Tennis: Greece is the word for Classic title defender Daniilidou

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Defending her classic title would be nice, winning anywhere on the WTA circuit this year would be great but nothing will be more special for Eleni Daniilidou than when she walks on court representing her native Greece at this year's Athens Olympics.

Already guaranteed a spot in singles and doubles at the Olympics in August, 21-year-old Daniilidou is taking a relaxed approach into her new year on the WTA circuit.

Getting away to a winning start in the defence of her Classic title was important for the world's 26th-ranked player and tournament third seed.

"I'm very happy to win in two sets," said Daniilidou after her 1h 37m 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory over unseeded Croatian Jelena Kostanic. "It was a fight, especially in the second set. I was not moving well. Luckily, I came right in the tiebreak."

Tomorrow, Daniilidou will play the winner of today's match between unseeded Emmanuelle Gagliardi and Klara Koukalova. Today she plays first-round doubles with Italian partner Rita Grande.

They meet Americans Ashley Harkleroad and Ansley Cargill in what promises to be one of the more interesting clashes.

Long-time visitor Cara Black posted an early warning yesterday.

Unseeded Black, who has her sights set on a career-high spot in the top 20 by the end of the year, scored the first upset when she bundled out the fourth seed, Venezuelan Maria Vento-Kabchi, the world No 44, 6-2 6-2.

Surprisingly, given her doubles record, Black has opted to bypass that event this year.

"I'm trying to work on my singles. Playing here has given me a good opportunity to focus on that."

After playing for almost four years with Russian Elena Likhovtseva, Black, who reached the 2000 singles final and won the doubles that year, has now teamed with Australian Rennae Stubbs.

Her second-round match tomorrow will be against the winner of today's clash between Marion Bartoli and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

The only other seeded player to crash out of the EziBuy singles yesterday was Japan's Shinobu Asagoe. The fifth seed was beaten 6-3 6-4 in 1h 20m by world No 75 Kristina Brandi.

Former classic winner Meilen Tu needed three tough three-setters in qualifying to win through to the main draw. Against fellow American Jill Craybas, the 2001 champion dropped the first set yesterday 6-4 but came back to win the next two 6-3 6-4 in 2h 05m.

Tu, now ranked 143 in the world, has her fourth match in as many days when she plays world No 62 Akiko Morigami of Japan today.

Top doubles seeds, and the world's top pairing, Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez started their campaign with an emphatic 6-3 6-1 win over Gagliardi and Anabel Medina Garrigues. Ruano Pascual and Suarez will play first-round singles today.

Today's schedule

All courts from 11am.

Centre court: L. Granville (US) v T. Garbin (Italy) followed by J. Vakulenko (Ukraine) v A. Smashnova-Pistolesi (Israel), M. Bartoli (France) v A. Medina Garrigues (Spain), E. Daniilidou (Greece)/R. Grande (Italy) v A. Cargill/A. Harkleroad (US). Not before 7pm: P. Suarez (Argentina) v T. Snyder (US), E./P. Marama (NZ) v J. Hopkins (US)/J. Lee (Taipei).

Court four: A. Parra (Spain) v M. Weingartner (Germany) followed by K. Koukalova (Czech) v E. Gagliardi (Switzerland), J. Craybas (US)/C. Martinez Granados (Spain) v M. Jugic-Salkic (Bosnia-Her)/J. Kostanic (Croatia), G. Dulko (Argentina)/Garbin v M. Tu (US)/M. Vento-Kabchi (Venezuela).

Court six: S. Perry (US) v V. Ruano Pascual (Spain) followed by Tu v A. Morigami (Japan), T. Ashley/Perry (US) v I. Benesova/R. Voracova (Czech).