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by Prip Finally, the women's doubles matches were really under way. I decided to see how the Brazilian pair of Joana Cortez and Vanessa Menga was doing, since the only thing I had seen of either one was when Vanessa Menga had played against Steffi Graf and Johnny Mac in the 2nd round mixed doubles match in Wimbledon. Of course, the stands were occupied mostly by Brazillian supporters with their yellow shirts and flags, and a surprisingly large group of Brazillian media. On the other side of the court were Li and Li. Ning Li and Ting Li. I'm really starting to lose track of some of the Chinese players. We now have a Weng Tzu-Ting in addition to Wang Shi-Ting. Oh, and by the way, both play for Taipei. Basuki/Prakusya (INA) vs. Sugiyama/Miyagi (JPN) [4] Anyway, the Chinese were no match at all for the Brazilians, and after the first few games, I decided that this was not the match to gauge their capabilities. I headed off to see Karol Kucera take on Roger Federer, but the court was packed and I didn't fancy spending half the match standing in line. So I decided to take the opportunity to see Yayuk Basuki in doubles action with Wynne Prakusya, her protégé. I really don't think much of the younger Indonesian, and I don't see anything particular that will give her an edge over other players. Just for the record, I find Prakusya's parents a little annoying, although I'm sure they will never even come close to reaching the new standards that Mr. Dokic has set in the world of tennis parenting. Of course, I don't know them personally, and only have what I've seen of them to judge, but that is my impression of them. Despite being as fit as ever and having played a number of matches in the last few months, Yayuk still looked very rusty on court. The odds weren't very good for the Indons: Yayuk was out of form, and Wynne was not only inexperienced but also the weakest player on court by far. As expected, Ai Sugiyama and Nana Miyagi had an easy time taking the first set 6-2. Yayuk just couldn't do the job by herself, and her partner was making mistakes nearly every time she hit the ball. Yayuk was actually doing no better herself, making a lot of silly unforced errors. The Japanese very uncharacteristically started to miss everything in the second set, which gave the Indons a new lease on life. Wynne picked up her game quite a bit, although she was still very lost on court, and Yayuk certainly looked a little more like her old self. Nana Miyagi was actually the more active player of her team, and plays a very streaky game -- when she's on, she makes amazing shots, certainly not anything you expect of a player ranked in the 40's in doubles and just inside the top 200 in singles. But the problem is that she still tries to play her risky shots even when she's off her game, hoping that she'll get the groove back soon. Yayuk was playing her heart out, and her dedication inspired her partner who ran after everything, trying desperately to at least get the ball back. Several times, when one of the Japanese slammed a hard overhead winner, the youngster would run all the way to the back of the fence, refusing to give the point up. With a lot of guts and the help of streaky play from their opponents, the Indonesians managed to fight back and take the second set 7-5. The third set started a lot more evenly, but a couple of games into the set, the Japanese woke up and played like they did in the first set, attacking at the first chance and cutting down on the errors. Yayuk sort of did her team in by going for too much, perhaps a little too confident after successfully evening the match up, and ended up missing a lot of shots. The match must certainly have been very demoralizing for Yayuk, who was missing a lot of shots and was visibly frustrated at not being able to come up with a solution to the predicament. The younger Indon was trying to pump her mentor up, though, and still went for her shots, doing a better job of keeping the points going without compromising their positions on court. The mostly Japanese crowd didn't help them much, but despite everything, they fought hard. They just couldn't pull through, though, and after Yayuk missed the umpteenth half-volley, the third set went to the Japanese 6-4. Yayuk was very, very upset, but humoured a couple of fans who wanted to take a photo with her before walking off to the locker room, head down and feet dragging. Dominique Van Roost (BEL) [8] vs. Silvia Farina (ITA) I headed off to Court 1 where Dominique Van Roost was playing against Silvia Farina. Dominique was about to take the first set 6-1, and the Italian looked absolutely helpless against her hard flat shots. I stayed around for a couple of games, but decided that Dominique was definitely going to take the match easily even despite the inevitable fact that she would have trouble with her serve halfway through the second set. Venus Williams (USA) [2] vs. Jana Kandarr (GER) Over on Centre Court, Venus Williams was playing her third-round match against Jana Kandarr. Venus was having no trouble at all, and the German just couldn't do anything to hurt the second seed. The crowd appreciated her effort, though, and applauded her every point. Jana wasn't just giving up, either. She tried to keep up with Venus on the rallies, occasionally venturing to the net (but not having much success, thanks to Venus' passing shots) but was simply outclassed. It didn't take Venus long to wrap the match up 6-2 6-2. Schett/Wartusch (AUT) vs. Barabanschikova/Zvereva (BLR) Olga and Natasha were up a break in the first set, while on the adjacent court, the Hungarians Katalin Marosi and Petra Mandula were about to oust Amanda Coetzer and Liezel Horn from the doubles draw. The Hungarians took the match 6-4 6-3, but didn't wait around to see which pair they would face in the next round. Actually, it was pretty funny watching Babsi and Patricia on the doubles court. Barbara's doubles ranking is inflated from her success early this year playing with Anna Kournikova, and is certainly no expert on the doubles court. Patricia's doubles ranking is around the 100 mark. The two of them were just having fun on court, not even contemplating winning the match. In fact, after losing the first set 6-2 and were well on their way to losing the second in similar fashion, they were grinning and laughing away during the changeover, finding the whole scenario very amusing. Olga and Natasha were also taking it rather easy, confident that they had the match in their hands. Montalvo/Suarez (ARG) [3] vs. Farina/Grande (ITA) Take Babsi and Patricia's situation, and multiply it 5 times. That's the situation the Italians were in. They were having even more of a party, and finding themselves in the second set with a 6-0 loss in the changeover, they were either hysterically giggling at their predicament or had had a bet with the Austrians as to who could lose their match faster. During the changeover, I turned around to watch the ending of the match between Daja Bedanova/Kveta Hrdlickova and Conchita Martinez/Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. The Czechs had put in a strong effort, and Daja looked like she put everything into the match. The Spaniards were too experienced and crafty, and took the match 6-4 6-3. The Czechs had a very long interview, and both signed autographs while they answered the questions. Both were extremely good with the fans, posing for photos and patiently answering all sorts of questions. Anyway, I turned around to see what was going on back on the other court, and found that not only was the match over (the Argentines had taken the match 6-0 6-0), but the courts had been cleared of the equipment and such, considering that that was the last match scheduled. Silvija Talaja and Iva Majoli took to the court next, playing against Dominique Van Roost and Els Callens. I watched for a while, but had had enough of this brand of tennis for the day, so I packed up and headed home, wondering who would come through to fill the break in the American stronghold on the women's singles draw. |