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by Christopher Gerby Jennifer Capriati vs. Virginia Ruano Pascual Singles: Second Round Centre Court Looking to get her hard court game in order before the U.S. Open, Jennifer Capriati was tested in the first round (sneaking past Tathiana Garbin in two tiebreaks) and figured to get a battle here against a steady Spaniard, Virginia Ruano Pascual. It didn't start promisingly for Capriati, who double faulted twice in a row to end the opening game. She immediately broke back, but a few games later was broken at love by Ruano Pascual, who took a 4-3 lead. Capriati had a chance to get right back on serve, but badly sprayed a few balls to fall behind 3-5. Three more double faults (giving her a total of seven already) betrayed Capriati as she was then broken for a third time, losing the set 6 games to 3. Capriati was looking like the lazy, lethargic player whose disinterest cost her a coach (the venerable Harold Solomon) earlier this year. However, she got back on the horse in Set 2, breaking for 1-0 and winning a long hold for 2-0. Any doubts about Jennifer's intensity were erased in the third game. She violently whacked a ball back into the net after a missed volley and pumped her fist after lacing a backhand winner. Capriati ultimately won that game, held at love, and broke at 15 to rack up a 5-0 lead over a suddnely overwhelmed Ruano Pascual. Capriati's ninth and tenth double faults keyed a love break for 5-1, but it was too late for "Vivi" to save this set. At 30-40, a Capriati backhand appeared to land past the baseline, but there was no call. Ruano Pascual took a defensive little "excuse me" swing and her shot sailed wide, ending the 6-1 set. Perhaps due to the windy conditions, the first two sets had featured an abundance of unforced errors and considerably fewer winners. However, there was an inherent drama in watching a fired up Capriati attempt to secure her place in the third round. That drama built when she played a dodgy service game to fall behind 0-1 in the third set. After missing a volley to end Game 2, Jennifer angrily flung her racquet to the ground, demonstrating wrist snap worthy of a javelin thrower. The racquet took a couple end-over-end bounces and finally came to a rest in the second row! When I asked her about it after the match, Capriati smiled sheepishly and admitted it was the most explosive racquet toss she'd ever committed in a match. "I was just really frustrated and, you know, I think it just needed to come out. So, it felt good." She of course picked up a code violation warning for racquet abuse. An exchange of holds took the final set's score to 3-1. In Game 5, Ruano Pascual struck one of her many drop shots. Capriati ran it down, but pushed a forehand reply into the net. Furious with herself again, JenCap started whacking herself in the head with her racquet. A few points later, she was broken for 1-4 and most of the reporters present figured she was done for. Capriati resurrected herself, though, groundstroking her way right back into the set at 3-4. She even executed a nifty chip-and-charge in a love break for 4-4. Ruano Pascual's forehand was completely abandoning her in the clutch and she lost a fourth consecutive game to trail 4-5. A brilliantly controlled backhand cross-court winner on the run put Capriati two points away from victory at 0-30. A forehand winner gave her a match point at 30-40. Looking for some way to change her declining fortunes, Ruano Pascual switched racquets. The new one brought her no luck whatsoever. On the very next point, a forehand from Capriati clipped the net cord and trickled over. The victorious American raised both hands in apology, while Ruano Pascual rifled a ball into the stands. With the 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory, Capriati lived up to her seeding and booked a place in the Round of 16, where she'll face fellow veteran Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Also having a nice week is Capriati's boyfriend, ATP pro Xavier Malisse, who scored a win over Marcelo Rios on Tuesday in Indianapolis. I asked Jennifer if she'd gotten a chance to speak with her significant other recently. "Yeah, he's more than significant," Capriati replied with a smile. "I talk to him all the time. So he's pretty happy. I'm pretty happy for him, too." I asked if it was difficult for her to be in one country when Malisse has to be in another. "Yeah, well, definitely countries, yeah, it makes it hard. I mean, when you're in the same country, it's a little better, but, I mean, the good thing is that it means he's winning and I'm winning." Practice Court Controversy: OK, that title makes it sound bigger than it was, but I did stumble onto a little bit of intrigue this afternoon. Doubles specialists Liezel Horn and Laura Montalvo showed up at Court 3 for what they thought was their scheduled practice session. However, Jelena Dokic and Chanda Rubin were there, showing no signs of wrapping up their own hit. Rubin's coach, Benny Sims, told Horn in no uncertain terms that he'd reserved the court for another 30 minutes and had even double checked the arrangements before heading out there. Liezel was skeptical, but the dispute came to an amicable end, with Rubin and Dokic staying put. Fortunately for all involved, Jelena's volatile father Damir was not present at the time. Huber/Schett vs. Serna/Shaughnessy Doubles: Second Round Court 6 The day after a very disappointing loss in singles, Barbara Schett looked to rebound in doubles with partner Anke Huber. Their opponents -- Magui Serna and Meghann Shaughnessy -- have lower rankings and lower profiles, but the combination of a big-serving lefty with a big-serving righty is nothing to sneeze at. Indeed, it was the underdog team storming out to an early 4-1 lead. Most of the credit belonged to Serna's inspired play and Schett's atrocious start. Schett found herself completely unable to put a service return in play. After barely touching a Shaughnessy serve in Game 7, Schett let out a loud chuckle. She was putting a brave face on things, but she really was playing poorly and even apologized to Huber at one point. Magui Serna won all 12 of her service points in the first set, winning it 6-3 when Schett put one more return into the net. Anke and Barbara finally arrived at a strategy to turn things around -- for the rest of the match, Huber stayed back when Schett was returning Serna's first serve. The change did seem to rattle the Spaniard, who was broken for 0-2. A hold from Huber, break of Shaughnessy, and hold from Schett followed in short order, giving Huber/Schett a whopping 5-0 lead in the second set. Just as a third set appeared to be a certainty, Serna/Shaughnessy reeled off eight points in a row, climbing back to 2-5. Shaughnessy (who has spent as much time on the practice courts as any player in the field this year) launched an ace on her way to holding for 3-5. However, at 15-30 in Game 9, Shaughnessy immediately called for the trainer. After a long delay during which Meghann's right shin was heavily taped, the match got back underway. Serna/Shaughnessy fought their way to deuce, but a Schett ace and Huber smash finished off the second set 6-3. The first seven games of the final set went with serve, most of those games being won easily. Schett and especially Huber did quite a bit of muttering and screaming in German, unable to find the key to breaking their young opponents. When Huber fell behind 0-40 in Game 8, the end seemed to be near. However, she and Schett methodically won five points in a row, Barbara coming through with some great volleys in the clutch. Holds from Serna and Schett then advanced the score to 5-5. An unreturnable Schett volley gave her team a 30-40 lead against Shaughnessy's serve, but Meghann responded with a service winner to fight off the break point. Schett knocked off another volley to set up break point #2. On the next point, a Serna drop shot sat up a bit -- enough so that Huber and Schett both seemed to have play on it. They both thought so and nearly crashed into each other before stopping. They could only watch helplessly as the ball bounced a second time, bringing the score back to deuce. However, a Shaughnessy error and winning Huber volley followed, finally securing the break and a 6-5 lead. Anke Huber took it from there, smacking a service winner on match point to finish a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Next up for Huber/Schett: a quarterfinal bout against # 2 seeds Martina Hingis and Nathalie Tauziat. Capriati/Van Roost vs. Carlsson/Jeyaseelan Doubles: First Round Court 1 Doubles tennis, like politics, can make for strange bedfellows. The last of the first round doubles matches featured a skinny Belgian (Dominique van Roost) and a zaftig American (Jennifer Capriati) taking on a blonde Swede (Asa Carlsson) and a dark-skinned Canadian (Sonya Jeyaseelan). The odd couples were evenly matched, or at least it seemed so when I arrived to find Capriati/Van Roost leading 6-5 in the first set. Jeyaseelan would now try to serve her team into a tiebreak...and did she ever try. Shouting, loudly exhaling, scampering around, and whaling two-handed groundstrokes with all her might, Jeyaseelan was a virtual one-woman show. However, she was undone by her less demonstrative partner -- Asa Carlsson netted volleys on the last two points of the 7-5 set. Carlsson played considerably better in the next couple games, perhaps fearing that little Sonya would go for her throat if she didn't shape up. Breaking Capriati, they opened up a 2-0 lead in the second set. Game 3 -- a marathon featuring four break points and two Jeyaseelan fist pumps -- ended with Capriati dumping a backhand volley in the net. Carlsson then held for a 4-0 lead and the air seemed to go out of the Capriati/Van Roost balloon. They were staying close in each game, but not playing with an extraordinary amount of intensity. They did fight off a pair of set points, but when a Capriati forehand return found the net, the Canadian/Swedish tandem had a tasty 6-0 bagel. Van Roost held for a 1-0 lead in the final set and was the star of Game 2. Carlsson and Jeyaseelan survived two break points, but on the third, a Van Roost forehand found the baseline. Jeyaseelan got a racquet on it, but her reply floated long for 0-2. All four players -- particularly Van Roost -- did a fairly incredible job of keeping the ball in play during the set's third and fourth games. Gale force winds (or at least very, very strong winds) swirled all around Court 1 and ominously dark clouds hovered overhead, but Van Roost ripped a swing volley winner for 3-0. When Carlsson was broken for 0-4, the only question left seemed to be whether Jennifer and Dominique could complete their win before the rains came. The answer was no. At 30-15 in Game 5, the sprinkles became something of a downpour and play was suspended. About an hour later, Capriati and Van Roost returned and extended their lead to 5-0. They twice got to match point in Game 6, but spunky Sonya Jeyaseelan refused to go down without a fight on her home court. On match point # 2, she threw a winning lob over Van Roost and yelled, "Come on!" Two points later, a blocked Capriati return went long for 5-1. Capriati assumed a 40-0 lead in her effort to serve it out, but three more match points went by the board. Match point # 6 went by the boards when JenCap misfired on an overhead smash, sending it just long. Capriati got a seventh match point, but double faulted (and finally decided to remove the warmup jacket she'd been wearing as a defense against the chilly conditions). The following point was among the more amusingly freakish I've ever seen. When Van Roost forcefully struck a volley, the ball hopped off the court, jumped directly into Asa Carlsson's skirt, and stayed there! Capriati/Van Roost won the point, the crowd went wild, and the players all had a good laugh. There was still the serious business of match point # 8 to be decided, though. And decided it was as Jeyaseelan pushed a backhand volley long, screaming an unhappy "Nooooo!!!" before the ball landed. She had given her all -- and Carlsson was terrific in the second set -- but it wasn't enough. Capriati and Van Roost advance by the odd scoreline of 7-5, 0-6, 6-1. They'll meet # 3 seeds Chanda Rubin and Sandrine Testud in the second round. Capriati, who struggled here and still doesn't look like a natural doubles player, will need to raise her level of play considerably if she and Van Roost aspire to win that one. Wednesday's other doubles results (all second round):
Martina Hingis vs. Nadejda Petrova Singles: Second Round Centre Court It took until Wednesday evening, but Martina Hingis finally played her first singles match of the 2000 du Maurier Open. Her opponent, 18-year-old qualifier Nadejda Petrova, looked more than a little overwhelmed facing the sport's top-ranked player in one of its biggest stadiums. There's very little to say about the first set -- Hingis moved the ball around confidently and Petrova simply couldn't keep her replies in the court. After just 15 minutes, Hingis had a 6-1 opening set in her pocket. However, the young Russian has some talent and finally got around to showing it. Suddenly painting the lines with big forehands, Petrova grabbed a 3-1 second set lead, winning ten consecutive points during one stretch. Petrova had a point for 4-1 and looked as if she'd won it with a nice forehand volley...but Hingis came flying from out of nowhere and flipped in a backhand winner. If Martina had lost her focus for a while, it clearly was back now. Hingis broke for 3-2 and held for 3-3, regaining control of the match. Petrova made a nice comeback from 15-40 to Deuce in Game 7, but she could not keep up with Hingis in the few extended rallies. The errors -- both forced and unforced -- resumed flying off the Petrova racquet as she fell behind 3-5. Petrova had her chances in the following game, hitting a couple big service winners. However, on the second deuce point, Hingis drilled one of her vintage down-the-line backhands to earn match point. Petrova was then long on a backhand of her own, officially ending a 6-1, 6-3 victory for Martina Hingis. Even after the 49-minute whitewash, though, the Swiss Miss insisted she has much improving to do. "I think there's still some things I can work on. Like, I played the first set, you know, very focused, almost no errors. But then, in the second, I let down with my serve a little bit and then she was right there." The next test for Hingis will be a third round matchup with Kveta Hrdlickova. "She's a tough player," Hingis said of the Czech. "She hits the ball very hard, but I think if I can keep her, you know, on the run and just play my game, it should be alright." |