Despite finishing up her quarterfinal win at nearly 10 pm on Friday night, Anke Huber was back out practicing on Saturday morning for this 1 pm semi. It started out as well as possible for Huber -- she broke in the opening game. She followed that up with a poor service game of her own, though, and fell behind 2-1 when Fernandez pulled off the first hold of the match. Huber battled from 0-40 to deuce in the fourth game, but a forehand error put her down a break at 3-1. Mary Joe ripped a pair of forehand winners to extend her lead to 4-1. Anke got back on track, though, dropping only one point in each of the next two games to cut the lead to 4-3.
As with the first time she was broken, Fernandez broke right back again for 5-3. She had double set point up 40-15, but missed a backhand and a forehand for deuce. Huber netted a pair of returns, though, and lost the set 6-3. In an odd twist, Fernandez took an injury timeout immediately after winning a set. A chronic wrist problem was flaring up again. Huber took advantage quickly. She stepped up her game to open the second set, ripping an ace and three winners in an impressive hold. Fernandez held for 1-1, but Huber again held easily for 2-1, another ace coming along the way. Anke ripped a backhand winner to set up a break point in the fourth game and went up 3-1 when Mary Joe missed a high forehand into the net.
Huber's strong run didn't carry into the fifth game. She double faulted for 15-15, missed a forehand for 15-30 (and argued the call), double faulted again for 15-40 (and slammed her racquet to the court), and missed another forehand to lose the game, furiously throwing a ball on the way to her chair. Apparently bothered by both the wrist and the windy conditions, though, Fernandez threw in a double fault of her own to end a love break for 4-2. The #10 seed had a break point in the following game, but lost it with a netted backhand. Huber then closed out the game with a nice forehand volley and a service winner.
Fernandez led 40-0 in the set's eighth game, but the German battled back to deuce. Mary Joe managed a winner for the ad, but Anke replied with one of her own for deuce. Huber did some great scrambling in the next point, keeping it alive with a number of running, lunging shots before missing a forehand and bouncing her racquet. Huber fought off this break point as well, however, punishing a short ball cross-court for a forehand winner. A Fernandez forehand error and Huber backhand winner down the line ended the break and the set. Huber took it 6-2 and prepared for the third and final set. Little did she know what would happen next. Fernandez walked up to chair umpire Leanne White and announced that she was unable to continue.
"I think at the end it really was a better match and started to get a good match, so it was a little bit disappointing at that moment," said Huber of the abrupt ending. "But on the other hand," she continued, "I'm happy that I'm in the finals." Anke Huber was sorry to see Mary Joe Fernandez's body betray her yet again, but she wasn't about to shed any tears about advancing to the '97 du Maurier Open singles final.
Basuki/Vis vs. Gorrochategui/Spirlea
Centre CourtDoubles: Semifinal
For Yayuk Basuki and Caroline Vis, the road to this doubles semifinal was paved by skill (a decisive win over Florencia Labat and Mercedes Paz, who were coming off an appearance in the Palermo final), perseverance (a three set victory over the scrappy team of Ann Grossman and Karina Habsudova), and luck (advancing past #1 seeds Mary Joe Fernandez and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario when Fernandez defaulted with her wrist injury). Unseeded Ines Gorrochategui and Irina Spirlea, meanwhile, had left a trail of upsets. They knocked out #4 seeds Alexandra Fusai and Nathalie Tauziat in the second round, then bumped off 8th seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs in the quarterfinals.
Spirlea whipped a pair of aces past Basuki in the opening game, but had to fight off a pair of break points before holding. Vis then held easily for 1-1. Gorrochategui's opening service game went to four deuces, but Basuki finally lost it with a long backhand volley. Vis and Basuki missed volleys to get down 0-40 in the following game, rallied for 30-40 on a Basuki ace, but lost it when a high reflex volley by Basuki sailed way long. Gorrochategui/Spirlea were pushed to deuce on serve yet again...and held yet again, Spirlea going up 4-1 with an ace. The large but apathetic crowd didn't know what to think. "Are we cheering for anybody here?", one fan asked his friend, unsure where his rooting interests were supposed to lie.
Some big serving from Vis got the #6 seeds back to 4-2 and Gorrochategui was quickly broken for 4-3. Vis ended Basuki's hold in the eighth game with a smash. With Spirlea up 40-30 in the next game, Basuki ripped a big return winner and Vis gave her an "I'm not worthy" bow. After two more deuces, though, Gorrochategui won the game with a drop volley. An errant backhand volley put Vis down 15-40 in Game 10. Two points later, she missed a lunging forehand volley to surrender the set 6 games to 4.
Gorrochategui held easily for 1-0 and took a 2-0 lead when Vis put a smash into the net on break point. Basuki had a game point earlier in that one, but lost it when Spirlea hit a nice lob winner (prompting a bow from Ines, showing they could match their favored opponents in both shots and antics). Spirlea won the third game with an ace. More bad volleys from Vis nearly got her behind 4-0, but she held on a service winner. Love holds from Gorrochategui and Basuki followed to bring the second set to 4-2. Spirlea couldn't maintain that break advantage, though. She double faulted for 30-40 and lost the game on a winning Vis lob. The teams headed over for the changeover, with light rain beginning to fall.
A couple forceful overheads from Vis evened the set at 4. Gorrochategui and Basuki again held without difficulty for 5-5. Spirlea led 30-15 in Game 11, but lost three points in a row, netting a backhand volley to complete the break. With the rain getting harder, the inevitable announcement came from chair umpire Donna Butler: "Ladies and gentleman, play is temporarily suspended." The delay lasted only about 30 minutes -- peanuts compared to the nearly five hours fans had to wait on Friday, but enough to cut the Centre Court crowd in half. Having seen a singles semi and nearly two sets of doubles, many fans had decided to go home. They missed a great service game from Basuki, who hit a touch volley winner for 40-0 and punched a backhand volley winner on the first set point. After getting behind 4-1 in the second set, Basuki and Vis had come all the way back to take it 7-5.
Gorrochategui and Spirlea decided the former should serve to open the third set. Ines had won 12 of 13 service points in the previous set, so she was the server on a roll. She struggled here, however, double faulting twice in a row for 15-30 and a third time to give Basuki/Vis the ad. She and Irina fought off three break points, though, and held on a service winner. Basuki and Spirlea added easy holds to make it 2-1. Vis was pushced to deuce in her service game, but pulled it out for 2-2. The fifth game of the final set was a rough one for the underdogs. Basuki delivered a pair of winners to go up 0-40 and claimed the love break when Spirlea netted a forehand volley.
Game 6 was delayed by a good minute and a half because some idiots wandered in just as the changeover was ending and were really, really, really casual about getting to their second row seats. As at probably every other major tennis venue in North America, these great courtside seats were corporate owned and probably went to individuals who are, well, not tennis die-hards. If that's the only way to successfully finance tournaments, I guess I'm in favor of it. It sure is a bitter pill to swallow, though, as real fans are relegated to seats high in the bleachers while fat cats wait until the weekend to finally fill the rows closest to the action.
After play resumed, Vis buried a volley in the net and kicked it on its way back. Basuki then netted her own forehand volley to complete the break for 3-3. Spirlea hits a nice forehnad volley down the line to wrap up her easy hold for 4-3. Vis yelled after missing another volley and got behind 15-40 with a double fault, but she and Yayuk would battle back to hold. At 15-15 in the ninth game, Gorrochategui was called for a second serve foot fault. Despite her pleas to Butler, it was 15-30. Gorrocategui and Spirlea went back ahead 40-30 and kept the next point going by returning a Basuki smash. They could do nothing with the smash Vis added, though, the momentum of it nearly carrying Caroline into the net. Vis and Basuki each missed service returns, though, and now trailed 5-4.
After a rather slow start, this match had turned into quite an exciting duel. Basuki hit a pair of winning smashes and a service winner to even the set at 5-5. Basuki also hit a great forehand winner up the middle to bring the 11th game to deuce, but Spirlea held. Vis brought the next game to a quick end with a service winner. It was time for the ultimate finish -- a third set tiebreak, which went as follows
- Vis forehand into the net; 1-0 GORROCHATEGUI/SPIRLEA
- Gorrochategui backhand into the net; 1-1
- Vis smash; 2-1 BASUKI/VIS
- Spirlea nets forehand volley; 3-1 BASUKI/VIS
- Vis forehand winner down the line; 4-1 BASUKI/VIS
- Spirlea lob winner into the corner; 4-2 BASUKI/VIS
- Gorrochategui forehand cross-court pass; 4-3 BASUKI/VIS
- Hideous Gorrochategui double fault; 5-3 BASUKI/VIS
- Vis forehand return long; 5-4 BASUKI/VIS
- Basuki smash; 6-4 BASUKI/VIS
- Basuki service winner; 7-4 BASUKI/VIS
After 2 hours and 26 minutes of largely high quality doubles action, Yayuk Basuki and Caroline Vis emerged with a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 victory. The post-match exchange at the net was among the most affectionate I've ever seen, Gorrochategui giving Vis a big hug. Ines and Caroline left the court together and gave the crowd a round of applause on their way out. Irina and Yayuk followed close behind, chatting and smiling broadly. Mutual respect was the order of the day, as there were no losers in this epic semifinal.
Monica Seles vs. Conchita Martinez
Centre CourtSingles: Semifinal
With one singles finalist already set, Seles and Martinez went about determining who would claim the other spot. Monica had won the first 11 encounters between the two, but Conchita finally broke through with an upset of Monica two weeks earlier in San Diego. Some, including Toronto Globe & Nail writer Tom Tebbutt (who makes predictions in the daily drawsheet), felt the Spaniard would do it again here. Others, including yours truly, thought the #1 seed was a shoo-in. In either event, there were some distinguished guests in attendance. No, not coffee guru Juan Valdez -- that was Friday. Chris Evert was on the premises and took some questions from the crowd before the match; Gigi Fernandez could be spotted in Conchita's supporters box; Betsy Nagelsen and Mary Joe Fernandez were right next door in Monica's box.
The match opened with a pair of holds and looked like it would continue that way with Martinez up 40-15. Seles applied her vice grip, though, driving big groundstroke after big groundstroke to break for 2-1. She held for 3-1 despite a double fault and won the next game at 15 when a Martinez forehand missed the corner. Seles double faulted again in Game 6, but at deuce she sent a backhand pass down the line to end a spectacular rally. She then held for 5-1; Martinez countered with a hold for 5-2. Seles served out the 6-2 set without difficulty, winning it with a backhand down the line. The Yugoslavia-born American was already one set away from the final.
Martinez held for 1-0. Seles next went up 40-0, but a few errors sucked her into what would ultimately be the match's longest game. The marathon went approximately seven deuces and featured numerous swings of momentum, but Seles finally won it. The moody Martinez did not respond well, double faulting twice in a break for 2-1. Seles added a love hold and broke again to go up 4-1. Martinez broke right back for 4-2, though, seemingly confident that she could get back in this match. Conchita trailed 0-40 in Game 7, but followed with her best stretch of the evening thus far -- forehand winner into the corner, half-lob winner whigh caught the baseline, and a clean winner drop shot got her to deuce. Three more deuces ensued, but Martinez held for 4-3 with a big cross-court forehand. Relieved that the battle had been joined in earnest, the crowd roared its approval.
After looking so dominant for the match's first hour, Seles was really slipping. She made three backhand errors in a row to be broken at love for 4-4. Seles blew a break point in Game 9, but hit a winning smash on the second one to take a winning lead of 5-4. At 30-30 in the following game, a Martinez backhand was called long but overruled by chair umpire Anne Lassere-Ulrich, who ordered the point to be replayed. A Martinez shot promptly caught the net cord and fell her way; Seles ran it down but pushed her reply wide, leaning on the net in tired disbelief. Martinez finished the break with a forehand winner. A pair of easy holds followed, setting the stage for a tiebreak.
The #7 seed came out gangbusters in the breaker, smacking back-to-back winners for a 2-0 lead. She got another lucky net cord for 3-1 and received a Seles double fault for 4-2. Conchita gave away the mini-break advantage with a backhand error, though, and double faulted her way to 4-4. A forehand winner and forehand error followed from the Spaniard, making it 5-5. Seles sent a backhand wide and faced the first set point, down 6-5. Monica would not become timid, though. She hit a huge, nearly unreturnable forehand to win the 12th point, saying afterwards, "I knew I had to go for my shots, so I just closed my eyes and hit it."
Martinez then netted a forehand, giving Seles her first look at a set opoint. She didn't need another -- a Monica Seles backhand cross-court pass put an exclamation point on a draining 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win. The second set alone lasted 74 minutes, an eternity compared to the total of 42 minutes Seles had needed to dispose of Rita Grande in the previous night's quarterfinal. Conchita's 13th meeting with Monica was not lucky, but she fought well and gave the top seed quite a scare in the nearly dead even second set.
Arendt/Bollegraf vs. Neiland/Sukova
Centre CourtDoubles: Semifinal
The Centre Court announcer did an enthusiastic job pitching this night doubles semifinal, urging the fans to stay and check out two of the top three seeded teams in the tournament. If nothing else, it was likely to be a friendly battle. Around noon out on Court 11, Arendt and Bollegraf had a long, jovial conversation with Neiland and Suokva as the former pair was ending their practice session and the latter pair was preparing to start theirs. Though close in the computer rankings, the duos were not close in their 1997 accomplishments. Nicole and Manon had already been to five doubles finals, winning three. Larisa and Helena needed eight months to finally reach their first final together, the previous week in Los Angeles.
If the early games were any indication, this one was no contest. Arendt held at love and went up 2-0 when Sukova netted a backhand volley on the match's first break point. Struggling with her serve all week long, Bollegraf double faulted twice in the third game before holding. Another backhand volley error from Sukova ended a 15 break for 4-0. Neiland argued for a long time that the ball had been good, but chair umpire Leanne White refused to intervene. Arendt needed a few deuces to hold in the next game and grab a 5-0 lead.
Up 15-40 in Game 6, the #2 seeds had double set point. Arendt lost both break opporunites with errors, though, and Sukova won the game with a smash which nearly hit Bollegraf. Arendt held easily in the following game, though, and had a 6-1 set in the bank after just 29 minutes. Sukova opened the second set with a hold. Why Bollegraf was chosen to serve next is a genuine X-File -- she was broken at 15. Neiland had a 40-15 lead in Game 3, but did herself in with a volley error and a double fault. She uncharacteristically missed two more volleys to set up break points, screaming after the second. That's the one Bollegraf converted with a backhand volley winner.
A Sukova forehand return at 30-40 in the fourth game split Arendt and Bollegraf and put the 3rd seeed team ahead 3-1. Sukova held easily for 4-1; Bollegraf was broken easily again for 5-1. Neiland/Sukova appeared to be on the verge of winning the second set just as convincingly as their opponents had won the first. Neiland got down 0-40 in the next game, but got back to deuce. One of the points along the way was a Sukova smash which hit Bollegraf in the butt, causing Arendt to laugh heartily. At deuce, Neiland double faulted and missed a volley. It was now 5-2, with Arendt to serve. It was a rough game for the University of Florida alumnus -- she double faulted for 0-15, sat down after missing a forehand volley for 15-30, and pushed a backhand volley wide for 30-40. Neiland and Sukova couldn't capitalize on their first set point, though, and Arendt/Bollegraf held for 5-3.
Arendt hit a nice sky hook overhead a la Jimmy Connors to take a 15-30 lead against Sukova's serve. Neiland netted a simple forehand to get behind 30-40. Larisa tried to make up for it, returning a couple smashes in the next point, but Arendt finally put away an overhead to break for 5-4. Nicole pounced on a forehand winner to close out the 10th game, bringing her team back from 5-1 to 5-5. A pair of holds followed, sending the second set to a tiebreak.
Three errors (one each from everyone but Neiland) made it 2-1 for Neiland/Sukova. Sukova's forehand volley winner took her to 3-1, but a Neiland double fault brought the score to 3-2. Bollegraf and Arendt hit winning smashes to take the lead; Neiland replied with a forehand volley winner for 4-4. Bollegraf's forehand return into the net made it 5-4 in favor of Neiland/Sukova. Arendt hit a nice half-volley on the 10th point, Neiland whirling all the way around in her attempt to return it but managing only a weak forced error. Neiland then hit a return into the net to get down 6-5 and face match point. Completing the worst doubles match I've ever seen her play, Neiland netted a forehand volley. Second set tiebreak to Arendt and Bollegraf, 7 points to 5.
Late in the 1996 season, Helena Sukova dumped Martina Hingis as her doubles partner. A few years earlier, Larisa Neiland had given Natasha Zvereva the ax. Casting their lot together, the veterans are finding that the wins don't come as easily without a flashy young shot-maker on your side. Meanwhile, Nicole Arendt and Manon Bollegraf keep plugging along. The team looked vulnerable at times on their way to the final, but the same could be said for Yayuk Basuki and Caroline Vis, the opponents who await them. With the Bollegraf serve and Vis volley looming as large question marks, how the Sunday afternoon final would turn out was anyone's guess.
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