Tennis: Suarez' partner a bonus for tournament

By TERRY MADDAFORD

Organisers of this year's Classic received a double-whammy when they lured Argentine Paola Suarez to their tournament.

In accepting the offer to play the ASB Classic and, for the first time in her career, take the top seeding, Suarez also ensured her long-time doubles partner Virginia Ruano Pascual would return for a second time.

"Because Paola was coming, I came to," Ruano Pascual said after the first of two training sessions they had on centre court at the ASB Bank Tennis Centre yesterday.

"With my [singles] ranking now up to 55, I can also get into the main draw for the singles, which is good.

"Playing well in the singles helps our doubles. Singles is still most important for us."

But doubles, too, is a big deal for the pair.

More in than out of the world's No 1 ranking for the past two years, they have been the combo to beat.



"It helps that we are also good friends off the court, too," Ruano Pascual said.

"The key to our success is the good understanding we have for each other's game.

"We normally have a set routine which governs who will serve or receive first."

It obviously works.

Tipped out of the top spot for a time late last year, 30-year-old Ruano Pascual and her 27-year-old doubles partner hit back to beat Kim Clijsters and Ai Sugiyama in the season-ending doubles championship to reclaim their No 1 ranking.

"It was most important for us to finish the year as No 1," Ruano Pascual said.

"When you lose it like we did, you fight to get it back."

Like Suarez, Ruano Pascual says clay is her favourite surface, but she showed her versatility by winning her first WTA singles title in five years on the hardcourts at the Tashkent tournament.

The top doubles seeds have a good chance to start their year on a winning note, and are well prepared.

After a two-week break, they trained together in Argentina for three weeks last month under the watchful eye of coach Daniel Pereya.

"But not at doubles," Ruano Pascual said. "Only singles."

It makes you wonder how good they might be if they worked on that.

* At least one New Zealander is guaranteed a place in the second round of qualifying.

Paris-based Paula Marama will play Arizona-based Dianne Hollands in the first round. Marama, 19, has a ranking of 567 after her first year playing senior events.

Hollands, 20, who originally comes from Otago, attends the University of Arizona on a tennis scholarship.

Ilke Gers, ranked at 405, plays Italy's Mara Santangelo, who is 138th.

New Zealand No 3 Leanne Baker faces American Shenay Perry, who is 144th in the world - 312 places higher than Baker.

The cut-off for the qualifying was Ivana Abramovic, 20, from Croatia, with a ranking of 152.

The 2001 champion, Meilen Tu, faces Spaniard Conchita Marintez Grandados, and the 2002 finalist, Tatiana Panova, plays Lubomira Kurhajcova, from Slovakia.

There are nine players ranked inside the top 100 in the qualifying draw.