursue. 

            It’s clear now that Ashley won’t just “show up” like Steffi, Monica, Jennifer and Martina “showed up.”  However, that doesn’t prove success.  Lindsay certainly didn’t just “show up.”   She had to work her way up.  Ashley is more on a similar path to Lindsay but certainly not exactly the same.  A lot of the reason is because of the rules the girls currently play under.  You can’t just go out and get experience in the “big leagues” like you could when Hingis was coming along.  It takes longer to develop players now because of the restrictions on age and the number of tournaments you are allowed to play.  Vera Zvonerava is a perfect example.  Ashley could follow in her footsteps so to speak.  Vera is going to be a top five player without a doubt.  She has only been on the tour full time for a year.  Look for Ashley to mirror Vera’s success in the end.

            Ashley has some skill improvements to work on.  She needs to work on some serving issues, especially the second serve and she needs to develop a “weapon” she can use against her opponents.

            She does have some foot speed and speed can make up for a lot.  Patrick McEnroe thinks her backhand can become a big weapon.  Mary Joe Fernandez also believes Ashley is the leader in the future of American women’s tennis. 

There are some other potential stars coming up through the ranks.  More than one of them is a big hitter.  Ashley has to learn how to defeat the big hitters on the fast surfaces.  Ashley will learn how to construct her points against the big hitters, that they can count on.

            If Ashley is going to be successful and reach the top five she is going to have to figure out how to defeat the power players on the surfaces that suit them.  Ashley does like pace, but she will need to figure out how to finesse the power players to reach her goals.  Martina Hingis figured how to beat the power players, but she has clearly burned out.  (Now you know why they have the “Capriati rule”)   Ashley has the skill to make the top twenty but the top five will all depend on figuring out how to defeat the power players of today’s tennis.

            Don’t worry however Ashley can do it.

                                    

Ashley and Vera Bow Out

    Ashley and Vera showed some spark but bowed out to Tian Tian Sun and Ting Li in three sets.  Sun and Li have played together a lot and this was the first time for Ashley and Vera.  Ashley and Vera however seem to make a formidable team all in all.  If they play together again and get to know each other you may have a very formidable team.  It reminds me a little of the "spice girls" even though the style of play is a bit different than Anna and Martina the team could be just as awesome.  We will see if they play together again.  www.harkleroad.sport thinks they should.

Ashley and Vera Move On

    Ashley is playing doubles with Vera Zvonareva (Rus) at the Wien Energie Grand Prix tournament in Austria.  Ashley and Vera faced Jelena Kostanic (Cro) and Angelika Roesch (Ger) in their first round match.  They had little trouble dispatching  the pair 6-1, 6-3.  Their next opponents will be Tian Tian Sun and Ting Li both of China.

    On Ashley's loss to Clarisa Fernandez some excerpts from VOA follow: 

American teenager Ashley Harkleroad was ousted very quickly from the first round of the Wien Energie Grand Prix women's tennis tournament in Vienna, Austria.

Harkleroad, 18, who had done well at the French Open, failed to win a game against fifth-seeded Clarisa Fernandez of Argentina, losing 6-0, 6-0.

Fernandez surprised the American with her serve-and-volley game and her strong serve, and dominated from the start. Fernandez will meet the winner of Tuesday's match between Anca Barna of Germany and Henrietta Nagyova of Slovakia.

Yikes! Ashley loses BIG

     Wow!  It doesn't happen very often but every now and then a good player goes out and just can't do it that day.  It recently happened to Barbara Schett and it just happened to Ashley.  Ashley lost a match and didn't even win a single game.  To add insult to injury she lost to a lower ranked player who hasn't played well at all this spring.  Ashley lost to Clarisa Fernandez 6-0, 6-0.

    If there is a reason for this www.harkleroad.sport does not yet know the answer.  You can always speculate.  Sometimes a player is just completely out of sync, and then they run into someone who is on top of their game that particular day.  A minor injury like say a blister on the hand could contribute to a loss like Ashley suffered today.  It's hard to say what did happen.  Ashley is playing doubles with Zvonerava and they should make a formidable team.  How Ashley plays doubles this week may shed some light on this loss.  Let's hope it was just a bad day and not an injury.

    All of Ashley's fans are and will be upset to see something like this happen.  At www.harkleroad.sport we hate to report it.  This is a fan site.  It's suppose to be about how well Ashley is doing.  We hate to report news like this.  However we are also confident Ashley will bounce back next week in Holland.

Ashley Had Good Success at the French Open

    Ashley lost in the third round to Magui Serna 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, however the French Open overall was a success for Ashley.  She was able to get to the third round of her first Grand Slam in which she didn't have to qualify or get in on a wildcard.

    Ashley had a two set win in the first round and then a very dramatic win against Daniela Hantuchova in the second round.  The latter match appeared to drain Ashley both physically and mentally and that wasn't a bad thing and not necessarily unexpected by some.  The win against Hantuchova will have long term positive affects, boosting Ashley's confidence.

    Ashley has only been eligible to play tennis full time for less than thirty days.  It takes a little time for an athlete moving up to the highest level to acclimate themselves mentally and physically, especially when their play has been restricted.  That appeared to be exactly what happened to Ashley against Serna in their third round match.

    Ashley looked a little tired in the second and third sets in her third round loss to Serna and in the interview afterward she even admitted as much.  Pam Shriver and Mary Jo Fernandez of ESPN, talked at length about adjusting to the WTA tour on a full time basis.  Ashley has really only been on the tour since the Family Circle Cup of this year.  She has played a WTA event every now and then but it was in Charleston S.C. where she really began her full time participation on the tour. 

    Ashley's success at Charleston propelled Ashley to the next level as she went all the way to the semi-finals in what many have dubbed her "coming out tournament."  Ashley is continuing to have a "coming out year."  The French Open only solidified the fact.  The success at The Family Circle Cup in Charleston boosted both her confidence and her ranking.

    In the next six months Ashley will learn to adjust to the mental and physical grind of the WTA. She will learn to play at the next level.  Ashley always has been able to raise her game each time she has moved up the tennis ladder.  So far she has done exactly that at the highest level. 

    Some critics have suggested that Ashley doesn't have a weapon.  That isn't quite true.  She has always had speed and speed above all is the great equalizer.  In addition and according to Pat McEnroe she has a shot that will develop into a weapon and that his her backhand.  She hits it hard and precise and when she takes the ball on the rise she can punish an opponent with the shot.

    Is it all glory?  Not quite yet.  She learns well and trains hard.  She does have a couple of things to continue to work on if she is going to complete the rise to the top ten.  Ashley needs to continue to work on her fitness, which is much improved, there were times in the past when she has talked about another player being able to outlast her.  She needs to continue to develop the backhand that will prove to be a weapon.  Finally she needs to work on her second serve.  The second serve is a typical weak point for a lot of players but if she can improve her second serve she'll be able to win extra points compared to her opponents during a match. 

    Ashley's goal is the top five and she has the work ethic, if she continues to improve, she can reach her goals.

 

Ashley Get Dramatic Win

    Ashley proved today to the rest of the world what her “diehard” fans already knew about her; she is resilient, tenacious and a fighter on the tennis court.  Ashley’s competitive spirit is such that she is very rarely “out” of a match.

    There are plenty of places on the internet where you can find the physical details of the match.  The mental details are the true story to the match Ashley played against Daniela Hantuchova in the second round of the French Open.

    One of the first things any tennis observer should notice about Ashley is the fight she puts up on the courts.  There have been several examples since Ashley turned pro in early 2001 where Ashley has shown the mental toughness to win at the highest level.  Charleston may have been the breakout tournament for Ashley, backed up in Strasbourg but Ashley’s match against Hantuchova may have been the break through match to the highest level. 

    Ashley is now only 2-5 in 3 set matches this year but all of those matches are on the learning curve to the next level.  The stat may be a little misleading.  It is very rare that Ashley loses in straight sets.  That stat fact may be a window to Ashley’s fighting spirit on the tennis court.  You can have Ashley down but the match isn’t over.

    Wednesday’s match against Hantuchova proved what some have already known.  After taking the lead in the third set 5-1, Ashley began to tighten up losing two games while serving for the match.  While Ashley had shown brilliance winning matches she wasn’t suppose to win early in her career she has also shown a tendency to tighten up at critical points in a match, something that is nothing more than human nature.  As Ashley began to tighten in the third set you wondered how it was going to turn out and if she lost and how it would affect her mental attitude for the long haul. 

    However if you have followed Ashley at all you know she has been in tougher situations and pulled it out.  You were hoping for similar results again.  Ashley ended up going down 6-5 in the third with Hantuchova serving for the match.  During the change over Ashley broke down and cried in her towel, heartbroken that she had squandered such a big lead, but she hadn’t given up. 

    Ashley came out down 6-5 and broke Hantuchova to tie the match at six all.  She then held to retake the lead at 7-6.  After Hantuchova tied it at seven, Ashley finally won the next two games to win the set 9-7 and ultimately the match 7-6, 4-6, 9-7.  After nearly giving the match away, Ashley pulled herself together for arguably the best win of her career to date.

    Mary Jo Fernandez pointed out on ESPN2 that it may actually have been worth it to give up the big lead and have to press and fight to tie the match.  Mary Jo’s statement points exactly to the ingredient needed to win at the highest levels.  You have to be able to close out matches.  There is only one way to learn how to get over that mental hurdle and Ashley cleared that hurdle with flying colors on Wednesday. 

    Ashley showed her tenacity and more importantly proved to herself that she could close a match against a top ten player.  She also proved to herself and the world that she could fight back from adverse conditions to pull out a match.

See the News Links page for match details.

 

Ashley Wins 1st Match at a Grand Slam Event

    Ashley wins her first round match in 90 minutes 6-4, 6-2.  The first set took 52 of those minutes when it looked like it would be over in thirty minutes.  Ashley jumped out to a 3-0 and 4-1 lead before Obata decided to make a match of the contest.  Ashley was serving to go up 5-1 when she lost the game at 15 and it was 4-2 instead.

    Ashley then broke at love to go up 5-2 but was broken right back at love to see it go to 5-3.  Obata then held serve for the first time in the match to make it 5-4.  The tenth game Obata push it to deuce twice before Ashley finally held serve for only the second time in the set and she held on to win the set 6-4.

    The second set started off with both players holding serve for the first three games and Obata was up 2-1.  Ashley then served in the fourth game and it went to 30-30 when Ashley apparently decided to turn up the heat.  She won the next two points to hold serve and make it 2-2.  That was nothing special on the surface to the casual follower.  However, the next game Ashley broke Obata at love then held at love to win ten points in a row and a 4-2 lead.

    The next game Ashley won at 15, winning 14 of 15 points.  Obata then served to stay in the match but it wasn’t to be as Ashley won another 4 of 5 points and 18 of 20 to win the set (6-2) and the match.

    Daniela Hantuchova is next.  Daniela gave up a set to Jidkova before she reeled off twelve of thirteen games to take the match.  Daniela won’t be caught by surprise by Ashley this time around but look for Ashley to move on against Daniela.

Ashley Loses in Three Tight Sets

    In a match filled with double faults by both players, Ashley fell to Silvia Farina Elia in three very hard fought sets.  Ashley got out to her typical one set lead at 6-2 only to see Farina Elia even the match winning the second set 6-3.

    The heart breaking news for Ashley's fans is the third set.  Ashley was up 5-3 and serving for the match.  Silvia Farina Elia wasn't finished yet.  She broke serve, won the game along with the next three games to go on to take the set 7-5.  One can only speculate that Ashley must have become a little nervous while serving for the match.  It's kind of typical in women's tennis.  Only experience will help Ashley overcome the nerves.  This was the first time Ashley was in a position to serve to go to her first WTA final.  You almost have to assume nerves cost Ashley the match.

    The French press is something to discuss.  On reading the reports of the match out of France, they were decidedly pulling for the Italian.  Farina Elia is the two time defending champion but the feeling to www.harkleroad.sport was more of "we are pulling against the American." 

Ashley Downs Loit in the Quarters

    Ashley jumped all over Emilie Loit in the first set 6-1 but then fell behind in the second set 4-2.  That was ok because Ashley then won the next four games to take the set and the match 6-1, 6-4.

    Ashley will make her second semi-final showing this year.  Her last semi-final was Charleston where she lost to Henin-Hardenne who went on to defeat Serena to win the Family Circle Cup. 

    Ashley has had another strong week just as she did in Charleston.  The key seems to be getting off to a good start at the beginning of the match.  During the course of Ashley's young career that seems to be the one little nemesis that shows up from time to time.  If Ashley can get off to a good start she will be in the entire match even if she ends up losing.  It really isn't rocket science however.  It's typical of a lot of tennis players.  A slow start against a good player may be the only opening the opponent needs.

    Ashley will face Silvia Farina Elia in the semi-final.  Farina Elia defeated Anastasia Myskina of Russia 6-2, 6-3.

Ashley Handles Likhovtseva

    Ashley seemed to easily defeat Elena Likhovtseva 6-3, 5-0 when Elena finally retired with a sore shoulder.  That sets up a rematch with Emilie Loit on her home turf. 

    It appeared at the Family Circle Cup, that Ashley and Emilie were going to split sets when Emilie pulled a quad muscle and was unable to continue the match.  Ashley was down 4-2 in the second set but the match still felt as if it was in Ashley's control.  A couple of errors at the perfect junction of the set put Ashley down but she was back in control and seemingly on the come back in the set when Emilie was injured.

Ashley Defeats Callens

    Ashley appeared to have a relatively easy match against Els Callens (BEL) winning 6-2, 7-5 with a late break giving Ashley the second set.  Ashley will face Likhovtseva in the next round.  That will probably be a three set affair.  Ashley can win this match but Elena has been known to step up and defeat some of the best.  However Ashley has obviously done the same just recently.

    Ashley then played doubles with Marissa Irvin where they lost in straight sets to the French pair, Marion Bartolli and Caroline Dhenin.  Marissa hasn't played very good tennis this spring and it came back to bit Ashley's doubles chances in this tournament.

Callens is First Up

    Ashley's first round opponent is Els Callens (BEL) currently ranked 64th.  Callens won't be an easy task for Ashley, she has beaten some pretty good players.  Ashley was originally in the qualifying draw and was to be the number one seed until a pull out bumped her up into the main draw. 

    Ashley's half of the draw has some potentially interesting match-ups.  If she gets by Callens she will likely then face Likhovtseva, whom with Ashley played World Team Tennis last year for Sacramento. 

    There are also potential match ups with Dementieva and Myskina if Ashley can win some rounds.  A potential rematch with Loit if she can get by Dementieva is also a possibility. 

    Check the Current Events page for some more notes and handicapping.

Strasbourg is Next

    Ashley's next tournament is in Strasbourg, France.  The draw sheets showed her as the number one qualifier but one pull out will put her into the main draw.  No word yet on doubles.  She didn't play doubles in Italy.

    Ashley is also on the players list for Eastbourne and a tournament in the Netherlands that are contested the same week..  She is listed in the main draw at the Netherlands tournament and in the Qualifying draw in Eastbourne.

Ashley Loses in 3 Sets to Dechy

    Ashley got out to a great start winning the first set 6-1 but was unable to hold on to that momentum in the second or third set.  Who knows what happened in the minds of the two players but this looks like it may have been Dechy stepping up after getting surprised in the first set and Ashley may have just been a bit over confident after the easy first set.  After then losing the second set it may have been to difficult to get back on track mentally for the third set.  This is all speculation of course but it is typical in tennis.  The good news out of this is that continuing to play the tougher opponents and playing them to 3 sets will only raise Ashley's game.

    Look for Ashley to slip some in the rankings next week.  She was defending some points from Sea Island but not that many.  She may fall only one or two spots. She already slipped to #57 as players shuffled up and down the rankings after the tournaments last week. She did move up a spot in doubles for the same reason.  However once again she will slip next week after winning doubles last year with Tanner Cochran in Sea Island.

Ashley Qualifies

    Ashley has qualified for the Italian Open by defeating a local wildcard and a clay court player.  Ashley defeated Nathalie Vierin (ITA) 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying.  The next round saw 81st ranked and Spaniard Maria Sanchez Lorenz.  Ashley was able to defeat Sanchez Lorenz in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

    The main draw is out but the qualifiers haven't been placed in the draw as of this report.  There is a portion of the draw that is wide open for Ashley.  She could easily get to the quarter finals in the top of the bottom half of the draw.  The top half of the draw has a slot that could get her to the quarters through Hantuchova but Gagliardi would be the first round opponent.  That could be a tough task, although Ashley still has only lost to one player twice in a row.  She just may be up for that match.  Check back later for a look at the draw and www.harkleroad.sport will break it down for you.  

Italian Open

    Ashley is seeded 4th for the Italian Open qualifying.  She will face Nathalie Vierin (ITA) an Italian wildcard ranked 162.  A win in the first round would put Ashley in a qualifying match against either Anastassia Rodionova (RUS) or 18th seeded Maria Sanchez-Lorenz (ESP)

    Here in lies the danger for Ashley.  Ashley had played well on the red clay in the past but she has also suffered against the clay court specialist out of Spain.  Ashley definitely has to step up in  qualifying in this tournament.  It's pretty much an assumption she'll get past Vierin but if Sanchez-Lorenz shows in the qualifying match, that will be a true test.

    Ashley plays pretty well on the green clay in the U.S. and she went all the way to the finals on the red clay in Paris last year beating three of the top five seeds.  Ashley has however, not faired as well against the red clay specialist out of Spain.  She lost early in Mexico this year to Arantxa Parra (ESP) in straight sets on the red clay.  Ashley rarely loses in straight sets.

    Ashley made a big move at the Family Circle Cup.  There is one thing about Ashley.  When she is confident she plays very well and can beat just about anybody at this stage of her career.  She proved that at the Cup.  What Ashley has to do is concentrate and focus at the Italian Open to make the next step.  Even if Ashley qualifies and loses in the first round it will be a successful tournament for her if she faces and gets past Sanchez-Lorenz to qualify.

    Ashley also stands to lose some ranking points in the next ten days.  She went to the final in Sea Island, GA. USA, last year at this time.  Ashley needs to make the second round of the main draw at the Italian Open to maintain her ranking at 56.  That actually may improve her ranking but simply qualifying and losing in the first round will cost her 3 to 5 spots in the ranking, depending on others and how well they do and points they have to defend.

European Swing

    Ashley is off to Europe for several weeks of tennis.  You can look for Ashley at several tournaments in Europe this spring and summer.  Look for her first at the Italian Masters in Rome the week beginning May 12th.  After Rome Ashley will be off to Strasbourg, France for the Internationaux de Strasbourg.  That is the week of May 19th.

    Next is the French Open.  Ashley is in the main draw, obviously.  What she needs here is a little bit of luck in the draw.  If she can avoid a top seed and/or a clay court specialist early on, look out.  When Ashley gets confident on clay she is hard to beat.  Clay isn't her favorite surface but she always seems to play well on clay.  Last year she went to the girls finals of the French Open and had points to go up a break on Angelique Widjaja in the third and final set.  Widjaja hung on for the win but Ashley beat 3 of the top 5 seeds and the Astrid Bowl winner all in a row. 

    After a week off it's off to Eastbourne and the Wimbledon tune up.  Then on to Wimbledon the following week.  Ashley has played well on grass in the past.  Two years ago she won Wimbledon girls dubs with Gisela Dulko.  The powers that be thought so much of Ashley's play on grass they actually seeded her #1 in girls singles in 2001, ahead of higher ranked juniors. 

Good Luck in Europe Ashley.

Ashley Move Up to #56

    Ashley moved up 45 spots this week to #56 in the world on a great run at the Family Circle Cup.  Ashley went all the way to the semi-finals before finally bowing out to eventual champ Henin-Hardenne.  The great benefit to this achievement is that it will help Ashley's confidence as well as allowing her to play just about any tournament she wants without going through qualies.

    This will keep her in the top 100 for the next year.  Even if she struggles at some tournaments early on after turning 18 the experience of playing the WTA tour will only help her improve.  You should expect her to go at least a round or two and maybe even go out in the first round once or twice but between now and the US Open expect to see her improve her game and maybe even make another semi-final or two.

Ashley's Great Run Ends

    Ashley's great run at the Family Circle Cup finally came to an end today, losing to Henin-Hardenne 6-2, 6-1.  Ashley did play better than the score indicated but a clay court specialist and probably the best mental tennis player in the game right now was too much for Ashley on this day. 

    Ashley showed some signs of brilliance herself making some excellent passing shots and constructing some points of her own only to see and unforced error ruin all her work.  Ashley also made Justin work for her points.  She made Justin win the points and make the shots, it wasn't just one or two strokes and the point was over.  A lot of points went 8 or 10 or even 12 strokes before they ended.

    Ashley's run in doubles also ended today.  Ashley and Mashona Washington drew the number one seeds and the number one team in the world.  They did win five games but Ruano-Pascual and Suarez only lose to two other teams, The Williams Sisters or Kournikova/Hingis.  With Hingis retired that only leaves the Williams to beat these two right now and they tend to only play doubles at the slams.  Ashley teamed up with Maria Sharapova to take a set from these two at the Nasdaq last month a mini victory of its own.

    Check back in a couple of days for more updates and links.  There are a couple of articles to post from the Charleston Newspaper but they won't be posted here for a day or two.  Also check out the op ed, "Harkleroad Breaks Out" from the Hayes Report.

Harkleroad/Washington in the Doubles Semis

    Ashley and Mashona Washington won a tight match against Martina Narvralitova and Alicia Molik to get into the semi-finals of the Family Circle Cup.  Ashley and Mashone seemed to come alive during the second set against Hopkins and Jidkova and have blasted their way into the semi-finals.  After splitting sets at four and finding themselves even at four all in the third, Ashley and Mashona took the last two games to win the match over a very tough doubles opponent.

Ashley POUNDS Hantuchova

    Ashley has done it again!  Ashley has beaten her third top twenty player in three days.  To top that off Ashley teamed up with Mashona Washington to blast past Daniela Hantuchova and Jelena Dokic in two sets yesterday. 

    Ashley only lost 3 games to Hantuchova and since round one has only lost 11 games in three matches.  Ashley lost 8 games in her first match to Loit before Loit had to retire with a quad injury.  Ashley was clearly in control of that match even though she trailed in the second set.  Since that point however, no one has even threatened Ashley.

    However the turning point to this tournament may have come in her first doubles match with Mashona Washington against Jennifer Hopkins and Alina Jidkova.  The match started on Monday and Ashley and Mashona did not look good at all.  Hopkins was dictating the match.  Then the rains came, and the match was postponed until the following day after Ashley's match with Loit.

    Hopkins and Jidkova went on to finish off the first set 6-4.  Then all of the sudden Ashley and Mashona went on a tear and ripped through Hopkins and Jidkova 6-0 and 6-2 in the final two sets.  They literally blasted them off the court.  This reporter noticed something during that match:  some very big smiles from Ashley during the third set.  She was having a blast out there and it was obvious.  Later she went on to state in a interview that this was her last tournament until she was 18 and that she was here just to have fun at this point. 

    Ashley is very aware of where she is in her career and knows there is still work ahead to reach her goals.  However participating in your last tournament at 17 and recognizing, that the next couple of years are going to be a lot of work to get to the goal, why not have fun?  That may be the key.  Ashley has nothing to lose.  This reporter has witnessed Ashley in this circumstance before.  She went all the way to her first final that time.  Ashley is the unknown commodity and I think she relishes the circumstances.  Ashley almost always wins when she is not suppose to win.  She is very self confident and when Ashley is confident, you better be on your best game.

    One little hint to Ashley - keep it on Serena's backhand and you may surprise the Tennis World.

    As of today Ashley should jump up to at least #58 passing junior nemeses Angelique Widjaja and Marion Bartoli to mention two.  That also puts her higher in the rankings than that Russian, some people like to compare her too.  (She may go even higher because several players in the 50's have some points to defend this week and they didn't defend them very well.)

Ashley Blasts Past Shaughnessy

    Ashley came up with probably her best win ever on Thursday.  Although she defeated 16th ranked Bovina the previous day, defeating 20th ranked Meghann Shaughnessy was a much more impressive win. 

    Ashley defeated Shaughnessy in straight sets 6-2, 6-2 and defeated her 2nd top twenty player in as many days.  Until this week the highest ranked player Ashley had defeated was Anne Kremer, at the time ranked 25th in the world. 

    This is the last tournament Ashley can play until May when she turns 18 and she is taking full advantage of it.  In an interview posted on Excite.com she said "I was saying lets just go here and play tennis."  Playing tennis is exactly what she is doing.  She seems to be totally carefree at this tournament.  It's showing on the court.  No nerves to hold her up right now. 

    During a first round doubles match she was all smiles, and was clearly having fun with her partner Mashona Washington as they blasted Hopkins/Jidkova off the court in the final two sets after a slow start in the first set.

    Check out the article at http://sports.excite.com/news/04102003/v3824.html

    Also check out: Harkleroad Breakthrough Tournament

Ashley Has Picked UP Two Wins at the Family Circle Cup

    Ashley has picked up two quick wins at the Family Circle Cup and to some it's not a surprise.  With her new training and diet routine and her already high work ethic wins should come along naturally.  In an article earlier this year her new training and diet were mentioned as reasons you should begin to see progress in Ashley's game at the WTA level. 

    Well at the Family Circle Cup Ashley is reaping the rewards.  Ashley has advanced to the third round to face Meghan Shaughnessy.  To get to Shaughnessy she had to beat 51st ranked Emilie Loit and then 16th ranked Elena Bovina.  Bovina is now the highest ranked player Ashley has ever defeated.  Previously it was Anne Kremer in another, apparently easy win early in the year in New Zealand.  Kremer was ranked 25th at the time.

    Ashley defeated Loit 6-4, 2-4, (RET) as Loit had to pull out with an injured quadricep muscle.  Ashley led 5-2 in the first set before Loit rallied to make it close.  In the second set a couple of inopportune errors gave Loit a 4-1 lead.  However Ashley was in command on most points and was pushing Loit to deuce on all her service games.  You just had a sense that although down in the set Ashley was still in control of the match.  Loit just couldn't move on the leg she injured during the 6th game of the second set.  Ashley came back from 40-0  twice to force deuce and won one of those games.  For those of you who don't remember, Emilie Loit took Serena to three sets in the Australian Open.

    Bovina didn't really put up much of a fight as Ashley easily won 6-2, 6-2 to force the showdown with Shaughnessy.

Ashley Gets A Wildcard in The Family Circle Cup

    Ashley received a wildcard to play in the Family Circle Cup, contested April 5-13 in Charleston, SC.  The Family Circle Cup has a lot of heritage with women's tennis.  It was one of the first corporate sponsored tournament as well as being one of the first tournaments other than the Grand Slams to be televised.  The prize money is 1.3 million and it is a Tier I tournament.

    The draw is set to be released during qualifying on Saturday, April 5th.  Look here or at the Family Circle Cup website to see where Ashley landed in the draw.  www.familycirclecup.com

    Other items of note:  Ashley was on the cover of Florida International Magazine for March as listed in the next news brief.  One of the ironic items about this was that in March 2002 Anna Kournikova was on the cover.  People like to compare the two, if for nothing else but their good looks.  It seems that Ashley is drawing some of the same attention that Anna does.  One thing about Ashley however, I don't think she will be accused of letting the limelight distract her tennis.  It's not that Anna has, but Anna does garner extraordinary attention that makes it look as if she lets it get in the way.  The WTA loves Anna however because she puts people in the stands.  Ashley has that kind of drawing power and not just because of her looks.  If Ashley can elevate her game, you'll go to see her play, much like many just wanted to see Steffi play. 

Ashley is on the cover of Florida International and the March USTA Magazine

Ashley was on the cover of two magazines in the month of march.  She's on the cover of Florida International Magazine (pictured) as well as the USTA March/April issue for members of the USTA only.  She is also featured in the USTA tournament magazine.  The tournament magazine is handed out free at each USTA event throughout the year.  She was featured last year and is again this year along with her good friend Ally Baker.  You can pick one of these up by attending any local USTA/ITF tournament in your area.

Fun Stuff

    Ashley didn't fair to well in her second round qualifying match.  When you look at the stats it was a bit of a strange match.  Very few unforced errors by both players and very few winners.  There wasn't even a lot of double faults.  Sets were long, too.  Without being there it appears that it was a toe to toe slugfest.  It was probably fun to watch no matter who won.  Alas however Ashley went down in a third set tiebreak to Anastassia Rodianova (RUS) in three sets, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3)

    Talking with some internet tennis junkies a couple of points were made.  Ashley hasn't had a lot of match play this spring and has lost early a couple of times when she did play.  This fact is probably why she is not doing as well as we all had hoped early this year.  The Jennifer Capriati rule comes back to bite.  However, Ashley will be 18 in May and she can then play all the tournaments she wants.  I think she was pretty wise when she said it will take her until she is 20 to really make a splash on the WTA tour.  She may do it sooner, but that is a reasonable and reachable goal she set for herself.

    Now for the really fun stuff.  Ashley is teamed up with future superstar Maria Sharapova in doubles.  This really ought to be fun.  If they can play well together right away, they could make some noise in this tournament.  That leads me to the really, really fun stuff.  They have the world #1's in the first round.  Ashley and Maria will face Paula Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascaul in the first round.  Ashley and Maria have a chance against these two if they can gel quickly in their play together.  They could simply over power Paula and Virginia.  One thing is for sure.  It will be fun to watch.

Ashley Opens NASDAQ-100 With A Win

    Ashley opened qualifying with a win at the NASDAQ-100.  After two straight losses in her last two matches she finally pulled out what appeared to be a relatively easy win.  Ashley defeated Olga Barabaschikova (BLG) in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 for the win.

Where is Ashley?

    Well for those of you who Ashley on a regular basis, you may be wondering what's up?  That's a good question.  Ashley didn't fair well in Mexico and she hasn't played much during the late winter at all.  Now you're trying to figure out where she will be next, right?  Good questions all.

    Well www.harkleroad.sport doesn't have all the answers.  However we do have a few ideas and possible suggestions.  January was a busy month for Ashley but since then we have hardly seen her.

    Here is the speculation; Ashley is still only seventeen years old.  She is restricted in the amount of tournaments she can play.  She skipped a couple of ITF's that she played early last year to play in Mexico.  That probably was a good choice at this stage in her career except that she didn't fair well in Mexico.  It was a tier III event and would have helped her rankings to further her career had she played well.  That's ok, it was only one tournament and when you size up what happened in Mexico, you understand.  In the long haul however Ashley will have to do better against the specialist and the surfaces tennis at times offers.

    The last two years Ashley has received wildcards to the NASDAQ-100.  Not this year.  The players list is out.  The last accepted player was at 75 in the rankings and the wildcards have been passed out.  Ashley's good friend Ally Baker received one of those wildcards.  Sarah Taylor, #86 in the rankings also received a wildcard and Sarah is a good measuring stick for Ashley at this stage of her career.

    That leave speculation as the only means of deciding when we will see Ashley play next.  However that seems to be easy speculation.  Ashley is at the point in her career where she is going to have to start proving her skills on the professional level.  No more wildcards, after all she is in the top 100.  Wildcards may still come along but they won't be passed out to the "junior" on the rise.  Ally Baker will command those wildcards now.  She isn't the local favorite like Sarah Taylor is in Miami.  That means that Ashley will have to qualify.  Miami is in close to Ashley's back yard.  We at www.harkleroad.sport think you'll see her in Miami.  However, we also believe you'll have to see her qualify.

    So what does it all mean?  It's all good!  Qualifying at this point will be good for Ashley.  It will give her experience, hone her mental toughness and it will help her out in the rankings.  www.harkleroad.sport expects to see her to attempt to qualify for the NASDAQ-100.  Good Luck Ashley!

Ashley Slips Back to 100

    After not fairing to well on the red clay down in Acapulco, Ashley's ranking slipped just a bit back to #100.  She only had a couple of points at risk this past week and didn't gain but a point back down in Acapulco.  However those around her in the rankings faired a little better this past week and a couple of players moved up ahead of Ashley. 

    Ashley doesn't have points to defend until the NASDAQ and that is minimal points as well as she lost there in the first round last year.  Ashley is still limited to the under 18 rule until May.  www.harkleroad.sport expects her to defend points at risk from last year due to the under 18 rule.  However that is purely speculation.  The NASDAQ and Dothan are the only two tournaments she has to defend points plus they are the only two that will drop off the tournaments played involved in the under 18 rule.  This rule is a little confusing but www.harkleroad.sport believes that is the way it will play out in the end.  Ashley will virtually be obligated to play those two tournaments to defend points although she could opt out of the NASDAQ and play either Amelia Island or Charleston.  Both those tournaments are on clay however and Ashley does prefer hard courts so expect to see her only at the NASDAQ and Dothan until may.  Also Dothan may be the last ITF event you will see Ashley play.  If she keeps improving as she has been, don't expect her on the ITF circuit after Dothan.

Red Clay Bounces Ashley

    While it's hard to say from a distance, speculation at this website is that Ashley ran into all the clay court specialist in both her first singles and doubles matches.  Ashley was ranked much higher than Arantxa Parra (ESP) at the same time Ashley and Gagliardi where ranked higher than their doubles opponents Serna (ESP) and Zuluaga (COL)  However all three opponents grew up on the red clay and two of them where from Spain, which is famous for producing clay court players.

    Gagliardi from Switzerland and the heir apparent to Martina Hingis, as well as Ashley grew up playing more on the hardcourts.  It's easy to speculate that Ashley didn't play well.  However, that is probably not be the case.  It may have simply been the Spaniards having the advantage on the red clay which is much different than the green clay Ashley is used to playing on in the States.  Ashley says her favorite surface is the hardcourts and speculation abounds about rebound ace ultimately being Ashley's best surface but make no mistake, Ashley can play on the green clay. 

    Ashley's game resembles Hingis more than anyone else and Hingis never did win the French Open.  However Ashley played very well in the French Juniors last year going all the way to the finals before losing to Widjaja whom is a very good player.  Ashley even had points for a break and a lead in the third set of that match but couldn't quite close the deal that day.  It's notable that she didn't face a Spaniard in that tournament either.  However she did defeat the #5, #4 and #2 seeds before losing to the #1 seed in three sets. 

    Ok, so we know Ashley can play on the clay but after playing downunder on rebound ace and not playing on clay since the French, then running into the Spaniards in Acapulco, you can bet Ashley's tennis is still on the way up.  She just drew the wrong players in the right tournament at the wrong time of the year.

Ashley Loses in Straight Sets at Abierto Mexicano de Tenis

    Ashley received a first round bye in qualifying to reach the second round and face Arantxa Parra (ESP)  Parra is ranked 171st in the world.  For www.harkleroad.sport Parra was an unknown commodity.  On the surface it seemed that this should be an easy match for Ashley.  Parra won the match in straight sets defeating Ashley 6-3, 6-4.

    Looking at the draw it appeared that Ashley would have an easy road to the main draw but that was not to be.  Speculation by www.harkleroad.sport is that Ashley ran into a typical Spaniard clay court specialist.  Although Ashley plays relatively well on clay it isn't her favorite surface.  Spaniards generally grow up on clay.  This may have been the deal breaker for Ashley at this particular venue.  To top it all off, it was red clay that Spaniards grow up on and not the green clay that most U.S. players are used to playing.

    Ashley is in the doubles main draw with none other than Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI)  For those of you who don't remember Ashley lost to Gagliardi in a hard fought three set match at the ASB Classic in New Zealand earlier this year.

Ashley Hits the Top 100

    Ashley hit the top 100 for the first time ever this week.  In fact she is #100.  With points falling off for those right above her and with no points to defend Ashley moved up to #100.  This may fluctuate some over the next couple of weeks as many near her in rankings are playing while Ashley is not scheduled to play again until late February.

    That's ok, however, Ashley finally broke the top 100.  Congrats Ashley and keep on moving up!!

Overall "Downunder" Thoughts (Jan 23, 2003)

    All and all this had to be a good experience for Ashley.  She had some good results in New Zealand and actually had a chance to advance even further than she did but couldn't quite pull it out against Gagliardi.  However on her way to the round of 16 at ASB Classic, Ashley had some success against some pretty tough opponents.  Ashley avenged defeats to Sarah Taylor and Brie Rippner in qualifying and soundly defeated #25 Anne Kremer in the opening round before falling to Gagliardi in a tough 3 set match that went to a third set tiebreaker.

    The Australian Open was a little disappointing to Harkleroad and her fans as she lost in qualifying to Sunitha Rao in 3 sets.  While Rao is a pretty good tennis player, this really should have been a win for Ashley.  Both players threw in a lot of errors.  Ashley just didn't seem to have her game together against Rao, which happens to every athlete from time to time but it was a bit of a disappointment this time in particular. 

    Ashley then teamed with Patricia Tarabini (ARG) and went three tough sets against Conchita Martinez and Nadia Petrova losing in a third set tiebreak.  They actually had a good shot at winning and moving on a round or two but it wasn't to be in the end.

Ashley is Out at the Australian Open (Jan 9, 2003)

    The last time Ashley played Sunitha Rao, Ashley was down 5-1 in the first set only to storm back and force a tiebreak.  Ashley then went on to dominate the final two sets.  Sunitha Rao finally got revenge for that match, eliminating Ashley from the Australian open in 3 sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.  Ashley had triple break point to stay in the match but couldn't hold on.

    Ashley had an unusually high amount of unforced errors; fifty-six, but Rao was equally inept with fifty-foug errors herself.  Ashley's second serve, which does still need some work, seemed to be the downfall this time around.  Ashley only had a 40% winning percentage on her second serve while Rao was at 56% on her second serve, even better than her first serve.  Rao also had a better first serve percentage.  First serve winning percentage was virtually the same.

    Ashley had more break chances, twenty to be exact, converting only five times.  Rao converted seven of fourteen.  Winners were the difference in the third set which ultimately cost Ashley the match. 

    It will be up to Clerc now to get Ashley back on track.  Ashley has had a couple of tough losses in match one could argue she shouldn't have lost.  Rest assured Ashley will bounce back.

There is a good article at the following link: Harkleroad Unfazed by Qualifying

American teenager Ashley Harkleroad is the leading contender for one of up to 12 spots available to qualifiers in the women's draw of the 2003 Australian Open.

Harkleroad, 17, is yet to reach the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament other than the US Open and lost to former French Open champion Iva Majoli in the first round at Flushing Meadows in 2002.
 

Ashley is the #1 Seed in Australian Open Qualifying.

    www.harkleroad.sport missed it's prediction by one player that Ashley wouldn't have to qualify.  There are several factors to the main draw that can eliminate or put someone into a draw.  The ranking cut off was 110 and Ashley was at 102.  However, the acceptance to the draw may have been the week before when Ashley was still 113.  www.harkleroad.sport was not sure of the exact cut off date.  Also past players, with injuries etc are allowed to enter the open based on previous rankings and they may also have been a factor.  The exact factor is not know to this website at this time.

    The good news is that Ashley is the number one seed in qualifying which does give her a little bit easier road to the main draw.  Looking at Ashley's portion of the draw, Ashley should get in and with relative ease, if she plays up to her capabilities.  This time around qualifying may actually be a benefit to Ashley and with her position in the points it most certainly will be a benefit.

    The heat in Melbourne this time of year can take a lot out of the person.  Going through qualifying may not benefit Ashley as much in the main draw in the first couple of rounds.  However if Ashley gets a favorable draw and can get through the first round, she should get a day off between each match through the middle rounds.  This could help keep her at her physical best.  As of now, it is not known if she is playing doubles.  Also, if she does go out early should could stay and play juniors.  It is not known at this time if that is a alternative Ashley has considered

    Check back tomorrow and through the rest of the tournament for handicapping information.

Ashley Jumps 11 spots to 102

    Ashley jumped eleven spots with a good showing at the ASB Classic and moved up to 102 just as www.harkleroad.sport predicted in the news brief below.  That  puts Ashley in the main draw of the Australian Open.  102 puts Ashley at #99 on the draw list for the Open.  At least three of the top 100 players won't be at the Aussie Open, including Martina Hingis.  Currently the ranking cutoff for women is 110.

    Ashley also moved up 16 spots in doubles to #118.  As of now www.harlkeroad.sport does not know if she will play doubles at the Open but wouldn't it be fun to see her fill in for Martina Hingis with Martina's usual partner at the Grand Slams?  Oh, do you know, who is Martina's usual partner?

Ashley Loses to Gagliardi in a Tiebreak

    "The centrecourt crowd was treated to a three-set thriller today. New crowd favourite Ashley Harkleroad looked good serving for the match, but threw away a match point before losing to Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi 2-6 6-1 6-7(5). Both players received a standing ovation."

    The previous paragraph form the ASB Classic website says it all.  Ashley served for the match and was unable to close the deal.  That is the one part of Ashley's game that still needs work.  It is something most players struggle with and it's all mental.  Serving for the match or serving to stay in the match.

    Ashley has lost several matches late on her serve.  On the other hand she has won quite a few sets and matches by breaking on the opponents serve.  It's the main issue in Women's Tennis and it is what seperates the top 10 from the rest of the back.  Even the top ten struggles against each other in this department.

    However, this match could be a continued step in the right direction mentally.  Based on reports and a couple of news accounts, Ashley's concentration was very high this tournament and it obviously showed.  However maintaining that concentration at this level usually needs a bit of experience.  All indications are, Ashley got some very valued experience.

Ashley should move up to around 102  next Monday.  Here she comes Australian Open.
 

Harkleroad marches on as bigger names stumble

01 January 2003

Last year Ashley Harkleroad could not get a start even in qualifying in Auckland or any other of three tennis tournaments she entered in this part of the world.

What a difference a year has made.

With seeded players crashing all around her, the American teenager enjoyed her day in the sun and the biggest win of her career at the ASB Classic in Auckland yesterday.

Playing fourth seed and former winner Anne Kremer of Luxembourg, 17-year-old Harkleroad needed just an hour to win 6-3 6-0 and book a second-round clash with unseeded Swiss Emmanuelle Gagliardi.

"Right now she (Kremer) is the highest-ranked player I have beaten," said Harkleroad.

"On Monday (in her last round qualifying match against American Sarah Taylor) I lost concentration but had an opportunity to come back.

"Today I was determined not to let things slip. My game was on today. My coach and I talked about staying focused. I went on to play one of the best matches of my life," Harkleroad said yesterday.

Ashley Hammers Anne Kremer

    12/30/02 - Ashley hammers Anne Kremer into submission with a 6-3, 6-0 win over the 25th ranked player in the world.  That makes Anne Kremer the highest ranked player Ashley has ever defeated.  The margin of victory is going to turn some heads that have been ignoring Ashley to this point (New Zealand newspapers for starters.)

    Ashley has played four matches, including qualifying, so far in this tournament and in three of those matches she didn't lose a game in the second set.  Sarah Taylor proved to be the only challenge so far and that was expected.  Ashley's domination of Brie Rippner and Anne Kremer on the other hand says volumes about the improvement in Ashley's game.  This is getting fun!

    On the current events page, the prediction was that Ashley could make the quarters of this tournament.  Looking at the draw I really liked her chances if she drew Anne Kremer and that she did.  In that section of the draw you now like her chances to make the semi-finals.  That's where the bad news comes in if you are a Harkleroad fan.  Mary Pierce likely will be waiting.  With Pierce's experience plus when you consider how well Pierce plays "down under" you have to figure that Ashley's run ends there - this time.

    What that will do however is, this; it will put Ashley into the main draw of the Australian Open.  That would be her first grand slam main draw without a wildcard to get in.  Then you have to hope for the luck of the draw.  Ashley got unlucky at the US Open, drawing Majoli in the first round.  The experience of the ASB Classic and a little more favorable draw will only help Ashley's confidence.  As long as she doesn't have to face some of the super heavy hitters in the first couple of rounds, Ashley can go a couple of rounds in the Australian.  However, if you are a big hitter, and you find yourself across the net from Ashley in the third of fourth round, then you have something to worry about.  Watching Ashley for the last couple of years, I know one thing, you don't want to play Ashley when she's "not suppose to be there."  That's when she's at her best.  She's already gone farther than she's "suppose" too, she has a little confidence and nothing to lose, if you're one of the "heavy hitters" of the tournament, you may be in trouble.

ASB Classic

     Ashley has qualified for the ASB Classic.  She defeated Sarah Taylor in straight sets 6-2, 7-6(3) to get into the main draw.  Ashley has beaten a couple of heavy hitters in qualifying and this can only help her in the main draw.  Ashley draws Anne Kremer in  the first round.  There is no question Ashley can beat Kremer.  The round of 16 opponent then would be either Rita Grande whom Ashley split matches with late in 2002 or Emmanuelle Gagliardi (SUI).  The quarters could be Laura Granville whom Ashley pushed to the limit earlier this year or possibly Janette Husarova (SVK) or even Cara Black. If Ashley is playing well she can probably beat any of the three if she gets to the quarters and that means the semi's aren't really out of the question for Ashley in this tournament.

    Ashley is dominating second sets so far in two qualifying rounds of the ASB classic.  Ashley has dropped 3 games in each of the first sets then gone on to dominate her opponent in the second, hold serve and breaking serve 3 times each to win the sets 6-0.  Ashley did it in the first round against Brie Rippner.  Rippner is not an easy task and is a lot better than her 156 ranking.  Rippner was at one point in the top 70 on her way to the top 20 in the world before injuries slowed her down.  If you have ever seen her play however, you know she can step up and play with anybody at anytime.

    Ashley now faces Sarah Taylor to qualify.  Ashley and Sarah had a hard fought match in Dothan in April 2002, where Ashley came storming back in the first set to force a tiebreak but couldn't quite close the deal, then dominated the second set.  In the third set all the bounces just seemed to go Taylor's way even though you felt like Ashley was in control.  In the end Taylor may have had just a little more gas in the tank to win it.  I think you'll see a much different match this time.

Go to Current Event to read more about the tournament.

2003 is Here

    Believe it or not the 2003 season is upon us.  Ashley is already in Australia getting ready for the "summer season" down under.  I don't think you'll see Ashley struggle early in the year, like she did last year.  Ashley had a great summer as well as a pretty good fall season.  Ashley went to Australia last year but didn't play.  Reports from a source in England were that she sustained and injury.  Let's hope that doesn't happen this year.

    A source tells me she got in some practice time with some of the top players on the tour this winter.  That should really help her confidence and her game itself.  As of this writing I am assuming she will be attempting to qualify at one of the early Tier V tournaments that start this coming weekend.

2002 in Review

            The year got off to a slow start for Ashley but as Spring faded and Summer begin to dawn Ashley started to warm up. 

            She had a horrible winter and spring.  Ashley went out in the first or second round of six straight tournaments, failing to qualify at one.  This also included Dothan where she went out in the first round.  She is a fan favorite at Dothan and a lot of fans were disappointed.  At Rockford she failed to qualify but got back in on a lucky loser only to lose in the first round to Rippner who, has been inconsistent since her injuries.  Then in the next tournament she failed qualify altogether losing to Hoogland, but she did avenge that loss later in the year in Dothan. 

            Ashley then went out in the second round in Columbus and Minneapolis.  She went out in the first round of the NASDAQ in Miami where she was a horrible 5 of 17 on break points.  Next was Dothan where she blew through qualifying relatively easily, but lost to Sarah Taylor in the first round in a match in which one felt like she was controlling the points but just wasn’t getting the bounces to go her way.

            Then early summer arrived at Sea Island, Georgia.  It was only a $25K tournament, but there were some big names at this level in the draw.  Ashley beat four good players, that are usually expected in the semi-finals of most tournaments, on her way to her first final since Dothan 2001.  Ashley gave away the first set to Melinda Czink but then broke Czink’s serve in the twelfth game of the second set to take the set.  They played even to 3 – 3 in the third until Czink finally pulled it out.  However, Ashley was with her new coach, Jose Louis Clerc for their first match together and you could already see signs of good things to come and they weren’t too far away either.

            Ashley then lost in Charlottesville,Va in a tough second round loss to Jankovic that was a back and forth affair where she won 9 of 10 games to win the second set and got off to a hot start in the third but then lost 5 of 6 games to lose the match.

            Ashley was then off to Europe where she would really begin to heat up.  She played the Astrid Bowl in Belgium where she won her first two matches very easily before losing in the quarters.  Then it was on to the French Open juniors where she went all the way to the final defeating the 5^th, 4^th and 2^nd seeds before finally losing the final to Angelique Widjaja in 3 sets where she had break points against Widjaja in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead.  Widjaja held on and then went on to win it 6-3.  However Ashley’s performance was just a hint at things to come.  Widjaja, by the way, is not just another junior.  She is a little farther ahead in her professional career at this point than Ashley was at the time, but Ashley had a chance to win and Widjaja is defeating some big names on the WTA circuit.

            Next, Ashley was in Los Gatos, California where she would start a run of fourteen of fifteen match wins, losing only to Jennifer Capriati.  Ashley played the State Farm Classic in Los Gatos, winning the tournament without dropping a set.  Only Mashone Washington even seemed to present a challenge during the tournament. Ashley then played the Acura Classic, a Tier II tournament, where she won her first round match against 39^th ranked Rita Grande in straight sets.  Then came Capriati.  This match was good experience for Ashley despite the score.  Ashley was up 3-1 in the second set on Jennifer before Jennifer finally pulled away.  The experience of playing a player at that level no doubt is beneficial for Ashley. 

            The Bronx classic was next.  Ashley had to qualify for this tournament beating three players that were probably better than most that she faced in the main draw.  Ashley did drop three sets in this tournament but they weren’t without a fight.  The final actually was a little anti-climactic as she won easily 6-1 and 6-3 over Lubomira Kurhajcova.

            Next was the US Open and Ashley drew Iva Majoli in the first round.  Well if you’re a fan of Ashley Harkleroad, you knew this wasn’t good.  Ashley needed a better draw so she could go a round or two and get some experience.  Mojoli was going to prevent that and you knew it when you saw the draw.  Ashley needs a bit more time and experience before taking on the likes of Majoli or anyone else in the top 20 at this point.  Ashley did show some good play, running down balls and at least making Majoli make the extra shot on numerous occasions.

            Next was the Big Island Championships, a WTA tournament, where Ashley won her first round match 6-4, 7-5 against Jennifer Hopkins.  Ashley trailed in the second set 1-3 before storming back for the win.  Ashley then gave a much more experienced Lisa Raymond all she could handle losing in a tie-break in the second set where Raymond had to win more than the standard seven points to take the match.

            The came Columbus, OH again and the tournament sponsored by Tim Hortons.  Columbus was a tough draw.  Ashley had to beat Krivencheva, Washington and Dulko to get to Tiffany Dabek in the semi-finals.  Anyone that follows tennis at this level knew that would be a free pass to the finals for Ashley.  Dabek has a nice game but will never be a match for Ashley.  However Lee-Waters was waiting in the final.  Whenever there is a Harkleroad v Lee-Waters match you want to watch.  Matches between these two is like a heavy weight title fight and no point is easy.  Ashley won the first set 6-1 then lost the second set 1-6 before the decisive third set tie-break unfolded.  Ashley had already defeated Lee-Waters in three sets earlier in the year in Sea Island.  The third set was a test of wills as Lee-Waters did finally did prevail 11-9 in the tiebreaker.

            Next was Pittsburg and as soon as you looked at the draw you saw a Harkleroad v Sharapova finally in the mix.  Sure enough that’s what happened.  Sharapova is going to be a superstar in tennis and Ashley has a good chance at achieving the same level of play.  The final of this tournament may have been a window to the future of women’s tennis in the next few years.  Sharapova did prevail 6-7(3) 6-4 4-6 but that was still an encouraging sign for Harkleroad fans.  Sharapova has the power to challenge the Williams sisters and Ashley had a chance to pull out a win.

            Eugene, OR was next and Ashley lost to Washington, after defeating her twice earlier in the year, in the quarter finals.  Eugene was a good news / bad news story.  Before playing Washington, Ashley was down on herself against Samantha Reeves and almost quit in the middle of the match but pulled herself together and ended up winning the match going away.  That is the good news.  The bad news is, that feeling may have lingered the next day and affected her play just enough against Washington that she was unable to come up with a third win against her.  The one thing players have to do to get to the next level is to get their head where it needs to be.  This tournament may have been one more step for Ashley in that direction. 

            Probably the one thing holding Ashley up from the top 50 is her mental game.  As she turns 18 next year and gets to play some WTA tournaments and winning some matches there she should be able to improve the mental part of her game.

            Overall the year was a good one for Ashley.  She is just outside the top 100 now and went to five final rounds, winning two.

            2003 should be another year of improvement and then look for 2004 to be Ashley’s break out year, much like it was for Hantuchova in 2002.  Comparing Ashley’s progress to Daniella, Ashley is right on schedule.