|
by Christopher Gerby On July 17th, the Schenectady County Electrics defeated the Hartford FoxForce in a 21-20 thriller. Ten days later, the teams met again in Schenectady's final home match of the season. The only change in the lineups was Hartford's replacing of Murphy Jensen (playing a tournament in Los Angeles this week) with a curly-haired young man named Doug Bohaboy. You "boy band" fans might be interested to hear that Bohaboy looks a bit like 'N Sync crooner Justin Timberlake. Meanwhile, Jolene Watanabe was courtside for the Electrics, but not on the official roster. She was merely there to lend moral support, serve as a practice partner, and document some of the night's action with a camcorder. Potential rain in the forecast and ominous clouds in the sky were probably to blame for the crowd being smaller than it had been for Martina Navratilova's last appearance in Schenectady, but the fans who did turn out were enthusiastic. The feeling was apparently mutual, as Navratilova thanked the crowd for their support. "I think the older I get, the more I appreciate it," she said. Navratilova also took part in a pair of hasty little ceremonies honoring the Madison sisters (who sang the national anthem before the Electrics' home games) and Nitty Singh (the team's indefatigable owner/general manager). Without a speech prepared, Nitty simply took the opportunity to ask Martina whether she'd be back on the team next year. "I have no idea," the 43-year-old replied with a smile. First set -- women's doubles: De Villiers/Navratilova vs. Horn/Mattek There was no waiting around the main attraction on Thursday night, as Martina Navratilova served to open the women's doubles set. She got into a 30-40 hole, but bailed herself out, clinching the game with a service winner. She and Nannie de Villiers then managed to break young Bethanie Mattek's serve to secure a 2-0 lead. Hartford got to within 40-30 in the following game, but a defensive lob from Liezel Horn landed an inch or two over the baseline to make the score 3-0. Mattek was the star of Game 4, knocking off some nice volleys as Horn held serve for 1-3. Navratilova started to look her age in her second service game of the evening, struggling to bend down for low volleys on the last two points and netting both of them. However, she immediately had some vintage moments against Mattek's serve, knifing an airborne volley for 0-15 and pushing a forehand return down the line for 0-30. A few points later, Mattek erred on a backhand to drop serve and trail 2-4. Nannie de Villiers wasted no time serving out the set. Up 40-0, she drilled an overhead smash which deflected off Mattek's foot into the stands. De Villiers held up an apologetic hand, but the Electrics now had the first set in their pocket. OVERALL SCORE: SCHENECTADY 5, HARTFORD 2 Second set -- women's singles: Martina Navratilova vs. Bethanie Mattek The upstate New York fans were treated to a rare, surprising treat -- Martina Navratilova playing competitive singles. She played her final WTA Tour singles match in 1994 and had resigned herself to doubles duty only on July 17th. The contrast in experience between Navratilova and her opponent here is astounding: Martina won 31 Grand Slam titles (11 singles; 19 doubles; 1 mixed) before Bethanie Mattek was even born! If Mattek was overwhelmed, though, it didn't show as she racked up an ace, an athletic forehand volley winner, and a winning backhand pass on her way to 40-40 in the set's opening game. However, the winner-take-all game point went to Navratilova, who dropped in a lunging touch volley to break serve for 1-0. An encouraging start for the legend, but she had all kinds of trouble with her serve in Game 2, grumbling openly about problems with her ball toss. The lights appeared to be bothering her, but Martina set me straight when I asked her about it after the match. "No, my toss was just so off. I had to catch it and start over. The lights were not the problem. It was my arm that was the problem." Problem enough that Mattek was able to break serve by crunching a second serve return down the line. The 15-year-old Minnesota native continued her impressive display in the third game. Leading 40-30, she placed a winning backhand volley down the line, raised a victorious fist, and looked right at Navratilova. The kid's got spunk! Navratilova wasn't about to roll over, though. She held at love for 2-2 and broke for 3-2 before succumbing to service problems again. Martina double faulted for 30-40, grumbled "God bless America," and then lost the game when Mattek ripped another winning backhand return. The wildly up-and-down set took one last momentum swing at 3-3. Mattek began spraying errors and Navratilova regained control of her ball toss. Navratilova broke at 15 and held at love, closing out her 5-3 triumph with one last winning forehand volley. Sketchy as some other parts of her game are these days, the 19-time Wimbledon champ is still a marvel at the net. OVERALL SCORE: SCHENECTADY 10, HARTFORD 5 Third set -- mixed doubles: Haygarth/Navratilova vs. Blake/Horn Playing her third set in a row, Navratilova still looked pretty fresh, wrapping up partner Brent Haygarth's opening hold by putting away an overhead smash. James Blake, a 20-year-old American with a seemingly bright future, smacked a pair of aces on his way to evening the set at 1-1. Navratilova held for 2-1 and then completed a break of Liezel Horn by deftly placing a forehand into the open court. The FoxForce came in with a good 7-5 record and playoff hopes, but were now trailing by seven points in the overall tally. Nonetheless, Liezel Horn -- the most animated player I saw in World Team Tennis this year -- was still upbeat. After striking a nice forehand volley winner to get a 0-30 lead against Haygarth, Horn exclaimed "Yay!" and hopped around the court on one foot. Alas, Schenectady barreled through the next four points to save the game and lead 4-1. Blake scored another easy hold for 2-4, but the damage was done. At 40-15, Navratilova hit a potentially set-winning overhead. Horn ran it down, but could only put up a weak lob which Martina smashed to snare a 5-2 win of the set. OVERALL SCORE: SCHENECTADY 15, HARTFORD 7 Even with a lopsided score and no big names scheduled to play in the last two sets, the majority of the crowd stuck around. During the intermission, Navratilova played auctioneer as fans bid on a number of items signed by herself, Mary Pierce, and Serena Williams. Upon hearing that all the proceeds would go to charity, noted left-wing activist Navratilova suspiciously asked, "It's not the George Bush/Dick Cheney charity, is it?" (Nope, Martina, the money goes to a local animal shelter.) The fans were a little reluctant to open their wallets, so Martina had to be creative in her sales pitches. Trying to hawk a shirt signed by Pierce, Navratilova explained, "She wore it in the match. It's got her sweat on it and everything. So for all you weirdos out there..." Fourth set -- men's singles: Michael Hill vs. James Blake With his fluid, net-rushing game firing on all cylinders, James Blake won eight straight service points on his way to an early 2-1 lead against Schenectady's Mike Hill. Hill got to 40-40 in the next game and looked like he'd held serve with a delicate drop shot...but the fleet-footed Blake ran it down and flipped a cross-court forehand winner for 3-1. James held for 4-1 and then delivered two winning returns in a row to put Hill in a 0-30 hole. Blake even had luck on his side -- at 15-30, he broke a string hitting a forehand return, but the ball fell in for a clean winner. Hill could only shake his head in stunned dismay. The Aussie fought back to 40-40, but netted a backhand volley on game point to seal his fate. Blake's 5-1 win of the set was a quick, decisive thing of beauty, punctuated by powerful serves and accurate volleys. One can only wonder why he hasn't found more success in the first full year on the ATP Tour. OVERALL SCORE: SCHENECTADY 16, HARTFORD 12 Fifth set -- men's doubles: Haygarth/Hill vs. Blake/Bohaboy Mike Hill made a quick recovery, ending the fifth set's opening game with an ace and a service winner. Blake put an exclamation point (in the form of an ace) on his hold for 1-1, but Schenectady seized the momentum after that. Haygarth held easily and Bohaboy was broken for 3-1. Hill's impressive serving continued in Game 5, which ended when Bohaboy sent a two-handed forehand into the net. Never broken in the three sets he played tonight, Blake kept his team alive with a hold for 2-4. The margin of the overall score was huge, though, and Bohaboy didn't look capable of helping Blake spark a dramatic comeback. Indeed, Brent Haygarth jumped out to a 40-0 lead and ended the match by blasting an ace past Bohaboy. FINAL SCORE: SCHENECTADY 21, HARTFORD 14 I caught up with Bethanie Mattek after the match and asked her a few questions one-on-one. I started with the obvious -- how did it feel to play singles against Martina Navratilova? "I wasn't expecting it," she replied. "The last time we played them, De Villiers played (singles), so I was expecting to play her. When Martina walked out, I was kind of shocked, but I kinda got into it. She plays a different game. She doesn't give you much pace. I'm used to pace. I tried my best, you know. I kinda mis-hit a few because she wasn't giving me anything and she played well." Asked for her overall thoughts on the World Team Tennis experience, Mattek said, "It's been fun. It's different from normal tennis because the crowd can get into it and because it's short. Whoever starts the quickest wins." Lastly, I asked if she's hoping to get a wild card into next month's U.S. Open. "Yeah, I may get it in doubles. I'm not sure at all about it right now. I hope I can." Either way, she's planning to play in the juniors event there. Navratilova gave an honest account of her own performance. Rusty after a week of playing more golf than tennis, "my serve stunk and I was a little nervous playing singles." She was happy with her form in the doubles sets, though. I asked if she's gotten any offers regarding a doubles partner for the U.S. Open. "A couple possibilities, but nothing definite yet" was her reply. Navratilova was also vague about her plans for 2001 -- "I don't know if I'll play tennis at all or if I'll play Team Tennis. It's possible." Martina's immediate future includes a few more matches for the Electrics, who carry a 6-5 record into their season-ending road trip. |