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by Christopher Gerby The New York Buzz rode a four-match winning streak into their Tuesday night showdown with the Philadelphia Freedoms. (Yes, I believe that's the only professional sports team to share its name with an Elton John song.) What the Freedoms may lack in marquee value, there are a pair of intriguing stories on the roster. Corina Morariu is in the second week of her comeback from a life-threatening bout with leukemia and Todd Reid is fresh off his run to the juniors title at Wimbledon. With Team Tennis veterans Jonathan Stark and Jessica Steck adding their big serves to the equation, this would not necessarily be a piece of cake for the Buzz. First set: mixed doubles -- Bhupathi/De Villiers vs. Morariu/Stark Team unity doesn't seem to be a problem for Coach Mike DePalmer, Jr.'s Philadelphia squad. Morariu and Stark took the court with their arms around each other in a mini-bearhug. It didn't take long for Corina to look like her old self, ripping a lovely one-handed backhand return for a winner midway through Game 1. Nannie de Villiers held serve, though, and the Buzz took a 15-40 lead against Stark when Mahesh Bhupathi guided a highlight reel winner around the net post. Some clutch first serves saved the Freedoms here and again two games later, when Morariu escaped a 0-40 deficit. Still on serve at 2-3, 30-30, Stark netted a fairly routine volley. This time New York took advantage of the break opportunity, as Bhuphati drilled a forehand between his opponents for a clean winner. Avoiding the double fault yips which occasionally plague her in crucial games, De Villiers served out the 5-2 set at love. Clearly not the start Philadelphia was looking for, but Morariu was able to manage a smile as she returned to her chair. OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 5, PHILADELPHIA 2 Second set: women's singles -- Liezel Huber vs. Corina Morariu On Monday evening, Morariu played competitive singles for the first time in 14 months and did shockingly well, recording a 5-0 shutout over former world # 3 Amanda Coetzer. The next South African in her sights was Lizel Huber, who opened this set with the bad omen of a double fault. Moving well and getting great depth on her forehands, Morariu sprinted to a 2-0 lead. Huber held serve for 1-2, but was saying "great shot" three points later when Morariu whipped an inside-out backhand winner. A lucky ace off the net cord won Game 4 for Corina, who followed up with some outstanding returns in a break for 4-1. Lizel kept scrambling and had a 30-40 chance in the following game, but blew it with a mis-hit backhand. A long rally on set point culminated in another backhand error by Huber. After her very serious health scare last summer, Morariu never would have predicted winning 10 of the first 11 games in her return to singles. "I didn't think about it. I just went out there and hit the ball. And I wasn't nervous. This is a bonus time for me to be out here. I've had a tough year and I could be in a lot worse places than I am right now. That's all that matters." OVERALL SCORE: PHILADELPHIA 7, NEW YORK 6 Third set: women's doubles -- De Villiers/Huber vs. Morariu/Steck The parade of South Africans continues in Schenectady. The nation was well represented in this set by De Villiers, Huber, and Jessica Steck (who bears a slight resemblance to Robin Tunney, your intrepid reporter's favorite actress). After De Villiers dropped serve to open the set, Steck overcame a pair of double faults to hold for 2-0. The Buzz came storming back, though, winning Huber's service game easily and tying the set at 2 games apiece when De Villiers smoked a return on break point. New York tied the overall score at 9 when Huber punctuated an overhead smash with a confident fist pump. De Villiers celebrated with a raised fist of her own after Morariu pushed a volley long to complete a break of Steck's serve. Fully recovered from her rough outing in singles, Liezel Huber launched an ace and a service winner in Game 7, which won the set for New York and sent them into halftime with the lead. OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 11, PHILADELPHIA 9 Fourth set: men's singles -- Justin Bower vs. Jonathan Stark A rather clumsy and curious announcement over the PA system before Set Four informed the crowd that Justin Bower is now known as "the Slam Man". What this means or how it came to pass remains a mystery, but the fans played right along, shouting "SLAM TIME" in unison whenever the announcer asked "what time is it?" (We here at On The Line remain partial to the "Bower power" cheer, but to each his own.) In a mildly surprising move, Coach DePalmer sent Jonathan Stark out to play singles instead of young Todd Reid. (Perhaps this is because Reid cost the Freedoms dearly on Monday night, losing to unheralded Dusan Vemic in the fifth set as St. Louis defeated them by a one-game margin.) 31-year-old "Starky" has completely fallen out of the ATP singles rankings, but he can still bring some heat with his serve. As a matter of fact, 17 of the set's first 18 points went with serve as Bower and Stark launched one rocket after another. Bower had a mouth-watering opportunity at 40-40 in Game 5, but his desperate backhand on the dead run landed just wide to give Stark a 3-2 lead. With fans waving American flags (apparently unaware that Stark, not Bower, is from the States) and a clip of Adam Sandler intoning "you can dooo eeet!" over the sound system, Bower battled to 3-3. Stark held serve yet again, though, and earned a set point at 30-40 in Game 8. Bower delivered a clutch ace and got an encouraging shout of "here you go, JB!" from Mahesh Bhupathi as he dug in for the winner-take-all 40-40 point. Stark made his way to the net in the ensuing rally, but Bower handcuffed him with a super forehand pass. Hopping around and pumping his fist like Jimmy Connors, Justin advanced to a tiebreak...
OVERALL SCORE: NEW YORK 15, PHILADELPHIA 14 Fifth set: men's doubles -- Bhupathi/Bower vs. Reid/Stark All the excitement was apparently too much for the 18-year-old bladder of Todd Reid, who sprinted off the court (presumably for a "comfort break") following his warmup for the fifth and final set. Bower and Stark picked up right where they left off in singles, holding their opening service games at love. Jonathan got his adrenaline going again with another down-the-line forehand winner to force a decisive 40-all point on Bhupathi's serve. Reid put in a very good return, forcing an error at the net by the Indian. All of a sudden the Freedoms were up a break and dead even in the total match score. An iffy line call went Philadelphia's way in the middle of Game 4, but they weren't so fortunate a couple points later. Candy Pantano made a very late, very questionable overrule to extend a game Reid and Stark thought they'd already won. Justin Bower indicated that it was a correct ruling, but the Freedoms were livid. All four players poured their hearts into the next point, which at 40-40 would surely swing the momentum one way or the other. A series of thrusts and parries finally ended when Bower caught the baseline with a sizzling backhand, evening the set at 2-2. With Stark still visibly angry about the overrule, all four players won lopsided service games to force the set into a tiebreak. A win would clinch the match for the Buzz; a win for the Freedoms would necessitate a match-deciding supertiebreaker. On serve at 2 points to 1, Bhupathi lofted a picture perfect topspin lob which fell in for a key mini-break. The Australian teenager on the other side of the net had been reading (Reiding?) Mahesh's serve well throughout the set, though, and he hit a winning cross-court return for 2-3. Momentum shifted right back to the Buzz, who reached match point when Stark dumped a volley into the net. Stark's grimace over that miscue was replaced by a smile when he flicked a brilliant drop volley for 3-4. Staying calm under pressure, Reid smacked an unreturnable serve for 4-4. Having already saved two match points, Reid would also have the set's final serve. He put it in the box, but Bhupathi stepped into a big backhand return. Jonathan Stark got a racquet on it, but his volley landed short of the net. By the hairs of their chinny chin chins, Bhupathi and Bower won the tiebreak and set 5-4. FINAL SCORE: NEW YORK 20, PHILADELPHIA 18 It was the second heartbreaking loss in as many nights for the Philadelphia Freedoms, but Corina Morariu knows how insignificant on-court setbacks are in the big picture. "I have that point of reference to look back and see where I was last year. Things pale in comparison to that," she said of her cancer recovery. "I don't think you can go through that situation and not have a different perspective or not feel like you've changed as a person. As tough as it was, it made me a stronger person. I definitely view things differently now... I'm having a really good time out there playing, getting better with every match. I'm happy, most importantly, and healthy." Even after another convincing win in singles, Morariu isn't quite sure how to judge the state of her game. "It's so hard to tell and every day's a different day. Every week's a new week, especially in this game... I feel like my fitness is getting there. Some body parts are sore here and there, but that's probably to be expected after 14 months." Corina must continue taking oral chemotherapy and get monthly checkups, but for all intents and purposes she now has a clean bill of health. Following her Team Tennis stint, Morariu will be playing doubles with Kim Po-Messerli in San Diego and Montreal. Her official singles comeback will start no later than the US Open. "They gave me a special ranking and hopefully I can get some wild cards too over the summer to help me out." Also turning a hopeful eye toward Flushing Meadows are the New York Buzz, who sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with a stellar 5-1 record. Lindsay Davenport has tentatively agreed to rejoin the Buzz if they advance to the championship match (held August 24th at the US Open site), so the first title in the Schenectady franchise's history has become a tantalizing possibility. They're less than halfway through the regular season, though, and must avoid a letdown against the Delaware Smash on Wednesday night. |