New Haven Independent_Estonian Encounter (August 17)

17.08.2007

His parents fled Haapsalu, Estonia, in 1944. She still lives there -- except when she's traveling abroad to play tennis. They met at courtside Friday after she won a match on opening day of the Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament. Click on the play arrow to watch as they chatted (in Estonian). Meanwhile, Serena Williams pulled out of the tournament.

22-year-old Kaia Kanepi is the 44th-ranked singles player on the Sony Ericsson WTA trour. She dispatched Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France Friday in two sets, 7-5 and 7-6.

Jaak and Kristi Rakfeldt were on hand to watch. They live in Bethany now. They were both born abroad after their parents fled the Soviet occupation of Estonia in the 1940s. The Rakfeldts made sure to catch Kanepi at last year's Pilot Pen, and they were back on Friday to make sure not to miss her this time.

They saw Kanepi survive a late challenge by Cohen-Aloro, when Kanepi's serve started faltering. Cohen-Aloro pulled ahead 6-5. But Kanepi came back strong, and prevailed in a tiebreaker to take the second set.

Click on the play arrow to watch Kanepi take the last point.

The Rakfeldts were thrilled. "She's a great player!" Jaak said.

As Kanpei signed her autograph and chatted with them, Jaak, a social-work professor at Southern Connecticut State University, spoke of how his parents left Haapsalu amid the Soviet occupation in 1944. Jaak was born in Sweden, Kristi's parents fled Estonia, too; she was born in Germany. She and Jaak met in the U.S.

Kanepi said she was happy to be back in New Haven. "I love the city," she said. "That's why I come back. It's old-style, with the university. And it's small. It's quiet compared to other big cities like New York."

Meanwhile on Friday, the tournament announced that star player Serena Williams isn't going to make it to New Haven, after all. It released this statement from her:

"Today, I tried to have a full practice, hoping that my thumb would feel better, but unfortunately, it is still not 100 percent and I am not able to play at the level that I had hoped. I am frustrated and extremely disappointed that I won't be able to play at the Pilot Pen. I've heard only wonderful things about the event and its organizers and was looking forward to playing there. I know that it's still going to be a great week for tennis and again, I wish I could be there."

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2007/08/estonian_encoun.php