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02/23/2004 08:39 AM

#4 Seed in Columbia

       Ashley is the #4 seed at the Copa Colsanitas Seguros Bolivar in Bogota.  She will face Spaniard Marta Marrero in the first round.  Marrero is #109 in the rankings and like most Spaniards can play very well on the clay.  This won't be a push over match for Ashley but a match she should win.

    The entire draw looks pretty good for Ashley all the way through to the semi-final.  Her semi-final opponent will likely be three time winner, defending champion and #1 seed and #22 ranked Faviola Zuluaga.  Can Ashley beat Zuluaga on the red clay?  She can but it will be a tough match.  If Ashley plays like we know she can play it might even be an easy match.  Ashley won't be intimidated that is for sure.  It will be a challenge for Ashley to play Zuluaga and that is when Ashley plays some of her best tennis.

Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament

Wimbledon Draw is a Tough One

    The draw is out and the future of Women's Tennis have a first round match-up.  Ashley Harkleroad v Maria Sharapova may be a Grand Slam final in two or three years.  This year however it's first round Wimbledon.  Ashley and Maria both are currently stars on the rise.  They are the next generation of Women's Tennis along with a smattering of others.

    This could be the best match of the first round.  There are four or five other first round matches with some good potential and early implications.  However Ashley and Maria have been in news.  Ashley for her run at the French Open and her gutsy win over Hantuchova and Maria for grunting louder than Monica ever grunted.

    Ashley has lost her last two matches to Sharapova, one as a junior, and the other a three set semi final affair in Pittsburg.  This web page predicted as the match up then and the winner to take the tournament.  That time is was Sharapova.  Ashley had improved against Sharapova but wasn't still quite ready to close Maria out.  Look for Ashley to win this time.  It is grass and that would seem to give a slight edge to Sharapova but it's first round Wimbledon and Ashley tends to step up at the bigger tournaments and when she isn't suppose to win.

    Ashley has also lost three matches in a row, for the first time as a professional.  Ashley will be anxious to get back on track.  Ashley has also never lost to the same player twice professionally except for Selyutina.  That obviously will change sooner or later but not this time. 

    The next round will likely be Elena Bovina.  Ashley defeated Bovina 2 & 2 in Charleston earlier this year.  That would set up a likely show down with Elena Dokic or even possibly Emmanuelle Gagliardi with a possible match-up with Mauresmo looming on the horizon.

Ospina Open (Updated)

    Ashley will play Marlene Weingartner in the first round of the Ospina Open being contested in Holland this week. Ashley comes in as the number seven seed.  Ashley has played Marlene one time as a professional and defeated her without losing a single game.  Ashley is playing withRosanna Neffa-De Los Rios of Paraguay in doubles.  Vera Zvonerava pulled out of the tournament and some suspected Ashley would play with Vera again in Holland. 

    The draw looks good for Ashley in the first two rounds.  Ashley should defeat Weingartner and then face the winner of the Cervanova v Krajick.  Ashley should get through to the quarters where she will likely face Justine Henin-Hardenne.  Ashley still hasn't lost to anyone except Selyutina twice in a row.  Maybe she can keep the streak going against Justine. 

    The Doubles draw doesn't look so good.  With Neffa-De Los Rios being an unknown quantity and the first round opponents of Grande/Widjaja www.harkleroad.sport doesn't like Ashley's chances in doubles.  However that's why they play the matches.  Maybe we'll get a nice suprise.  Neffa-De Los Rios does have a doubles ranking of 63, higher than Ashley but www.harkleroad.sport hasn't seen her play so it's tough to make a call on their chances.

    Ashely will be playing in Holland at the Ospina Open beginning June 15.  Holland is played on grass and is a warm up to Wimbledon.  Good Luck Ashley!!

Wien Energie Grand Prix (Updated)

    Ashley is next scheduled to play in Austria at the Wien Energie Grand Prix of Tennis.  The  $170,000 Tier III tournament is played on red clay.  Ashley is number 12 on the players list so she won't be seeded.  Some of the players of note at the tournament are Zvonareva, Pistolesi, Majoli, Grande and Schett.  Stay tuned, information will be posted as it comes in.

    Ashley will play Clarisa Fernandez (ARG) in the first round.  Clarisa is #62 in the rankings having fallen all the way from #28 on her poor French Open performance and points she needed to back up from last year.  This could be a difficult match for Ashley.  Clarisa will want to get back on track.  On the other hand however Marissa Irvin took a set off of Clarisa in Charleston and Marissa is playing very poorly as well this spring.  This match worries www.harkleroad.sport just a little bit.

    After Clarisa would be either Anca Barna (GER) or Henrieta Nagyova (SVK).  Ashley is 1-0 against Anca and came from behind in the Bronx last August to defeat the tournaments #1 seed.  Ashley has not played Nagyova professionally.  The quarter finals could be Silvia Farina Elia (ITA).  Ashley lost to Farina Elia in the semis at Strasbourg just 3 or 4 weeks ago.  Ashley was serving for the match but was unable to finish.  I would look for Ashley to exact revenge if she has to face Farina Elia again.

    Ashley has also teamed up with Vera Zvonerava in doubles.  These two may just blitz right through this draw.

The French Open

     The draw is out for the French Open which begins play on Monday May 26th.  Ashley's draw is pretty good and lends itself to a couple of openings to allow her to go a round or two and if she is playing well even more.

    Ashley will face 89th ranked, Saori Obata of Japan in the opening round.  Obata has been to a final and won the second of two consecutive $50K ITF tournaments in Japan earlier this month.  She was playing well during the early part of May.  April and the green clay wasn't as kind to Obata as she lost twice to Bartoli, once in Sarasota and the other in Charleston, both during qualifying.  Ashley should win this match if she continues her high level of play.

    Hantuchova would likely be the second round opponent.  Ashley seemed to handle Daniela with ease in Charleston but it's likely to be a little different in Paris.  Ashley can still win and www.harkleroad.sport thinks she will but it won't be as easy.  The third round would likely be Pistolesi. (Pistolesi lost to Serna)  That would be a very tough match.  If she were to get by Pistolesi, Mauresmo would likely be the next opponent.  After that would be Serena.

    Since we are just looking at the potential opponents, Henin-Hardenne would likely be the semi-finalist on Ashley's half of the draw.  The final would then likely be either Capriati or Clijsters.

Internationaux de Stasbourg Part Three

    Ashley faces Silvia Farina Elia in the semi-finals.  Ashley is playing quit well and hasn't dropped a set and has only dropped 15 games in 3 matches.  Silvia Farina Elia is playing her best tennis all year.  She really has played well at all in several tournaments losing in the first or second match of her last five tournaments (byes excluded.) 

    Farina Elia has played fairly well so far but Ashley has been playing better.  Ashley is playing excellent tennis right now and has defeated a couple of top 50 players while Farina Elia did finally beat a top 50 player to get into the semis in Anastasia Myskina.

    PREDICTION:  None of it matters in the end for Farina Elia.  Ashley wins in straight sets and goes on to face Vera Zvonanareva in the Final.  Ashley's first WTA final.

    Unfortunately Ashley lost in three sets to Silvia Farina Elia and www.harkleroad.sport missed the prediction.  Ashley was serving for the match however at 5-3. 

Internationaux de Stasbourg Part Two

    Ashley will now face Emilie Loit (FRA) in a rematch of their Family Circle Cup encounter on the green clay of the USA.  It appeared as if Likhovtseva would not be a push over match, yet it was that exactly.  Loit has had to go three sets in both of her matches to set up this rematch with Ashley.

    Ashley seems to be back on the pinnacle of her game as she was in Charleston.  Emilie, wants to prove she can beat Ashley since her injury in their last meeting didn't allow her to complete the match.  Several factors will weigh on both players minds in this match and it may just be that whomever can just play Tennis without thinking about it too much may win this match. 

    Ashley will certainly come out and want to prove she was in control the last time they met.  Emilie wants to prove she was coming back as she was leading the second set after losing the first 6-4.  Emilie has pushed several players to the brink including Serena in Australia earlier this year. Emilie isn't playing as well and Ashley is playing just as well as she was in their last meeting. This match will probably go 3 sets and that third set will be where the mind games could come into play.  Ashley will pull this out but it will be a hard fought match.  If it does only go two sets look for Ashley to win in rather easily.

Internationaux de Stasbourg

    Ashley will face Els Callens (BEL) in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg.  Callens is currently ranked 64th on the WTA tour and has played some big names pretty tough in the past.  Ashley is still playing with a lot of confidence and I think will want to make up for losing to Dechy in the 1st round of the Italian Open.  Look for Ashley to win this match and don't be surprised if it's 2 and 2. 

    Elena Likhovtseva (RUS) will probably be waiting in the second round.  Ashley played World Team Tennis with Elena on the Sacramento Capitals winning the WTT title last summer.  Elena has been playing pretty well this spring and early summer and this won't be an easy match for Ashley.  Most pundits will pick Elena to win but Ashley has a chance here.  She knows she can play and defeat a top ten player so Likhovtseva won't intimidate her.  She also has hit with Elena and knows her style of play.  Look for this match to go the full three sets and the player who doesn't run out of gas to win it.

Italian Open

    The draw is out.  Ashley will face Nathalie Dechy (FRA) in the first round.  Ashley has never played Nathalie but they have faced some common opponents.  Both have lost to Henin-Hardenne and Dechy only won one more game than Ashley did and she did suffer from a "bagel" in one of the two sets.  Dechy defeated Shaughnessy as well but it was three hard fought sets compared with two easy sets for Ashley.  A couple of other similar opponents include Vento-Kabchi and Barna.  Ashley played them last year defeating both while Dechy won against both this year. 

    Dechy is ranked #23 but I really like Ashley in this match.  Certainly Dechy's ranking won't scare Ashley and it may give her some confidence.  When you compare how the two did with common opponents you have to give the slight edge to Ashley.  It may be a three set affair but look for Ashley to win here.

    The next potential opponent is likely to be Amanda Coetzer (RSA) ranked #18 and seeded #14.  Amanda would have to get by Iroda Tulyaganova (UZB) who is currently ranked at #41.  Ashley seems to be comfortable on the red clay in qualifying and if she does get by Dechy, her chances in this match have to be better than average no matter who shows in the second round. 

    Potentially then Ashley would face Serna.  That would have to be a big thrill for Ashley but also a match where she is likely to go in very loose.  That would be good for Ashley.  Henin-Hardenne showed everyone how to beat Serna and that is a game Ashley can play.  You have to change speeds and keep it on Serena's backhand and preferably on the run at the same time.  The Williams sisters are notorious for getting wild.  If Ashley can get Serna to spray a few shots early she can get into her head and dictate the match but we'll wait a couple of days to make any predictions here.

Family Circle Cup

Australian Open Qualifying

Australian Open Preview

    Ashley should make the main draw of the Australian Open without qualifying.  However qualifying could be a benefit in the long run for Ashley, in 2003.  Ashley will need to go at least to the third round to make up for not qualifying. 

    On the surface, it may appear that the Australian Open main draw, is not what you want to see this year if you are a Harkleroad fan.  However, let's look at the whole picture for a minute.  Even though Ashley doesn't hit as hard as a lot of the girls Ashley loves pace.  One thing you get at the Aussie Open is pace.  Ashley likes hard courts and has two wins in 2002 on some pretty hard courts.  However the Aussie Open is "Rebound Ace."  Rebound Ace is best described as poly-urethene to those who don't know.

    Rebound Ace, is kind of unique.  It is almost as fast as a hard court if at times maybe a bit faster depending on the weather.  It's easier on the players legs than hard courts as well.  For Ashley however, Rebound Ace maybe the "Ace" in the hole.  Ashley likes the pace and can stand in with the hard hitters, but Ashley doesn't hit quite as hard as the really big hitters, like the Williams sisters, Capriati, Marissa Irvin or even Anna.  What Rebound Ace does however is make the ball sit up.  You have to chase the ball down more on Rebound Ace.  Therefore you have "advantage" Harkleroad.  Ashley's best skill is speed.  Ashley can run down balls others only dream of retrieving, including some of the best out there.  Rebound Ace may actually prove over the years to be Ashley's best surface.  Therefore don't be surprised if you wake up and find Ashley in the round of 16 at the Aussie Open, in 2003.

ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand

Dec 28 thru Jan 4, 2003

Recap

    Ashley played a great tournament and had match point to make it to the quarterfinals, which is where www.harkleroad.sport boldly predicted she would  find herself.  It wasn't to be.  Ashley didn't miss by much however and once again Ashley has shown up at a tournament and won the hearts of the fans. 

       Ashley beat some very good players in Brie Rippner, Sarah Taylor and Anne Kremer.  Kremer is ranked 25th in the world and highest ranked player Ashley has defeated in her young career.  Under "Handicaps and Notes" below you can read how she fared against each opponent she played in the ASB Classic.

        Ashley lost in a tough three set match to Emmanuella Gagliardi (SUI)  Ashley was actually serving for the match and was looking good with a match point in hand only to miss the opportunity and then lose in the tiebreak 7-5. 

        You can read more details about the tournament on the news page as well as 2003 Results and further below on this page.  Ashley should move up to about 102 Sunday and that should put her into the main draw of the Australian Open.  The one thing Ashley needs in the Australian Open is a little bit of luck in the draw.  She needs to play a couple of players outside the top 20 in the first couple of rounds, or at least draw opponents whose style of play suits Ashley's style of play.  Drawing one of the big names and big hitters early in a Grand Slam won't help Ashley at this stage of her career.  She needs to go a couple of rounds to gain some points and experience at this level of play. Good luck in Australia Ashley.