A New Russian Army Has Come to Play

The Russians aren’t coming. They’re here, and out in force, at the Acura Classic women’s tennis tournament at La Costa Resort and Spa.

There are eight, count ‘em, Russians in the main draw. Six are seeded among the top 12 in the $1.3-million Tier I event, and four are ranked among the top 10 players in the world.

“We’re here in almost every tournament. It comes with the territory right now,” said French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, whose victory in that tournament in May came over fellow Russian Elena Dementieva, and was celebrated throughout Moscow as a sure sign of their country’s recent rise in tennis.

Another indication came Monday, when Vera Zvonareva, seeded No. 12 in the Acura tournament, led off a full day of first-round matches with a hard-earned 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Nathalie Dechy of France. After winning the first set, Zvonareva trailed, 5-2, in the second set, but rebounded to win in the tiebreaker.

The Russians will show their strength in numbers today, when five more players, including the third-seeded Myskina and sixth-seeded, 17-year-old Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, play second-round matches.

“I’m very proud to have so many Russians,” said Dementieva, seeded fifth. “I still remember the time that I was coming to tournaments and I was the only one, or maybe there were two of us, playing past the second round.”

The 19-year-old Zvonareva is among those doing that now. She gave six-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams all she could handle before losing in three sets in a quarterfinal at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Carson last week.

“We motivate each other to do better in the tournaments, but we’re still good friends off court,” Zvonareva said. “I think it’s really important for us to be all together as top players, and we get a chance to practice with each other.

“We speak the same language, and we say, ‘What can we do to help each other?’ But still, it’s a big competition.”

The Russians frequently play as a group on Fed Cup, Kremlin Cup and Olympic teams, but then go it alone while competing against each other the rest of the time.

Dementieva, 22, and Myskina, 23, were born three months apart in Moscow and grew up playing in junior tournaments together before taking their rivalry to the professional ranks. The two have met nine times on the WTA tour. Myskina, ranked No. 4 in the world, holds a 5-4 edge in the series, a fact that doesn’t sit well with Dementieva, who is ranked sixth.

“I don’t like to play against Russian players,” Dementieva said. “It’s never easy to play against someone you know very well. One week, we have to go play Fed Cup or something together, and another day, you have to go and fight against, maybe, your doubles partner or something. It’s kind of difficult, mentally, for me.”

Otherwise, the Russians are enjoying the view near the top of the tennis world.

“More people are watching tennis, more people are after us,” said seventh-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who is ranked No. 9 and lost to Dementieva in three sets in the quarterfinals at the Home Depot Center last week. “Tennis is big, and I hope we’re going to promote it.”

Said Myskina: “Lots of people play tennis right now, and they play because you play. They want to be like you, and it’s nice.”