Martina News
(April - June 2003)

June 30, 2003: Martina & Sveta are expected to play their third round doubles match tomorrow against Daja Bedanova & Renata Voracova. That match has been scheduled fourth on Court 2.

June 30, 2003: To read Martina's latest column for 'The Guardian,' click here.

June 30, 2003: Martina & Leander won their second round mixed doubles match today, defeating Alex Lopez Moron & Rosanna Neffa-de los Rios 6-0 6-1. This marks the first time Martina has made the third round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon since 1996.

June 30, 2003: Martina recently spoke with the Czech newspaper "Mlada Fronta Dnes" and you can read the complete interview here. Some of her comments from the interview can be found in this DPA article here. If anyone can help with the complete translation to English, please let me know. Thanks!

June 28, 2003: Martina gets tomorrow off, as is customary on the middle Sunday at Wimbledon. On Monday, Leander & she are scheduled to play their second round mixed doubles match against Alex Lopez Moron & Rosanna Neffa-de los Rios. That match has been scheduled fourth on Court 2.

June 28, 2003: Martina & Leander won their first round mixed doubles match today, defeating Jamie Delgado & Anastasia Myskina 6-4 6-4. They recovered from 1-3 down in the second set, winning 5 of the next 6 games to win the match.

June 28, 2003: Martina talked about the 1983 Wimbledon final in her press conference on Wednesday and alluded to certain problems that Andrea Jaeger, her opponent in that final, was experiencing at the time. Andrea has since elaborated on that in a conversation with Victoria Lee of 'The Observer.' It is pretty sad stuff. For more, click here.

June 27, 2003: Martina & Leander are expected to play their first round mixed doubles match tomorrow on a yet-to-be-announced court. They will take on Jamie Delgado & Anastasia Myskina.

June 27, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their second round doubles match today defeating Helen Crook & Anna Hawkins 6-2 6-1. Martina had a slight hiccup when serving for each set. At 5-1 in the first, she was broken. At the same stage in the second, she saved a break point before closing out the match. To read the transcripts of Martina's press conference after the match, click here. You can also listen to most of the interview on the Audio Highlights page. For articles, click on the following links: Tournament website, The Scotsman. And here are a few photos. The last one depicts Martina being interviewed by CNN: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three, Photo Four. It was also Sveta's 18th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Sveta!

June 27, 2003: To read Martina's latest column for 'The Guardian,' click here.

June 26, 2003: Martina & Sveta will play their second round doubles match at Wimbledon tomorrow, the second scheduled match on Court 4. They will take on Helen Crook & Anna Hawkins.

June 26, 2003: To read the transcripts of Martina's press conference at Wimbledon yesterday, click here.

June 25, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their first round doubles match at Wimbledon today, recovering from being a set & a break down to beat Anastasia Rodionova & Marlene Weingartner 4-6 6-3 6-3. For articles on the match, click on the following links: Tournament Website, The Daily Telegraph.

June 25, 2003: The mixed doubles draw was announced today. Martina & Leander are the #5 seeds and will take on Jamie Delgado & Anastasia Myskina in the first round. For the complete draw, click here.

June 25, 2003: It looks like I missed an article written by Martina for 'The Guardian' last week. Martina wrote a little "how-to" piece on winning Wimbledon. For more, click here.

June 24, 2003: Martina & Sveta are scheduled to play their first round match at Wimbledon tomorrow. They will take on Anastasia Rodionova & Marlene Weingartner on the fourth match on Court 3.

June 24, 2003: It appears Martina will be writing a column for 'The Guardian' this Wimbledon. To read Martina's first column, click here.

June 24, 2003: To read the transcripts of the chat with Martina today, visit the Sanex Heroes site here. You will find the link right under the photo of Martina. For a larger photo of Martina at the chat, click here.

June 22, 2003: On the eve of Wimbledon, here are a few more links to articles of interest, including a gem by Bud Collins. Click for more: The Boston Globe, The Scotsman, Australian Associated Press. Martina also spoke by phone with Linda Robertson of 'The Miami Herald' on the current state of the tennis game. For more, click here.

June 21, 2003: The live chat with Martina will take place on Tuesday (June 24) at 5:00 p.m., UK time (12:00 p.m., Eastern time). The Sanex Heroes website can be found here. Look for the "Live Chat" link on the left.

June 21, 2003: For a nice article on Martina from 'The Independent,' click here. The interview was done shortly after her doubles loss at Eastbourne this week.

June 21, 2003: Martina & Alicia lost their first round match in Eastbourne on Thursday as their opponents, Bovina/Dechy, wrapped up the match by taking the final set 6-3. Martina & Alicia had break points in every game on Bovina's & Dechy's serves, save for the last one, but failed to convert even once. Very discouraging. Nevertheless, Martina was only broken once in the entire match (her opening service game of the first set) and that was a good sign. I'm not sure if Martina had a press conference afterwards, but there have been a plethora of articles floating around featuring quotes by Martina, so here are the links: Associated Press (1), The Daily Telegraph, Associated Press (2), The Mirror, Melbourne Herald Sun, The Guardian, PA Sport, Sky Sports.

June 18, 2003: Martina's & Alicia's doubles match was suspended at one set all due to bad lighting. The score stood at 2-6 7-6(3). After a forgettable first set, Martina & Alicia went up 5-2 in the second and had four set points but failed to capitalize. They had another 2 set points at 6-5 but again their efforts went in vain. They played a good tie-break though taking it 7-3 before play was called off. The match is scheduled to be completed on Centre Court tomorrow, the fourth on that court. For photos of Martina from the Eastbourne player party, click on the following links: With Liezel Huber, With Magdalena Maleeva.

June 17, 2003: The WTA Tour has announced that a live chat with Martina will take place during Wimbledon. Exact details regarding the date & time will be revealed later. For the brief write-up on the WTA Tour website, click here.

June 17, 2003: The Wimbledon draw was announced today and it is not a kind one. Martina & Sveta will take on Anastasia Rodionova & Marlene Weingartner in the first round. Potential second round opponents would be Barbara Schett & Patty Schnyder, with the #9 seeds, Daniela Hantuchova & Chanda Rubin looming in the Last 16. Our ladies are in the same quarter as the #2 seeds, Kim Clijsters & Ai Sugiyama. For the complete draw, click here.

June 17, 2003: Martina & Alicia are scheduled to play their opening round match in Eastbourne tomorrow against Elena Bovina & Nathalie Dechy. It will be the day's final match on Centre Court.

June 16, 2003: The Wimbledon seedings were announced today. Martina & Sveta are the #8 seeds in the doubles. The mixed seedings will be announced later, probably sometime next week.

June 16, 2003: For another article from Birmingham, with a few more quotes from Martina after yesterday's doubles final, click here. And for a few photos from Birmingham last week, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two.

June 15, 2003: The Eastbourne doubles draw was announced today. Martina & Alicia will take on Elena Bovina & Nathalie Dechy in the opening round. Unfortunately, the ladies have been placed in the toughest section of the draw - the same quarter as the #2 seeds, Lindsay Davenport & Lisa Raymond. For the complete draw, courtesy of the WTA Tour website, click here (see page 3). It will be just doubles this week for Martina & Alicia, who was forced to withdraw from the singles qualifying because it clashed with today's doubles final in Birmingham. And it appears Sveta is also in Eastbourne this week. As has been mentioned before, she cannot play because of the WTA Tour's Age Eligibility Rules. However, she is serving as the 'Player Representative' for the doubles event and will undoubtedly have the opportunity to practice with Martina for Wimbledon too.

June 15, 2003: Martina made headlines earlier this week after she requested a wildcard to the singles competition at the Hastings Direct International Championships in Eastbourne. However, a lingering heel problem forced Martina to decline the wildcard on Friday. Thankfully, it appears the problem is not so serious that she can't play doubles. Let us hope Martina isn't bothered by it too much over the rest of the all-important grasscourt season. Speedy Recovery, Martina!

June 15, 2003: Martina had one bad match all week and unfortunately, it was the final one. Alicia & she were beaten today by Els Callens & Meilen Tu 7-5 6-4. This was Martina's first finals loss of the year. Still, it was a good effort from the two of them to make the finals. In their opening match, they upset the #4 seeds, Nathalie Dechy & Emilie Loit 2-6 6-4 6-4. In the quarterfinals, they defeated Janet Lee & Wynne Prakusya 6-3 6-4. And in yesterday's semifinals, they scored a solid 7-6(8) 6-4 victory over Rika Fujiwara & Roberta Vinci. And here are the news links for the week (most recent ones first): PA Sport (1), Ananova, The Birmingham Evening Mail, The Birmingham Post, PA Sport (2), BBC.

June 10, 2003: Martina & Alicia are scheduled to play their first round match tomorrow against the #4 seeds, Nathalie Dechy & Emilie Loit. The match has been scheduled fourth on Centre Court.

June 10, 2003: It appears the slight confusion over Martina's doubles partner at Wimbledon has been resolved. Click here for an article from the tournament website which confirms that Martina will be playing with Sveta at Wimbledon. My special thanks to Rachel, Aspenite & Andee for the help in clearing this up.

June 9, 2003:For all U.S. residents, Martina is briefly featured in the June episode of the PBS newsmagazine series "In The Life." Not all PBS affiliates carry the program so check the ITL website here for dates & times.

June 8, 2003: The doubles draw for the DFS Classic was announced today. Martina & Alicia will take on the #4 seeds, Nathalie Dechy & Emilie Loit in the first round. For the complete doubles draw, courtesy of the WTA Tour, click here (see Page 3). Martina is also quoted in this 'Associated Press' article (scroll to the middle of the page). The article appears to suggest that Martina & Alicia will play together at Wimbledon too. However, there is another version of the same article on several newspaper websites that omits the reference to Wimbledon. If anyone has any information which would help clear up this confusion, please e-mail me. Martina had said last month that Sveta and she would play together the rest of the year so if true (and I very much hope it isn't), this revelation is just shocking.

June 7, 2003: Martina appears to be showing no signs of slowing down! She's entered the DFS Classic in Birmingham, England which begins Monday. Martina will be playing with Alicia Molik, her partner earlier this year at Hilton Head Island. For the press release from the LTA website, click here. This marks Martina's first appearance at this event since 1993.

June 3, 2003: A Q&A with Martina is featured in the latest edition of the World TeamTennis' newsletter "Point of Contact." Click here for more.

June 3, 2003: Good news for the Ontario fans. Martina has committed to the Rogers AT&T Cup in Toronto which takes place in August. Click here for a 'Canadian Press' article.

June 3, 2003: As most of you will be aware of by now, Martina & Sveta lost yesterday at Roland Garros to Hantuchova/Rubin 6-4 3-6 7-5. They were up a break in the final set at 4-3, but failed to capitalize. At 5-5, they had two break points to go up 6-5 and serve for the match but again came up short. Martina was broken at 30 in the final game. It appears Martina had a press conference afterwards, but in keeping with their reputation for worst Grand Slam website ever, the tournament website has decided not to make those transcripts available. You can find various quotes from the following links: The New York Times, The Miami Herald (1), The Miami Herald (2), Associated Press (1), Associated Press (2), Associated Press (3). For a photo from the match, click here. And going back a few days, for a photo from the second round doubles match against Jidkova/Morigami, click here. Martina & Sveta are next expected to play together at Wimbledon in three weeks time.

June 1, 2003: Martina & Sveta will take on the #9 seeds, Daniela Hantuchova & Chanda Rubin tomorrow on Court 1. Their third round match is the third scheduled match there. Hopefully, Martina will be able to put the disappointment of today behind her. She appears to be having a lot of trouble with her serve the last two matches so we hope & pray things will be better tomorrow. Good luck, ladies!

June 1, 2003: Martina & Leander crashed out of the mixed doubles at Roland Garros today, losing 7-6(5) 6-2 to Bjorkman/Morariu. Again, it was a case of too many wasted opportunities. After falling behind 1-4 in the opening set, our team fought back to tie the score at 4-4. Three games later, Martina served for the set at 6-5. But leading 30-15, they lost the next three points to head to the tie-break. They went down an early minibreak quickly to fall behind 2-0 and their opponents held on to that minibreak to take the tie-break 7-5. In the second set, Leander held in the opening game but they lost their next 3 service games. At 2-2, Leander was broken after holding 3 game points. And down 2-4, Martina was broken after failing to capitalize on 4 game points. All in all, Martina was able to hold service just once out of six games. Martina is still alive in the doubles. Earlier today, Sveta and she finished off their second round match against Jidkova/Morigami winning the final set 6-4. This one could have easily slipped away too. They got off to a quick start going up 3-0 with two service breaks. From then things got very complicated. Martina dropped her serve, Sveta started struggling on her's. Leading 4-3, Martina faced five break points against her serve but she held her nerve to hold. Sveta served it out at 5-4 on their second match point. They will next play the #9 seeds, Daniela Hantuchova & Chanda Rubin.

May 31, 2003: Martina & Sveta staged a dramatic comeback at Roland Garros today to tie their match at one set apiece with Alina Jidkova & Akiko Morigami when play was suspended due to darkness and/or bad weather. Trailing 3-6 3-5, the ladies faced a match point on Sveta's serve but managed to save it and eventually hold for the game. Their opponents then had two opportunities to serve out the match. At 5-4 and 6-5, but each time, Martina & Sveta broke right back. In the tie-break, Martina & Sveta were up 3-1 with an early minibreak, before their opponents won four straight points to go up 5-3. The ladies were just two points from defeat but again fought back, winning 5 of the next 6 points, taking the tie-break 8-6 on their second set point. Play was then suspended. The entire match was a story of missed opportunities for Martina & Sveta. They had multiple game points or break points in virtually every game. 40-0 & 40-15 leads often quickly dissipated. Today, the ladies only held serve four times out of 10 service games. But nevertheless, they survived to live another day. Now tomorrow is an interesting story. Per the tournament website, they don't seem to be scheduled to complete the match tomorrow. I believe the rules dictate that the match needs to be completed on the same court it was played. But there are four women's singles matches scheduled on Court 1 and no mention of Martina's & Sveta's doubles match. Martina is scheduled to play her mixed doubles second round with Leander on Court 2 - a very difficult match against Jonas Bjorkman & Corina Morariu. Leander has to play a men's doubles match on the same court just one match before. Again, this is simply very poor scheduling on the tournament organizers part. It would be Leander's fifth match in just four days. As for the doubles, I'm not sure if there was a mistake or not, but it might not be a bad idea to check the tournament website early tomorrow to see if the doubles match is added to the schedule. And finally, for a photo of Martina at her press conference on Friday, click here. And here are two more links with additional quotes from the press conference: Reuters, The Miami Herald.

May 30, 2003: Martina & Sveta are scheduled to play their second round doubles match tomorrow, the day's final match on Court 1. They will take on Alina Jidkova & Akiko Morigami.

May 30, 2003: Martina & Leander won their first round match at Roland Garros today defeating Joshua Eagle & Patricia Wartusch 6-1 6-3. Our team did not drop serve the entire match though Martina had a few jittery moments on her serve in the first set. It took them 7 set points to close out the first set, served out by Martina. They broke serve at 2-2 in the second to go up a break and broke again in the final game to close out the match. After the match, Martina had a press conference but unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the tournament website has decided not to make the transcripts available. This year's Roland Garros website has got to be one of the most poorly-run Grand Slam websites in recent memory. For quotes from Martina, you can fish for them out of the following 'Associated Press' links: Link One, Link Two, Link Three.

May 29, 2003: Martina & Leander's first round mixed doubles match is scheduled for tomorrow. They take on Joshua Eagle & Patricia Wartusch in the day's final match on Court One. It will be Martina's first mixed doubles match at Roland Garros since 2001 - she did not play the mixed last year.

May 28, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their first round match at Roland Garros today, defeating Elodie Lebescond and Capucine Rousseau 6-0 6-2. After saving a break point in their opening service game, the ladies got off to quick start, winning the first 9 games of the match before their opponents finally held serve. For a photo of Martina & Sveta from today's match, click here. Martina gets tomorrow off; her next match will probably be on Friday, possibly the first round mixed doubles with Leander.

May 28, 2003: The mixed doubles draw was announced today. Martina & Leander are the #7 seeds and will meet Joshua Eagle & Patricia Wartusch in their opening match. For the complete draw, courtesy of the tournament website, click here.

May 27, 2003: Fellow Martina fans, Roland Garros begins tomorrow. Martina & Sveta take to Court 3 for that court's final scheduled match - the first round tie against Elodie Lebescond & Capucine Rousseau. For the day's complete schedule from the tournament website, click here. Martina has not been able to get past the first round in Paris the last two years so let us hope for better news tomorrow.

May 27, 2003: The always reliable Bud Collins does not fail to include Martina in his Roland Garros women's preview for NBC Sports. Click here for the complete piece and scroll to the end for his thoughts on Martina, "the beloved contender."

May 26, 2003: The Roland Garros draw was announced today. Martina & Sveta are the #6 seeds and will take on Elodie Lebescond & Capucine Rousseau in the first round. Martina & Sveta are in the same quarter of the draw as the #3 seeds, Lindsay Davenport & Lisa Raymond. For the complete doubles draw from the tournament website, click here.

May 25, 2003: Here are a few more articles featuring quotes by Martina in Monte Carlo earlier this week: The Daily Telegraph, The Saturday Star. For photos from the Laureus World Sports Awards ceremony, click here. Martina can be spotted a number of times.

May 20, 2003: Martina and her partner, Jim Coleman, won the Pro-Am title at the Laureus Tennis Challenge in Monte Carlo today. They beat Prince Albert of Monaco & Mansour Bahrami 2-1 in the final today per the Laureus website. I'm not sure if that score refers to games or sets. And I'm also not sure who her doubles partner was except that he had to be one lucky man to have gotten to play doubles with Martina! Apparently, there was another component of the Challenge called the Smart Cup which was a sort-of team competition. For more in the official press release, click here.

May 20, 2003: Martina joined her fellow female members of the Laureus World Sports Academy in Monte Carlo today for a joint press conference. Joining Martina were Dawn Fraser, Nadia Comaneci, Katarina Witt, Nawal El Moutawakel, Deng Yaping & Tanni Grey-Thomson. For more on the topics discussed, click on the following links: Official Press Release, Reuters, The Times.

May 20, 2003: Click here for a nice article on Martina from 'The Daily Telegraph.' Martina does some reminiscing here, from her 1975 defection to the present. A must read. You need to be a registered user to read the article. Registration is free.

May 20, 2003: For the transcripts of Martina's & Sveta's final press conference in Rome after winning Sunday's final, click here. My special thanks go out to Sky for alerting me to this link.

May 19, 2003: Click here to read a nice Bud Collins article on yesterdays finals in Rome including a few paragraphs on Martina's & Sveta's victory.

May 18, 2003: Martina will be in Monaco next week for the Laureus World Sports Awards to be held at the Grimaldi Forum on May 20. Martina is one of a select group of 41 members of the Laureus World Sports Academy. Earlier in the day, Martina is expected to participate in the Laureus Tennis Challenge at the Monte Carlo Country Club along with John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Guillermo Vilas, Prince Albert of Monaco & others. For more on the Challenge, check out the press release here.

May 18, 2003: Martina spoke recently with Evan Grant of the ‘Dallas Morning News’ on the issue of equality between men & women in sport; interest in this subject has piqued recently with LPGA champion Annika Sorenstam’s upcoming participation at the Bank of America Colonial, a PGA Tour event, which begins Thursday in nearby Fort Worth. For more, click here. You need to register to read the article. Registration is free.

May 18, 2003: Former Argentine tennis great, Gabriela Sabatini, was in Hamburg this week and played an exhibition match on Friday with Boris Becker & Michael Stich. Gaby later revealed that she is planning on playing a few exhibitions in the near future – including possible matches against Martina! I think the last time the two of them played was at the SNET Classic in New Haven, Conn. in the summer of 1995, a match won by Sabatini 1-6 7-6 6-4. For the complete article and a good rundown of what Gaby’s been up to in recent years, click here.

May 18, 2003: Martina is the Queen of Rome again! Martina & Sveta won their third title of the year today, upsetting the #4 seeds, Jelena Dokic & Nadia Petrova in the final 6-4 5-7 6-2. Congratulations, Martina & Sveta! The match was not easy and it was perhaps the most nerve-wracking one of the week. Our ladies got off to a dream start and led 5-1 before their opponents came back to win 3 straight games to 5-4. However, Sveta then held, after fending off a break point, to take the first set 6-4. In the second, Martina & Sveta got off to an early break again and at 4-2 had a couple more break points to go up 5-2 and serve for the match. But they missed and their opponents soon tied to 4-4. After a long game, Martina & Sveta broke to lead 5-4; and found themselves serving for the match with 2 match points at 40-15. Shockingly, they dropped that game and the next two to lose the set 7-5. But just when you thought they had blown away the match, the ladies staged a surprising recovery in the final set, breaking three times to a take a 5-1 lead and Martina closed it out at 5-2 on their fourth match point for a 6-4 5-7 6-2 victory. Whew! This is Martina's third title in Rome (after 1975 with Chris Evert & 1987 with Gabriela Sabatini). It is also her first Tier I tournament win since Zurich 1994 while it is the first Tier I win for Sveta. For photos from the post-match presentation ceremony, courtesy of the tournament website, click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three. For an ‘Associated Press’ article which quotes Martina, click here. The tournament website also features a report on the match, in Italian, here. Martina & Sveta will next team up at Roland Garros in Paris which starts a week from Monday.

May 17, 2003: Martina & Sveta advanced to the final in Rome by defeating Els Callens & Emilie Loit 6-2 6-3 in the semifinals today. They will next play the #4 seeds, Jelena Dokic & Nadia Petrova in the second scheduled match on Campo Centrale tomorrow. This will be Martina's first Tier I final since the 1994 European Indoors in Zurich. It is also her fourth doubles final in Rome, her first since she won in 1987 with Gabriela Sabatini. As mentioned earlier, she first made the finals here 30 years ago in 1973 at the age of 16.

May 16, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their quarterfinal match in Rome today, defeating Liezel Huber & Magdalena Maleeva 7-6(6) 6-1. It was a tight match with almost every game going to 30 or multiple deuces. They will next play Els Callens & Emilie Loit in the semifinals tomorrow, the third scheduled match on Campo Centrale. This marks Martina's first semifinal in Rome since she reached the same stage in 1991 with Mary Joe Fernandez. And as promised, for the transcripts in English of Martina's press conference yesterday, click here.

May 15, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their second round match in Rome today defeating Janet Lee & Wynne Prakusya 7-5 6-4. Again, there were a couple of nerve-wracking moments in the match. Their opponents served for the first set at 5-4 before the ladies recovered to win the next three straight games & the set. They traded breaks in the middle of the second set, but up 5-4, Martina & Sveta got the decisive final break to win. Martina spoke to the media afterwards and for the transcripts from the press conference, in Italian, click here. I expect to have a link to the transcripts in English tomorrow but if you're impatient to read what Martina had to say, you could try Google's Language Tools for assistance with the translation. For photos from today - three shots from before, during & after the match - click on the following links: Photo One, Photo Two, Photo Three. Martina & Sveta have an extremely difficult match coming up against one of the hottest teams on the tour at the moment, Liezel Huber & Magdalena Maleeva. The last time they played, in Miami two months ago, Martina & Sveta lost in straight sets. We hope for better luck this time. The match is scheduled second on the Pallacorda court tomorrow. Sveta only has the doubles tomorrow because she lost her singles match today - but it will be her fifth match in three days. That's a lot of tennis for the 17-year-old!

May 14, 2003: Martina & Sveta won their first round match in Rome today defeating Corina Morariu & Elena Tatarkova 7-6(3) 6-1. Sveta had served for the first set at 5-3 but failed to hold. Their opponents served for the set at 6-5 but the ladies broke back and went on to take the tie-break 7-3. Martina & Sveta will next play Janet Lee & Wynne Prakusya in the second round tomorrow. That match has been scheduled third on the Pallacorda court where Sveta opens the day's proceedings with her third round singles match.

May 13, 2003: Martina & Sveta will play their first round match in Rome tomorrow against Corina Morariu & Elena Tatarkova. It will be the day's third match on Court 6. I'm not sure why they've been banished all the way out to Court 6. Sveta also has a singles match earlier on the same court. This year marks the 30th anniversary of Martina's first appearance in Rome. Back in 1973, on her very first attempt, 16-year-old Martina reached the doubles final with Renata Tomanova losing to Olga Morozova and Virginia Wade 3-6 6-2 7-5. She has won the title twice since - 1975 with Chris Evert & 1987 with Gabriela Sabatini.

May 11, 2003: The Telecom Italia Masters draw came out today. Martina & Sveta are the #5 seeds for the second straight week and will take on Corina Morariu & Elena Tatarkova in the first round. For the complete draw, courtesy of the tournament website, click here.

May 11, 2003: An extra tidbit from last week's loss in Berlin. Martina & Sveta were actually up 5-4 in the third set against Husarova & Likhovtseva with Sveta serving at 30-0. But they ended up losing the game and eventually the match.