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by Christopher Gerby The long-awaited returns of the elder Martina (absent from Montreal since 1988) and her Swiss namesake (out of action for the past three months) were overshadowed a bit when the tournament lost its # 1 seed. Citing a flare-up of tendinitis in her left knee, Serena Williams pulled out before her second round match against Fabiola Zuluaga. "I was practicing a bit yesterday and I kind of aggravated my knee a bit more, and I think it's wise at this point not to put too much pressure on it," Williams explained to the press. "I just woke up with my knee swollen and I just think at this stage it will be smarter than anything...to recover and get ready for the (US) Open." When asked if she would have tried to play if this was the Open, Serena replied, "I can't really say." For her part, Martina Navratilova sympathized with Williams and supported the decision to withdraw. "She obviously wanted to play -- she's here. If you sort of bag a tournament, then you don't show up. She wants to play. She's not a quitter. Her body is just not cooperating... You don't mess with knees. If they get bad, they get bad. And then you're talking about months instead of weeks." Anyhow, onward to your regularly scheduled match reports, with three Martinas for the price of one. Janette Husarova vs. Martina Sucha Singles: First Round Court 2 Daniela Hantuchova may be primarily responsible for Slovakia's run to the Fed Cup semifinals, but three of her compatriots are also ranked among the world's Top 45. Henrieta Nagyova made her way into the second round yesterday and would be joined there by either Janette Husarova or Martina Sucha, who squared off on Tuesday morning. Husarova's status was a bit up in the air, as a lower back injury had forced her to abandon a match against Jelena Dokic after just four games last week in Los Angeles. (One wonders if the back problems are either a cause or symptom of her distinctive, hunched-over manner of walking around the court.) She also withdrew from doubles the following day. Janette certainly is a workhorse, though -- she took the court as scheduled for her 20th tournament of 2002. Martina Sucha is built very much like Barbara Schett and has a similar game, right down to the low-flying, two-fisted backhand drives. After an early exchange of service breaks, Sucha took a commanding 4-1 lead. On a good day, Husarova is capable of an appealing, loosey-goosey brand of tennis. Alas, she was outgunned and frustrated on Tuesday. The loud grunts coming from Francesca Schiavone next door on Court 3 (where the Italian was practicing with Daja Bedanova) didn't help matters any. After missing her first serve of Game 5, Husarova whacked a ball at the fence dividing the two courts and asked chair umpire Lynn Welch if she could shush Schiavone. A court attendant was dispatched to take care of that matter, but it was too little too late for Husarova in the first set. She dropped it 6-2, committing a pair of foot faults in the set's final game. Sucha quickly attained a 2-0 lead in the second set, but double faulted away Game 3 to get back on serve. Sucha got her game back in order to pull ahead 4-1, taking away whatever fight was left in her opponent. Husarova blatantly tanked Game 6, allowing a couple reachable Sucha returns to sail past her untouched. Janette changed tactics in the following game, choosing to simply hit every ball as hard as she could. That actually worked, resulting in a service break for 5-2. Match point was coming in the near future, though, and Husarova obliged with a forehand error to fall 6-2, 6-2. It was a rather unchallenging 48-minute day at the office for Martina Sucha, who should get a much stiffer test from Jelena Dokic on Wednesday. (6) Martina Hingis vs. Magui Serna Singles: Second Round Centre Court Off the tour since May following surgery to repair torn and damaged ligaments in her left ankle, Martina Hingis made her return to the tour on Tuesday afternoon. She had the good fortune of drawing a qualifier for her first opponent, but with a nasty left-handed serve and unorthodox groundstrokes, Magui Serna is not your average qualifier. Hingis snared an early 2-0 lead, but looked understandably rusty in Game 3, especially when misjudging a Serna lob which floated over her head for a clean winner. The next handful of games went with serve, as Hingis showed flashes of her old form but couldn't make much of a dent in her return games. That finally changed at 5-4, in part because Serna coughed up a pair of untimely double faults. The Spaniard shrugged off a pair of set points, but finally capitulated, netting a forehand to put it in the books 6-4. Gradually finding her groove, Hingis came through with some vintage stuff in the second set. Most notable was the opening point of Game 3: Hingis made a great get of a Serna drop shot, flicking back a perfectly angled, sideline-catching winner. Alas, chair umpire Leanne White called "touch," claiming that Hingis made contact with the net before the ball bounced twice. "I didn't touch the net! Maybe I did, I don't know. I didn't feel it, though," a grinning Martina waffled in her post-match press conference. Hingis played her best return game of the afternoon at 3-2 in the second. She whipped a forehand pass down the line for 30-30, skied for a graceful backhand overhead winner for 30-40, and broke serve on an errant Serna forehand. That was all the edge the Swiss Miss would need. Facing only two break points in the entire match, Hingis cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win in just over an hour. Waving to the fans and playfully helping out some kids in the post-match target serving game, Martina looked very much at home back on a tennis court. "It was not obviously the best tennis I have ever played," Hingis admitted after defeating Serna. "But for the first round I am very happy to go through like that." Hingis reported no problems with her ankle and was pleasantly surprised by how well she was hitting her forehand. While careful not to get too ambitious right away, the 21-year-old believes she could win the rapidly approaching US Open. "Otherwise I wouldn't be playing here and trying to get into match shape." Krizan/Srebotnik vs. Capriati/Navratilova Doubles: First Round Centre Court Yes, the order those names are listed in looks a bit strange, but Tina Krizan and Katarina Srebotnik have much better doubles rankings than their legendary opponents, who needed a wild card into the main draw. Krizan/Srebotnik justified their role of favored team by taking a 6-4, 3-2 lead. A scratchy performance from Jennifer Capriati in the following game (including a couple double faults, a bad volley error, and a break-surrendering backhand over the baseline) put the Slovenians near victory at 4-2. JenCap switched rackets at that point, though, and teamed with Martina Navratilova to immediately break Krizan at love. The 45-year-old was all fired up, pumping her fist twice and engaging Capriati in a vigorous hand slap. Capriati ended a spectacular four-player rally with an overhead smash to open Game 8, in which Navratilova held serve. The following game began with an even more eye-popping exchange: Martina made three athletic reflex volleys in a row, down on bended knee for one of them. She missed the fourth, but got a huge ovation from the capacity crowd nonetheless. Navratilova aggressively poached at 30-all, knocking off a backhand volley to earn a critical break point. A Krizan backhand volley, well left by Navratilova, landed long to give the crowd favorites a 5-4 edge. The Slovenians saved a pair of set points in the next game, but another Krizan error sent the bout into a third set. Capriati and Navratilova carried their momentum deep into the third, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. Krizan and Srebotnik got one of the breaks back and forced the old-timer to serve it out at 5-4. Navratilova got the job done, notching a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory when Srebotnik netted a return on match point. Applauding the fans with their rackets, Jennifer and Martina looked absolutely thrilled to have escaped with a first round victory. "It was just great to be out there with Jennifer," said Navratilova in her press conference. "She kept plugging away and I kept plugging away. We wouldn't let each other get down and give up... So it was sweet. Not just that we won, but how we won." Navratilova was pleased by how readily Capriati took on some unfamiliar doubles techniques during the match. "She's a great athlete. If I told her to do something, she'll do it, and that's nice material to work with. I mean, it's fantastic. She took to my suggestions very well and did it -- not just that she was in the right place, but she had the right shots." Spurred on by watching Capriati clobber service returns, Navratilova said she herself returned as well as she has in a decade. That good form will have to continue if Capriati and Navratilova hope to advance, since they face # 4 seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the next round. Lee/Prakusya vs. Clijsters/Dokic Doubles: First Round Court 2 After striking up a terrific rivalry with some fiercely contested, down-to-the-wire battles in singles, Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic have found immediate success as doubles partners. As wild card entrants into last week's Los Angeles tournament, they dropped only one set en route to winning the title. Another wild card has brought them to Montreal, where the solid tandem of Janet Lee and Wynne Prakusya would be their first round opponents. (Side note: I wound up watching this match seated directly behind Leo Clijsters, the Belgian soccer legend also known as Kim's dad. He seemed quite low-key and positive as tennis parents go, quietly offering occasional words of support to both his daughter and Dokic.) Expecting to see Clijsters and Dokic play the Williams sisters' style of singles tennis on a doubles court, I was pleasantly surprised by their varied arsenal. They mixed in topspin lobs and touch volleys while showing good, forward-moving instincts. The lobs were particularly effective against Prakusya, easily the shortest player on the court. She also has the weakest serve of the four and was broken easily in the match's third game. The Asians broke right back (against Dokic), but Prakusya missed an overhead to end Game 5. Carrying that advantage to 5-3, the wild cards opened up a 0-40 lead thanks to a brilliant Dokic return and two more lobs over Prakusya. The first set point was the only one they'd need -- Lee netted a low forehand volley to end it 6-3. Appearing to have adjusted to the blistering pace of their opponents' groundstrokes, Lee and Prakusya earned an early 2-0 lead in the second set. But after a Dokic hold and a Prakusya double fault on break point, the teams were even at 2 games apiece. On serve at 4-3, Clijsters hit a nifty drop volley to bring up deuce in Prakusya's service game. Two points later, the Indonesian threw in another ill-timed double fault for 5-3. Clijsters served it out from there, completing a solid 6-3, 6-3 victory. Kim and Jelena don't communicate very much on the court, but maybe players with that much talent need not be chatty. It will be interesting to see how they fare on Wednesday against top-seeded veterans Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs. Montalvo/Tatarkova vs. Jeyaseelan/Webb Doubles: First Round Court 1 Once again this year, the main draw has been fruitless for Canadian players. Maureen Drake lost the Centre Court opener on Monday to Silvia Farina Elia in straight sets. Jana Nejedly managed only one game against little-known Sarah Taylor that evening and admitted she can't remember the last time she played well in her nation's showcase tournament. Renata Kolbovic and Marie-Eve Pelletier were also turned away in the first round of doubles, falling in two competitive sets against Els Callens and Roberta Vinci before an enthusiastic Court 1 crowd. Montreal-born Pelletier is something of a cult heroine here, inspiring more fervent dedication than English speakers like Sonya Jeyaseelan and Vanessa Webb. A sparse, quiet crowd watched those two battle vaftig journeywomen Laura Montalvo and Elena Tatarkova on Tuesday evening. Jeyaseelan got things off to a promising start with a wicked return of a Montalvo first serve. Two deuces later, Montalvo eked out a hold. Tatarkova had similar trouble in her initial service game, but finally thumped an ace for 2-1. Then it was Vanessa Webb's turn. The former NCAA champion was abysmal, double faulting at 0-15 and badly shanking a second serve at 0-40. The groan Webb let out after that effort was almost as loud as the cute shrieks Jeyaseelan often emits after missing a shot she feels she should have made. A handful of routine holds brought the score to 5-2, when a lone voice shouted out "go Canadians!" Unfortunately for the home fans, it was Webb's turn to serve again. Her third double fault of the evening made it 0-15. The southpaw issued another horrifying shank three feet past the service box for 15-30 and had a long talk with a visibly concerned Jeyaseelan. They actually battled to game point at 40-30, but yet another Webb double fault blew that chance. Facing set point a couple minutes later, Webb scored double fault # 6 and tossed her racket end-over-end into the sky. First set to Montalvo and Tatarkova, 6-2. Very upbeat looking at the start of the match, Jeyaseelan and Webb grew increasingly downcast in the second set. Already up a break, Montalvo ripped a forehand pass off the racket of a slow-reacting Webb for a 4-0 lead. Laura then easily held for 5-0, putting the entire country within one game of elimination from its own tournament. But leading 40-15, Webb put away an authoritative smash to get on the board. Her celebratory high five was even more powerful, causing Jeyaseelan to (jokingly?) shake the sting out of her hand. The antics continued in Game 7 as Sonya accidentally threw her racket into the air while attempting an overhead. The end came three points later, with Tatarkova deftly placing a volley into the corner to cement a routine 6-2, 6-1 win. Unlike Pelletier, the losing team could not console itself with a rousing post-match ovation or well-wishing autograph seekers. But after missing nearly a full year due to injuries and a vision-threatening illness, Sonya Jeyaseelan must have been happy just to be back playing...albeit with a partner whose serves were landing somewhere in Saskatchewan. |