Young Players Grab Spotlight From Elites

With six of the WTA Tour’s top 10 players sitting out the Pacific Life Open because of injuries, tournament officials have been doing their best to showcase up-and-coming young American players.

Shenay Perry, a 19-year-old qualifier from Coral Springs, Fla., and 17-year-old Jamea Jackson of Bradenton, Fla., did their best to show that they may be among those up-and-comers during first-round matches Thursday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

The teenagers each took a turn in the spotlight and showed panache in consecutive matches against higher-ranked players on Indian Wells’ stadium court.

“It’s a good feeling to be out there,” Perry said. “I think now I’m getting more confidence, and I felt like I was hitting the ball well. I was pretty happy with the match overall.”

Perry, who turned pro at 16 after deciding to see whether she wanted to make tennis her life’s work, appears to have made the right decision, if a 6-3, 6-2 first-round victory over Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine is any indication.

“Growing up, I liked tennis, but I didn’t love it,” she said. “I decided to see if I could make it in the pros. I wanted to see how it was, how I could do, and if I liked the lifestyle.”

Now ranked No. 135 after being at No. 143 last season and No. 813 in 2000, Perry said she is “starting to see it as my career. I realized that it was something that maybe I was destined to do.”

Jackson had the upper hand during much of her match against Marissa Irvin, but was forced to retire because of severe cramping in the third set with Irvin leading, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 1-0.

The 5-foot-5 Jackson used her superior speed and court coverage to beat Irvin in the first set, and was serving for the second set at 5-4 when she began struggling in the 90-degree heat. She was eventually taken off the court in a wheelchair.

“I was trying to fight through it. I was so close,” said Jackson, who said she has fought heat-related problems frequently in the last year. “It interferes with everything and affects me a lot. It’s definitely something I need to solve.”

Although Irvin was happy to advance, she would have preferred to do it another way.

“She’s very quick, and I noticed she wasn’t running down the balls as well at the end of the second set,” she said. “You never like to win because the other person can’t continue.

“But at the same time, I was happy that I hung in there.”

Perry and Jackson were followed onto the stadium court by Compton resident Angela Haynes, who lost, 6-2, 6-4, to Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

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Pacific Life Open Facts

* Where: Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

* Prize money: $2.1 million.

* Finals: Men, noon March 21; Women, 2 p.m. March 21.

* TV: The Tennis Channel will broadcast 12 consecutive hours of coverage beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday; Early-round coverage begins Sunday on ESPN2.

* Tickets: (800) 999-1585.

Featured Matches

Stadium court, starting at 10 a.m.

* Thomas Enqvist, Sweden, vs. Tommy Haas, Germany.

* Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia, vs. Marissa Irvin.

* James Blake vs Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic.

* Mara Santangelo, Italy, vs. No. 3 Lindsay Davenport.

Not before 6:30

* Angelika Roesch, Germany, vs. No. 2 Kim Clijsters, Belgium.

* Todd Martin vs. Antony Dupuis, France.

Other outer-court matches

* Giovanni Lapentti, Ecuador, vs. Taylor Dent.

* Jan-Michael Gambill vs. John Van Lottum, Netherlands.

* No. 19 Nathalie Dechy, France, vs. Shenay Perry.