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Sugiyama conquers Aussie nemesis to advance
Japan's Ai Sugiyama reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in 10 attempts, rallying to defeat Australian nemesis Nicole Pratt 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday at the Grand Slam.
Japan's Ai Sugiyama reached the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in 10 attempts, rallying to defeat Australian nemesis Nicole Pratt 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 here Saturday at the Grand Slam tournament.
Sugiyama overcame 60 unforced errors to book her third consecutive date in the round of 16 at a Slam event. She has a chance to match her best showing in 39 Slam starts, a 2000 Australian Open quarter-final berth.
"That would be nice," she said. "But I'm not allowing myself to think about it too much because this morning I was thinking about winning today and my head went eveywhere. That's why maybe I don't want to put any pressure on myself."
The 15th-seeded Asian star had lost five of her six prior matches against the 57th-ranked Aussie, winning only when Pratt retired with an injury.
"In the past, it was so hard to play against her," Sugiyama said. "She makes me work so hard for every point. Every time I play against her, I make easy mistakes. At the beginning, her slice was deep and bothering me."
A change in strategy from past failures helped Sugiyama succeed.
"Instead of hitting her backhand all the time, I opened up her forehand," Sugiyama said. "I hung tough and worked every single point. I got into a good rhythm and it paid off."
Pratt made six double faults and 16 unforced errors in the third set, unable to handle Sugiyama's fightback.
"It was an intense match," Pratt said. "I did an awful lot of running. I felt there was a couple of points (difference only) in the match here and there. I'm disappointed but certainly pleased by the effort I put out there."
A cheering crowd bolstered Sugiyama as the match wore on.
"Even though the match was very long, I kept my calm because this was a very big match for me," Sugiyama said. "I feel like I was playing at home. There were a lot of Japanese, Americans too. I got a lot of support. It was great."
Sugiyama will face Italy's 32nd-ranked Francesca Schiavone on Monday for a berth in the quarter-finals, hoping to improve upon fourth-round ousters this year at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Schiavone beat Sugiyama in their only prior meeting, but had some help from a home crowd in the second-round match at the 2001 Italian Open.
"It's going to be a tough match," Sugiyama said. "She's very strong mentally and she is very ambitious to get to the quarters. She's playing great."
