Teenager Vaidisova wins first WTA Tour match at Mexican Open
March 3, 2004
ACAPULCO, Mexico (Ticker) - Czech teenager Nicole Vaidisova's first WTA Tour victory was not glamorous.
Vaidisova advanced to the second round of the $822,000 Mexican Open on Tuesday when Slovakia's Lubomira Kurhajcova retired during a first-set tiebreaker due to an abdominal strain.
Vaidisova, who won't turn 15 until the end of April, had a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker when Kurhajcova called it quits. The last 14-year-old to win a WTA main draw match was Viktoria Kutusova, who was two weeks shy of her 15th birthday at Los Angeles last year.
Vaidisova had a successful junior career that included the Orange Bowl singles title last December and a runner-up at this year's Australian Open. She won her first ITF senior tournament at Plzen, Czech Republic as a qualifier, reached the final at last month's ITF Midland, Michigan stop and won the ITF event in Columbus, Ohio.
By appearing in the Midland final, Vaidisova earned a spot in the main draw here - her first at a WTA Tour event.
Three qualifiers advanced on the women's side as Mashona Washington of the United States, Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic and Australia's Samantha Stosur were winners.
In the only seeded women's action, No. 4 Emilie Loit of France rallied past Luxembourg wild card Anne Kremer, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-1; No. 7 Arantxa Parra of Spain dispatched Russian Alina Jidkova, 6-4, 6-4; and Tathiana Garbin of Italy upended No. 8 Ludmila Cervanova of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2.
On the men's side, top seed Carlos Moya continued his success at this event with a 6-3, 6-3 first-round victory over fellow Spaniard David Sanchez. The 2002 champion, Moya improved to 11-2 at this tournament and 14-3 overall this year. He avoided a three-match losing streak.
Fourth seed Mariano Zabaleta of Argentina rallied past Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3; No. 5 Felix Mantilla of Spain overcame France's Olivier Patience, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); and No. 6 Gaston Gaudio of Argentina got past countryman Jose Acasuso 6-7 (2-7), 7-6 (7-1), 6-1.
The men's winner earns $120,500, while the women's champion takes home $27,000.
Updated on Wednesday, Mar 3, 2004 12:38 am EST
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