1997 Montreal Open: Chris Gerby On the Scene At The Super Nine Event

Day 1: A Seed Falls and a Doubles Legend Departs

Press Conference Highlights

Normally my goal when covering a tournament is to catch many of the matches people ordinarily wouldn't hear about, particularly those on the outer courts. At the Chase Championships, however, there aren't any outer courts, so I've shifted my focus toward attending every press conference, asking some questions, and providing accurate quotes from the players. We are supplied with transcripts, but I'm sorry to say they tend to deviate quite a bit from what the players (and the reporters) actually said. At any rate, here are the questions I posed and the answers they elicited on Monday night...

Q: You certainly didn't come as close this time as you did in Australia. Was she (Mary Pierce) that much better or were you that much worse? Sabine Appelmans: Well, I think the big difference today was her serve. She was serving very well from the beginning and that's what was the big difference I think in this match. I felt like I had no chance of breaking her serve. Only one time I got close, 40-15. I knew I had to win my serve to stay in the match every time so I think that's what the big difference was. And she was hitting the balls so hard from the back of the court. I thought she was playing pretty well. Q: Are you looking forward to having some time off now? Appelmans: Oh, yes I am. It has been a very long season and year. It has been a long last few weeks also with all the pressure of not knowing whether I was gonna play here or not. So, yeah, I'm going to take time off and then practice again for next season. In one way I'm happy to take the time off, but on the other hand, I'm already eager to start practicing. I played good matches this year and it's motivating for me that I'm still improving.

Here are some of the other highlights. The press conference of the day was obviously the long one involving Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva, who kind of came off like a divorced couple. You could still catch glimpses of the giddy friendship they used to have, but it seems like a lot of bitterness has seeped in. Of the two, Fernandez appeared to be in the much better mood. She seems genuinely happy with her decision to retire.

Mary Pierce on the male players she enjoys watching -- "I enjoy watching Sampras, Rafter, Philippoussis. They have aggressive games, kind of similar to mine. I liked watching McEnroe and Connors -- they were also fun to watch. Lendl, Wilander, um, Becker...just a lot of guys, yeah."

Amanda Coetzer on a disappointing end to a great year -- "Yeah, it's disappointing. I think I got a little overexcited when I had a good indoor season and really felt like this could be one of the times I could come into the tournament feeling pretty good and do well here. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way and it's definitely disappointing, but I think it's not gonna take anything away from how I look at the whole year."

G Fernandez/Zvereva vs. Neiland/Sukova

1997 could be considered The Year of the Youngster in women's tennis, with terrific teens like Hingis, Williams, Kournikova, and Lucic grabbing their share of headlines. However, the '97 Chase Championships were christened by a quartet of relative old-timers. 33-year-old Gigi Fernandez and 26-year-old Natasha Zvereva (a ten-year veteran of the tour) came in search of their third Madison Square Garden title. Facing them in this first round encounter were 30-year-old Larisa Neiland and 31-year-old Helena Sukova, themselves longtime doubles stars.

Although seeded #1, Fernandez and Zvereva were hardly prohibitive favorites. Gigi had been out since September, resting an admittedly weary body in anticipation of her final WTA Tour event. Although lacking in match toughness, Fernandez at least had a sentimental crowd on her side. The Garden was rather sparsely populated early on -- as it always is for the night's first match -- but most of those in attendance were squarely in support of Zvereva and Fernandez, whose six-year dominance of the women's doubles scene was matched only by the Martina Navratilova/Pam Shriver dynasty.

Decked out in matching blue adidas attire, Gigi and Natasha appeared primed to recapture past glory one more time. Fernandez held her serve in the match's opening game, wrapping it up with a pair of winning volleys. Neiland answered with an easy hold of her own, as did Zvereva and Sukova, quickly knotting the match at 2-2. Fernandez crumbled in Game 5, her volley errors the key to a love break. However, Neiland played a loose service game to hand the break right back and even matters at 3 all.

After that hiccup, successful serving was once again the order of the day. Both teams were finishing off their service points quickly, not allowing the returners to initiate long rallies. The score rapidly got to 5-5, as Zvereva stepped in to serve. After holding at love and 15 in her first two service games, the Belarussian played miserably in Game 11. An ugly double fault brought the score to 0-40 and a low backhand volley into the net by Zvereva completed the break for 6-5. Sukova and Neiland wasted no time jumping in for the kill, Helena holding at love to complete a 7-5 opening set. After a brisk 33 minutes, Gigi Fernandez was potentially just one set away from the end of her professional career.

Another series of easy holds left Fernandez/Zvereva up 2-1 in the 2nd. Sukova appeared to be cruising up 30-0 in Game 4, but Gigi turned the tables with a pair of nifty return winners. At 30-40, Sukova double faulted away the game. An awkward but effective backhand volley by Zvereva clinched the following game, a Fernandez hold for 4-1.

A few more holds later, the top seeds were up 5-3. They got in trouble in the set's ninth game, however, with Gigi struggling to serve out the set. A winning backhand return down the line by Neiland set up double break point. The break looked like a virtual certainty on the next point, as a lob sailed over the heads of "The Dynamic Duo". However, Gigi ran it down and -- her back turned to the net -- somehow flipped the ball back. Fernandez then made a second incredible get to once again keep the point alive and Zvereva amazingly won it with a desperation backhand winner. Gigi later called her running "flick shot" a "momentum changer." As far as the second set was concerned, it certainly was. Fernandez fought off the second break point with an ace and eventually held to even the match at one set apiece.

Everything seemed to be going the way of the crowd favorites as a lucky Zvereva net cord handcuffed Sukova to complete a quick break of Neiland. That 1-0 lead in the final set rapidly became 3-1 and Larisa had to fight off two more break points just to get to 3-2. Fernandez and Sukova holds made it 4-3. Natasha once again served her way into a hole, however. She hit a winning smash to get from 15-40 to 30-40, but Neiland won the next point with a forehand pass Zvereva barely got a racquet on. The break advantage now gone, Fernandez/Zvereva found themselves tied with Neiland/Sukova at 4-4 in the final set.

A nice forehand volley winner by Fernandez keyed a run from 40-15 to Deuce against Neiland, but the Latvian went on to hold for 5-4 when Zvereva buried a forehand in the net and dropped her racquet in disgust. The continuation of her career on the line, Gigi Fernandez served to keep the match alive. She missed a backhand volley for 0-30 and another for 15-40, grimacing and grabbing her shoulder as she faced double match point. Zvereva punched home a winning volley to stave off the first match point. The comeback would end there, however. Down 30-40, Fernandez missed a fairly routine forehand volley. On that unfortunate note, the San Juan, Puerto Rico native's long, successful career came to an end. Having been slightly more adept at keeping the ball in play on the big points, Helena Sukova and Larisa Neiland escaped with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win.

"I didn't want it to end that gross," Fernandez said of the ugly game which ended the match. She expressed no regrets about her decision to retire, though, and leaves the sport genuinely content with what she was able to accomplish. "If somebody told me when I was growing up that I'd have a 15-year career and that I was going to win seventeen Grand Slams and two Olympic gold medals, I would have laughed. There's been so many highlights in my career. I've had great opportunities to travel the world and see things that people never get a chance to see, and I've made a lot of friends. And the titles, I don't consider that really important. You know, I had a successful career, and that's great. But I think the opportunities that tennis gave me are what I will remember."

Mary Pierce vs. Sabine Appelmans

The Fernandez/Zvereva press conference went so long that this first round match was a set and a half old when I finally got a look at it. The last meeting between forehand thumping fashion plate Mary Pierce and scrappy Belgian Sabine Appelmans was a classic war at the '97 Australian Open, Pierce rallying to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. Monday night's match wasn't shaping up to be nearly as dramatic. Pierce was up a set and a break when I arrived, leading by a 6-3, 3-2 count.

Pierce was looking dominant on her serve. After a nice drop volley by Appelmans made the score 0-15, Mary stormed back with four straight points to hold for 4-2. Sabine replied with a hold for 4-3, but a love hold put Pierce up 5-3. The "Big Babe" had dropped only four points on serve in the entire set and was now a game away from victory. Never one to go down without a fight, Appelmans rallied from a 15-30 deficit to hold for 5-4.

Forced to serve it out, Pierce was unfazed. Showing no signs of the viral infection which has dogged her this fall, she just kept on smacking big first serves. At 40-0, one final Pierce serve nearly eluded Appelmans, who could only manage a lunging backhand return which sailed wide of the sideline. The #7 seed had come through in a rather surprisingly handy 65 minutes -- 6-3, 6-4.

Amanda Coetzer vs. Nathalie Tauziat

1997 was, without a doubt, a breakthrough year for Amanda Coetzer. "The Little Assassin" had managed multiple wins over Steffi Graf and a stunning upset of Martina Hingis on her way to a career high ranking of #3 in the world. She had never fared well at Madison Square Garden, though, compiling a 1-3 record on the blue carpet. Therefore, French veteran Nathalie Tauziat -- usually at her best on a fast surface -- had at least a fighting chance.

I returned from the Pierce and Appelmans press interviews to find Tauziat already out to a 3-0 lead. After Coetzer got on the board, Tauziat whacked a timely ace to complete a hold for 4-1. Fairly uneventful holds followed to 5-3, Tauziat's net-charging style holding up well against the all-court scrambling of Coetzer. With surprising ease, Nathalie held at love to finish a 6-3 opening set. To this point, she had an eye-popping 16 to 4 edge in winners.

Although clearly on the ropes, Coetzer responded with a strong start in the 2nd set. She held at love and aggressively knocked off a half-volley winner to score a break for 2-0. The South African took a 40-0 lead in Game 3, but Tauziat fought all the way back, winning five straight points (the last two on Coetzer errors) for a break for her own. A series of holds followed, Tauziat continuing to rush the net and Coetzer continuing to run down everything in sight, evening the set at 3 games apiece.

With her #3 seed and impressive '97 record, Amanda seemed like a good bet to take her game up a notch here at the midway point of the second set. Surprisingly, the opposite occurred. Coetzer was broken at 15, losing the game on a lame backhand error. Smelling blood, Tauziat rocketed home her 6th ace of the match on her way to a love hold for 5-3. The momentum all hers, Tauziat ripped two straight backhand volley winners for a 15-40 edge. Double match point in hand, Tauziat used a drop shot to pull Coetzer into the net, then punched yet another volley winner past her.

Tauziat let out a victorious yell and pointed to her coach (Philippe Duxin) and doubles partner (Alexandra Fusai). The 30-year-old veteran had claimed yet another impressive scalp in her 1997 renaissance. Coetzer, used to doing the scalping herself, found the shoe on the other foot this time, but the 6-3, 6-3 loss did little to detract from her successful season.

Irina Spirlea vs. Sandrine Testud

Monday's late night match featured two of the year's most improved players. Spirlea had finally achieved a Grand Slam breakthrough, toppling Kournikova, Coetzer, and Seles on her way to the U.S. Open semifinals. Testud, meanwhile, had seen her ranking climb from #39 to #13, a slimmer figure and off-court happiness having turned her from an erratic slugger to a noteworthy contender.

By the time Coetzer and Tauziat were done with their press conferences, Spirlea had taken a 6-3 opening set and most of the fans had gone home. Those who stayed were an appreciative bunch, delivering rounds of rhythmic applause after many of the changeovers. As in the doubles match some five hours earlier, serves were dominating. Testud boomed in service winners to end holds for 2-1 and 3-2; Spirlea rifled home aces to complete holds for 2-2 and 3-3. Neither player getting within sniffing distance of a break point, Testud and Spirlea battled to 4 all.

The Frenchwoman was the first to blink in this second set service battle, falling behind 0-30 and 30-40 in Game 9. A service winner fought off the break point, though, and she went ahead to a 5-4 lead. Spirlea countered with a love hold for 5-5; Testud added another hold to go up 6-5. A second set tiebreak seemed inevitable, but Irina suddenly fell apart. A double fault made it 0-15, a poorly struck drop shot ushered in 0-30, and a forehand found nothing but net for 0-40. Testud seized the opportunity, catching the baseline with a shot Spirlea was barely able to return. Just like that, the match was headed to a third set.

Perhaps a bit overexcited, Testud opened the set with three loose points. Spirlea squandered all three break points, though, and mumbled to herself as Sandrine took the game and a 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 lead. Spirlea won the next game on a service winner, although Testud thought it might have been wide -- she stood with her hands on her hips and made a face. Back into the familiar pattern, Testud held at 30 for a 2-1 lead and Spirlea held at love for 2-2.

Another hold put Testud up 3-2 and she once again found fault with a service non-call on the next point. After a Spirlea serve was deemed an ace, Testud made a prayer gesture and walked over to the chair to express her disapproval. The Romanian calmly continued her service hegemony, though, taking the game at love. Not to be outdone, Testud blasted back-to-back aces for a 30-0 edge and held at love for a 4-3 lead. Still untouchable on her own serve, Spirlea was perfect in Game 8, winning it with a delicate backhand winner near the net.

4-4 in the third definitely qualifies as crunch time...and Testud got crunched in the ninth game of the final set. She missed a forehand volley for 0-30 and lost the following point when her backhand was called long on an overrule by the chair umpire. Testud fended off the first break point with a smash, but Spirlea won the next by putting away a high volley.

Having only dropped one point on serve in the entire set, Spirlea was in the groove. Two straight service winners gave her a 40-0 edge, good for triple match point. Testud finally got a rally going on the next point, but she couldn't convert. A Testud forehand went wide and handed Irina Spirlea a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 verdict and a spot in the quarterfinals. Nonetheless, it had been a game effort from Sandrine Testud. As it turns out, she was battling a foot injury which had her limping badly enough that those of us still waiting to interview her at nearly 1 o'clock in the morning were brought into the locker room to do so.