Battles of "Old" Rivals |
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Battles of "Old" Rivals |
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Two of the WTA Tour's veterans squared off in the first 11 A.M. match in the history of the Chase Championships. 31-year-old Nathalie Tauziat came in with a scant 5-4 edge in her head-to-head meetings with 27-year-old Natasha Zvereva. A win for eith
In the match's opening game, the noise made by a TV set someone had left on in one of the luxury boxes was visibly distracting Tauziat, but she held serve impressively. Zvereva needed some big serving of her own (two service winners and an ace) to ho
Zvereva hit a sizzling forehand pass for a 0-30 lead in the fifth game, but Tauziat won the last four points in holding for 3-2. After numerous break points fell by the wayside for both players, one was finally converted -- when Zvereva netted a fore
Since neither player was putting enough first serves in play, the break chances continued. After double faulting for 15-40, Zvereva fired a shot which landed either right on or just past the baseline. A linesman called "out!" and immediately correct
Zvereva gamely battled out of a 15-40 deficit in the second set's initial game, but Tauziat was unfazed, striking a 95 MPH ace to close out Game 2. Zvereva hit a pair of untimely double faults in the following game and lost serve by netting a tricky
Zvereva came up with a great, off-balace backhand winner to take a 0-30 lead in the next game, but a broken string on the following point essentially finished her off. Tauziat reclaimed the momentum, holding for 5-1 and jumping out 0-30 on her oppone
The first doubles match of the tournament featured the player who'd just been shown the door in singles. Although given a somewhat reasonable amount of time to rest, Natasha Zvereva was still seeing red over being forced to play two matches back-to-b
Zvereva and partner Lindsay Davenport came in seeded second and looking for their biggest title of the year. They reached all four Grand Slam doubles finals in '98 and -- despite losing all four -- are sticking together next season. Not likely to be
Davenport and Zvereva came out firing, breaking Neiland's serve. A picture perfect backhand lob by Davenport ended that game and her serving keyed the second. Down 2-0, Anna Kournikova stepped to the service line, decked out in apparel almost as ski
A break of the disgruntled Zvereva got the underdogs on the board and a quick hold by Neiland put them back in striking distance at 3-2. Davenport pounded home two aces on the way to a 4-2 lead, extended to 5-2 when Kournikova put a defensive forehan
Neiland's failure to win points on second serves (she succeeded on just one of twelve in the entire match) cost her in the next game. She fought off three break points, but finally succumbed when Natasha's swinging forehand volley was too much for h
Kournikova came back to earth in the set's fifth game. She flubbed an overhead for 30-40 and pushed a backhand volley long to go down 3-2. Still steady as a rock, Davenport held at love for 6-2, 4-2. Anna put together an easy hold of her own for 4
You don't have to scratch your head long to find the "hook" in this first round
match. It's the battle of the Swiss Misses -- brash, bubbly, internationally famous 18-year-old Martina Hingis vs. soft-spoken, even-tempered, largely unheralded 19-year-old Patty Schnyder. The two have played against each other since their days in the
Hingis and Schnyder gave no quarter in the opening game, a multiple-deuce affair finally won by the serving Schnyder. Hingis executed one of her patented backhands down the line to clinch a love hold, but missed one at the end of Schnyder's hold for
Did Hingis capitalize on this early lead? Quite the contrary -- she fell victim to three double faults in the very next game, letting Schnyder back in at 3-3. An exchange of holds made it 4-all. Schnyder twice had to stare down break point in Game 9, but she responded each time with a winner, eventually holding for a 5-4 adv
Unlike Monday evening's losing seeds, Hingis took the loss of a set as a wake-up call. She turned her groundstrokes up a noticeable notch, winning six of the next seven points on the way to 2-0. Schnyder double faulted at 30-30 and just barely misse
During the changeover, Melanie Molitor -- probably a lot more confident about her daughter's odds than she had been five games ago -- retrieved a ball which had earlier ricocheted into the courtside plants. She had barely sat down again by the time H
More between-game activity in the players box: this time it was Conchita Martinez, signing autographs for a couple of fans who had spotted her sitting there with doubles partner Patricia Tarabini. Their match wouldn't be starting anytime soon, as th
Schnyder won a superb all-court rally to evade Hingis's first
break chance of the set, but failed to dig out a backhand on the next point, netting it for 2-1. Martinez signed another autograph and got what at least appeared to be a reprimand from an usher, who presumably was not thrilled about commoners darting int
It was a tough way to get down triple break point, but Hingis rose to the occasion. She won three consecutive points to earn deuce, pumped her first after a swinging volley winner, and took the game with a serve so good that Schnyder barely flinched and sat down with a 3-2 lead in the final set. The pair then swapped easy holds for 4-3.
Hingis won a convincing eighth game with a backhand and now found herself just four points from victory. Schnyder brought her to within one point with a forehand error at 30-30. Facing match point for the first time, Schnyder buried a backhand in th
In addition to claiming a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory, Hingis received the Hoover Clean Sweep Award for her consistent play at the year's Grand Slam events. "You're trying to make a housewife out of me," Hingis exclaimed upon being presented with a vacuum
The unusually long Martina Hingis press conference, followed by Patty Schnyder's combination award ceremony/interview, kept me occupied for the first twelve games of legend-on-the-comeback-trail Steffi Graf's battle with defending Chase champion Jana
A pumped up Novotna put away a forehand volley for 5-3 and a good serve for 6-4. Graf hung tough in the eleventh point, making a surprise foray to the net and handling a high forehand volley to get back on serve at 6-5. Novotna still had a set point
Far from prepared to pack up her tent, Graf hit some wicked passing shots in a break for 1-0 in the second. The next four games went with serve, as the players won points in somewhat similar ways: Graf using her backhand slice to open the court for
Graf double faulted early in the tenth game and blew a set point on a forehand error. She jammed Novotna with a body serve to earn set point #2, however, and put the game away with an overhead smash. The German and Czech each had a set to their cred
Coming back from the injury timeout, Novotna played some solid points and won the game in pretty spectacular fashion, making two stab volleys before finishing the game point with a Connors-esque "sky hook" smash. She raised her arms triumphantly, but
Novotna fought to deuce in the set's fourth game, but lost it on an errant backhand. Any hope of a comeback
seemed futile after the next game. Turning slow and erratic, Novotna was broken at love to trail 4-1. Steffi clobbered an ace and two winners in a love hold for 5-1. Novotna got to 30-30 as she served to fend off elimination, but with her legs still ac
"I don't think I played up to my potential," Graf concluded after prevailing in two hours, but she was happy with the eleventh consecutive win of her latest comeback. Not looking all that unhappy herself was Novotna, who has a two month vacation to look forward to as soon as her doubles campaign ends. Even as the first defending champion ever to lose in the first round of the Chase, Novotna had it all in perspective. She praised Graf, reflected on her own dream-come-true Wimbledon title, and even extended personal greetings to a number of reporters she recognized. Jana Novotna will be back. Steffi Graf -- with the lithe legs and killer forehands of old -- already is.
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