Russians Are Going, and Americans Are Gone

There is but one Russian remaining in the singles draw of the Acura Classic, and her last name isn’t Sharapova, Myskina, Dementieva or Kuznetsova.

Her first name is Anna.

It’s Anna Chakvetadze. Not Anna Kournikova.

Strange days, indeed, and they aren’t limited just to the Russians. For the first time since 1996, there are no Americans in the quarterfinals of this tournament, and it’s happened only twice in the history of the event, which started in 1984 at Morley Field, now known as the Balboa Tennis Club.

The last American exited before lunch Thursday, putting up little resistance in the round of 16. Sesil Karatantcheva of Bulgaria defeated Mashona Washington, 6-1, 6-2, in 67 minutes at La Costa Resort and Spa. Washington double-faulted nine times and dropped the final five games.

That outcome was not overly surprising. Karatantcheva, who turns 16 next week, is one of the rising stars on the tour and defeated Washington, 6-0, 6-2, last year in their only previous meeting. More recently, she reached the quarterfinals of the French Open, beating Venus Williams along the way.

The unexpected result came later in the day on Stadium Court, as yet another big name tumbled out: Ai Sugiyama of Japan defeated second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, in 2 hours 22 minutes. Kuznetsova, the reigning U.S. Open champion, looked tired and seemed mentally fragile.

As for the reasons for her demise, she put it best herself: “On, off. On, off.”

The off button was in operation too often against Sugiyama, who was wearing a wrap on her left thigh. Her leg warmed up as the match progressed and Sugiyama was able to utilize her speed. She concentrated on trying to keep the baseline exchanges backhand vs. backhand, attempting to prevent Kuznetsova from setting up on her forehand side.

The Russian alternated between brilliant winners and inexplicable errors. Sugiyama recorded the decisive service break in the fifth game of the third set.

Sugiyama, typically, saves her best tennis for this tournament. She recorded back-to-back victories against Jennifer Capriati and Steffi Graf in 1998, and had wins over Mary Pierce in 1999 and Kim Clijsters in 2001.

But she has been well off her form of 2004 when she reached No. 8 in the world. Sugiyama began this year with four consecutive first-round losses. This was only the fourth time in 2005 that she managed back-to-back wins in a tournament.

“I just turned 30 and probably was thinking about the age,” she said. “Thirty is nothing compared to Martina Navratilova.... I didn’t want to finish badly. I know it’s [near] the end of my career. As long as I enjoy it, I can play maybe two more years.”

Kuznetsova’s departure greatly weakened the lower part of the draw. In today’s quarterfinals, Sugiyama will play Karatantcheva, and the 18-year-old Chakvetadze will face Akiko Morigami of Japan. Chakvetadze defeated countrywoman Elena Likhovtseva, 6-3, 6-1, in 55 minutes. Morigami outlasted 18-year-old Sania Mirza of India, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

The other two quarterfinals will feature Shuai Peng of China vs. No. 7 Kim Clijsters of Belgium, and No. 5 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland vs. No. 6 Pierce. Clijsters defeated Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, 6-1, 6-3, Thursday, and Pierce beat fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy, 7-5, 6-3.

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Qualifying for next week’s JPMorgan Chase Open has been moved to the Seal Beach Tennis Center because of a conflict with the X Games at the Home Depot Center in Carson. The qualifying will be on Saturday and Sunday, starting at 10 a.m. both days.

Alexandra Stevenson, Bethanie Mattek and Neha Uberoi have been given wild cards into qualifying. Main-draw play begins Monday at the Home Depot Center, and wild cards have gone to Jill Craybas and Marissa Irvin. Both Craybas and Irvin lost in the first round of the Acura Classic.

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Featured matches

Today’s featured matches in the Acura Classic at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad:

* Stadium court (10 a.m.) -- Sesil Karatantcheva, Bulgaria, vs. Ai Sugiyama, Japan; Patty Schnyder, Switzerland, vs. Mary Pierce, France; Anna Chakvetadze, Russia, vs. Akiko Morigami, France.

* Stadium court (7 p.m.) -- Shaui Peng, China, vs. Kim Clijsters, Belgium.