15 October 2003

It was an uneventful second day at the 6th Al Habtoor Tennis Challenge with all the seeds advancing to the second round of the competition at the Metropolitan Resort and Beach Club yesterday.

However, the day did not go without its fair share of thrills as defending champion Angelique Widjaja survived an early scare to scamper through with the next two sets and win 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 against qualifier Zsofia Gubacsi.

Widjaja, who secured an identical three-set victory for the title against Japan's Shinobu Asagoe last year, looked drained out in the opening set as she lost the first game and her concentration to trail 0-2.

Another break in the third game did not help her cause as her Hungarian opponent held serve to lead 4-0.

Given the fact that she could not push her opponent into committing unforced errors, Widjaja dropped anchor and lost the set 6-2.

But the second set turned out to be completely the opposite for the lass from Bandung as Widjaja started mixing up her game well with some high top-spin drops to unsettle her otherwise hard-hitting Hungarian opponent.

This tactic paid well and the Indonesian kept her focus to wrap up the formalities of the next two sets to win 6-1, 6-1.

"I think it was something to do with my confidence level," Widjaja beamed after the match.

"The first set was bad and I lost my confidence to a great extent. But the good thing from a match like this was that I was able to make a comeback and win," added the Indonesian who is ranked 74 on the WTA Tour.

Admitting that a first-round loss was always hovering at the back of her mind, the defending champion said: "All I wanted to do was to keep my focus on the game. But somehow the idea of losing was always around, however much I tried pushing it away."

Also rising up the challenge on the second day was second seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy with a swift 6-3, 6-1 victory against Germany 's Julia Schruff.

Pennetta was joined in the lower half of the draw by Slovakian Henrieta Nagyova and sixth seed Adriana Serra Zannetti. Nagyova beat qualifier Mervana Jugic-Salkic 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Of the two Arab players in the singles competition, Moroccan Bahia Mouhtassine became the first to depart following a hard-fought 3-6, 6-4, 4-6 loss to France's Severine Beltrame.

Results
Severine Beltrame bt Bahia Mouhtassine 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Eva Birnerova bt Barabanschikova 6-3, 6-3; Angelique Widjaja bt Zsofia Gubacsi 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Arantxa Parra bt Eugenia Linetskaya 6-2, 6-4; Adriana Serra Zanetti bt Alyona Bondarenko 6-0, 6-1; Lubomira Kurhajcova bt Angelika Roesch 7-6, 6-2; Henrieta Nagyova bt Mervana Jugic-Salkic 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; Flavia Pennetta bt Julia Schruff 6-3, 6-1; Tatiana Poutchek bt Elena Tatarkova 6-4, 6-2.

Order of Play:
(Centre Court) 2 pm: Bahia Mouhtassine/Caroline Schneider vs Lenka Nemeckova/Julia Schruff; 4 pm: Emmanuelle Gagliardi vs Selima Sfar; Kyra Nagy vs Arantxa Parra; Flavia Pennetta/Adriana Serra Zanetti vs Alyona Bondarenko/Olena Antypina; Zsofia Gubacsi/Kyra Nagy vs O. Barabanschikova/Nadejda Ostrovskaya.

(Court No. 1) 2 pm: Daniela Klemenschits/Sandra Klemenschits vs Severine Beltrame/Camille Pin; 4 pm: Jelena Jankovic vs Aniko Kapros; Angelique Widjaja vs Eva Birnerova; Gulnara Fattakhetdinova/Tatiana Poutchek vs Eva Fislova/Lubomira Kurhajcova; Ivana Abramovic/Mervana Jugic-Salkic vs Kelly Liggan/Arantxa Parra.

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