- 1999 Alexandra Fusai News
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- Friday 10/22/99
- Alexandra has been busy these past 2 weeks, with some success.
- Alexandra played in Poitiers, France last week and made the main draw as a wild card. But the 1st round was vs. the #2 seed, Sarah Pitkowski, and Alexandra fell 6-3, 7-6. Clearly she fought to the bitter end, though! That's Alexandra!
- In doubles, though, Alexandra had some real successes.
- In 1st round doubles, Alexandra Fusai/Rita Grande defeated Anca Barna/Raluca Sandu 6-4, 6-2. Yea!
- In the quarterfinals it was FG over Rosa M. Andres/Cochita Martinez Granados 6-3, 6-1. Yea!
- And in the semifinals, FG bested Amelie Cocheteux/Caroline Dhenin 6-3, 6-3. Yea!
- The doubles final found Fusai/Grande facing Asa Carlsson/Emilie Loit. Carlsson/Loit took the 1st set 6-2, but the second set went to a tie-break. Carlsson/Loit took that too, 7-5. So Carlsson/Loit defeated Fusai/Grande in Poitiers doubles finals 6-2, 7-6(7-5). Oh well....
- Still: a very nice batch of victories for Fusai/Grande! Good going, girls!
- Actually a good week for Alexandra last week. And probably a thousand more new AF fans added!
- This week, Alexandra is in Southhampton, England, in the main draw, and, apparently, not playing doubles.
- In 1st round singles Alexandra defeated wild-card Jo Ward 3-6, 7-6(7-3), 7-5 in a match which must have been classic Alexandra. 2nd round is probably vs. Sandra Nacuk, the #4 seed.
- Win Alexandra, and have fun!
- Last week Alexandra's singles ranking fell from #177 to #186, this week her doubles ranking fell from #12 to #13. I suspect both these rankings will improve before year-end.
- But, whatever, Alexandra: take care and have fun!
- (By the way, tonight I am adding AF Info and AF Major Singles History to this site. These are not scrupulously accurate, nor necessarily up-to-date, but are truly interesting.)
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- Sunday 10/24/99
- Well, Alexandra lost to Sandra Nacuk 7-6, 6-1 in 2nd round singles at Southhampton. Oh well... At least that 1st set was clearly exciting!
- This coming week, Alexandra is in Linz, Austria, playing doubles only. Fusai/Tauziat, seeded #2, will be defending their title there (again!). 1st round is vs. the home-town wild-card team of Sylvia Plischke/Patricia Wartusch.
- Win, FT, win! Win it all! Hat trick!
- (Natalie can be expected to be feelin' fine, since she won in Moscow today, perhaps the biggest win of her career so far, and now has another pile of dough to share with the taxman.)
- At least if FT make it to the weekend in Linz, then Alexandra could get a wild-card into Leipzig singles.
- Of course, I hope FT win Linz (and Leipzig, and everywhere!), and Alexandra gets some more chances to raise that singles ranking before the end of the year.
- But most important is this: take care, Alexandra, and have fun!
- (By the way, tonight I am posting a somewhat, hopefully, more complete and accurate AF Info.)
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- Tuesday 10/26/99
- I like Linz! OK, I've never been there, but: Fusai/Tauziat defeated Plischke/Wartusch today 6-4, 6-2. Yea! I like Linz!
- Tomorrow is FT vs. Oremans/Sidot.
- This will be very interesting because of the Fusai/Sidot wins at Hilton Head earlier this year.
- Win, FT, win! Respect, but humble, OS! Do it for them!
- But most important is this: take care, Alexandra, and have fun!
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- Thursday 10/28/99
- Linz is good! Fusai/Tauziat defeated Oremans/Sidot 6-0, 6-1 yesterday. YEA! Not very exciting, probably, but I'm not complaining!
- Next is semifinals vs. Rittner/Schnyder or Krizan/Neiland, maybe tomorrow. Roll on, FT!
- And Alexandra's singles ranking improved this week from #186 to #184. Not a big move, but in the right direction! Doubles remained at #13 - very respectable!
- So, Alexandra: take care, have fun, and keep winning!
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- Saturday 10/30/99
- Well, almost....
- An e-mail from a witness tells the story: "It was a very close 3-setter." Krizan/Neiland defeated Fusai/Tauziat 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. "The deciding break in the 3rd set was at 4-4. But both teams had chances to win." Oh well....
- I guess winning the same tourney 3 years in a row can be tough. Still, they won two matches there this year, and lost only one, and that one was very close, so: Linz is ok.
- Prior to yesterday's doubles, Natalie had lost a tough, 3-set, singles match - so maybe she was tired and distracted. And it makes sense that Krizan/Neiland can be a formidable team.
- In the "silver-lined cloud" department, yesterday's result provided Alexandra with an opportunity to participate in Leipzig qualifying, and she is apparently facing Sandra Nacuk in 1st round there today. Perhaps the loss to Nacuk about 10 days ago was educational, and today's result will be different. Live and learn, Alexandra!
- Some good singles wins in Leipzig could do wonders for Alexandra's singles ranking. And there will almost certainly be Fusai/Tauziat doubles there too.
- So be good and do good, Alexandra! And take care and have fun!
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- Sunday 10/31/99
- Well, Alexandra still hasn't quite figured out how to beat Nacuk. The score was 6-3, 7-5. Oh well....
- At least it appears to have been exciting for a bit longer than it was 2 weeks ago. And hopefully it was, again, educational.
- And doubles is a go. Fusai/Tauziat, seeded #2, face Amanda Hopmans/Silvija Talaja in 1st round. Hooray for FT!
- By the way: the Leipzig doubles team-pairs are very intriquing. This could be a very interesting doubles tourney, no matter how it goes.
- Now: take care, have fun, and play well, Alexandra, OK?
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- Monday 11/1/99
- This site has received some interesting info about the recent Nacuk match in Leipzig from a local correspondent (and photographer), Kristen Grosch.
- Apparently, it was a very exciting match, and Alexandra battled well, but had some service problems. In her first service game, she had 3 double-faults. In another service game, she lost with 2 double-faults from 30-30. In all, Alexandra was broken 5 times, but did manage to break back 3 times. Alexandra held 5 times, but only once in the 1st set. Nacuk held 8 times.
- Alexandra won the toss and elected to receive. Nacuk held, then Alexandra was broken. Alexandra broke back to put things back on serve, but then Alexandra was broken twice more with a Nacuk hold in between, putting Alexandra down 1-5 with Nacuk serving for the set. Alexandra broke back, and held, but Nacuk took the set, serving, 3-6, despite Alexandra fighting off 5 set points. Alexandra has come back from 1-5 before, and she will again, but she didn't this time. That's a tough hill to climb, after all. I suppose it's best not to get in that situation, eh?
- Alexandra was broken in the first game of the 2nd set, then everyone held for a while, and Alexandra got the break back to make 4-4 and held to lead 5-4. Then Nacuk held, broke, and held to take it 5-7. Oh well....
- SO: it went like this (Nacuk served first): 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 2-5, 3-5, 3-6, 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4, 4-4, 5-4, 5-5, 5-6, 5-7.
- Kristin says Alexandra's many fans "cheered her all match long very vocally trying to lift her up" and she "had many chances, but she didn't use them" and "the big problem was her serve" and "after the match she looked very disappointed".
- So Alexandra: it's only a game! You win some, you lose some. No big deal! You will win plenty in the future that will make this little disappointment seem very trivial. There's always next week, and next year.....
- Just take care, have fun, and do what comes naturally. Your future singles glory will come in time! Now play some good doubles, keep fighting, and things will fall into place soon enough!
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- Tuesday 11/2/99
- Kristin Grosch reports Good News from Leipzig!
- Fusai/Tauziat defeated Hopmans/Talaja in 1st round doubles 6-3, 6-4. Yea!
- It went like this (Tauziat served first): 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3, 6-3, 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 4-3, 5-3, 5-4, 6-4. Yea!
- In more detail: Hopmans/Talaja won the toss and elected to receive. Natalie served and held, through 2 deuces. Talaja held. Alexandra held, despite starting with 2 double faults. Hopmans, Tauziat, and Talaja were then all broken. And Fusai, Hopmans, and Tauziat then all held: 6-3. Yea!
- In the 2nd set it seems Natalie and Alexandra swapped places in the rotation. Talaja, Tauziat, Hopmans, and Fusai all held (Alexandra had 1 ace and 1 double fault). Talaja was then broken, and Tauziat, Hopmans, Fusai, Talaja, and Tauziat held: 6-4. Yea!
- Kristin opines, comparing Alexandra's serves in this match to those in the singles qualifying, "All in all I would say the serve was much better, partly really solid."
- Kristin then goes on to describe certain "events" during a game in the 2nd set: "At 4-2 Hopmans hit a ballboy, which caused a lot of concern by all 4 players, but ended in laughter. In the very next point Fusai aimed Hopmans accidentally 'to take revenge' with Alex and Amanda both lying on the ground causing even more laughter. Tauziat was next. Still in this game Hopmans/Talaja hit her. She went to the ground and Alex had to give her a hand to stand up. They all had a lot of fun."
- Next is vs. Applemans/Clijsters or Martinez/Tarabini. Win, FT, win!
- And take care, and have some more fun!
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- Friday 11/5/99
- More Good News from Leipzig!
- Fusai/Tauziat defeated Appelmans/Clijsters in quarterfinal doubles today 6-3, 6-2. Yea!
- (And that was after Natalie had played two close sets vs. Anna Kournikova today - Natalie won. In fairness, it should be mentioned that Appelmans had also played singles today - she lost in 3 sets to Kveta Hrdlickova.)
- Anyway: Appelmans/Clijsters won the toss and elected to receive. Tauziat served first, then Clijsters.
- It went like this: 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3, 6-3, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, 4-1, 5-1, 5-2, 6-2. Yea!
- So: Appelmans was broken in her 1st service game, and that was the only break of the 1st set. In the 2nd set, Clijsters was broken in the 1st game, and Appelmans was broken in the 3rd. FT were never broken. And, apparently, Natalie and Alexandra again swapped rotation in the 2nd set, with Natalie serving 5 games in the match, and Alexandra 4, including the final game.
- Here are Kristin's comments (slightly edited): "It was a very good match, Alexandra played very well, she made no double faults. The serve was quite solid. Fusai/Tauziat had a lot of fun on court again. Tauziat played a drop-shot and Clijsters ran for it and crashed down with the whole net. It ended in laughter, Clijsters was okay."
- Tomorrow's semifinal FT match is vs. Larisa Neiland/Mary Pierce.
- Again, this will be after Natalie plays singles (vs. Anke Huber), but also after Pierce plays singles (vs. Hrdlickova, of course).
- (The other semifinal doubles is Elena Likhovtseva/Ai Sugiyama vs. Henrieta Nagyova/Magui Serna.)
- Win, FT, win! And have fun doing it!
- And here's more good news: Alexandra's rankings improved this week - Singles went from #184 to #178, and Doubles went from #13 to #10. Yea! And on the "Money List", Alexandra is #42, with $188,309 earned in 1999, through 10/31. Yea!
- (By the way, tonight I have updated the 10/22 AF News to detail the route Fusai/Grande took in getting to the finals at Poitiers.)
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- Sunday 11/7/99
- Well, some bad news from Leipzig...
- Neiland/Pierce slipped by Fusai/Tauziat to take the semifinals yesterday 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. Oh well...
- The match was probably very close, from start to finish, and very exciting. So that's good.
- It may be that Natalie had a tougher time winning her singles earlier that day than Pierce had losing hers. But dynamics like that can work every which way, so who knows?
- A match that close could have been just a gust of wind, or a weird net volley, or a bad call.....
- (Some good news is that Natalie won the singles final today, and Alexandra probably enjoyed watching that!)
- So now it's (probably) on to Philadelphia for FT doubles-only for Alexandra, then (probably) to the Chase in New York for more FT doubles (Natalie will probably also play singles both places).
- Win, FT! Yea! And have fun!
- (By the way, due to circumstances beyond my control, I may be unable to update this site with Philly and Chase news until they are both over. But results will be here eventually.)
- (Also by the way, tonight I have updated the 11/5 AF News with details provided by Kristin Grosch.)
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- Monday 11/22/99
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALEXANDRA!!!
- Ya done fine at Philly and the Chase!
- In many ways, it's been a very good year!
- (More AF News, and details, soon.....)
- Now, Alexandra: be safe, take care, and HAVE FUN!
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- Tuesday 11/30/99
- Well, this Reporter is now done (for a while) with being chased around the Atlantic by a hurricane, and has finally (mostly) shaken off a nasty flu-cold, so: "now it can be told"....
- At Philly, Fusai/Tauziat defeated Conchita Martinez/Patricia Tarabini 6-3, 6-0 in 1st round play. YEA! Then Cara Black/Debbie Graham defeated FT 6-1, 6-3 in the semis. Oh well...
- So: not great in Philly, but not a disaster either. Alexandra: ya done fine there!
- So FT qualified for the Chase (again!), and that is a tremendous honor - yet merely appropriate for what is clearly one of the top 8 doubles teams in womens' tennis!
- At the Chase, FT drew the #1 seed (and eventual winner) team of Martina Hingis/Anna Kournikova for 1st round and clearly produced a very exciting match for the crowd, and almost a major upset.
- FT took the 1st set handily 6-1, then HK came back to take the 2nd set by the same score. The 3rd set went to a 5-5 tie, then HK won 2 games in a row to advance. Oh well.... Still, an impressive year-end for FT!
- So WTA is now over for the year, and it looks like USTA is also over for the year. ITF has a $50,000 thing at Cergy Pontoise, France this week, which Alexandra might be at, but then it looks like ITF is over for the year too.
- Consequently, Alexandra's year-end rankings look to be what they are now: #177 singles (up from #179 the previous week) and #13 doubles (down from #11 the previous week).
- That doubles ranking accurately reflects Alexandra's place as one of the very best doubles players in the whole world, and Alexandra can be justifiably very proud of it. Alexandra had (another!) EXCELLENT doubles year, perhaps the best aspect of which is that much 1999 doubles success did not involve Natalie. This is not to "dis" Natalie's doubles talent, but merely reinforces the notion that Alexandra is not the "#2" in FT.
- That singles ranking is, obviously, absurd. Maybe #77 could be justified (#35 may be about right), but #177 is, well, just inaccurate, to put it mildly. It was not a good singles year, but Alexandra played very well in many matches, and took major ratings hurts from such events as losing to Venus Williams in 1st round at Roland Garros, losing to Lindsay Davenport (the eventual winner) in 1st round at Wimbledon, losing to Conchita Martinez in 1st round at Hilton Head, and losing to Monica Seles in 3rd round at Amelia, etc.. (Still, there were many other matches for which "excuses" are much harder to find...)
- So now, as always, Alexandra: be safe, take care, do good, be good, and, most important of all, HAVE FUN!
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- Friday 12/31/99
- Well, it seems like Alexandra didn't play any pro matches after the Chase, which is OK, and understandable.
- 1999 was a good year for Alexandra. Not particularly great - and not particularly good in some ways - but plenty good in some other ways.
- It was a good year, maybe even a great year, for Alexandra in doubles. There were numerous impressive victories with Natalie, and perhaps more importantly, victories with Anne-Gaelle Sidot, Innes Gorrochategui, Florencia Labat, and Rita Grande (the pairing with Virginia Ruano-Pascual was less successful). Alexandra was ranked up to #6 in doubles, and demonstrated, without a doubt, that Fusai/Tauziat is just Fusai/X with Tauziat=X (Tauziat is a great X, though!).
- 1999 was also very good for Alexandra in terms of dollars, with about another $200,000 earned for the year, and over $1 million earned since turning pro. These numbers are probably very pleasing to Alexandra's banker, who may also be her father.
- The "not great" part of the year is the singles matches. Alexandra won her 1st singles match of the year (vs. Barabanschikova), then lost 5 in a row. These matches (vs. Dechaume-Balleret, Ruano-Pascual, Kleinova, Molik, and Rippner) were mostly hard-fought, and Alexandra was obviously "targeted", but losing this stretch was hard and tough for Alexandra.
- Then a 1st round loss to Conchita Martinez at Hilton Head was not a shocker, but hurt (much doubles success with Sidot there was some consolation). Wins the next week at Amelia over Morariu and Smashnova, stopped by Seles (not a problem), looked like the start of a real recovery, even a run, and Alexandra's singles ranking was still #39 at that point.
- But then there were losses to Sanchez-Lorenzo, Hrdlickova, Anke Huber (not a real shock that one), and Cocheteux (in this period there were also major doubles successes, though). They were fought losses, but losses.
- At Roland Garros, the 1st round loss to Venus Williams was just tough luck. But then losses to Molik and Lucic led to another tough luck loss in 1st round to Davenport (the eventual champion) at Wimbledon.
- Then leading to the US Open were losses to Pitkowski and (again) Cocheteaux. Yet US Open qualifying brought 2 wins, but then a loss - not enough to actually qualify. Oh well...
- After this there were, near as I can tell, 7 wins and only 6 losses, but these were mostly in "small" tourneys, and ended with 2 losses in a row to Nacuk. (The wins were vs. Hopmans, Muller, Testard, Kuti-Kis, Combes, Jeyaseelan, and Ward; the other losses were vs. Pisnik, Pizzicini, Loit, and Pitkowski (again).) On the upside, there is evidence that Alexandra's incredible spirit never flagged, and is as intense, and incredible, as ever.
- And Alexandra seems to somehow just continue to get more beautiful.
- Alexandra: you had a good year! Even a great year! You had TONS of FUN! You gave many, many thousands of fans the joy of watching many great matches, singles and doubles! You created thousands of more Fusai-fans who will never, ever, forget you, or the joy you gave them, or your incredible Spirit! You will do better against Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Venus Williams, and Conchita Martinez the next time you play them! Having lost now to each of them, you can now beat them, next time! And, this year, you showed everyone that great Fusai doubles is not just Fusai/Tauziat, but Fusai/X! You're well set up for an improvement, next year, in your doubles ranking, and a MASSIVE improvement, next year, in your singles ranking! And you made about $200k in earnings, and maybe spent less than that doing it!
- (For this site, 1999 has been very great because of a LOT of new, great, pictures, and other enhancements.)
- So now, as always, Alexandra: be safe, take care, do good, be good, and, most important of all, HAVE FUN!
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