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by Priya Prasad Semifinal day, and four out of the six contending parties were of the red-and-yellow flag so often seen in tennis. The first of them on court would be Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues, taking on Asa Carlsson in the first singles semifinal. The sun was at its full glory as usual, but the air was considerably more humid than the previous few. Both players came on court looking very focused, Asa with her steely gaze and Ana with her glassy stare. As the warm-up began, the spectators got a glimpse of what the match was going to be like. The Swede had long easy strokes while Ana's were more tight and compact. The match began, but the crowd (and Asa, for that matter) was stunned when the Spaniard took the first set 6-1, looking about as challenged as she had against Tatiana Panova. Late last year, Ana had said that she would need to improve her physical strength to get anywhere in this game. She has done so indeed, but it isn't so much the increased physical strength that is propelling her game now. Rather, it is the fact that she can sustain her intensity and muscle endurance that is giving her the edge she needs. Generating good racquet-head speed for a heavy spin on the ball, she continues to play a very different game compared to the other Spanish players, a game more suited to hard courts than clay (not that her results on clay are lacking). Asa was absolutely blown away in the first set. She had played Janette Husarova, Rosanna de Los Rios and Francesca Schiavone in the previous rounds, players who obviously play a less intense game, and the heaviness of the shots coming at her were too much. She couldn't do much with the ball, and was pretty much subjected to letting the Spaniard have her way on court. The second set took an unexpected turn when Ana started to make a lot more errors, obviously struggling to maintain her focus in the blazing sun after having gotten through the first set so easily. Asa managed to keep the ball in play enough to get the errors from her opponent, and took the second set 6-4 much to everyone's surprise. Typically, once Medina Garrigues realized that the match was even once again, and that she was pretty much back to square one, either something clicked in her head or the adrenaline took over. Ana started to gradually play like she had in the first set again, taking a few games to get back to full speed, but when she did, she made Asa look as helpless as Natasha Zvereva had against Steffi Graf in that infamous 1988 French Open final. The Spaniard barely clenched her fists after hitting the winning shot to move into the final -- in her mind, it was a certainty from the beginning. Soon after, the all-Spanish semifinal commenced on centre court. Despite being higher-ranked and favored by the local bookies, Gala Leon Garcia didn't look like the favorite coming into the match. She and Cristina Torrens Valero are best friends, and know each other's games well, but Cristina's confident demeanor on court so far was more assuring than Gala's volatility. Sure enough, it wasn't long into the match that Gala's colourful personality reared its head on court, and her racquet got a taste of the grainy red clay. One good thing about the match was that the crowd was equally supportive of each player, half decidedly for one player and the other half rooting for the other. The best thing about the match, though, was the amount of respect shown by both players for her good friend. Line calls that were close were immediately decided by whichever player whose side the ball landed on, and the umpire had no need to leave her chair. Clay court tournaments have their share of line call dramas despite the marks left by the ball, and at one point, Cristina was very surprised by the call made on the baseline, feeling that there was clearly a space between the mark and the line, but didn't make as much of a fuss of it as she could have before playing on. As expected, the match was a tough one, Gala playing her shots high and deep, keeping Cristina in the back of the court. Cristina, who would have preferred a more aggressive game, ad to be contented with biding her time and playing consistently. While I had expected a three-setter, Gala made life difficult for herself by playing one good point, followed by one totally careless mistake, alternating renewed hopes and total frustration. Cristina took the match 7-6(2) 7-6(4), leaving Gala about as happy about it as a volcano near Palermo that had seen increased activity at the very same time of the day. That set up the final match-up, an all-Spanish final between Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues and Cristina Torrens Valero, a match that will see two distinct styles of play despite the players' close ties. Cristina will most likely look to use her experience and consistency, mixed with aggressive play every couple of points, while Ana Isabel will look to play aggressively throughout the match and avoid making too many errors. Cristina's chances will increase the longer the match runs, but whether or not she can make it run long is another question. I personally give the edge to Ana Isabel, but expect a good match between two confident players. In the doubles final, Tathina Garbin and Janette Husarova were in their matching red shirts once again, and were determined to take advantage of the fact that one of their opponents (Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues) had a singles final to think about the following day while the other (Maria Jose Martinez) was dealing with an injured shoulder. Janette had been steadily improving her game, sparked by a marked increase in confidence in the last couple of days, which was good since Tathiana was struggling with her own problems. The first set was rather disastrous for the crowd favorites, although they managed to hang in there score-wise. The Spaniards were taking control of points a little too easily, and even when they found themselves in tight situations, Medina Garrigues' quick reflexes usually saved the day. Janette was playing well, and showed a distinct improvement tactic-wise from her previous match. Tathiana on the other hand had spurts of genius in her obvious physical fatigue. Ana Isabel kept up a high level of play throughout, not having any obvious problems with the exception of a few errors off the baseline in the second set, while Maria Jose Martinez was obviously struggling with her shoulder on court. Add to that the fact that her big frame limits her mobility, and the Spanish team had an obvious weakness. Having lost the first set 6-4, Tathiana and Janette started to play smarter tennis, keeping Ana honest at the net and throwing in choice drop shots, none of which Martinez got to. Ana herself started to do most of the running around. On one point, she actually ran diagonally across the court, reached low for a beautiful drop-shot from Janette that was about to hit the court for its second bounce, crashed into the courtside seats, but managed to spin a beautifully angled drop-shot in return anyway to win the point. Tathiana's game started to pick up in the second set, perked by the adrenaline and the crowd, and all of a sudden, the Spaniards found themselves in a pickle and about to lose the second set 6-2. Ana continued to play with a lot of emotion, while her counterpart continued to present a weakness in the team. With her power taken away from her and speed, reflex and net-game not exactly being her strong points, Maria got increasingly frustrated as the match went on, although she never stopped trying. She tried to make up for it by urging her partner on, while her partner started to get frustrated with the fact that she was putting in so much effort and still not getting anywhere. The third set was similar to the second with the only exception of Janette's game breaking down. She suddenly started to make silly unforced errors, and her volleys which had been working beautifully so far (she managed to come up with volleys that stopped dead just past the net despite having tennis balls absolutely blasted at her), even netting an easy sitter a foot and a half away from the net. Eventually, the Italian crowd was indulged as Tathiana and Janette converted their fourth match point at 5-4 (Martinez serving) for the title. The Spanish had black clouds over their heads, but congratulated their opponents warmly before planting themselves in their courtside seats. The Italian crowd was delighted for their Tathi (Janette received little attention despite being an obviously crucial factor), and they couldn't get more of their heroine. After the appropriate trophy presentation, she was urged to give a speech, in which she very thoughtfully thanked everyone from her partner to the cooks to the drivers, and obliged the fans for autographs and photos. The real challenge came in exiting the court, though, and a barrier of bodyguards had to charge through the crowd so that Tathiana and Janette would actually be able to get to the locker room. A good confidence booster for both players, both going through an important phase in their careers, but there will be no rest for either as yet. Their shared coach of 3 weeks now (Raoul Ratzinger) acknowledges the need for a break, but has decided that ranking points are a little more important now and that the break will come after a few more weeks of play. As for the runners-up, Martinez was her usual cheery self after having had enough time to get over the loss, graciously signing autographs and such, while Medina Garrigues hardly had a word to say to anyone. The tournament is not yet over for her, and today's loss will only serve to fuel her hunger for tomorrow's win. |