Saturday's Semis See the Young Guns Misfire
by Christopher Gerby
You never know who will saunter into the press room when the tournament
gets down to its nitty gritty stages. This afternoon I found myself
literally shoulder-to-shoulder with Mary Carillo as she hunted for
interview transcripts and match notes. Carillo's been doing color
commentary for Canadian TV all week -- entertaining as ever in
the bits I've heard. Particularly amusing was her story about being
the only non-French journalist interested in chatting with
Amelie Mauresmo way back at the 1998 US Open. After introducing
herself and asking Amelie if she could speak English, Carillo told
the up-and-comer "You've got a great stinkin' backhand." Amelie would
pick up an even more colorful expression tonight, but let's take
the semifinals in chronological order...
(2) Jennifer Capriati vs. (3) Jelena Dokic
Singles: Semifinal
Centre Court
Somewhat milder conditions -- a pleasant 26 degrees Celsius in the stands, but
still pushing 45 on the court -- greeted the players for Saturday's
early semifinal. The WTA's extreme heat rule was not in effect...and neither
Jennifer Capriati nor Jelena Dokic got off to an extremely hot start
on serve. After three consecutive breaks marked by sloppy play,
Capriati blew through an impressive love hold for 3-1. Dokic found a
bit of a groove in her own right, staying just one break down at 3-4.
Game 8 had the distinct look of a turning point, with Dokic stepping into
some big forehands to reach break point three times. Some questionable
non-calls on the baseline saved Capriati, however, and after five deuces
she finally spanked a backhand winner for 5-3. Jennifer soon found
herself at double set point, leading 5-4, 40-15. The Floridian's
forehand really started to fly on her, though, and three straight
unforced errors suddenly gave Dokic a chance to get even in the set.
Jelena saw her chance and took it, rifling a beautifully placed forehand
return to break for 5-all. An exchange of holds followed to force a
crucial first set tiebreak...
- JD serving: Capriati blocks a defensive backhand into the net -- 1-0 DOKIC
- JC: A sliced changeup from Capriati draws a Dokic forehand error -- 1-1
- JC: A Dokic forehand sails long -- 2-1 CAPRIATI
- JD: Dokic wins a hard-hitting rally on a forced error -- 2-2
- JD: A mini-break goes to Capriati when a Dokic backhand misses -- 3-2 CAPRIATI
- JC: Deep forehand by Capriati draws another Dokic error -- 4-2 CAPRIATI
- JC: Back on serve after Capriati nets a forehand -- 4-3 CAPRIATI
- JD: Dokic catches the baseline with a backhand -- 4-4
- JD: Capriati's cross-court forehand gets ripped down the line by Dokic -- 5-4 DOKIC
- JC: Dokic gags on a mid-court forehand -- 5-5
- JC: Capriati strikes a forehand winner on the run and pumps her fist -- 6-5 CAPRIATI
- JD: A mis-hit forehand by Dokic gives Capriati the set -- 7-5 CAPRIATI
Capriati carried that momentum into the second set. She held for 1-0,
leaned into a nice backhand winner to break for 2-0, and ended a love
service game with a cracking ace for 3-0. No longer playing with much
patience or her trademark intensity, Dokic called for the trainer to
attend to a strained right hamstring. (Jelena had also received some
on-court treatment for that same problem in her doubles matches.) Once
the medical timeout -- and a simultaneous Capriati bathroom break --
was over, Dokic attempted to give it a go. She battled to two deuces,
but looked helpless as Capriati crunched a forehand return to break
for 4-0. That was the end of the line, as Dokic grimly shook hands
with Capriati and retired from the match.
"I was feeling OK at the beginning, but the more I played,
the more I had to run and the worse it got," said Dokic. The
unfortunate ending seemed almost inevitable, given the remarkable amount of tennis she's
been playing on the hard courts this summer. "I think doubles
this week was a mistake," she admitted after the 7-6, 4-0 defeat. "I
don't think it was so much the whole year, how much I've played
the whole year. I think it's the last few weeks that have done this.
It was just since San Diego I have played so many matches and I haven't
had time to recover."
Capriati didn't feel the abrupt way in which the match ended took
anything away from her victory. "I was pretty much on a roll and it
was almost at the end anyway when she retired. So it was very
important to get that first set in, and a very intense first set, so
I mean I think that was the match right there." Gunning for her
first Canadian Open title since 1991, Capriati has done an impressive,
surprising job of varying her game this week. "I think as I get older
and more experienced and, you know, realize that sometimes the way
that these girls play now, it's just hard-hitting shots... I just tried
to figure out or have been working on different ways to change the
pace."
(7) Amelie Mauresmo vs. (8) Daniela Hantuchova
Singles: Semifinal
Centre Court
With some of the tournament's bigger names having fallen by the
wayside, Amelie Mauresmo and Daniela Hantuchova had the spotlight
all to themselves on Saturday evening. It was Mauresmo who responded
well to the pressure early on. Cranking up some huge serves, the
talented Frenchwoman blasted her way to a 5-1 lead. Hantuchova was
struggling mightily, going for too much off the forehand side, missing
half of her first serves, and even badly shanking an easy overhead.
Daniela recovered in time to strike an ace and a delicate half-volley
winner in holding for 2-5, but this set had gotten away from her.
Mauresmo blasted two more aces (although the official scorer only
gave her credit for one) in serving it out 6-2.
While continuing to struggle against Mauresmo's mighty serve, Hantuchova
did get her own game in order during the second set. Playing with
effective aggressiveness and incorporating some of those little fist
pumps we'd seen from her in the previous rounds, Hantuchova was dead
even at 4-4 in the second set as the match hit the one hour mark. But
the Slovakian then squandered a set's worth of good play in one
horrendous service game, broken at love when she netted a backhand
approach.
Mauresmo quickly made her way to double match point, but a sudden
case of nerves virtually paralyzed the 23-year-old. She lost points
every which way (backhand error, double fault, forehand error) to give
Hantuchova the ad. A great scrambling rally followed, with Hantuchova
pushing a half-volley just wide. Mauresmo appeared to be sufficiently
out of her funk now, celebrating with a very exuberant windmill fist
pump. Hantuchova could still smell the service break, though. She
blasted a backhand winner down the line to regain the ad, then drilled
a Mauresmo second serve to break for 5-5.
Hantuchova had "the big mo" now. She held for 6-5 and got a 15-30
window in Mauresmo's next service game. Amelie then attempted a
drop shot, which Hantuchova ran down and sent back for a winner.
Seemingly a split second after she'd held double match point, Mauresmo
was facing double set point. She got some big serves when she
absolutely needed them, however, and then drew a couple backhand errors
from Hantuchova to bring up the tiebreak...
- DH serving: Lovely running cross-court forehand pass by Mauresmo -- 1-0 MAURESMO
- AM: Hantuchova sends a forehand into the net -- 2-0 MAURESMO
- AM: Forehand winner by Hantuchova to get back on serve -- 2-1 MAURESMO
- DH: The youngster buries a backhand in the net -- 3-1 MAURESMO
- DH: Hantuchova slices a backhand wide -- 4-1 MAURESMO
- AM: An aggressive forehand winner by Hantuchova -- 4-2 MAURESMO
- AM: Mauresmo unleashes an unreturnable backhand -- 5-2 MAURESMO
- DH: Mauresmo shows good touch on a winning backhand volley -- 6-2 MAURESMO
- DH: Mauresmo goes for the sideline on match point and just misses -- 6-3 MAURESMO
- AM: Powerful first serve sets up a match-winning forehand -- 7-3 MAURESMO
"At 5-4, I felt tensed," Mauresmo admitted after a seemingly routine
victory had turned dramatic. "I was not able to close the match and
she raised the level of her game." Like the veteran she's becoming,
Mauresmo has done a great job in tiebreaks this week, having also won a
pair in her emotional third round win over Laura Granville. Her final
task this week is a rematch with Jennifer Capriati, whom Mauresmo
clobbered 6-3, 6-2 in a virtually flawless performance at Wimbledon.
Amelie cautions us not to expect a repeat, though. "I won't play the
same as at Wimbledon because it's a totally different surface."
The highlight of Mauresmo's press conference came about after it
was officially over, as a few mischievous local journalists got to
teaching Mauresmo a versatile swear word from Quebec's version of
French. She played along, practicing a phrase which can be roughly
translated as "I f***ing played well." The same could not be
legitimately claimed by baby-faced Daniela Hantuchova, at least
regarding her performance in the first set. Giving all of
the credit to Mauresmo, who "served very good today," Daniela claimed
no problem with nerves in the semifinal. "I felt I had the momentum
when I saved the two match points, but I didn’t manage to close out the
set." Despite her preference for
extremely hot conditions, Hantuchova didn't mind playing her first
evening match of the week. "It was a great atmosphere. The crowd
was great, so I enjoyed it."
(5) Dementieva/Husarova vs. Fujiwara/Sugiyama
Doubles: Semifinal
Centre Court
The winners of this week's wildest doubles matches squared off in the
Saturday night special. Not the biggest stars in professional tennis,
these four players apparently knew to come dressed in distinctive
attire so the fans in the cheap seats could tell them apart. For
the record, it was Rika Fujiwara in a pink ensemble, Ai Sugiyama
in black, Elena Dementieva in her powder blue tennis dress, and Janette
Husarova in a simple white top/black skirt combo. The first set was
over in about half the time I spent writing that fashion summary. Dementieva/Husarova
converted three of four break points, taking the set 6-1 with Elena
blasting winners to end each of the last two games.
Having fought all the way back from 6-1, 3-0 in their first round
match, Fujiwara and Sugiyama knew not to abandon hope. They came
out very strong in the second set, putting away anything near the net
en route to a 4-0 lead. Fujiwara came back to earth in the next
couple games, though, with Sugiyama getting broken and Dementieva
holding to make it 4-2. Now down just one break, Janette Husarova absolutely
sprang to life, dropping winners all over
the court. Lobs, returns, volleys, serves -- everything in the
arsenal was clicking. She struck three winners in a break for 3-4
and three more to hold for 4-all.
Husarova nearly stole another break from the Japanese pair in
Game 9, but would eventually throw her hands up in frustration after
netting an important return. After three deuces, Sugiyama held on
for a 5-4 lead. Momentum regained, Ai and Rika played their way to
double set point on the Dementieva serve. Fujiwara lined up a forehand
down the line, but drove the ball into the high part of the net.
Husraova then clipped Fujiwara's racket with a volley for deuce. But a
winning volley by the ever-dangerous Sugiyama earned set point # 3.
This one was converted when Dementieva shanked a backhand wide to
drop the set 6-4.
On serve at 1-2 in the third set, Husarova's game utterly fell apart.
Usually so comfortable camped out at the net, she missed three volleys
as Dementieva dropped serve to 1-3. Strong returning got the
Russian/Slovakian team to double break point in the very next game, but
now it was 20-year-old Rika Fujiwara's turn to dominate. The last
three points of the game were winning Fujiwara volleys (including a
lunging stab on break point). Sugiyama was like a proud parent,
bounding around and cheering on her partner. A poorly played Husarova
service game put the Japanese pair within one game of another successful
comeback win at 5-1.
Waiting until she was facing match point to pick up the level of her
game again, Husarova ripped a swinging volley at Sugiyama to stave off
elimination. Two points later, Janette dinked in a drop volley which
bounced twice before Fujiwara could get a racket on it. That service
break was followed by an easy Dementieva hold, so we had a real match
on our hands again at 5-3. The stands were more than half empty at
this point, as the match had gone past 10 o'clock, but there was a
fairly loud round of rhythmic applause as Sugiyama prepared to serve
it out.
Up 15-0, Fujiwara put away a roundhouse semi-overhead smash reminiscent
of Jimmy Connors and celebrated with an almost Connors-esque fist
pump. She then netted a sitter for 30-15, but earned double
match point with an angled backhand volley and let out a happy
squeal. There would be no more miracles from Janette Husarova, whose
last forehand sailed well long to complete the 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 battle.
Sugiyama and Fujiwara were visibly ecstatic over the win, smiling
broadly and waving to the crowd with their rackets. Fujiwara was
even hopping up and down with excitement. They'll now get a crack at
# 2 seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez, who have efficiently
carved their way through the bottom half of the draw, winning six
sets in a row. It's the second consecutive appearance in the Montreal
doubles final for Ai Sugiyama, who teamed with Julie Halard-Decugis
in the last match of the 2000 event. Goaded by Halard into speaking
French during the trophy ceremony that year, Sugiyama sheepishly
limited her attempt to "Merci. Au revoir." We'll see if she has
picked up a few more words in the interim...but hopefully not the
one Mauresmo learned tonight.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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