Hantuchova Eliminates American Qualifier

It was payback time for Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova as she ousted qualifier Marissa Irvin of the United States, 7-6 (3), 6-3 in a first-round Acura Classic match.

When these two players met earlier this year, Irvin came away with a hard-fought victory in a third-set tiebreaker.

Things were different on Monday afternoon on Stadium Court at the La Costa Resort and Spa as Hantuchova erased Irvin’s 5-2 first-set lead and eventually won the set in a tiebreaker.

In the second set, the Slovak scored a key service break to take a 5-3 lead. Hantuchova served for the

match and after going to deuce twice, she hit a perfectly placed sliced drop shot for a winner to reach her second match point.

Irvin approached the net and hit a forehand volley back to Hantuchova who ripped a backhand crosscourt passing shot to win the match.

“At the beginning she was playing really well, not missing a ball,” Hantuchova said. “It was very difficult but I just hung in there.”

• Hantuchova advances to the Acura Classic second round where she will meet seventh-seeded Svetlana of Russia.
• Hantuchova is now 1-1 in career meetings with Irvin. In their only previous meeting, Irvin defeated Hantuchova 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3) earlier this year in Indian Wells.
• Hantuchova is ranked 34 in the world.
• Hantuchova’s 2004 match record improves to 15-14.
• This is Hantuchova’s third career Acura Classic appearance. In 2002, she lost to Ai Sugiyama in the second round when she was given a point penalty on match point. She reached the quarterfinals in 2003 before losing to Nadia Petrova of Russia.
• Irvin is ranked 85 in the world.
• This was the second consecutive year Irvin had qualified for the main draw. This year in qualifying, she defeated Lioudmila Skavronskaia of Russia, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-4 and Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand, 6-3, 6-2.
• Irvin was making her fourth Acura Classic appearance.
• Irvin’s 2004 match record falls to 29-14.
• Irvin has reached the third round of the French Open the past two years.

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