Singapore, Jan. 21 -- It can take 19 hours to fly from Moscow to Melbourne and 58 minutes to be sent home by Serena Williams. This is Anastasia Potapova's Monday and it doesn't look like fun but she, 18, has earned her way into the Open, one of 128 select women, and as a reward gets to play a legend on a court named after another.
This is also victory of a sort.
To compete on Rod Laver Arena is akin to stepping onto the stage at the La Scala opera house. Even if for a bit-part role. Players can go years without performing on it and a decade ago, after Igor Andreev lost to Roger Federer in the first round on Laver's court (he did win a set), he put his fate in perspective: "Better to lose to Roger like this, than court 25 against a guy w...