REUNITED AND IT FEELS SO GOOD

The Return of the Fernandez/Zvereva Juggernaut

by Chris Gerby

Laurel and Hardy. Tracy and Hepburn. Beavis and Butthead. The great duos simply aren't supposed to break up. After all, they do their best work together. After less than six months apart, Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva got the hint.

For five years, Puerto Rico's fiery Fernandez and "The Belle of Belarus" ruled the world of women's doubles. There were ups and downs along the way, but you can't argue with the numbers: 36 WTA Tour doubles titles as a team, 12 coming at the prestigious Grand Slam tournaments. They were a rarity in the tennis world -- a doubles team with enough success and charisma to draw big crowds, earn media attention, and receive joint endorsement deals. They could hardly have been less alike in their taste in clothes, music, and movies, but the "Glamour and Grunge" pair shared the belief that you could play world class tennis while simultaneously having a great deal of fun. Whether putting on goofy skits at the annual Eastbourne player party or posing in matching adidas sports bras at the US Open, Gigi and Natasha kept the laughs coming just as consistently as the wins.

Like many long-term partnerships, however, this one soured. 1996 was a year of disappointment and hardship for the popular team, as they struggled to get their rhythm back after a rib injury sidelined Zvereva for more than three months. The thrill was gone for a duo which used to thrive on having a good time. By the end of the year they had combined for only one significant title, a second consecutive win at the US Open. A few days after that victory, Natasha called Gigi to let her know she'd rather "have fun with another partner than make a mark in the history books."

The feeling was essentially mutual. Fernandez was quoted as saying, "We weren't having fun playing together anymore. And if you're not having fun, there is no point in continuing. Sure it's a risk to change partners now, but Natasha and I have stuck together a few more years than we should have." The two had little trouble lining up full-time partners for '97 -- Fernandez would team with the equally fiery Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, while Zvereva would join forces with fellow sunglasses afficinado Meredith McGrath.

Unlike the year's other high profile women's doubles splits (Sanchez Vicario/Jana Novotna, Mary Joe Ferandez/Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis/Helena Sukova), this one was mostly amicable. Anyone who saw Fernandez crying on the shoulder of a visibly moved Zvereva following their semifinal loss at the season-ending WTA Tour Championships knew these two still cared about each other and were sorry to see their five-year run come to an end. The partnership may have gotten stale, but the decision to go elsewhere in '97 was nothing personal.

Call it fate or coincidence, but a number of things followed to suggest the breakup was never meant to be. Most significant was McGrath's significant knee injury. Although she initially planned to return to the tour in the spring, the American's rehabilitation has been very slow and she may not be back until '98. Meanwhile, the Fernandez/Sanchez Vicario partnership, which opened strong with a title in Sydney, quickly fizzled. The title drought started at the Australian Open (where they were eliminated by Zvereva and Hingis in a see-saw three set battle) and continued until Sanchez Vicario reportedly dumped Fernandez to play with Hingis for the rest of the season.

Natasha was having success without her old buddy. She won the Australian crown with Hingis, the Lipton championship with Sanchez Vicario, and two titles with Davenport. However, the weekly search for an available partner was too chaotic for even the carefree "Z Woman." With Gigi struggling badly with her own variety of partners, getting back together was the one truly reasonable solution.

Fernandez and Zvereva picked right up where they left off, rolling to the final of the German Open in Berlin (their first event back on the same side of the net). Although they lost that final in three sets to Davenport and Novotna, they'd sent a clear message to the rest of the WTA Tour -- "Glamour and Grunge" were back in style.

If there were any lingering doubts, Gigi and Natasha laid them to rest in the first round of the French Open. The #1 seeds blasted Ann Grossman and Karina Habsudova 6-0, 6-0 for what would hold up as the tournament's only "double bagel." Straight set wins followed in the next two rounds, setting up their first big test of the fortnight, a quarterfinal against the solid 6th seeded team of Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf. It was no cakewalk, but a 7-6, 1-6, 6-3 landed Zvereva and Fernandez back where they belonged, in the semifinals of a Grand Slam.

In an ironic twist on the Australian semifinal, this time it was Fernandez and Zvereva together against Hingis and Sanchez Vicario. With possibly the four best players in all of women's doubles on the court together at one time, it figured to be another barnburner. If the match was as well played as it was close, it must have been a classic. The top seeds finally prevailed on Court 1 by a razor thin 3-6, 7-6, 10-8 margin. Gigi and Natasha were back in the French Open doubles final for the sixth year in a row. It was Gigi's seventh straight appearance, as she had teamed with Novotna to win the '91 title over Zvereva and Larisa Neiland. Even more remarkably, it was Natasha's ninth consecutive year in the Roland Garros championship match. She and Neiland had also reached that point in '89 (a win) and '90.

The final pitted "The Dynamic Duo" against one half of the team which clobbered them 6-2, 6-1 in the '96 final. This time Mary Joe Fernandez came armed with Lisa Raymond, not Davenport. Perhaps she should have played with Raymond AND Davenport, because Gigi and Natasha were not going to be stopped by a mere two players. After admittedly going into the '96 final overconfident, they were on a focused mission this time. The win was quick and decisive -- Fernandez and Zvereva climbed back to the top of the French Open mountain with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Gigi may get fed up with Natasha's laid-back approach from time to time and Gigi's tendency to slip into an angry funk may get on Natasha's nerves occasionally, but no long-term relationship is without its difficulties. Parting ways seems to have simply been a case of assuming the grass could be greener in another doubles partner's yard. Having been proven wrong, maybe now they can concentrate on the lawns of Wimbledon. If they succeed in capturing Grand Slam title #14 there, the grass shall be very green indeed.

by Chris Gerby