News from 1999 - the first half of
the year
up to French Open
 | Well, in mixed doubles first round Dominique and Tom defeated Montalvo & Del Rio in three tough sets 6-4 5-7 6-4, but as tough match in second round against top seeds Raymond and Paes went the other way - they lost 6-4 2-6 3-6. Yesterday Dominique had a chance to make a birthday present for herself, but 4th seeds Tauziat and Fusai were too good in doubles - Dominique and Flo lost 1-6 4-6 and it made the total score of this year's French Open 3-3 for Dominique. Next up is scheduled to be Eastbourne, but there is possibility that Dominique might go to Birmingham as well, to try to make sure that she will be seeded in Wimbledon. |
| Well, I thought that I should just comment Dominique's first round match-up once again. After what I saw on Sunday, I can say that it definitely wasn't Dominique's fault that the tournament ended so early for her - after seeing Austrian qualifier Barbara Schwartz beating Venus Williams in 4th round, it seemed that we all should be lucky that Dominique managed to leave the court alive! :-) This girl is probably double as powerful as Venus and probably as clever as Hingis, so the only conclusion here can be that Dominique was just unlucky to meet her in first round... Remember, it was the same last year in Berlin, where she meet "certain" Mauresmo in first round and everybody thought that it was a great upset, but after Mauresmo reached the final and beat Novotna and Davenport on her way, Dominique's loss was not such an upset anymore... And now it was the same - Dominique was unlucky to meet a new and up-and-coming player in first round of the tournament where the opponent was "discovered" by the world for the first time! So, no worries about Dominique, she is as good as she's always been, she just had probably the worst draw without knowing it in advance (none of us knew it anyway...). Grasscourt season is about to start next week and we will see great wins again! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| It's goes much better in doubles - Dominique and Flo are already in third round - at first they defeated Rosa M. Andres and Eva Bes 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 and today, in second round, Rachel McQuillan and Nana Miyagi also in straight sets 6-2 6-3. In next round they might meet 4th seeds Tauziat & Fusai or Japanese team Saeki & Yoshida. Dominique takes part in mixed doubles tournament as well - her team-mate there is Tom Van Houdt with whom she played together in last year's Wimbledon as well. Later today they will meet Laura Montalvo and Diego Del Rio from Argentina in first round. And in possible second round their opponents will be top seeds Lisa Raymond and Leander Paes. All the best in both doubles! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Today the doubles action will start in Paris and Dominique and Flo are 15th seeds there - second time in their Grand Slam history! In first round (Court 13, 2nd match) they will meet Rosa M. Andres and Eva Bes, in second round the opponents might be McQuillan & Miyagi or Dhenin & Muric and in possible next round Fusai and Tauziat. Let's hope that together they can do much better than just alone... Best of luck for that! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The score of the first match was 6-1 6-0... but unfortunately not for Dominique... I don't know what happened, so I can't comment more right now, but my personal opinion is that there was something going terribly wrong - either the reason was some injury (old or new) or whatever... Sad result of course, for both Dominique and all her fans - we are just so confused and surprised as we don't know what was going on out there on Court 9 this afternoon... Dominique has said that losing a tennis match isn't really an end of the world for her, so let's try to think the same... Next time - better luck... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| So, first round match between Dominique and Austrian qualifier Barbara Schwartz will be played later today on Court 9 (if you are in Paris just go there and wait until Gambill vs Krajicek is over... :-) This is the first ever match between these two, so there are no specific statistics I could give you... Let's hope for the best start of the tournament for Dominique! Good luck! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| French Open draw has been announced now (well, not on official page yet... strange...), but there's nothing very clear anyway... :-) as in first round Dominique will meet a qualifier and in second round either qualifier or Kristie Boogert. Possible third round opponent might be Anke Huber and in fourth round, well, it's Venus Williams again... Not the best of luck, but not the worst either - comparing with possible Hingis vs Mauresmo in second round, Nagyova vs Schett and ASV vs Lucic in first round... Still, Dominique has all the chances to get a good result in Paris - the best of luck for that! As soon as I find out more, I'll let you know... | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dominique was scheduled to play in Madrid this week as 3rd seed, but because of the injury she got during the training-session, she had to withdraw. Some sources defined the problem as she "was suffering from a thigh strain" (Reuters) but the others (CBS) announced that she had to withdraw due to a left hip flexor injury. Fortunately it doesn't seem to be anything too serious and she will be completely ready for French Open next week. It has already been announced that she will be 13th seed there, the draw will be made on Friday, May 21st - I'll keep you informed... Hopefully this year Dominique manages to get a birthday present for herself - i.e. win on May, 31st (apparently a third or fourth round match)! Get well soon, Dominique, and the best of luck to you in Paris! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The tournament in Berlin has ended for Dominique by now - she lost against Elena Likhovtseva in second round match 3-6 5-7. In second set she managed to stay in the match at 4-5, but at 5-6 it was already too much... Apparently it wasn't supposed to be her day today... Anyway, Dominique collected 24 valuable points instead of this "lonely one" from last year which helps her to secure her seeding for French Open even more. Next week Dominique will play in Madrid where she is second seed and has to defend the points she got by reaching the final there last year. All the best there! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Good start in Berlin - Dominique defeated German Jana Kandarr in straight sets 6-2 6-1 without any major problems (well, if only, then some rain-breaks... :-) Today she will meet Elena Likhovtseva who seemed to be very inconvinient opponent for Dominique - until Open Gaz de France, where Dominique managed to break "the dead lock" - their head-to-head score is now 1-4... Let's hope that Dominique will improve it even more later today! Good luck, Dominique! You can do it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Although Dominique managed to resist to the power coming from Venus's racket in first set, she lost in two sets 6-7 (1-7) 2-6... In first round there was a tight battle, but in the beginning of second set, Dominique was had problems of slight injury - right groin strain... but hopefully it wasn't anything serious and she will be in great form in Berlin this week... anyway, it's nothing to be ashamed of if you lose against eventual winner... In Berlin Dominique will be in action tomorrow against Jana Kandarr. In second round her possible opponent might be either Elena Likhovtseva or qualifier and the possible opponent in third round might be Martina Hingis herself! Let's wish the best of luck for Dominique as there's nothing to defend, there are lots of them to gain... :-) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! DOMINIQUE IS IN LAST 8 IN ROME! She defeated 7th seed Nathalie Tauziat (ranked 9) in straight sets 6-4 7-6 (7-2)! The match was very long and tough one, but Dominique just took the tie-break at the end and earned herself very valuable (at least) 112 (some resources give 120) points by that, so those 61 what had to be defended have been outmatched by far! In quarterfinal Dominique's opponent might be either Venus Williams or Anna Kournikova - remember, Dominique has won last matches against both of them! :-) Best of luck tomorrow, Dominique, we are here and everywhere to support you!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YESSSSSSSS! "The Battle of Belgians" was a tough one, but Dominique ended up winning it in three sets 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 6-3!!! Great result! Good work, Dominique!!! Now we have to wait who will be her next opponent - either Nathalie Tauziat or "wild card" Tathiana Garbin... Anyway, let's hope for the best! And well, official head-to-head against Sabine is now 6-0... Quite amazing, isn't it?!? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italian Open started very well for Dominique - she just "encountered little resistance in destroying" (from CBS news) Nicole Arendt in straight sets 6-1 6-0! Yet another "love" set to win - already the 9th one this year - fantastic! Well, in next round there will be "The Battle of Belgians" again - Dominique vs Sabine - so far it's 5-0 to Dominique, let's hope that it continues like that! The next "stops" in draw might mean meeting Nathalie Tauziat (3rd R) and Venus Williams (QF). Btw, Dominique and Florencia are playing doubles as well - the rist round opponents will be Dechaume-Balleret & Testud. Good luck! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Italian Open draw has been announced - Dominique will meet Nicole Arendt in first round and possible second round opponent might be either Sabine (!) or Ai Sugiyama. The next "stops" in draw might mean meeting Nathalie Tauziat (3rd R) and Venus Williams (QF). Dominique will be "in action" already this afternoon - she will play the third match on Center Court around 17:00 CET - if you are in Rome today, go there to support her! Btw, Dominique and Florencia are playing doubles as well - the rist round opponents will be Dechaume-Balleret & Testud. Good luck! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Noooooo, it can't be true! After very though three-set battle and specially very long tie-break in decisive set (22 points!) Dominique lost the match against Silvia Farina - very unlucky... and very unfortunate... Time-to-time everyone has such an unfortunate moments, but hopefully next time this kind of match ends in favour of Dominique! Hopefully Dominique won't be too frustrated now and that she will have a great week next week in Rome! Best of luck! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| YESSSSSSSS! The "revenge" is sweet! ;-) Dominique defeated Barbara Rittner in straight sets and in a manner she has used to recently - to have at least one "love" set in the match - 6-4 6-0! Great start! In next round Italian Silvia Farina or qualifier Elena Dementieva is waiting... Come on, Dominique, you can do it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 April - Dominique has entered the Hamburg tournament as a sixth seed although she wasn't mentioned in any of commitment lists before. It's a great news as it means that the injury Dominique got from Fed Cup wasn't too serious and she can start her clay season with full strength again! In first round Dominique's opponent will be Barbara Rittner whom she lost in Indian Wells, but hopefully it will be much better this time as Dominique has had a long break for training and practising and of course, she should be very confident after winning such an important and tough match as it was in Fed Cup this time! In second round the possible opponent might be either Silvia Farina or a qualifier and in third round "an old good" opponent Arantxa might be waiting - again!!! Dominique doesn't have so many points to defend this week, so let's hope that she manages to collect some necessary ones to secure her seeding in French Open. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 April - Yesss! Belgian Team won by "clean sweep" 5:0! Dominique played a great first match - it was a long and tight one, but despite the nervousness and cramps she managed to defeat Amanda Hopmans and it gave the Belgian Team lots of confidence, necessary for success in next matches. Unfortunately Dominique got a bit injured in this tough match, so she couldn't play on Sunday, but whole Belgian Team was very good this time and Justine, Els and Sabine won all the matches! Congratulations and welcome to World Group One again!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 April - So, tomorrow it will start - "The Battle of Benelux" (well, without Luxembourg, but anyway...). As it appeared, Belgian team will rely on three players this time - Dominique, her doubles partner Els Callens and young up-and-coming Justine Henin. Sabine Appelmans has supporting role only - first time after 11 years! Check the match-ups on separate Fed Cup site. Hopefully Dominique has regained lots of confidence during this break she had - as she said, she has practiced very hard and she likes the surface the matches will be played on, so all the signs so far are positive - let's hope for the best! As young Justine doesn't have any experiences of playing in Fed Cup, Dominique seems to have the greatest responsiblity for the final outcome - but she already knows this situation and she has shown such a great results in Fed Cup during recent years, so she should be used to the pressure... And she will definitely handle it very well - and despite of all those famous Dutch fans who might become quite loud and active... Go, on Dominique, you can do it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 April - This weekend the Fed Cup matches will be played again. Belgian team will
meet Holland on "away" ground and matches will be played indoors (Brabanthallen)
in s'-Hertogenbosch. If you have plans to go but don't have tickets yet, call 0900-1291
(Holland) to get some... One thing is sure - Dominique will play singles and doubles (together with Els Callens) the second singles player hasn't been decided yet - it will be either Sabine Appelmans or Justine Henin. In following table you can find both current singles and doubles rankings of either teams. Rankingwise it should certainly be Belgium, but you can never count on rankings if it's team-event...
|
As much as I could find out, these two nations have never competed before in Fed Cup (at least that's what ITF official database shows), but just to give you a picture of situation, I'll put up the head-to-head records of the players in both teams (Manon Bollegraf hasn't obviously played any singles matches against anybody in Belgian Team and Justine Henin is just in the beginning of her career, so I couldn't find any head-to-head results about her...) And as soon as I find out the playing order, I'll keep you informed....
| Miriam Oremans | Kristie Boogert | Amanda Hopmans | |
| Dominique | 1:3 |
2:0 |
0:1 |
| Sabine Appelmans | 4:2 |
1:1 |
--- |
| Els Callens | 0:2 |
1:0 |
--- |
| 15 April - Those of you who can watch TV in Belgium, I put up the broadcast schedule
(I haven't found the schedule for any Dutch channel yet, so if anybody of you have it,
please let me know...)
ENJOY THE MATCHES IF YOU CAN!!! |
| 17 March - So, the Lipton draw has been announced. Last year this tournament didn't go so well for her (she had to retire in second round match against Elena Likhovtseva after having first round bye), so she don't have any points to defend, but gaining any new points isn't so easy either - after first round bye she has to meet another young power-player Mirjana Lucic or qualifier and in next round the possible opponent might be Patty Schnyder... |
| 17 March - There has been a very long break in writing news and comments in the beginning of this year, but I've tried to put all those updates directly onto the intro page - so I hope you have been informed about things going on anyway... But from now on, I will try to keep this page as updated as possible as well, so keep on checking.... |
| 16 March - New rankings were announced today. Dominique has got the same amount of points as Serena Williams, but as Serena has played less tournaments, she is ranked 16th and Dominique 17th - quite low for a while, but it's very tight now in second half of Top 20 and some few points lost might mean quite significant loss in ranking... but on the other hand, if you gain some points you might rise in rankings quite rapidly as well... So let's hope that Dominique will have that chance in The Lipton tournament this week. |
| 4 January - Auckland draw have been announced - Dominique is top seed and tomorrow she will meet Rita Grande in first round. Possible second round opponent will be either Miriam Oremans or wild-card Leanne Baker. Dominique and Flo are in action in doubles tournament as well - they are 4th seeds and will meet Sandra Cacic & Mary Joe Fernandez in first round, and either Stoyanova & Wagner or Dechaume-Balleret & Loit in second round. |
