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by Christopher Gerby Golf's PGA Championship at Hazeltine wasn't the only sporting event of the weekend to be racked by heavy winds. Gusts of up to 40 kilometer per hour played havoc with your intrepid reporter's hair on Sunday afternoon and made life difficult for the Rogers AT&T Cup finalists. Jennifer Capriati, not generally known for her patience, would be in for a battle against the breeze and big-hitting opponent Amelie Mauresmo. (2) Jennifer Capriati vs. (7) Amelie Mauresmo Singles: Final Centre Court It's been revenge week for Jennifer Capriati, who'd already avenged recent defeats at the hands of Ai Sugiyama and Jelena Dokic. The last player to beat her before that was Amelie Mauresmo, conveniently lined up across the net from Capriati in Sunday's final. The soft-spoken gal from Bornel, France was not about to roll over for her higher seeded opponent, though. After four games, she and Capriati had won the exact same number of points. Capriati then opened up a 15-40 lead on Mauresmo, only to see Amelie pull four consecutive first serves out of her hip pocket. Form held from there, with neither player facing a break point on the path to 4-4. Mauresmo opened Game 9 with an ace...at least according to the service linesman. Capriati threw an immediate fit, wildly gesticulating at a mark outside the box as she questioned the official's vision. "Can't you see? Right there!" (Asked about that call afterwards, even Mauresmo admitted "maybe she was right.") An ace on the very next point had Capriati complaining again. Her composure gone, she dropped the game at love and fell behind 30-40 in Game 10. An absolutely stellar rally on the first set point ended with Mauresmo floating a lob wide. She got a second chance, but returned a deep Capriati second serve into the net. A few points later, Capriati saved the set again, forcing an error from Mauresmo. Undaunted, Amelie put away a smash to earn set point # 4. This time Capriati would end up steering a backhand wide. Mauresmo raised a clenched fist and jogged to her chair, first set in hand 6-4. The statistics told a grim tale for Capriati, who'd made 14 unforced errors versus just 5 winners in the windy conditions. Mauresmo was both lucky and good on this afternoon. After saving a break point in the second set's opening game, she got the 1-0 lead with a forehand that clipped the net cord and dribbled over. After pulling ahead 2-1, Mauresmo whipped a forehand to reach 30-40 on the Capriati serve. The ensuing rally saw Mauresmo charge the net and make a fantastic stab volley winner for the break. Feeling unlucky and put-upon, Capriati raised her arms in exasperated triumph when a net cord finally went her way in Game 5. Just a few points later, she'd be making an annoyed shrug after her latest forehand error. An errant backhand return then put her into a 1-4 deficit. Some pro-Capriati members of the generally pro-Mauresmo crowd shouted words of encouragement, but their charge was unable to find the answers. Capriati tried mixing up her play in Game 6, but she wound up botching an approach shot and slicing a backhand into the net. There was no need for Amelie to get nervous now. She thumped an authoritative ace on double match point and thrust her arms into the air, having secured a 6-4, 6-1 upset. "I think you can imagine how much I hate losing," said Capriati, who made her way to the interview room shortly after the trophy ceremony. "I'm very competitve and, you know, if I'm going to lose I want to lose under the right conditions and, you know, have it be good quality or feel like I haven't given it up. That's what bothers me even more." Nothing went right for Jennifer, who'd let the service line calls late in the first set throw off her concentration. "I think I definitely had a reason to be upset because they were pretty clear... When you're trying so hard and then you feel like no matter how much you try, I mean balls like that are just going to be taken away. Sometimes you feel like, why should I even try if it's going to be like that." Amelie Mauresmo's second title of the year was especially sweet, coming as it did in front of the French-speaking Montreal fans. The win was also special for having been so unexpected. Mauresmo admitted "I wasn't coming here with the objective to win the tournament," hoping instead to "just play and have a few matches under my belt" before the US Open. "I think I handled it better than she did," Mauresmo said of Capriati's struggle with the wind. Another key was Mauresmo's outstanding play at the net. "I feel better and better in this area of the game, more comfortable than I used to." Conscious of her past failures during the North American hard court campaign, Mauresmo vows to maintain reasonable expectations for the upcoming Grand Slam event at Flushing Meadows. "I just want to keep it day after day and week after week, so I'm just going to focus on next week's tournament (in New Haven) and try to do well there." (2) Ruano Pascual/Suarez vs. Fujiwara/Sugiyama Doubles: Final Centre Court After dropping a 6-1 opening set against qualifiers Catherine Barclay and Emelie Loit, # 2 seeds Virigina Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez have gone on a tear, charging towards their fourth title of the year. Standing between them and the crystal rackets given to Montreal's champions were Rika Fujiwara and Ai Sugiyama. After rallying from a set and two breaks down against Anna Kournikova and Barbara Schett on Tuesday, Fujiwara/Sugiyama had that "team of destiny" look to them, but they'd be underdogs here. By the time the singles champion's press conference was over, Ruano Pascual/Suarez had taken a 5-4 lead, with Ai Sugiyama next to serve. One set point went by the boards as Suarez netted a volley, but two points later a ball skidded off the baseline and forced a Sugiyama error. First set to the reigning French Open champions, 6-4. Suarez was long with a backhand to surrender the first break of Set Two, falling behind 1-2. With a 40-0 lead in the following game, Fujiwara was a little too cute, netting a drop volley. It looked insignificant at the time, but she and Sugiyama were eventually pushed to three deuces before finally emerging with a 3-1 lead. Two games later, they wouldn't be so lucky. At 3-2, 0-30, Fujiwara misjudged the wind and sent a lob well past the baseline. On triple break point, Suarez spanked a winning forehand return to even the second set at 3 games apiece. Each player added a hold, making the score 5-5. A love Suarez hold put the reigning French Open champions within a game of victory at 6-5. The mountain left for them to climb shrank to just two points when Sugiyama was pushed to deuce in Game 12. However, Rika angled off a nifty forehand volley and Ai followed with a service winner to force the tiebreak...
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