Section B · Page 8
The University Daily Kansan
Thursday, September 30, 1999
Injury doesn't keep player from victory
Christi Wagenaar hits a backhand during practice. Wagenaar won her flight in the Indiana Fall Invitational despite breaking her nose two days before competition. Photo by Nick Krug/KANSAN
By Melinda Weaver
sports@kansan.com
Kansas sportwriter
It was a psychology experiment gone wrong.
In a session with the team psychologist, members of the women's tennis team had to stand on a platform and fall backward into the arms of their teammates.
When Julia Sidorova fell, she elbowed teammate Christi Wagaena in the face, breaking her nose.
This happened Sept. 22, only two days before Wageneara was scheduled to play in the Indiana Fall Invitational in Bloomington, Ind.
"I couldn't practice Thursday because I was very dizzy and woozy," said Wagenaar, a sophomore. "I had to take lots of drugs and medication, so I was very off balance."
However, she decided to compete in the tournament anyway, without the use of a face brace.
"As the tournament went on, I felt much better," Wagenar said. "I couldn't play doubles because I would have to play too close to the net, and the ball moves too fast. I knew I would be tentative, but I'm mainly a baseline player, so I wasn't too scared."
Her singles play seemed unaffected as she won the Flight 7 singles tournament handily.
n victory KANSAS TENNIS
In the first round, she defeated Alexandra Stankovic of Marquette 6-4, 6-1. Saturday, she defeated Gwen Sikora of Miami-Ohio 6-2 and moved into the championship round against Mindy Champion of Western Michigan, where she won 6-2, 6-0.
"The competition was good," Wagenaar said. "There were some good schools. It was a good warm-up
to prepare for the spring season."
Coach Jenny Garrity said that while she was a little worried about Wagener, she was pleased with her weekend results.
She told me that she was fine emotionally, physically and mentally." Garrity said. "I'm not sure if it was her first broken bone, but it was her first college injury. She went in great spite of that. She didn't even wear her mask. She competed hard. I think it was more difficult for her flying there than actually playing, but she did great."
Wagenaar said that her nose was sore but that the swelling had gone down quite a bit. She has not had to wear the brace, and she expects her nose to be well within the week.
She will play in the Rice Invitational this weekend, as well.
Wagenaar has played well for the team this fall despite seeing very little playing time last season.
She came to Kansas as South Africa's top junior singles player, but the talented lineup already in existence did not offer much playing time for Wagenear as a freshman.
Kansas is without top player Kris Sell this season, and Wagenaar said she hoped to see action in a few matches.
"Not much has changed since last season, so it will depend on how I do in the fall," Wagenaar said. "Except for the top three players, we are all pretty even, so we all have a chance to play. I'm looking forward to this season."
— Edited by Chris Hutchison
Hingis nabs win in first Cup match
The Associated Press
MUNICH, Germany — Ready to get her game on track and celebrate her birthday at Oktoberfest, Martina Hingis beat Amelle Mauresmo 7-6 (7-1), 6-2 yesterday at the $6.7 million Grand Slam Cup.
The world's No. 1 player was competing in her first match since losing the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams nearly three weeks ago.
The tournament features the 12 men and eight women with the best records at the year's four Grand Slam events. The men's winner gets $1.3 million, and the women's champion gets $800,000.
"It felt good to have the victory," said Hingis, who plans to enjoy herself at the annual beer festival on her day off today, her 19th birthday. "I went a little bit down after that (the U.S. Open). I wasn't practicing."
Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf arrived from California on Tuesday. Graf, who retired this summer after a career beset by injuries, went on to Austria to see her doctor.
Hingis, who beat Mauresmo in the final of the Australian Open, assured herself of earning at least $300,000 in the richest tournament in tennis.
In the men's field, Tommy
Haas beat Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-2, setting up a quarterfinal today with top-ranked Agassi. Agassi, the U.S. Open champion, had a first-round bye.
Haas earned $175,000 awarded to each men's quarterfinalist. Hrbaty got $100,000 as a first-round loser.
Nicolas Lapentil of Ecuador struggled past Fernando Meligeni of Brazil 6-4, 2-6, 16-14. The third set was the longest in the 10 years of the tournament, which does not use a tiebreaker in the decisive set, and took 1 hour, 47 minutes. It was also the longest set on the tour this year.
Lapentti, a semifinalist at the Australian Open, blew a match point while serving at 5-4 in the third set.
In the Hingis-Mauremos match, there were six breaks in the first set, but Hingis dominated the tiebreaker.
In the second set, Mauresmo dropped serve six times, including a double fault that gave Hingis a 2-1 lead. She broke back for 2-2 but could not hold in her next two service games.
A place in the women's semifinals is worth $200,000, and Hingis also collects $100,000 as bonus for her Australian Open title.
Mauresmo and Hingis have met three times since, with Hingis winning twice.