Hingis/Seles vs. Williams/Williams
by Prip
There they were on center court, playing the only match in recent
times to host 4 Grand Slam singles champions, each a legend in her
own right. SportsTAB, a local sport betting organization, had listed
Hingis and Seles as the match favourites, but many had put their
money down on the sisters. About 7,500 people attended the match,
decently filling the 10,000 capacity stadium, the probably the
largest attendance so far in the tournament. Martina showed up in
her "revolutionary" adidas top, with one sleeve short and the other
long, the same one she had worn at her celebrity match earlier in the
day with swimming star Ian Thorpe against track stars Matt
Shirvington and Lauren Hewitt.
The Williamses won the toss, and of course elected to serve. Venus,
with the shakier and perhaps now even weaker serve of the two,
opened the match, and held serve. Martina served first for her team,
and didn't need to blast her serves to be effective. The first
set was thrilling enough, but nothing compared to the rest of the
match. Martina and Monica's serves were both broken once, but they
got the breaks back, once on Serena's serve and twice on Venus's
serve, to go up and take the first set 6-4. The Williamses' first
set percentages were working against them, Venus getting only an
astonishing 27% of her first serves in. Monica was also getting a
number of good returns in, when she could get to the ball, while
Hingis held up her end beautifully.
Even at the beginning of the second set, the crowd had started to
get very vocal. Serena started the set serving, and hardly got a
single first serve in. Nevertheless, she managed to avoid losing
serve, and stepped up her game. Both sisters pounced on Monica's creampuff
serves, and got the break to go up 5-2. Martina herself had faced 2
break points, but managed to come up with great serves both times.
To Monica's credit, she was doing very well on court, except when
it came to serving and volley rallies. For some reason, the Williamses
weren't constantly hitting the ball at Monica when she was at net,
as they had a near 100% success rate when they did. Martina managed
to squeak by with her service game for 3-5, but Serena finally came
up with some beautiful serves when it mattered, evening the match
up at 1 set all.
The third set started evenly enough, this time with Monica serving
ahead. The Williamses couldn't capitalize, with Martina covering
a lot of the net and Monica blasting the ball from the baseline.
They started to hit a good streak, and turned the momentum to their
favour, despite the score being very even. Venus seemingly cannot
get through a doubles match (and very occasionally singles as well) without
her serve breaking down at least once, and she double-faulted twice
on the way to being broken.
Martina and Monica held on to their break for dear life, gaining
confidence as both Williamses started to hit the ball long. At 4-2,
Martina Hingis serving, the crowd was treated to a tremendous rally,
with all four players pushed to their limit and coming up with
incredible shots. The cheer that went up with Martina got the winning
shot was deafening, enough to rival the final match point at a
Wimbledon final. With Monica holding up at the net well, Martina
extended the lead to 5-2, leaving the Williams sisters looking like
they were first time players.
While one could have expected Venus's serve to crumble, she
actually held up well, and picked up her percentage. Serena did a
good job of moving around at the net, keeping her opponents guessing
as to when she would cross. Slowly, the sisters chipped away at the
deficit, breaking Monica's serve yet again on an unforced error from
Seles to bring it back on serve. Martina tried to pick up her game,
becoming more aggressive and active on court. She cracked a huge
return at 15-0 on Serena's serve, and all Serena could do was block
it back high in the air by reflex. Monica wisely got the heck out of
the way, even going so far out as off the court, while Martina
eyed the ball like a tiger eyeing a weak fawn. In a totally
uncharacteristic move, she smacked the overhead right into the net,
standing a few feet away from the net. The next two point were
quick, putting it dead even at 5-all. It looked like the set was
headed into a tie-break, after the huge lead that Hingis and
Seles had held.
The trouble didn't stop there for the new team. It was Monica's turn
to serve again, and not surprisingly, she soon found herself facing 3
break points. Martina suddenly snapped out of her daze, running
around at the net to save 2 break points, but made a critical error
in letting a ball go on the third. Turning around to watch it land a
foot inside the baseline, she screamed, hitting the net with her
racquet on the way to her chair. The worst had happened for her, as
now Venus Williams, with one of the most fearsome serves in women's
tennis, served for the set.
To the crowd's delight, Monica smacked a huge service return winner
on the first point. Martina, going for a little too much, made an
error on the return, bringing it to 15-all. Venus cracked a huge
serve out wide on the next point, but Monica was quick enough to not
only get to it but hit the ball back even harder. Venus, coming in
behind her serve, had not expected the ball to come back that hard,
and barely got her racquet on it. 15-30. Once again, Venus followed
her serve in to net, and hit a half-volley winner down the middle of
the court. Perhaps to get the previous point out of her head, Venus
opted to serve hard out wide again, and this time got the weak block
from Monica for an easy overhead to set up the first match point. In
an unbelievable display of guts, Martina won the next point with a
huge swinging volley, hitting it with as much confidence as only
Hingis can.
The crowd, going wild with excitement, was let down again as Venus
Williams got a volley winner to set up match point #2. The crowd let
their respective favourites know that they were cheered for, but as
Venus got ready to serve, the deafening roar turned into a deafening
silence. The first serve only barely landed out, and had it been
called in, would have been a clean ace. Venus went for another first
serve on the second serve, nearly double-faulting, but the effort
didn't pay off. As quick as lightning, Martina got a reflex return
right at Venus's feet, drawing the error and saving another match
point.
Venus got a quick point with an ace down the middle, catching
Monica flat-footed. Match point #3, and it looked like third time
would be the charm. Martina hit the cross-court return, and suddenly
realized that Monica had moved a little too much to the middle.
Fearing the worst, she watching Venus go for the down-the-line
passing shot, but the ball landed wide. The crowd erupted, not
believing the closeness of the match, and the tension would have
needed a hacksaw, not just a knife, to cut through.
For a change, Venus served into Monica's body, setting up an easy
volley for Serena, and Martina once again had to stare down the gun
barrel. Match point #4 was fought off, and for the first time,
thanks to a sharp-angled return from Monica, Martina held break
point. Perhaps breathing a little too easily this time, she hit the
return right into Venus Williams' hitting zone, and the American got
the easy volley winner. Screaming at the silly move, Martina soon had
reason to put it behind her, as Venus finally let up and served a
double-fault. With Martina's quick reflexes at net and Monica's
power at the baseline, they drew a volley error from Serena, and
took the match into a final set tie-breaker.
Things could simply not get any more thrilling. Monica had the task
of serving first, and despite a very weak and shaky serve from her,
held serve as Serena's return landed way long. Serena went up to
serve next, and continued to serve not just hard, but with good
placement. Getting good spin on the ball, she managed to pull the
ball short and wide, opening up the court and got the passing shot
past Martina. Her second service point went all wrong, though, as
she cracked her serve right into Monica's hitting zone, and Monica
didn't need a second invitation. With a big "Wah-FEE!" she clinched
the crucial break for her team. The glory didn't last long, as
Venus herself got a service return winner off Martina's serve to
put it back even at 2-all.
Perhaps getting caught in the situation of having three power
hitters on court with her, Martina surprisingly got a big serve in
herself, and Monica Seles got the point with a volley winner. From
there, Martina and Monica simply ran away with the match. Serena and
Venus's shots started landing long, and Serena even totally mishit a
high volley, nearly missing it completely. Martina and Monica held
steady, taking the last 5 points in a row to defeat the Williams sisters
6-4-3-6 7-6(2), in what should hold up as the most exciting doubles match of
the tournament.
Venus and Serena, not ones to spoil the day, had smiles and waves for
the crowd as they left, though. They were even their cheerful selves
at the following press conference. Planning to play as much singles
as they feel comfortable with and doubles only at the Grand Slams,
they showed no signs of having just lost such a tight match.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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