Tauziat’s Week Gets Worse With Loss to Czech Qualifier

The youngest player of the estyle.com Classic, 17-year-old qualifier Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic, collected the biggest win of her career by upsetting sixth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-3, 6-4, Tuesday in a first-round match at Manhattan Country Club in Manhattan Beach.

“[Bedanova] played better today and deserved to win,” said Tauziat, at 32 the oldest player in the field. “I don’t want to make excuses but some days you just don’t play well.”

Leading 4-3 in the first set, Bedanova broke Tauziat at love, then held serve to win the set and send her on her way to the upset.

“I was a little surprised how easily I won,” Bedanova said.

Earlier, the tournament suffered a setback when third-seeded Monica Seles, a finalist Sunday at the Acura Classic, withdrew citing pain in her left forearm. She said she began to be bothered by it last Thursday during the tournament at Carlsbad.

Tauziat was still upset by the French Tennis Federation’s denial Monday of her appeal to be reinstated on the Olympic team.

“I was disappointed because I don’t agree with their decision,” Tauziat said. “It’s bad for the sport. They made a bad mistake.”

She blamed her performance Tuesday, however, on a “bad attitude” before the match and she said didn’t feel like playing.

Tauziat had written a tell-all book about the women’s tennis tour, and fellow Frenchwomen Amelie Mauresmo, Julie Halard-Decugis and Sandrine Testud had threatened to boycott the Olympics if Tauziat were included on the team.

The French federation dropped Tauziat, even though at No. 8 in the world she is the highest-ranked player among those selected for the French team. The official reason given was that other than in the indoor season, she did not have strong results. She is appealing the decision to the International Tennis Federation.

In a featured night match, defending tournament champion Serena Williams, who was playing in her first match since Wimbledon, deluged Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania with an array of powerful forehand shots in a 6-0, 6-1 victory that took only 38 minutes.

“I’m back to playing like I did at Wimbledon, getting off the court quickly,” she said. “There’s always room for improvement, but I just played a solid game.”

Williams said she has been working on eliminating mental errors.

“I’m finished with making those errors,” she said. “Today I was so eager to play. I’ve been waiting for so long.”

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain, also playing her first match since Wimbledon, defeated Barbara Schett of Austria, 6-4, 6-1, after overcoming a 3-0 first-set deficit. She had taken time off to get married to Joan Vehils, a Spanish sports journalist.

Their July 21 wedding was attended by more than 500 guests, among them Jose Maria Aznar, the prime minister of Spain. But which generated more attention, the Spaniards’ defeat of the U.S. in the Davis Cup, or her nuptials?

“My wedding, of course,” she said laughing.

Seles’ withdrawal means qualifier Kristina Brandi will take her spot and play Elena Dementieva of Russia in a second-round match today.

Seles is returning home to rehabilitate in Florida and is uncertain whether she will play in Montreal next week.

“It’s too hard to predict when I will be able to play again,” she said. “I will go home to start on my rehab, and look forward to returning to the tour as soon as possible.”

She struggled all week with blisters on her left hand, forcing her to adjust her grip and causing the strain in her forearm.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

Schedule of today’s highlight matches on at the estyle.com Classic:

Center Court at 10:00 a.m.

* Sadrine Testud vs. Dominique Van Roost, followed by Conchita Martinez vs. Alexandra Stevenson, followed by Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Serena Williams.

Center Court at 7 p.m.

* Martina Hingis vs. Chanda Rubin, followed by Elena Dementieva vs. Kristina Brandi.