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by Christopher Gerby Virginia Ruano-Pascual vs. Vanessa Webb Singles: First Round Centre Court In a quirky bit of scheduling, the first Centre Court match of the week featured two players ranked outside the Top 100. To be fair, though, Virginia Ruano-Pascual has established herself as one of the best doubles players in the world and Vanessa Webb is a former NCAA standout. Oh, and Webb also happens to be Canadian, which explains this first round match getting the show court treatment. The first game showcased most of Webb's pros and cons. She constantly used her lefty serve and slice backhand in advancing to the net. However, she missed some volleys and also committed two double faults. Webb survived two break points in holding for 1-0 and Ruano-Pascual weathered a whopping five before evening the set at 1. They continued on serve to 4-4, with the steady Spaniard having survived another scare in Game 8. At 30-40 in the ninth game, nerves may have gotten the best of Webb. She pushed a backhand volley into the net, giving Ruano-Pascual a 5-4 lead and an opportunity to serve out the set. Webb got to 30-30 in Game 10, but then missed a sitter forehand and buried a return in the net. "Vivi" hadn't done anything spectacular, but was the more consistent player in the 6-4 opening set. With Webb up 2-1 (on serve) in the second, Ruano-Pascual took an injury timeout for a problem with her foot. After receiving treatment, though, her movement appeared to be just fine and she held for 2-2. Webb gave herself all kinds of trouble in Game 5, double faulting twice in a row and eventually dropping serve by shanking a backhand volley wide. Taking full advantage, Ruano-Pascual rolled through an easy service game, pumping her fist after an overhead smash gave her a 4-2 edge. However, Webb held for 3-4 and got right back on serve by winning a weird eighth game (in which Ruano-Pascual argued a line call and badly mis-hit a backhand on break point). The momentum then took another sharp swing back into the Spanish direction as Ruano-Pascual's accurate passing shots gave her a 15-40 lead. Webb rallied to deuce and the crowd tried to fire her up with some rhythmic clapping, but two consecutive forehand winners gave Ruano-Pascual a 5-4 advantage. Down but not out, Webb flicked in a reflex backhand volley to take a 30-40 lead in Game 10. Alas, Ruano-Pascual continued to make some of her best shots when she needed them most. A winning smash got her back to deuce and a forehand laser down the line gave her match point. The long rally which followed ended with Webb pushing a backhand over the baseline, drawing a collective sigh from the partisan crowd. Virginia Ruano-Pascual had played solid tennis in her 6-4, 6-4 victory, but Vanessa Webb knew she'd squandered some chances. "There were just stupid mistakes here and there, I think, just some easy misses," Webb said of a match which saw her double fault nine times and brick several key volleys. "Normally I'm not that erratic...I took my eye off the ball a couple times and a few points really cost me." Annie Miller vs. Erika de Lone Singles: First Round Court 7 If you're a regular On The Line reader, you're probably familiar with the Annie Miller story by now. Just as she was climbing to a career high ranking of #40 in the world in 1998, Miller left the WTA Tour and enrolled at the University of Michigan. Two years and one surgery later, Miller is tentatively embarking on a comeback. It didn't start promisingly -- she took a humbling 6-1, 6-2 loss to Anna Kournikova at Stanford and lost a pair of three-set qualifying matches in subsequent hard court events. For the time being she carries a protected injury ranking of 43, but her winless record over the past 12 months gives her an actual ranking of 866. If Miller's comeback were to gain any momentum, it would have to start here against De Lone, a solid veteran who works hard but doesn't have any big weapons. De Lone's perserverance did pay off last year, as success on the challenger circuit valuted her into the Top 100. De Lone survived a double fault in the opening game, snuck out a break in the second game, and took a 3-0 lead with a winning backhand down the line. Miller removed her Nike cap during the changeover -- perhaps deciding that was the problem for her slow start -- and promptly notched a service hold for 1-3. De Lone won Game 5 handily, though, and with the early afternoon sun beating down, Miller decided the cap was a good idea after all. Shaky as her serve and returns looked early on, Miller can still do serious damage with her hard, flat groundstrokes. A great running forehand from Miller forced a De Lone error to close out Game 6. Forehand winners then carried Miller to a 15-40 lead against De Lone's serve. The game went to deuce, but Erika finally gave it away with back-to-back double faults. Miller actually mumbled "sorry," unhappy to have gotten her first service break in that manner. From that point forward, though, she started earning her success. Big Miller groundies were key to a hold for 4-4 and a break for 5-4. Suddenly serving for the set, Annie stormed out to a 40-0 lead and crunched a forehand winner down the line. First set to the semi-retired Michigan native, 6-4. De Lone finally got back on track, serving well in a hold for 1-0. Not yet used to the new changeover rule, Miller sat down for a few moments before realizing her mistake and apologizing. She then got a bad case of the yips on her second serve. Miller overcame two double faults in holding for 1-1, but threw in her sixth and seventh doubles of the day as De Lone broke for 3-1. Undeterred, Miller broke back for 2-3, once again being bailed out by her forehand. Game 6 was a back-and-forth doozy, going to three deuces before De Lone drilled a swinging backhand volley winner (which Miller sportingly declared a "good shot" as it whizzed past). That gave De Lone a break point, converted when Miller netted a backhand. After an exchange of service holds, De Lone's 4-2 lead was 5-3. Miller was gallant in fending off a pair of set points, but her form was really fading in and out. De Lone put an exclamation point on her 6-3 win of the set, ending an all-court rally with an accurate forehand pass. At 1-1 in the final set, De Lone grabbed a 0-40 lead against the spotty Miller serve. Staring down the barrel of another disappointing loss, the Michigan native regained the form which once upon a time enabled her to defeat Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce. Striking deep, accurate groundstrokes, Miller won five points in a row to secure a 2-1 lead. As Miller's quality of play improved, De Lone's started to fall off. Annie broke at 30, held at 15, and broke at love to go up 5-1. At 15-15 in Game 7, De Lone badly butchered a backhand volley and groaned. She could obviously see the match slipping away now. Two points later, a defensive shot from De Lone fluttered in the air and seemed to be going wide, but Miller swung anyway, ripping a forehand winner. It was a decisive end to an impressive third set performance -- Annie Miller earned her first victory since the 1998 US Open by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 count. Whether a showing like this will compel Miller to postpone her studies and return to the Tour full-time remains to be seen, but finally getting over that first hurdle had to feel good. She'll face a considerably higher hurdle on Tuesday afternoon, meeting # 3 seed Conchita Martinez on Centre Court. Sabine Appelmans vs. Jelena Dokic Singles: First Round Centre Court With 28-year-old Sabine Appelmans ranked 26th in the world and 17-year-old Jelena Dokic ranked 39th, this figured to be an evenly matched battle of youth versus experience. Was it ever! The pattern was clear early on -- Dokic would dictate play, making the majority of the winners and errors, while Appelmans scampered around and kept the ball in play. Dokic got an early 4-2 edge, but Appelmans came back, serving well and shaking off a clearly wrong line call to snare a 5-4 lead. Dokic is one tenacious teen, though, and she got into a first set tiebreak. Appelmans got the better of the early rallies there, building up a 5 points to 3 lead. However, a running Appelmans sent a forehand wide for 5-4 (and almost did one of her trademark splits) and netted a backhand for 5-5. Dokic then earned set point, getting great depth on a backhand winner for 6-5 and raising a clenched fist. Appelmans blasted a service winner for 6-6, but a backhand error allowed Dokic another set point at 7-6. This one was on the Aussie's serve and she made good. Dokic sent Appelmans scrambling all over the court before finally ripping a cross-court backhand winner to win the 'breaker 8-6. Appelmans, who has strongly hinted that she may retire following next month's Olympic Games, gamely battled back, breaking Dokic to open set # 2. Sabine and Jelena both did a fine job of protecting their serve for the remainder of the set, so that early break proved huge for Appelmans. Leading 5-4, 40-15, the lefty banged home her fourth ace of the day to claim the set 6 games to 4. Having already dueled for more than an hour and a half, the gritty competitors embarked on a third set. The first four games went with serve and it looked as if the fifth would when Dokic -- leading 40-30 -- executed a nice looking drop shot. However, the speedy Appelmans tracked it down and delicately flipped back a forehand winner. Two Dokic errors later, the Belgian had the set's first break and a 3-2 lead. Somewhere around the two hour mark, either nerves or fatigue set in and a sudden rash of service breaks took hold. Dokic broke for 4-4, was in turn broken for 4-5, and got the break right back for 5-all. A double fault put Dokic behind 30-40 in Game 11. Appelmans then ripped what appeared to be a winning backhand return and was halfway into a celebratory gesture when the ball was called out. Bugged by dodgy line calls all afternoon, Sabine simply looked stunned. Two points later, a Dokic backhand clipped the tape and dropped over the net for 6-5. Jelena raised her hand in apology; Sabine dropped her racquet in dismay. There was still some fight left in Appelmans, though. She held at 15, sending the match into a winner-take-all tiebreak. Here's how it unfolded...
Centre Court ceremony: Continuing a custom started here in 1996, the first night match was preceded by a special parade of players. Nearly everyone from the main singles and doubles draws took turns strolling into the stadium and being acknowledged by the crowd. Some (like a lipstick-sporting Anne-Gaelle Sidot) were dressed to the nines. Others opted to just wear their warmup gear. The biggest ovation of the lot went to Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who has long endeared herself to the Montreal public with her attempts to speak French. Runners-up on the applause meter were Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis, who was then called on to deliver a speech. Judging by the rambling oratory she came up with here, Martina probably shouldn't run for office. She mentioned a trip to this tournament as her "first time in America," noted how happy she was to be in France (before correcting herself), and threatened to light up a cigarette (in honor of du Maurier's final year sponsoring this event). Let's hope Hingis goes on to demonstrate better command of her tennis strokes than her verbal volleys. Anna Kournikova vs. Cara Black Singles: First Round Centre Court As contrast-of-style matches go, this one was pretty intriguing. Cara Black -- younger sister of ATP Tour stalwarts Byron and Wayne -- came out playing her usual brand of solid, underwhelming, fundamentally sound tennis. Anna Kournikova, on the other hand, was swinging for the fences. Going for winners early in every rally, Kournikova fell into a 0-40 hole before stringing five successful points together for a 1-0 lead. Kournikova then rolled all the way to 4-0, peppering Black with mighty forehands and even ending that fourth game with a nifty stop volley. However, feast turned back into famine for the blonde bombshell. The impressive forehand winners gave way to wild, impatient forehand errors and the 4-0 lead shrunk to 4-3. The multi-deuce eighth game featured a little bit of everything, but ended with Black meekly dumping a forehand into the net to drop serve and trail 3-5. Anna wasted little time serving it out. She lost just one point in the ninth game, clinching one of the more topsy-turvy 6-3 sets you'll ever see. Black and Kournikova were both broken in their first service games of the second set. Anna then grabbed a 15-40 lead against Cara's serve, squandered the first break point with a wildly errant return, and went up 2-1 by putting away an overhead. At deuce in Game 4, Kournikova tried to run down a Black drop shot, only to hear a "not up" call, with which she vigorously disagreed. The call stood and Black immediately broke serve with a down-the-line forehand. Black and Kournikova finally got their service games in order, holding to 4-4. However, Cara crumbled in Game 9, double faulting at 15-40 to put Kournikova one game away from victory. Anna got to match point, but a couple fans became too exuberant, shouting out before her second serve. That may have rattled her, as she double faulted. Two more match points then came and went, Black valiantly fighting for survival. After the third deuce, Kournikova committed two unforced errors in a row, tying the set at 5. As close as the match had come to being over, this deadlock was a fairly stunning turn of events. Black held for 6-5, Kournikova matched that for 6-6, and the second set improbably went into a tiebreak. Still dictating play with her flat, aggressive groundstrokes, Kournikova scored four winners and two errors on her way to a 4-3 lead. Black netted one forehand for 3-5 and mis-hit another for 3-6, giving the 11th seed triple match point. Kournikova once again failed to close it out, sending a forehand long to make the tiebreak score 6-4. However, match point # 5 was the last the glamour girl would need. Black sent a forehand just long, ending a bizarre 6-3, 7-6 triumph for Anna Kournikova. Probably not the way she would have scripted it (particularly that hiccup at 5-4 in the second), but a win's a win. Kournikova will meet Sabine Appelmans in the next round. Grande/Habsudova vs. Kolbovic/Pelletier Doubles: First Round Court 1 How about this for a fun nightcap: the Canadian wild card tandem of Renata Kolbovic and Marie-Eve Pelletier (in matching powder blue dresses) versus established veterans Rita Grande and Karina Habsudova. It was appealing enough for the hundreds of fans who migrated from Centre Court to Court 1 once the Kournikova match concluded. I arrived to find Grande/Habsudova leading 6-2, 1-2. The growing crowd seemed to inspire the Canadian players, though, as a dipping Pelletier return completed a break of Grande for 3-1. Two more breaks (of Kolbovic and Habsudova) advanced the score to 4-2. 18-year-old Pelletier then held easily for a 5-2 lead. There was much rejoicing among the fans, some of whom seemed to have knocked back a few cold ones on their way over. However, reality set in a bit when Grande held at love for 3-5 and hit a winning forehand return down the line to complete an easy break of Kolbovic for 4-5. Pelletier and Kolbovic weren't ready to roll over just yet, though. At 15-30 in the Habsudova service game, Marie-Eve threw a beautiful lob over a leaping Grande to earn double set point. Habsudova then steered a forehand wide, surrending the set 6 games to 4. The third set didn't start promisingly for the Canadians -- Pelletier completely whiffed on a fairly routine overhead. Fast forward to 30-40, when Pelletier engaged Habsudova in an almost hilariously prolonged cross-court baseline duel. It finally ended when Habsudova ripped a backhand down the line (past Kolbovic), breaking for a 1-0 lead. Games then went with serve all the way to 5-3, when Pelletier served to stay alive. Despite all the excitement she and Kolbovic had helped generate, a victory wasn't in the cards. At 30-40, Grande put away one last backhand volley to finish off a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 dashing of the crowd's hopes. Kolbovic and the immensely popular young Pelletier left to a rousing ovation; Grande and Habsudova move on to a second round meeting with Martina Hingis and Nathalie Tauziat. Monday's other doubles results:
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