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by Prip Finally, the first of the medals would be determined. Biggest match of the day would be the women's singles bronze medal match between Aussie darling Jelena Dokic and sentimental favourite Monica Seles. But the boisterous Aussie crowd would have to wait for the men's singles semifinal matches to be determined on centre court before getting to cheer their Aussie on. The weather was no better at 11am today than it was on previous days. In fact, the clouds looked a lot heavier, and sure enough, it started to drizzle. Lightly at first, but the rain picked up soon enough, and the queues around the coffee cart curled around stadium court. $5 raincoats were selling like hotcakes, and people were milling around restlessly. A collective groan came from the crowd when the announcement was made that play would probably not commence for another couple of hours, as people realized that the no pass out policy meant that they would either have to sit and wait within the tennis centre or take a walk around the Olympic Park and risk missing any tennis that might be played later in the day. Most of the people sat patiently, reading the newspaper or enjoying a glass of wine. Ironically, three familiar songs were being played -- "Sunshine on a Rainy Day", "I Need a Miracle" and "Where's the Sunshine". After more than a 3 hour delay, play finally commenced. The grounds-crew did an excellent job as usual, squeegee-ing, towelling and blowing the court dry, paying special attention to the lines. The crowd cheered at the sight of Jelena Dokic emerging, to give a short interview on the mike, thanking the crowd for their support so far. Symbolic of the local coverage of the Olympics so far -- it's all about the Aussies. Oh, and perhaps an American here or there. Tommy Haas and Roger Federer soon came onto court amid ample applause. Tommy Haas (GER) vs. Roger Federer (SUI) Haas won the toss and, of course, opted to serve. Three service winners helped him hold serve to open the match. Federer did one better, and got an ace to open his match, a service winner to secure game point, and an ace to take his service game. Both players were serving well, and that was the deciding factor in the points, both holding serve easily. At 2-1, the rain started to fall again, but play was only suspended for a minute or two. It didn't seem to affect either player, and games continued to go on serve. At 3-all, play was again suspended for a while. Haas had continued to put in a solid performance, maintaining his serve while Roger's first serve percentage started to drop. This was the obvious key to the game, and serving from behind had to put an added pressure on the Swiss. Haas had 1 break point opportunity at 4-3, but Federer kept it alive with a service winner. Followed by a double-fault. Tommy returned the favour with an unforced error of his own, bringing it back to deuce. An ace from Federer set up game point, but the Swiss lost it on a silly unforced error, and another one set up break point #3 for Tommy Haas. A strong return set up the opportunity for the German, and he managed to force an error off Roger's racquet with an inside out forehand to get the crucial break of serve. Here, a string of errors from Federer put Haas 2 points away from taking the first set. Totally mishitting a forehand, the Swiss yelled "Oy oy OY!!!" (not to be confused with the Aussie "Oi oi oi" chant), cursing himself for playing so sloppily. Another unforced error gave Tommy the first set. When the players went back on court to start the second set, Tommy looked a little less tense. Trying to get the early break, he even dived for a ball at the baseline, reminiscent of his countryman Boris Becker in the good ol' days. Trying hard to avoid losing serve, Federer came into net, and let a shot go only to see it land inches inside the line, setting up a break point for Tommy. Another "Oy oy OY" managed to pump him up, and he got an ace to save his service game. Attacking net again, Roger had an easy volley putaway after drawing Haas way out of court, but dumped the volley into the net to set up a second break opportunity for the German. Roger tossed his racquet into the air behind him in frustration, but managed to compose himself enough to get a good serve in to get a service return error from Haas, and an ace set up game point. Another careless error from Federer brought it back to deuce, but he got the upper hand again with a clean ace. Taking a different approach, Federer got a nice dropshot volley, but Haas was quick enough to get to it, and threw an equally good lob over Federer's head. Showing his own footspeed, Roger could have gotten to the ball and hit a good return with a bit of effort, but opted to hit it between his legs instead. Unfortunately, the playfulness cost the Swiss, and the ball just caught the tape, bringing deuce #4. Stepping into his returns, Tommy managed to get the break to open the set. Both players managed to hold serves easily in the next 2 games. At this point, the unforced errors started to creep into the German's game. Perhaps relaxing a little too soon, a barrage of unforced errors gave the break back to Federer. Picking his game up temporarily, Haas set up 3 break points, but squandered them all. A crosscourt winner got Federer out of the red, and a service winner gave him his service game. It looked like the match might head into 3 sets when Federer had 3 break points at 3-2, but he couldn't convert them and Haas escaped by the skin of his teeth. The tables were turned in the next game, Haas holding 3 break points of his own. Just like deja vu, 3 unforced errors lost him all three opportunities, but he managed to win the next two points to hold serve. Heading to his chair to change racquets, he also came back with renewed focus, and took full advantage of Federer's errors. The next two games went by quickly, and the German was set for at least a silver medal for his efforts. Between him and the gold would be the winner of the match to follow between Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Arnaud di Pasquale. The Russian who had been so down on himself before a couple of weeks ago that he's considered skipping the Olympics altogether would have to be favoured in the match. Williams/Williams (USA) vs. Van Roost/Callens (BEL) [5] Sitting with one of the media tv monitors in front of me, I also managed to keep an eye on the match that was happening on Court 1, the first of the women's doubles semifinals between Williams/Williams and Van Roost/Callens. Despite being unseeded, the Williams had to be favoured to get through to the finals over the Frenchwomen Julie Halard-Decugis and Amelie Mauresmo. On the other side of the draw, I had favoured either local favourites Rennae Stubbs and Jelena Dokic (holding home crowd advantage) or Natasha Zvereva and Olga Barabanschikova to come through. The Americans won the toss, and Venus Williams served first for her team. Perhaps affected by the cold weather (well, Venus did have the highest percentage of exposed body surface area), Venus wasn't quite warmed up yet, and both sisters looked like they were still thinking about their warm beds back in their hotel room(s). The Belgians knew that they had to take every chance that came their way, and broke Venus' serve to open the match. Els held serve in the same fashion, and the Belgian's took a 2-0 lead. Serena had a bit of trouble in her service game as well, but managed to avoid conceding two breaks. Dominique held serve easily to bring it to 3-1. Once again, Venus found herself in trouble. Down 0-30, the Americans looked to be in big trouble, but they finally picked up their games, and held serve convincingly. Playing a cleaner game, the Williamses got a chance to break Els' serve, and a well-timed cross from Serena at net got them the break back. Serena had an easy service game, and Dominique went up 30-0 on hers, but a good down-the-line passing shot from Serena and a bit of over-ambition from Els at net cost them another lead. Realising that both sisters were having a lot of trouble with low volleys, the Belgians played 2-back, trying to get the volley error, but the tactic didn't work, and the break of serve went to the Williamses. Crunch time, and Venus went up to serve for the first set. The Belgians kept with the 2-back tactic, and this time did a better job of it. Making the Williamses play volleys no higher than their knees, they got the break back to bring it to 4-5. Now the challenge would be for Els to hold serve and keep her team in the set. Despite a good effort, the Williamses were too strong, and held 3 break points, needing only 2 to take the first set 6-4. At this point, Dominique looked a little shaky, and started to make some silly unforced errors. Els was trying hard to keep things together for the team, but this is where the danger usually presents itself in her game. When pushed, Els has a tendency to go for too much, and usually ends up missing horribly. This time, she managed to do a not too bad job of it, but just couldn't find a way past the strength and athleticism of Williams X 2. All three players held serve in the start of the second set, but when Venus went to sit down during the changeover just after holding serve, she had her sister help stretch her back/shoulder a little. She couldn't have been too happy about playing in the balmy 17° weather in that outfit. Once again, Els had trouble on her serve. Not surprising, since Els is most definitely a stronger net player than she is on the baseline, and vice versa for Dominique. Only managing to get one point in the game, Els dropped her service game again, and Serena had an esay service game to consolidate the break and move up 4-1. The Americans really started to relax at this time, Serena even throwing a drop-shot return off DVR's serve. At this point, something happened that amused Dominique greatly, and she was smiling broadly between the next couple of points. It seemed to help her get her game together, anyway, and started to hit the ball a lot better. Switching tactics, the Williamses decided to target Els at net, and they took the game to deuce. A timely cross by Venus gave them a double-break point, but a beautiful lob by Dominique, way over Venus' head and deep enough that Serena couldn't get to it, saved that. However, an unforced error and then a weak lob by DVR gave the Americans their double-break, and once again, Venus would serve to close out the set, this time for a chance at the gold medal. 2 solid serves put the Americans 2 points away from the match, and the crowd was ready to head to the coffee carts for something warm. Once again, the Belgians were both back while the Americans were both at net. A lucky net cord from DVR saved one match point when the ball popped over Venus' head. All the pressure was on Els to come up with a strong service return. And she came up with a gem, a beautiful dipping cross-court backhand that not only landed at the same depth as Venus' feet, but had too much angle for Venus to even reach it. 30-all. DVR blew it when she smacked a service return straight into the net. Match point. Both Belgians came into net, but were foiled by a beautiful lob by Venus Williams over Dominique's head. Els made a gallant stab at it, but it was beyond her reach, and landed a foot inside the baseline. Game, set match, Williams/Williams. Perhaps the only team that could challenge them now would be the Belarussian Basketc-, uhmm, Belles. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (RUS) [5] vs. Arnaud di Pasquale (FRA) After a short break on center Court when rain threatened to cause more delays, Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Arnaud di Pasquale came on court amid thunderous applause. Yevgeny had a strong following in the stadium, while the Frenchman had won the hearts of many, especially the younger girls who had been attending the tennis. Max Mirnyi was in attendance, instead of at Court 1 where Natasha and Olga would soon play their match. Both players started well, the Frenchman the clear underdog but doing well to hold on to his service games. At 2-all, though, Arnaud faced 2 break points, but saved them both, the 2nd with an ace. As would happen throughout the match, an unforced error set up another break point, which he saved with another ace. Yevgeny didn't like the call on the serve, and went to have a word with the umpire. The crowd didn't want any more delays in the match, but weren't too vocal. That is, until one chap near the front yelled, "You canNOT be SERIOUS!" which sent the stadium into a roar of laughter. I swear, you cannot find a more entertaining crowd anywhere else in the world. Two careless shots from Yevgeny let Arnaud escape with his service game. As the players sat down for the changeover, Max Mirnyi headed off, presumably to Show Court 1 where the players were halfway through the warmup. As he left the stadium, Anastasia Myskina and Elena Dementieva appeared, joining the 2 Russian coaches who were already there. Yevgeny had another easy service game, thanks to more consistent serving from the Russian. Arnaud had a very streaky serve throughout the game, and that was the main reason for him eventually losing the match. A barrage of unforced errors gave Kafelnikov the break, and he held onto that break to serve out the set. Zvereva/Barabanschikova (BLR) vs. Boogert/Oremans (NED) Meanwhile, things were going awry for the Belarussians on Court 1. Kristie Boogert had faced 1 break point in the opening game of the match, but a good serve out wide set up an easy volley down the middle of the court to save her service game. Natasha's returns had been weak throughout the tournament so far, while Olga had been nearly flawless in that department, and that was one of the reasons the younger player has been playing the ad side. However, Olga's returns were a lot less flashy today -- understandable with Boogert's strong serves, but definitely a question with Oremans's. It should be noted that Olga had her right forearm all taped up, while Kristie had her upper right thigh bandaged, although Kristie's mobility didn't look at all impaired. Olga struggled considerably on her service games, mostly because NZ looked asleep at net, but also because the Dutch were grooving on their returns. Getting a good number of their returns right at the server's feet throughout the match, Olga grew increasingly frustrated. She finally managed to hold serve for 2-all, much to her relief. It would have been realistic to say that NZ and Olga would have had a much better chance at breaking Miriam Oremans's serve than Kristie Boogert's, considering Kristie's strong serves and Miriam's capability at net. Kristie got some well-placed serves in giving her an easy service game. Natasha continued to play a lackluster game, and found herself down 0-30 on her serve. Amazingly enough, she got an ace to bring it to 15-30, but a nice passing shot by Kristie between the two players at net gave the Dutch 2 break points. Another good serve by NZ set up an easy putaway for Olga. The tension on NZ's face was obvious as she went up to serve, and the pressure probably got to her as she serve-and-volleyed, but pushed the volley a foot long. The Dutch were gaining more and more confidence as the match went on, and the fact that they had over 30 friends sitting together at the end of the court cheering them on didn't hurt. Miriam held serve easily, only conceding one point when Olga came in behind a return and got a nice crisp volley right at Kristie's feet. With NZ making more and more mistakes, playing sloppy tennis and looking like her mind was miles away, Olga had the daunting task of holding serve to stay in the set. She did this surprisingly well, though, not serving particularly hard serves, but certainly placing them well. The Dutch looked a little over-eager, but once they'd lost the chance to break for the set, they once again settled down and got back on track. They had come with the knowledge that the Belarussians are capable doubles players, flashy, but also extremely shaky, and the battle plan was to simply play steady tennis. Miriam continued to have a strong presence at net, and was an effective force in earning 2 set points for her team. Brimming with confidence, Kristie Boogert tried to out-angle NZ at the net, but the ball landed wide, extending the Belarussians' lifeline. This time, it was Olga's turn to mess it up, though, and a lousy service return compromised NZ's position (and maybe even her health) at net. And there it was, the first set to the Dutch. Olga and Natasha walked to their chairs, shoulders slumped and head down, wondering what had they could do to turn things around. They'd had 3 break opportunities, but only managed to convert one. This time, the Belarussians would serve ahead, and maybe this was the slight advantage they needed to boost their games. NZ opened the second set, but the Dutch were simply eating up her serve, and NZ kept getting caught chasing her serve in to net. Finding her partner facing 2 break points, Olga played more aggressively at net, saving both break points. Only to be undone by a double-fault by Natasha. Feeling the adrenaline, Olga once again made the right moves at net, and saved a third break point. A better serve by NZ gave them the opportunity to set up the point, and Belarus finally held game point. Getting fed up of being caught coming in after her serve, NZ stayed back until the 2nd shot, but still approached on a shot, and was foiled at net. Deuce #3. A lousy lob from NZ nearly got Olga killed, and the Dutch finally got the break to open the set when NZ pushed a volley wide. Olga and NZ must have 9 lives, though. A couple of unforced errors off Kristie and a double-fault gave them 3 chances to break back. Olga clinched it with a beautiful service return winner down the line, evening it back at 1-all. Olga was soon feeling the pressure again, unforced errors from both players giving the Dutch 2 break points. A missed passing shot by Oremans saved one, and a good serve from Olga set up 2 easy overheads to save the second. A blown service return from Miriam gave Olga game point, but the favour was returned with a double-fault. The next point saw a second service return error from Miriam, and it looked like Olga would finally get her service game when Kristie could barely manage to block the service return back into the court, but the ball came back across the net a little too high, and Miriam made the move, slamming the ball at Olga's feet. Back at deuce, Kristie Boogert threw a lob up, hoping for an easy way out, by Olga got to it and got a comfortable overhead winner. Game point again for Belarus, and an enthusiastic NZ got a little over-ambitious at net, coming up with the error. Deuce #3. A beautiful low dipping cross-court return from Oremans won her team yet another break point, and the game finally went to the Dutch when a half-volley from Olga landed long. Frustrate, Olga tossed her racquet in the air and caught it as she walked to her chair. Boosted by the way the match was going, Miriam got 4 strong serves in, forcing 4 long returns from her opponents and consolidating the break. For once, NZ had a strong service game, going up 40-0, and both players played a strong point at net to control the damage. The Belarussians, aided by a totally mishit overhead by Kristie Boogert, threatened to get the break back, but fell short, and the Dutch took a 4-2 lead amid enthusiastic cheers from the orange shirts. Olga started her service game with a service winner, but a solid return from Boogert forced the error off Olga's racquet on the next point. Finally showing some life at net, a well-timed cross from NZ at the net got them the next point, but a bad approach from Olga evened it up at 30-all. Feeling the pressure to come up with a strong serve, Olga went for too much, and ended up with a double-fault. Having pumped herself up, and entertaining the crowd in the process, NZ was finally making her presence felt in the match, and put the pressure on the Dutch to come up with a good passing shot. It worked, and the game went to deuce. Any confidence that the Belarussians might be gaining, though, must have come to a stop when Miriam Oremans brushed a lovely tight-angled crosscourt service return that dipped right after it crossed the net. And any confidence that remained surely evaporated when Kristie Boogert's service return was a mirror image of her partner's shot. At this point, for the first time in the match, I realised that there was no way this match was going to turn around. Fully familiar with how temperamental both Belarussians are on court, I had harboured the thought that the NZ and Olga were fully capable of turning things around. Surely they weren't going to have a bad day when a gold medal was on the line! Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans looked serious but not tense as they walked onto the court, in stark contrast to the Belarussians. The Dutch contingent were singing and clapping throughout the changeover, entertaining the crowd more than anything else. However, everything went silent as Kristie got ready to serve for the match. The teams traded points for 15-all. A better service return and approach shot from NZ earned her team a 30-15 lead. Trying to force the play, Kristie followed her serve in to net, and Olga lobbed the service return, only to watch it land long. 30-all. The next point saw all 4 players up at net, and Olga played another lob from a half-volley, which also landed long. She redeemed herself by saving match point with a hard service return, forcing the error off Miriam at net. Deuce. NZ smacked the service return into the net. Kristie Boogert served a nice wide serve, which Olga barely got to but managed to flick cross-court, keeping her team in it. Her effort paid off when Miriam dumped a volley into the net. Deuce. NZ hit what surely must have been her best return of the day, a cross-court shot that passed both players at the net. Pumping her fists in her trademark style, NZ managed to put a smile on the face of her very stressed out partner. Olga tried to do a repeat of NZ's shot, but the ball landed just long. Deuce again. The next point saw all four players up at net. Perhaps a little cocky after out-duelling NZ in the first set, Kristie once again tried to out-angle NZ at the net, but she didn't have a chance against a revved up NZ. Advantage Belarus. Kristie got a good serve in, which NZ returned cross-court. Straight into Kristie Boogert's hitting zone. Winding up, Kristie smacked one down the line, and Olga framed the racquet. I thought that it was a pretty good effort that she had managed to react that quickly, but Olga obviously didn't think so. The look on her face said it all -- she was absolutely disgusted with herself. Deuce once again. On fire by now, NZ ripped a service return winner down the line, catching Miriam Oremans off-guard. Olga got a weak service return in, which Miriam pounced on. Deuce #5. Eager to make up for the error, Olga made the move to cross on the next point, but couldn't do enough with the ball, and ended up leaving half the court open. Match point #3 for the Dutch. The first serve landed long. The pressure was on. Kristie spun a decent second serve in, not doing much with it, but Olga smacked the ball into the net, giving the Dutch game, set and match. The players shook hands at net, and the Dutch went over to their chairs, grabbed their towels and waved them in some sort of tribute to their large group of friends/supporters in the stands amid a huge applause from the crowd, while the Belarussians sat dejectedly in their chairs. Finally, Olga and Natasha started packing up their bags, and barely acknowledged the huge applause they got from the crowd as they left the court. NZ was walking ahead of Olga, who was trying to tell an elderly couple in the stands that she'd phone them later. Poor girl looked like it took everything she had to keep from bursting out in tears. As she left the court, she was mobbed by autograph-seekers and hormone-driven teenagers wanting to take a photo with her. She could have easily turned all of them down in her hurry to get to the locker room, which she did at first, but as more and more of them approached her, she put on a brave face and entertained as many of them as she could, all the while trying to get as quickly as possible to the locker room. NZ was way ahead at this point, and went straight to a practice court. Something must have changed her mind, though, as when I looked over a minute later, she wasn't there anymore. Back on Centre Court, Jelena Dokic and Monica Seles were just done warming up. Monica won the toss, and elected to serve. Unlike the previous day, Monica was hitting the ball hard and flat instead of top-spinning the ball into the court. Serving a lot more consistently, Monica went up 3-0 faster than Jelena could say, "By crikey!" Jelena finally managed to hold serve in the fourth game, but not without a lot of running around. Unfortunately for the Aussie, that was the only game she managed to get in the first set. Monica was simply too consistent and too strong at the baseline. Monica had the confidence of knowing that she had the upper hand in most aspects -- she had the experience, better consistency and was definitely the stronger between two players with extremely similar games. Jelena, on the other hand, was missing a lot of shots, as she is prone to do. By the end of the first set, the only people more shell-shocked than Jelena were the Aussie supporters in the crowd. In the second set, Jelena started to serve a lot better, getting 3 aces but also getting 1 double-fault. Getting the early advantage, Jelena held to open the second set. Monica is no slouch in the service department nowadays either, and barely broke a sweat in holding serve. Both players continued to showcase strong serving, holding serve until 4-all. Of course, as expected, there were many long hard-hitting baseline rallies that kept the spectators at the edge of their seats, but Monica ended up taking most of them, playing a lot steadier than the Australian. As the set went on, the youngster grew more and more revved up by the crowd, pumping her fist and yelling "Come ON!" in true Hewitt fashion. While both players were running each other from corner to corner in the rallies, Monica had the disadvantage of being the slower of the two, but she made up for it by generating sharper angles. Jelena would have done a lot better if she had made Monica move up and down the court a little more instead of just side-to-side. Finally, the Australian started to show more variety in her game, throwing in deft drop-shots, and while Monica managed to scramble to most of them, she was a lot less comfortable at net than the Aussie was. In fact, Jelena was a lot more at ease with coming in to net, another benefit of her working with Stubbsy. Jelena looked to be doing fine until 4-all in the second set, when she double-faulted at 15-0. Smelling blood, Monica pounced on her serves, taking 2 quick points to hold 2 break points. Jelena played a little more aggressively, attacking net to save one, but was just too streaky to save the second. Yet another errant shot cost her her service game, compromising her chance at taking the match to a third set. As the players tried to catch their breath during the changeover, the Americans once again started their "Yew, Ess, AYY" chant, but were soon drowned out by cheers of "Aussie, Aussie" from the entire stadium. The stadium erupted when the players stood up from their chairs, and took quite a while to die down. Monica served, and Jelena smacked a service return long. 15-0. The second point was a lot longer, Jelena nearly out-rallying Monica, pulling Seles way out of court with a cross-court shot, and going for the down-the-line winner, but the ball landed just long. 30-0. Taking a different approach, the next point saw Jelena throw quite a good drop shot across the net, which Monica barely got to but pushed long. 30-15. More solid play from the Aussie forced an error off Monica's racquet, keeping her hopes alive. Showing true class, though, Monica hit a clean ace that Jelena could only watch fly past her to set up match point. The crowd erupted, half applauding Monica, urging her to victory, the other half trying to will the Aussie into taking the second set. It was not to be, though, as Monica slammed another ace past Jelena Dokic, to take the bronze medal. Showing a lot more class than her reputation suggest, Jelena had a nice exchange with Monica at the net, and was very gracious in defeat. I personally feel that the 6-month ban on Dokic Sr. will do wonders for Jelena, on more ways than one, and time will tell. The crowd showed their appreciation for both players, and once the players left the court, the crowd started to file out. Now their Aussie hopes would rest on the Woodies. Playing in their last match together, the stage could not be grander. The question on everyone's minds -- would the Woodies leave the game with the highest accolade any sportsperson could hope to achieve...a gold medal. |