Half excited, half stunned, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia covered her mouth. She had just defeated Anastasia Myskina, her nation’s top player and the United States Open’s fourth-seeded woman.‘‘I couldn’t believe that I could win’’, Chakvetadze said on Thursday after upsetting Myskina, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in a second-round match at Louis Armstrong Stadium. ‘‘Even now I still don’t believe that I beat Myskina.’’To understand Chakvetadze’s astonishment, consider that Myskina (23) won this year’s French Open. Chakvetadze, 17, is playing in her first Grand Slam event. Myskina is ranked third in the world and entered the Open with a chance to take over the top ranking. Chakvetadze is at No. 175.‘‘I never thought I could beat her’’, Chakvetadze said several times.Myskina was not sharp against Chakvetadze. Her serve was off, and she made 37 unforced errors. ‘‘That was a pretty bad match for me, and I’m not happy with that’’, she said. ‘‘But I’m a human being. I cannot play good every day.’’Drained after competing in the Olympics, Myskina said she was emotionally, and perhaps physically, exhausted before the match began. ‘‘I had nothing’’, she said. ‘‘I didn’t want to fight. I didn’t want to run. I didn’t want to do anything. And it’s not excuse, and it’s not good things. It’s not that I take something from her. She played pretty well today.’’She practices at the same club in Russia as Chakvetadze, but Myskina was hardly familiar with her. More matches like Thursday’s, however, and the world will want to know details about Chakvetadze’s life. After the biggest victory of her career, she shared a bit. She is from a middle-class family and her father once played pro soccer. Chakvetadze took piano lessons as a youngster, but once she discovered tennis, she was through with music. ‘‘When you are like 8 years old, you want to move and play and everything’’, Chakvetadze said, referring to her experience on the piano. ‘‘I didn’t like.’’Thursday’s experience, she liked.(The New York Times)
