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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. |