If past matchups were any indication, this quarterfinal shaped up to be a good one. Fernandez had won two of three career matches against Maleeva, the most recent going to 6-4 in the 3rd. The WTA computer told a different tale, with Mary Joe a full 30 spots ahead of Magdalena in the rankings. One could even suggest that Maleeva was lucky just to have gotten this far. She avoided a second round match with Anna Kournikova when the young Russian was forced to withdraw with immigration problems. Maleeva would have faced #2 seed Iva Majoli in the third round, but that too was ruled out when a tired Majoli fell to Naoko Sawamatsu. Fernandez, on the other hand, needed a win over #5 seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to earn her spot in the quarters.
The American built an early 3-1 lead and fought off a break point to hold for 4-2. Fernandez kept Maleeva on the defensive throughout Game 7, an easy break for a 5-2 lead. Maggie hung tough in fighting off a couple set points in the next game, but Fernandez finished with a service winner and a smash to claim the set 6-2. Mary Joe added to the lead in the following game, taking advantage of the first break opportunity by running down a drop shot and sending it back for a backhand winner down the line. The Bulgarian Contrarian refused to fold, however. At deuce in the set's second game, Maleeva hit a lunging forehand volley winner and delivered a winning smash on the following point to break back for 1-1.
The 3rd game was also close, but Maleeva threw away a 40-30 lead with a couple missed backhands and a poor attempt at a drop shot. Fernandez held easily for 3-1; Maleeva battled back for 3-2. Mary Joe played a surprisingly poor service game after that, committing two double faults in a row on her way to a 15-40 deficit. Maleeva pummelled a second serve with a cross-court forehand to complete the break and even the set at 3. Two more breaks followed for 4-4. Maleeva went up 5-4 with an easy hold; Fernandez got to 5-5 with a love hold. Maggie then went right into the tank -- two double faults, a long backhand, and a netted forehand to give Fernandez a love break and a winning 6-5 lead.
All Mary Joe needed to continue her streak of straight set victories was to hold serve. Maleeva made that easier said than done, however, drilling a backhand winner for 15-30 and a forehand return down the line for 30-40. Fernandez had all the time in the world for a forehand on break point, but put it in the net to force herself into a tiebreak. Maleeva went up 2-0, but regressed to 2-2 on a couple errors. One more error apiece got the tiebreak to 3-3. With one of the tour's most consistent veterans facing one of its more questionable enigmas, you had to figure Fernandez had the edge at this point. You'd figure wrong. Maleeva smacked a backhand cross-court winner for 4-3 and took a 6-3 lead after a pair of rather loose Fernandez errors. A backhand return winner finished the 7-3 tiebreak upset and evened the match at one set all.
Fernandez couldn't shake the error bug, digging herself a 0-40 hole on serve. She appeared to hit another for a love break, Maleeva pumping her first and starting over to her chair. The out call never came, though, and it wasn't until four points later that Maleeva got the break on a missed Fernandez overhead. Having seemingly gotten all her wild backhand errors out of her system in the first set and a half, Maleeva put together a confident hold for a 2-0 lead in the third. Mary Joe had to fight off a break point just to get to 2-1. Bothered by swirling winds, Maleeva struggled with her serve in the following game and lost it on consecutive forehand errors. The final set was knotted at 2.
Fernandez held for 3-2 with a smash and seemed poised to regain control of the match. Maleeva still wouldn't let it be easy, fighting hard throughout a long sixth game. Maggie finally succumbed, though, hitting a forehand wide on the fifth break point of the game. That tiring ordeal may have left Mary Joe itching for a changeover, though. She played an ugly seventh game and was broken at love. Maleeva came close to holding for 4-4, but made a backhand error and a forehand error from deuce to get down 5-3. The 25-year-old would finally serve this thing out, right? Wrong again. Three Fernandez errors, the last forced, got this wild match back on serve at 5-4 in the 3rd.
Both players had ardent supporters in the crowd and the non-partisans also chimed in to give them a big ovation after the changeover. Magdalena hadn't advanced past the quarterfinal round of any tournament thus far in '97, so a big opportunity loomed if she could only hold serve and get back even at 5-5. She netted a forehand for 30-40, though, and faced the first match point. After nearly 2 hours and 20 minutes loaded with momentum shifts, Maleeva missed a forehand wide and was broken for the fourth time in a row. With her Seles-esque angled groundstrokes, Magdalena Maleeva had very nearly completed the upset. She just wasn't quite consistent enough, however, and Mary Joe Fernandez remained the only player still contending in both singles and doubles.
Amanda Coetzer vs. Anke Huber
Court 1Singles: Quarterfinal
This was supposed to be a mid-afternoon match on Centre Court, but that was before a five hour rain delay threw Friday's schedule into disarray. With Davenport vs. Martinez still left to finish and Seles vs. Grande yet to begin, Amanda and Anke found their match assigned to Court 1. Playing in the 8 o'clock haze may not have been ideal, but it didn't seem to effect the quality of play. Right from the beginning, these Top 10 stars were shooting for lines and pelting each other with remarkably powerful, accurate groundstrokes. Huber in particular was really killing the ball and she jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Huber even employed a drop shot to go up 40-30 in the third game, but eventually broke herself with a double fault.
Coetzer didn't take long to establish her foothold. The second point of the fourth game was typical of the high wire act these two performed. Coetzer hit a pretty nice drop shot; Huber ran it down and returned it with a nice touch forehand which caught the sideline; Coetzer darted over to the ball and whipped an amazing forehand winner down the line -- I think the ball actually curved around the pole. The players continued sending each other all over the court throughout the rest of the lengthy game, which Coetzer won for 2-2. Huber warded off three break points in the next game, put finally lost it on a forehand error. Anke then played a sloppy game to get down 4-2, berating herself in German.
The relentless high quality and high energy of the opening five games seemed to drain Huber. She let up just a bit, which was enough with the way Coetzer was playing. The South African held at 15 and broke at 15 to finish off a 6-2 opening set. Huber perked up with the clean slate of a second set. She held easily for a 1-0 edge and broke at love with three consecutive winners. The third game of the set featured one of the best rallies of the entire tournament. I'd have to go back and see it on tape (not possible, unfortunately) to do it justice, but I do know it featured lobs and overheads from both players. They covered the entirety of both sides of the court, staying at it for probably close to 30 strokes before Coetzer finally hit a backhand winner down the line. The crowd erupted with an ovation so long and loud that the chair umpire's call of the score was completely drowned out. Huber was so caught up in the moment that she didn't know the score herself and had to ask to learn it was 15-30. Fighting off three break points along the way, Huber finally held to take a commanding 3-0 lead.
Tenacious as ever, Coetzer held easily for 3-1. Huber missed a forehand volley to get down 0-30 in the fifth game, dejectedly burying her face in her hand. At 15-40, Coetzer made a pair of errors. At deuce, Amanda hit a nice drop shot but Anke replied with an even nicer one. Huber held for 4-1, scored a fast break for 5-1, and held at love to take the second set 6 games to 1. This left us with an utterly misleading scoreboard. Both sets may have been lopsided in the number of games won, but evenly-matched rallies had been the rule, rather than the exception. And even if one player had fallen off a level in the latter parts of each set, it's unlikely either would go quietly in the decisive third.
Coetzer didn't open the final set well. She double faulted to trail 0-30 and missed a forehand to get down 15-40. On break point, a Huber forehand caught the tape, flew high into the air, and actually brushed the net as it landed on Coetzer's side. Amanda got to it before the second bounce, but hit a forehand wide and trailed 1-0. Coetzer did some amazing retrieving down 40-30 in the next game, getting back would-be winner after would-be winner. Huber had to throw up a couple moonballs just to get her bearings. Coetzer netted a backhand to end this latest thrilling rally and now trailed 2-0. She got back to 2-1, though, holding when Huber -- who had fought her way from 40-0 to 40-30 -- netted a forehand and groaned.
Huber had been doing an astounding job of keeping the ball in play considering how hard she was hitting it, but errors crept back into her game in a break for 2-2. Huber lost that one on a netted backhand which she followed up with one very audible obscenity. Coetzer then held at love for 3-2 and broke at 15 for a 4-2 edge. The German lost that sixth game by putting a high forehand volley in the net. Her reaction this time was a wicked racquet bounce, but it -- like the brief profanity outburst -- escaped warning.
Up 4-2 but down 0-15, Coetzer had the entire court open for a forehand but put it barely long, She thought it was good and even asked Huber to point at a mark. Anke waved her racquet around the area vaguely and said the call was correct. Coetzer went on to lose the game by trying for a drop shot from too far back. Just like that, they were back on serve at 4-3.
Huber jumped all over Coetzer early in the eighth game, smacking back to back forehand winners for a 30-0 lead. Coetzer got to 30-30, but made a pair of errors to tie things at 4-4. At 15-30 in the ninth game, Huber hit a masterful backhand right into the corner. Coetzer answered with a running forehand winner down the line for 30-40. On the second break point, a Coetzer forehand clipped the net cord, stayed seemingly frozen in the air for a little while, and landed just wide. Coetzer had gotten her share of luck with the net cord in the first set, but found none here. The break gave Huber an imposing 5-4 lead, a stunning turnaround from 4-2.
Huber made two untimely errors to get down 0-30, but Coetzer lost a couple long rallies to even the 10th game at 30-30. A huge forehand half-volley set up a smash for Huber, who now had match point up 40-30. A few strokes into the next point, Coetzer hit a backhand which looked clearly long. There was no out call and, even though the crowd murmured loudly, the rally continued. And continued and continued. In the last of the evening's superb baseline duels, Huber won the match with a booming forehand down the line. Battling her own negative energy and an absolutely relentless opponent, 8th seeded Anke Huber finished with an amazing flourish to prevail 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Not only was this the best match I'd seen at the tournament, it was quite possibly the best I'd seen all year. In one sense, it's a shame the match was bumped from Centre Court. The Court 1 stands were packed, but -- by comparison to the stadium capacity -- relatively few fans got to witness this titanic slugfest. No teeming horde of journalists was present, nor were any TV cameras. On the other hand, though, this was the kind of match you really had to see up close to fully appreciate. The intensity on the players's faces, the countless shots which caught lines, and the sheer speed at which the ball zipped back and forth across the net all registered best from a courtside seat.
Arendt/Bollegraf vs. Kijimuta/Miyagi
Court 1Doubles: Quarterfinal
Court 1 looked like a hurricane had hit it when this doubles quarterfinal got underway. The fans who'd witnessed Huber vs. Coetzer had apparently been left so spellbound by the action that they forgot to carry out their trash. An unbelievable assortment of bottles and wrappers easily outnumbered the fans, with not many hearty customers showing up for the 10 o'clock start. Those who did arrive on time caught a hot start from Naoko Kijimuta and Nana Miyagi, who broke Manon Bollegraf's serve for a 2-0 lead. The #2 seeds got to 15-40 in the following game when rain began to fall again. Miyagi fought off two break points, but was about to face another when Bollegraf convinced the chair umpire to suspend play.
With a steady drizzle coming down and the hour getting later, prospects for more tennis on Friday looked grim. As a matter of fact, Nicole Arendt said "See ya tomorrow" to a devoted fan before leaving the court. Arendt didn't think she'd be getting back on court until the weekend and she turned out to be right. At 10:30 pm, play on both Centre Court and Court 1 was officially suspended for the night.
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