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by Priya Prasad Sunday marked two significant events in Palermo. First and most importantly, it was the final day of the week-long celebrations of the Patron Saint of the city, Santa Rosalia, and secondly, it was the day of the all-Spanish final of the Torneo Internazionale Femminili di Tennis at the Country Time Club in Mondello. The match was scheduled at 6 to allow for more spectators, cooler weather for the players, as well as to provide prime time viewing for the sponsors. The event was kicked off with a procession of all the ball-kids and linespeople marching in single file onto court, and then followed by a procession which involved the two players sandwiched by 2 Spanish and 1 Italian flags. Important tournament committee members including Sanex WTA Tour director Angie Woolcock and head umpire Laura Ceccarelli followed suit, and once everyone was settled on court, the Spanish national anthem was played. The crowd was respectful, but once that was done and the Italian national anthem was played, the crowd absolutely belted out the tune, patriotic pride in full glory. Every non-local person had wondrous smiles on their faces, including both players, amazed at how well the crowd had performed, helped along by Country Time Club director and tenor Gaspare Lo Voi. The match started off very well for Cristina Torrens Valero, who was playing surprisingly aggressively. So her plan would be to out-gun the younger Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues after all. Good tactic, as Ana looked very surprised by it all and by the time she figured out what was happening, found herself down 1-3 and receiving serve. With her typical pouty look and hat-bill pulled low, the wheels in her head were turning, while her eyes were fixed on the couple of strings her fingers tugged at on her racquet. One thing you can be sure of is the about-to-turn-19-year-old's fight-or-die mentality. On the other side of the court, Cristina was doing her best impression of Chris Evert's ice-queen persona. No-nonsense attitude in full swing, she went up to serve, for 4-1. And she had her chances, but couldn't get a good serve in when it counted. The game went to deuce, at which the advantage swung back and forth several times before going to Ana, relinquishing the break. Confidence back in place, Ana started missing a lot less, running all over court and coming up with absolutely beautiful defensive shots. Cristina tried to offer up with a mixed bag, but Ana did well to react to everything she did, and before Cristina had even digested the fact that she had given the crucial break away, the first set went 6-4 to Ana. The beginnning of the second set continued to be in the younger player's favor. One of the highlights of the match was when Ana was serving at 2-1 up, and a shot from Cristina was called wide. Cristina asked for a second opinion, at which Medina agreed that it was good, and before the umpire could get out of her chair, rubbed the mark out with her shoe. It wasn't the most epic of sportsmanlike gestures, since she had been near enough to the ball to warrant a replay instead of an automatic point, but it was good sportsmanship nonetheless. From that point, the second set went a lot better for Cristina. Realizing that there was no way she was going to win this match with the current trend, she started playing aggressive from the first shot, hitting the ball hard and throwing in very nice touch shots every now and then. Even if her drop shots didn't win her points, it was sapping the energy from her opponent, and she who bides her time had a good chance of winning. Once again, the set was looking as if it would go to Cristina. Perhaps being one of those pesky come-from-behind players that are a little too common nowadays, Ana seemed to be able to focus more when she found herself in tight situations. Looking and playing every bit the scrapper, she played hard, and despite falling behind by a break, fought to get it back, and before Cristina knew it, she once again blew a small lead, only to reach the point of no return. She couldn't have as much say in the points as she would have liked to, and everything she threw across the net was run-down. Game, set and match to Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues, 6-4 6-4. First title under her belt, Medina Garrigues has received her initiation onto the tour, and will certainly be looking for the next. Off to Belgium (where another encounter between the Spaniards looms in the second round), she will take some time off later in the month to return home for birthday celebrations. |