Starless yet shining
There are no big names in Egypt's ITF women's tennis tournament but nobody is complaining. Nashwa Abdel-Tawab sees why
On the grounds of the aptly named Smash Tennis Academy in Heliopolis, Amanda Hopmans of Holland took the singles title during the first week of the ITF Women's Circuit.Third seeded Hopmans, ranked 366 in the world, beat second seeded Frederica Piedade from Portugal, ranked 342, 7- 6, 6-4 to win the circuit and take $1,600. The 27-year-old Hopmans took an hour and 40 minutes to overcome her left- handed rival, who is six years younger.
Egypt's ITF Women's Circuit does not attract household names but several international players do seek it to gain pro points. The preliminaries of this three-week international women's championship had 27 players from The Netherlands, Austria, Argentina, New Zealand, Ireland, India, Yugoslavia, Slovakia, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Romania, Croatia, Portugal, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Egypt.
Three of the eight players to the main draw proved better than the seeds. New Zealander Eden Marama, Spaniard Laura Pous and her compatriot Anna Font all managed to qualify for the main draw before losing in the quarter-finals.
The Netherlands' Elise Tamaela, ranked 983, was another qualifier to the main draw who cruised to the semi-finals by gliding past Argentina's Cecilia Quarracino 6-1, 6-0. Tamaela then ousted top seed Marielle Hoogland, ranked 300, 6-4, 7-6. She defeated Australia's Marama 6-0, 6-3 before losing to her compatriot Hopmans 6-1, 6-2 in the semi-final.
Hopmans once ranked 120 internationally but due to injury dropped to 366. The setback has forced her to play in ITF tournaments to collect more points needed to enter better prize money tournaments such as found in the WTA.
But Piedade's fighting spirit endeared her to the Egyptian fans who seemed to have had enough of Hopmans.
In the doubles final, the Irish pair Claire Curran and Elsa O'Riain, ranked 953, easily beat Dutch and Austrian couple Marielle Hoogland and Jennifer Schmidt, ranked 882, 6-1, 6- 4.
For the past five years Egypt has been hosting the event twice a year -- three weeks in March and three weeks in October. Prize money totals $10,000. Its main purpose is to help players gain points to qualify for WTA championships. At the end of every week players can either leave or continue playing.
What have Egyptians gained from this six-week a year tournament? "This is classified as the second most important competition in ITF tournaments worldwide," said tournament director and ITF referee Wael Abbas.
"You won't find a change in a day, just like that," added Abbas. "The Egyptian Tennis Federation chose a good circuit to host in order to raise our performance in women's tennis. They didn't host a WTA tournament to show off. They hosted what our players can participate in as wild cards, as well as to experience international contact. Now we're gathering the fruits of five years.
"In the past we did not have a ranked woman player. Now we have four, leading with Yomna Farid, ranked 740, Amani Khalifa, 867, Heidi El-Tabakh, 942 and Noha Mohsen 1,130. They are all promising and young but they need time."
The doubles final will be played on Saturday at 1pm and the singles final at 1pm on Sunday. All matches are being held at the Smash Tennis Academy near Cairo Airport.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 13 - 19 March 2003 (Issue No. 629)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/629/sp5.htm