Stevenson Holds On for Three-Set Win

Alexandra Stevenson would have been a sophomore in college this fall had she decided to go to school instead of turning professional. But she’s being schooled in a different way in the WTA tour.

“I’m a fighter and I like to come back and fight,” she said. “I try not let anyone get me down, but it’s been a tough year for any 19-year-old to go through.”

She fought back and overcame her inconsistent play, to defeat Silvija Talaja of Croatia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in 1 hour 57 minutes to advance to the second round of the estyle.com Classic at the Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach.

She lost the first set after leading 3-0. In the second set, she had a 4-2 lead but needed a service break to go up 5-4 and held her serve to win the set.

“I let her back in,” Stevenson said. “I’ve been working on not letting people back in, but I guess it didn’t work. I probably should have won the first set, but I made some bad errors. Then I just told myself to get tough and said, ‘I got to win this match because I’m not going to lose.’ ”

Stevenson won the third set with a volley, a phase of her game she’s been working on. But her strong serve, which she’s known for, produced only two aces.

“[Talaja] fought back hard, but I just made silly mistakes. [In the] third set I just told myself to go out and be tough,” she said. “I knew if I hit through the ball I could outlast her because she was getting tired.”

Talaja said she was bothered by an upset stomach in the morning and felt weak during the match.

“I was fighting till the end but by the third set I had no more strength,” she said.

Stevenson said she’s working on eliminating her mental errors that have resulted in a difficult year. She reached the semifinals in Wimbledon last year, but this year her best performance came at Sydney when she reached the quarterfinals.

Stevenson lost to Talaja twice this year on clay but the teenager said her performance Monday is a sign of her improvement.

“A few months ago I probably wouldn’t been able to win the last set, but I’m getting better,” she said.

She took three weeks off after Wimbledon to work on conditioning drills in Florida, where she now lives, to improve her endurance, and agility.

In other matches Julie Halard-Decugis of France, who was playing her first match since Wimbledon, made a first-round exit losing to Chanda Rubin, 6-2, 6-1. Last year at Manahttan Beach, Halard-Decugis upset Mary Pierce in the quarterfinals and Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals before falling to Serena Williams in the final.

Also, Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France defeated Ali Sugiyama of Japan, 6-3, 6-4, and Elena Dementieva of Russia defeated Nathalie Dechy of France, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Notes

Nathalie Tauziat’s appeal to the French Tennis Federation to reconsider their Olympic team selections was denied Monday.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

Today’s schedule at the estyle.com Classic at Manhattan Country Club:

STADIUM COURT

* 10 a.m.--Sandrine Testud (8), France, vs. Elena Likhovtseva, Russia,

followed by Nathalie Tauziat (6), France, vs. Daja Bedanova, Czech Republic

* 1 p.m.--Barbara Schett, Austria, vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (7), Spain,

followed by Amy Frazier vs. Marlene Weingartner, Germany

* 7 p.m.--Ruxandra Dragomir, Romania, vs. Serena Williams (5),

followed by Mirjana Lucic, Croatia, vs. Lisa Raymond