| | Associated Press
CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Dominique Van Roost knows how to beat
the top players. She just needs to get over a mental hurdle to get
back to that point.
Van Roost, who has two wins over No. 2-ranked Lindsay Davenport
this season, opened with a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Japan's Ai
Sugiyama in Monday's first round of the $535,00 Acura Classic.
The win advanced Van Roost into the second round where she will
face top-ranked Martina Hingis of Switzerland on Tuesday. Hingis,
along with the other seeded players, did not play Monday.
Van Roost, ranked 15th in the world, is still battling through
the loss of her mother, who died of cancer in March. Despite the
wins over Davenport, including a first-round victory at the French
Open, Van Roost admits it's been hard focusing on tennis.
"The first six months were very tough, but I'm getting better
mentally," she said, "But I don't forget, so it's tough."
Van Roost, of Belgium, looked sharp as she broke Sugiyama's
serve four times in the first set. Van Roost broke Sugiyama again
to go ahead 4-2 in the second set before she began to struggle.
Sugiyama fought back to tie the score 5-5 and 6-6 before Van
Roost took control in the tiebreak.
"At the end of the match, I was playing longer," Van Roost
said. "I was really focusing on playing fast and trying to play in
the corner. That made a difference in the tiebreak."
In other first-round matches, France's Nathalie Dechy defeated
Anne-Gaelle Sidot of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; and Meilen Tu of the
United States defeated countrywoman Mashona Washington 6-2, 6-3.
Van Roost, who also owns career wins over Hingis and
third-ranked Venus Williams, knows she'll have it tough against
Hingis, who holds a 3-1 lifetime edge and beat her here last year
in straight sets.
"She can play all kind of games," Van Roost said of Hingis.
"She can do it better than the other ones."
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ALSO SEE
Monday's results
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