ESTYLE.COM CLASSIC NOTEBOOK: PRACTICE ROUND LAST WEEK PAYS OFF FOR SIDOT.

Byline: Rich Hammond  Staff Writer

MANHATTAN BEACH - Anne-Gaelle Sidot and Ai Sugiyama played a practice set together last week in Carlsbad, oblivous to the possibility they would meet for real Monday in the first round of the estyle.com Classic.

``I told her it had been a long time since we played each other,'' Sidot said. ``Then I saw the draw and I saw Sugiyama and I was surprised.''

The friendly rivalry didn't make for much drama. Sidot went up a break early in each set, cruised to a 6-3, 6-4 victory at the Manhattan Country Club, and set up a second-round matchup with second-seeded Lindsay Davenport.

Sidot, a native of France, is trying to match her breakout 1999 season, when she finished a career-best 27th in the world and reached the semifinals at Manhattan Beach and three other tournaments.

Sidot has reached the quarterfinals of just three tournaments this year but seemed enthused with a victory over an opponent whose game she respects a great deal.

``(Sugiyama) has improved a lot,'' Sidot said. ``Last year she was not as early on the ball, but now she's more aggressive. If you're not ready with your legs, it's too late. The ball is going to come fast.''

--Survivors: The singles main draw was completed Monday afternoon when four players advanced out of the 32-player qualifying tournament.

In the final qualifying matches, Marlene Weingartner of Germany beat American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 7-5; Tamarine Tanasugarn beat American Kristina Brandi 0-6, 6-3, 6-4; Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic beat Maureen Drake of Canada 7-5, 6-3, and Tatiana Panova of Russia beat Cara Black of Zimbabwe 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

The best match of the day was the first on center court. Brandi blitzed Tanasugarn in the first set with a strong serve and consistently accurate ground strokes and broke serve to open the second set. But she couldn't maintain the same high level of play. Both players' games were plagued by frequent unforced errors in the third set, but Tanasugarn's serve was strong enough to hold off Brandi.

Tanasugarn's first-round opponent will be Spain's Magui Serna, who avoided the qualifying tournament and joined the main draw on Friday, when Anke Huber withdrew because of an elbow injury. The players met two years ago in the first round at Manhattan Beach, and Serna won in three sets.

--Can't beat the heat: Warm and humid weather increased the sale of bottled water and led to a few overheated players.

Nathalie Dechy of France dropped the first set and the first game of the second set to Russia's Elena Dementieva. Then WTA officials examined her for possible heat exhaustion.

After a 10-minute rest, Dechy came back to win the next three games and eventually tie the match with a second-set victory, but Dementieva went up a service break early in the third set and won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, to advance and face third-seeded Monica Seles in the second round.