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by Prip Dominique Van Roost (BEL) [8] vs. Anastasia Myskina (RUS) I had decided to see how the young Russian would perform in a tough match, and was rather disappointed. No doubt, both players have similar games and Dominique has the advantage in every department with the exception of footspeed, but Anastasia could certainly have done better. The unforced error stats for this match must have been atrocious, and the serves could certainly have been a lot better for Dominique. Dominique's serve continues to be an Achilles' heel for her, and the double-faults tend to creep in on crucial points. Unforced error after unforced error got the Russian more and more frustrated, and Dominique ended up taking the match 6-2 6-3. The youngster shouldn't have been too disappointed, though. Dominique had played a very good match, minimizing on the unforced errors and hitting the ball very cleanly. Silvija Talaja (CRO) [13] vs. Silvia Farina (ITA) and Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) vs. Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) Things had worked out well for the Croats: even though two of their players would be playing at the same time, their matches were scheduled on adjacent courts. With the way the courts are designed, someone sitting in the second row of seats could easily watch the match on the court behind them simply by turning their heads. Ivan Ljubicic would take on Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe while Silvija Talaja would play Silvia Farina for the 5th time in two years. Three of those encounters had been on clay, and the Italian had won two of them, including their most recent clash in Federation Cup play. The fourth had been on indoor carpet, which the Italian had also won but in three sets. History would say that the Italian had to be favoured in this match despite the Croat being the seeded player. When I got to the courts, the Croatian coaches and media were looking very happy. Silvija had taken the first set 6-3, and Ivan had taken his first set 6-2. For some reason, though, the stands were packed with South African supporters, cheering very loudly for Kevin. It was 3-all in the match, and the momentum was slowly changing in favour of Ullyett. With a bit of gutsy play, the Zimbabwean managed to get the break, to the delight of his very vocal coaches. Ivan was still trying to play aggressively, and fought hard to get the break back, but unfortunately couldn't keep the errors away, thanks to Kevin who was doing a good job of coming to net and putting the pressure on. Ivan didn't give up without a struggle, and made his opponent work very hard to take the second set 6-4. Things were a lot worse for Silvija. Although her opponent had taken the second set by the same score, she had done it a lot more convincingly. Silvija for once was actually hitting the ball relatively flatter and harder instead of just throwing the balls back with a lot of spin, and perhaps that had caught the Italian off guard at the beginning, but Silvia Farina was now looking fully in control of the match, and was doing a good job of taking control of the points early, using more subtle tactics to put Silvija on the defensive. Fortunately for Ivan, Kevin couldn't keep up the level of play he had shown in the second set, while the Croat himself stepped up play a little, coming in to net occasionally and blasting winners past his opponent. Both players fought very hard, keeping everyone hanging on to every shot on every point. Kevin kept himself in it by keeping up with the same tactics he had used in the second set. The only problem was that Ivan's shots were now finding their mark and he wasn't getting as many free points any more. Ivan got the break of serve, and served out the match. The crowd erupted when the last point ended, and the way they cheered, the match might well have been a semifinal. Ivan threw his hands up in the air, shook his opponents' hand, and went into the stands to shake hands or hug everyone in the Croatian team, including some fans who had been sitting nearby and had extended their hands, much to the delight of the fans and the Croatian photographers. Silvija had little to celebrate, though. Both players were playing hard for the third set, and Silvija was struggling just a bit more than the Italian. The Croat couldn't make it 2 for 2 for her team, though, and one too many error lost her the match 6-2 4-6 4-6. In addition to the errors, she just hadn't been as aggressive as her opponent (well, as aggressive as two clay-courters can get anyway). The Croats, disappointed, headed off to see how their men's doubles team was doing as both players did their courtside interviews. Anne Kremer (LUX) vs. Amanda Coetzer (RSA) [7] On a nearby court, Amanda Coetzer was playing against Anne Kremer. The players had played each other twice already this year, Amanda winning the match in Berlin (on clay) and Anne winning the more recent one on grass (in Eastbourne). To many of the fans' surprise, Anne had taken the first set 6-4, and many crowded into the stands to catch a glimpse of this player who was putting up a gallant fight against the Pocket Rocket. For all her success on the tour, Anne has had little recognition by casual tennis fans. Amanda wasn't doing anything particularly impressive to turn the match around, just hitting the ball back again and again. Not even particularly hard or well-placed. Consistency was the only factor involved (besides stamina) in her game, and she had simply improved her percentages to take the second set. Of course, that is just the way she plays, but it bored me to tears, and once it looked apparent to me that the grind had broken Anne's game down, I left for some doubles action. Likhovtseva/Myskina (RUS) vs. Srebotnik/Krizan (SLO) [7] Elena had suffered a first-round loss in sigles, leaving her looking extremely dissatisfied with herself and looking for an outlet for all the emotional energy she'd built up, and Anastasia was surely looking for some consolation after playing a mediocre game that morning. With the way the Slovenians have been playing, I smelled an upset in the making. As anyone would expect, the doubles match was very entertaining, with Anastasia at first hanging out on the baseline and not doing too well at net. She was making an effort to make her presence felt at net, but the Slovenians were experience enough doubles players to avoid giving her too many opportunities. As the match went on, though, Myskina's net game seemed to improve tremendously, while Elena continued to do a good job from all over the court. The Slovenians had started out taking advantage of the younger Russian, but the youngster dug in, not letting it get to her, but instead rising to the occasion and holding her own. The Slovenians, on the other hand, were making far too many mistakes. Tactically, they were sound enough, but the execution could really have done with a bit of work. The teams were neck-and-neck, not letting their guard down and fighting hard for every game. The Russians looked a lot more pumped, thanks to Myskina who had the job of motivator while her teammate called the shots. The Slovenians had a more elite look about them, as if to say, "we're here to do our job, and we know how to get it done." The first set went on forever, and would finally be decided by a tie-breaker. Elena just seemed to look annoyed all the time, while Anastasia looked happy that her team was doing so well (well, I suppose she had reason to be happy, the way she had picked her game up), and the Slovenians looked very, very upset at themselves for not having the first set under their belts already. The tie-breaker started out well, with the Russians playing very aggressively. Katarina and Tina soon found themselves down a mini-break, though, and the Russians were gaining more and more momentum as the tie-break went on. None of them were serving particularly well, but the difference was that the Russians were making the effort to play aggressively and went for their shots. The gamble paid off as they took the tie-breaker very comfortably, 7-4. Kata and Tina hadn't liked a line call in the tie-breaker, but I couldn't see what they were complaining about. They shook it off, though, and came out looking a lot more determined than they had been in the whole match. They raised the level of their game a notch, but the damage was done. Elena had seen the window of opportunity open for her, and is experienced enough to know that she couldn't let up and risk losing the set. Anastasia, on the other hand, was a lot more pumped up, shaking her fist and really feeling like a player on court instead of the weak link like she had been at the beginning of the match. She even started making bold moves at the net, which worked as often as it didn't. It didn't matter, though, as the Slovenians were running out of options, and just couldn't find the solution to their opponents' inspired play. The second set wasn't as tight as the first, but both teams played hard, and it proved to be a match well worth watching. The Russians finished strongly, taking the second set 6-3. The Slovenians were visibly upset, but had just come up against opponents who wanted the match more, and had put the extra effort into it. And that left the Slovenians with more than a week to figure out what was going wrong with their games. All three had a bit of additional time off before heading back on tour, and hopefully Katarina would take the time to think long and hard about what she wanted out of her tennis career, while hopefully Tina Pisnik would have made a recovery and found a steady guide. I had thought that the match between Daniela Bedanova and Julie Halard-Decugis would still be on, since Daniela had been up a break and looked firmly in control in the second set after losing the first when I ran over to see what was happening during a changeover in the doubles match. Unfortunately, the youngster couldn't keep it up, and against a top player like Julie, one cannot afford to relax even for a moment. The Frenchwoman had ended up taking the last 4 games in a row for a 6-3 6-4 victory. Rita Grande (ITA) vs. Jelena Dokic (AUS) From the sounds coming from Centre Court, I figured that Jelena Dokic was still on Court. I was pretty surprised, thinking that she would have had the match against Rita Grande in straight sets. When I got to my seat, I found that Rita had actually taken the first set 7-5, but was down a break at the end of the second. Exactly across the stands from me sat the Italians, looking as casual as they always do. I always find the bunch amusing. Rafaella Reggi sits slumped back in her chair, arms folded and watching intently, while Tathiana Garbin always has her things all around her, socks, shoes, etc., fiddling with her mobile phone every few minutes, enjoying the sun and perhaps trying to get rid of her sock lines. The rest of them would be half watching, half talking among themselves, laughing about something or another. The Aussies in contrast had so far been silent statues at all their matches so far, letting the crowd do the cheering for them. The crowd was of course 100% behind the young Aussie, and I had the fortune of sitting right in front of 2 particularly charged up Aussie fans. Decked out from head to toe in green and gold, they were cheering loudly for Jelena, leading chants of "Aussie Aussie Aussie!" When Jelena took the second set 6-3 and the players sat down for the changeover, one of them stood up and started singing: If you're Aussie and you love it clap your hands, If you're Aussie and you love it clap your hands, If you're Aussie and you love it, And everyone else can just shove it, If you're Aussie and you love it clap your hands. Classic. Anyway, figuring that the Aussie had the better chance in the match and already had enough support, I cheered the Italian on. It was pretty funny, because when Rita played on my side, I was giving her some words of encouragement (not too loudly, just enough for her to hear clearly), and when she played on the other side, Tathiana was doing the same thing. The two Aussies behind me got rather annoyed, though, because I had participated in their chants and yet was cheering for the opposition. So they said, "What, do you know her?" I turned around casually and said, "Umm, yeah. Besides, I figured Jelena has you two along with everyone else in this stadium cheering for her." The typical Aussie blokes they were, we ended up talking through the match, and when they left the stadium, wished me good luck. Dokic was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 winner. Barbara Schett (AUT) [12] vs. Maria Emilia Salerni (ARG) [WC] For some reason, Barbara Schett's match was still midway through the first set when I got to Court 3. Maria was doing an excellent job, certainly much better than anything expected of her in the match. The Argentine was striking the ball well, not only managing to keep up with Babsi in hard baseline rallies, but coming out on top more often than not. Her shots were finding their mark, and the youngster didn't show any signs of letting up. Babsi looked tired and frustrated at being run all over the court by this rookie. Her coach (Thomas Prerovsky), Sylvia Plischke, and Patricia Wartusch were very good about giving her support, but I was surprised that her coach wasn't warned for coaching her. Prerovsky was complaining to Sylvia about Babsi's choice of shots and tactics, and when the first set went into a tie-breaker and Babsi looked like she was headed for trouble, he very explicitly told her to target the youngster's backhand. I was surprised at this not because of the coaching, which happens all the time anyway, but because he actually had to point this out to Babsi. Maria was very obviously favouring her forehand, and it didn't take much to figure that the key to playing her would be to pressure her backhand. And frustratingly enough, Babsi had kept playing the youngster's forehand. Sure enough, the youngster started to feel a lot less invincible when the pressure was put on her backhand. It's not a very obvious weakness with her, but it is certainly her weaker wing. Babsi had the confidence in knowing that she had more experience compared to the junior player, and held in steadily, still hitting the ball heavily but not going so much for the lines. With the pace the Austrian generates, she doesn't have to cut things so close anyway, and in a situation like this, would be better off having to play one more shot than going for the line. In a very impressive display, Maria stuck with it, coming in to net on the right shots and didn't show any frustration even when she missed a shot. She just shook it off and concentrated on the next point. The tie-breaker could have gone either way, but Babsi ended up getting it. Having the first set under her belt really made a difference to the Austrian, and she now looked a lot less tense. The Austrian team was also very relieved to have the first set over with. I had a short chat with Sylvia Plischke, as the two players got on with the match, and it was good to see Maria Emilia keeping up the level of play she's shown in the first set instead of letting the close loss get to her. Barbara was looking much better, feeling less pressure and having an idea of what to do against the youngster. The second set was also very tight, but Babsi managed to clean up her act long enough to get the break and took the second set 6-4. Maria Emilia Salerni had her chances, but she had nothing to be disappointed about. She had done a lot better than anyone could have expected of her, and can be happy that she had pushed the Austrian to the point of near panic. Both players were in great demand by the media, although Barbara gave a much longer interview. Barbara was swamped by autograph seekers, and moved up and down the group, but as one fan left happy with their autograph, another came up, and despite her very obvious stress, Babsi signed every piece of paper, hat, shirt and whatnot till everyone was satisfied, all the while answering the interviewer's questions. |