My last night at the Chase wasn't exactly prolific in the press conference department. I only asked one question and got a three-word answer...Q: You and Lindsay (Davenport) were close friends; then there was some tension. Where do things stand now?
Here are a few highlights from questions other reporters asked...Nicole Arendt on what it means to play at this tournament -- "To play Madison Square Garden, for someone like me being from this area, is just a dream come true. I've been -- as a kid I've gone to basketball games and I've seen the tennis. When it was the Virginia Slims Championships, I came and watched. And for me to step out on the court and be playing here at Madison Square Garden, it's the highlight. People from Europe don't realize how big Madison Square Garden is to people that live around here. And to be able to play out there is fantastic."
At the end of a year in which they won four titles and reached the Wimbledon final, Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf have established themselves as one of the finest teams in women's doubles. However, low expectations were in order for their Chase Championships run, since Arendt was just back from a long layoff with a bum shoulder and Bollegraf was coming off crutches with an injured calf. For the Spanish team of Conchita Martinez and Patricia Tarabini, a spot in the semifinals loomed as a legitimate possibility. Looking on from the players box and perhaps hoping they'd gotten the opportunity themselves were Naoko Kijimuta and Nana Miyagi, who finished the season ranked #9 and were therefore the alternate doubles team. Despite the rash of year-end aches and pains, however, they were never called on.
Martinez rallied from a 0-40 deficit to hold serve in the match's opening game. Bollegraf also dimissed a break point on her way to 1-1. The first break of serve came against Tarabini, when she missed a backhand volley. Trailing 2-1, Tarabini took an injury timeout for a problem with a finger on her right hand. She proceeded to blow a break chance against Arendt, missing a smash at 15-40. Arendt came back to hold and give her team a 3-1 lead.
Another Martinez hold made it 3-2. Bollegraf matched that in a game which ended when Arendt punched a volley into the courtside press area. One of only two or three reporters there at the time, I retrieved the ball and tossed it to one of the ball boys. Tarabini was next broken for the second time, Bollegraf winning the game with a backhand pass. Leading 5-2, Arendt successful served out the set, although she was pushed to deuce. After 32 minutes, the walking wounded #4 seeds had a 6-2 first set in hand.
With a few flag-waving fans seated behind their chairs, Martinez and Tarabini refused to give up. Martinez held at love to take a 1-0 lead in the second. Bollegraf held for 1-1, despite having two serves called faults by overrule-happy chair umpire Donna Butler. Tarabini fought back from 30-40 to score her first hold of the night, she and Arendt both scrambling all over the court on the game's final point. Arendt also had to ward off a break point en route to 2 all.
The only player winning her service games convincingly at this point was Conchita, who smacked an ace as part of a love hold for 3-2. The first point after the changeover was a fun one, as Tarabini nearly crashed into a lineswoman while chasing a ball, then gave her a hug. Bollegraf and Tarabini exchanged easy holds to leave the Spaniards up 4-3 in the second. The play was really becoming spirited and high quality. Arendt and Bollegraf each made some incredible gets in the set's eighth game, a hold for 4-4.
One of the great rallies even continued after it was over. Early in Game 9, Tarabini chased a ball which fell just long of the baseline. She went ahead and hit a "Sabatweenie" (back turned, through the legs shot) anyway. Bollegraf saw the ball coming her way and headed it right back over the net like a soccer player. After Martinez held to make it 5-4, Bollegraf got a visit from trainer Kathleen Stroia. Stroia massaged her left thigh, which was cramping up because Manon was overcompensating for her injured right leg.
The entertainment value continued to escalate as the 10th game opened. Arendt made another great run for a ball, which Tarabini returned for a winner by hitting what I guess you could call a "Statue of Liberty" volley, standing perfectly still and letting the ball lightly bounce off her racquet and trickle over the net. Arendt jokingly picked it up and threw it back at her. Tarabini ended up falling down a couple points later, trying to make a quick change of direction late in a pinball-style rally. The Spaniards got a 30-40 lead, but a good serve and a pair of smashes got Arendt/Bollegraf to 5-5. Tarabini and Arendt then held with authority to force a second set tiebreak.
While the games and points had largely been close all along, the tiebreak was a blowout. After one winner each from Nic and Bolly and one error each from Conchi and Pato, it was 4-0 in favor of Arendt/Bollegraf. Bollegraf missed a return for 4-1, but she and her American partner each hit winning smashes to go up 6-1 and earn a wealth of match points. Bollegraf then hit a delicate forehand out of Martinez's reach to finish off the 7-1 tiebreak victory. Having gone a perfect 5-for-5 when facing break points, Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf advanced to the semifinals with a well played 6-2, 7-6 win.
A very impressive summer and fall carried Lindsay Davenport to #2 in the world rankings and made her a pretty overwhelming favorite in this first round match. Across the net was friend-turned-enemy-turned-friend Mary Joe Fernandez, fresh off some shaky indoor results. If Fernandez could suffer a 6-2, 6-1 loss at the hands of relatively light-hitting Sabine Appelmans, there was no telling what damage a red hot Davenport could inflict.
Indeed, the first set was all Davenport. She smacked winners off both wings to clinch a quick service break in the match's opening game. Even when Mary Joe got close -- as in the 6-deuce fourth game -- Lindsay found a way to slam the door shut. Keeping her opponent at bay with big serves and punishing groundstrokes, Davenport stormed out to a 5-1 lead and took the set 6-2 with an impressive love hold. Davenport kept pouring it on early in the second, breaking easily for 1-0 and holding for 2-0.
In the third game, Fernandez took a nasty spill. In what seemed an appropriate metaphor for the match, she came charging into the net, tripped, and crashed to the carpet, scraping an elbow. The injury didn't effect her strokes, though. In fact, the fall seemed to act as a wake-up call. Davenport was continuing to hold serve without much difficulty, but Fernandez was hanging in with holds of her own. After Davenport missed a backhand at 4-3, 15-30, Fernandez suddenly had a chance to get right back in the match. She took it, ripping a backhand winner to tie the set at 4.
Fernandez next fought off a break point in a game full of long rallies, getting a nose in front at 5-4. Davenport still seemed safely on her way to no worse than a tiebreak at 30 all, but Fernandez rose to the occasion by delivering a pair of spectacular service return winners to break Davenport and snare a surprising 6-4 set. Whether they were biased in favor of the older underdog or just eager to see a third set, the fans greeted the Fernandez comeback with the most enthusiasm they'd displayed thus far in the tournament.
The momentum quickly shifted back into the Davenport corner as she broke and held for a 2-0 third set lead. Fernandez scored a love hold, but Davenport replied with back-to-back aces on the path to 3-1. The 6-foot-2 powerhouse squandered one break point in Game 5, but earned a second and won it when a desperate lob fell for a clean winner. Down two breaks, Fernandez seemed to be on the verge of a vacation. However, Davenport double faulted her way into a break point, then lost the sixth game with a backhand error. Lindsay shook her head sadly, having given Fernandez some new life at 4-2.
Fernandez blasted a rare ace in Game 7, a two-deuce affair the 26-year-old took with a winning forehand. Suddenly in a real dogfight, Davenport netted a backhand to trail 15-40. An ace got her to 30-40 and a Fernandez error made it deuce. Davenport threw in another double fault, though, and Fernandez capitalized. Another picture perfect return winner gave Mary Joe a second straight break and knotted the increasingly dramatic set at 4-4.
Unable to out-slug her bigger opponent, Fernandez was forced to shoot for the lines...and she was succeeding with growing frequency. A psyched-up crowd cheered every big winner as Fernandez built a 40-15 lead in Game 9. Davenport fought off three game points, though, and used deep groundstrokes to get the advantage. On break point, there was no call on a Davenport shot which might have inched past the baseline. Mary Joe's forehand reply sailed long and the #2 seed had a 5-4 lead.
With Davenport serving for the win, Fernandez somehow came up with another return winner for 15-15. Davenport answered with an ace, but missed a lunging forehand to make it 30-30. Lindsay than hammered home a 101 mile per hour ace to go up 40-30 and procure her first match point. Fernandez caught the baseline with a forehand, however, with Davenport nodding "yes" as it zipped past her. Fernandez missed a forehand at deuce, Davenport this time clenching a fist in anticipation of her second match point. She missed a backhand, though, bringing the game back to deuce. Fernandez then smoked a cross-court winner for the ad. Facing a break point, Davenport briefly stopped in the middle of the next rally, saying "wait" after she thought a Fernandez shot had gone long. Play continued, though, and Mary Joe ripped a winner past her. It wasn't the ideal way to break back for 5 all, but it counted.
Davenport thought another call went against her in the next game, but it was of little import as Fernandez held at 15 for a 6-5 edge. Perhaps getting a little tired, Davenport struggled in Game 12. A forced error took her to 30-40, giving Fernandez her first look at a match point. Fernandez missed a running forehand, though, keeping Davenport's chances alive. The '96 gold medalist took full advantage, thumping a pair of service winners to hold for 6-6 and force a winner-takes-all third set tiebreak. Madison Square Garden was not completely packed by any means, but everyone there was on the edge of his or her seat.
Davenport lost a long rally on a wide forehand and Fernandez hit a winning stop volley, to take an early mini-break lead of 2-0. Davenport hit her sixth ace of the night for 2-1. Mary Joe fell to 2-2 with an error, but drilled two forehand winners to switch sides with a 4-2 lead. Davenport got to 4-3 with a strong serve, but yet another cross-court winner off the Fernandez forehand made it 5-3. Davenport then sent a backhand wide to trail 6-3 and face triple match point. She daringly employed a drop shot on the next point, drawing Fernandez in and passing her with a confident volley. After Mary Joe missed a forehand long, the lead was just 6-5.
Fernandez had match point #4 on her racuqet, but Lindsay wasn't done yet. She clobbered a Fernandez second serve for a return winner into the corner. Just like that, it was 6 all and time to switch sides again, more crowd noise accompanying the move. When Fernandez found the net with a forehand, it looked like her ninth life may have been up. Davenport now had match point (her third) and the ball. Her forehand failed her again, though, an error making the score 7-7. Then Fernandez painted yet another line, scoring a backhand winner for 8-7. The match both players steadfastly refused to concede finally came to an end when Davenport's backhand return on the tiebreak's 16th point went long.
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After a wild, turbulent, frequently thrilling 2 hours and 18 minutes, Mary Joe Fernandez came away with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) upset win. Lindsay Davenport had not disgraced herself in defeat -- she'd fought off four match points, shrugged off some questionable line calls, and accepted the loss graciously. Nonetheless, the woman of the hour was Fernandez, who prevailed in what will likely be remembered as one of the best matches in WTA Tour Championships history. |
