Fifteen-year old Michelle Larcher De Brito steals the show on Day-3 of Women's Sony Ericsson tourney.
Day-3 News
The biggest Day-3 story on the women’s side is 15-year-old wildcard, Michelle Larcher De Brito of Portugal, bumping off No.17 seed Agnieszka Radwanska. Radwanska, a teenager herself who burst on the scene at the US Open last year with her win over Maria Sharapova, was downed in three (2-6, 6-3, 7-5) by the Bollettieri protégé.
American Ashley Harkleroad’s victory over No.23 seed Virginie Razzano is also noteworthy. She lost to Razzano in the 1st round of the Australian Open, but has been playing well of late. She has a good chance to get past unseeded Elena Vesnina to reach the 3rd round of the Sony Ericsson for the first time.
Interesting Day-4 Match-ups
An intriguing Day-4 match is No.5 seed Anna Chavetadze against the hard-hitting teenager, Tamira Paszek. Chakvetadze hasn’t done much this year and could be battling injury. Even though Paszek hasn’t made much noise thus far in ’08, she has a slugger’s chance. Don’t be surprised to see Paszek advance.
The long-shot of the day on the women’s side might be Shuai Peng over No.24 seed Amelie Mauresmo. Although Peng has no victories of note, her last two events she took both Venus Williams and Agnieszka Radwanska to three sets before falling. Mauresmo, a former World No.1 and typical top-ten player, has not played anywhere near her top form for quite some time. She should get by Peng, but an upset would only be worthy of a small eyebrow raise.
Nostalgia fans may be interested in No.32 seed Lindsay Davenport’s match against Camille Pin. Davenport should advance, but the matches of real interest won’t be made until the quarters in the women’s draw if all stays true to form. Game, set, match...
