Schnyder out with injury Sprem into the next round

TeamWTA Pictures
By Etienne Stekelenburg
February 20 2004

(Antwerp) Swiss Patty Schnyder had to retire with an upper leg injury she picked up earlier this week. Her opponent Silvia Farina Elia of Italy will now meet Croatian Karolina Sprem who defeated Czech Denisa Chladkova in two sets.

Patty Schnyder is the last one in the injury-plagued tournament of Antwerp who can’t continue to play. She had to retire early in the second set after she had lost the first one in the tiebreak 6-8. Right after the 11th game Schnyder started to move far from good again and called for the trainer. She continued to play and Silvia Farina Elia tied for 6 all.

In the following tiebreak both players could equal the score until Farina Elia won 8-6. After the first service game in the second set, won by Farina Elia, Patty Schnyder walked off from the court indicating that she was going to end the match.

In the following match between Croatian Karolina Sprem and Czech Denisa Chladkova things were going very well for the 19-year-old Sprem who lives in a town near Zagreb. Both players could break and were re-broken but Sprem scored the points when they were most important. She could finish the first set with one break ahead winning it 6-4.

In the second set again both players could end up as the winner until Sprem took a 4-2 lead. Chladkova had her chance to get back into the match when she had a breakpoint for 4-4 but she failed and Sprem washed those points away holding her serve and take 5-3 lead. Again Sprem had a chance to break, this time for match point and she didn’t fail breaking on 30-40 and winning the match 6-4, 6-3.