Korda Collapses, Kournikova Cruises, Williams-Hingis Controversies The Lipton, Tuesday, March 24 By Ed Toombs

The race for number one: Timbledon thwarts Woodstock

  The double fault giveth, the double fault taketh away. Yesterday, as you recall, Pete Sampras became discombobulated after double-faulting on match point and lost to Wayne Ferreira, thus opening the door to three contenders to become number one by week's end. But today, the likeliest of those three contenders, Petr Korda, had service woes of his own; and Sampras, now with one fewer immediate threat to his crown, has perhaps learned to love the double fault.

  Second-ranked Korda needed only to win two more matches this week to claim the top spot, but he served up seven double faults in a 6-4, 6-4 fourth-round loss to Britain's surging Tim Henman. Two costly doubles late in the second set helped destroy any chance he had to mount a comeback. At 4-4, deuce, Korda served up two consecutive double faults to hand a key service break to Henman. Serving for the match at 5-4, a grateful Henman made no mistake, closing it out at love when Korda netted a backhand pass attempt.

  Henman always looked the better man in this match in hot, windy conditions. Whether trading slashing groundstrokes with the Czech, or chipping, charging, and knocking off sharp volleys, Henman was in top form. And happy to be back after a string of early-round defeats. "Under the circumstances of the last five or six weeks where I've struggled with my game, you know, it's great to be back winning and playing the tennis I'm capable of."

  Korda had difficulty finding rhythm on returns and groundstrokes in the blustery wind. But in the larger picture he has been trying to regain his touch from the baseline since the Australian Open, and he is hoping to regain his form on the practice courts during the next two weeks. "After Australia I was struggling with my back, and was really limited with the practice. Maybe the result is the way I'm playing at the moment, because I didn't really put hard work together. Hopefully I will now." Korda's next tournament will be Monaco, in three weeks.

  Interestingly, Korda didn't seem too distraught about losing this chance to become number one, as he feels he still has an excellent chance later this year. "You know, I won something I would not trade for anything else. I won the Grand Slam. If we're going to talk the number one, I still feel I have a shot. I'm not defending too many points until, I don't know, maybe Washington [where he reached the finals in July]." If it's any consolation to "Woodstock", his victorious opponent of today agrees. "You know," observed Henman, "if he doesn't do it this week I still think he's got a few more opportunities in the weeks to come."

  As for Henman, his quarterfinal opponent will be popular 10th-seeded "Guga" Kuerten. Kuerten is doing it the hard way: he notched his third straight three-set win, this time over a talented but rather ill-mannered young German, 25th-seeded Nicolas Kiefer (6-4, 5-7, 6-4). Kiefer drew jeers from many in the pro-Guga crowd with a series of stalling tactics (strolling at a snail's pace to get a towel, asking the ball-boys for multiple balls and then batting them back across the court ever so slowly) that appeared to be attempts to "ice" Kuerten in key situations. Was it Gamesmanship Day at the Lipton (see below)? If so, I missed the official announcement....

Yours Truly and Conchita Martinez Miss The Boat

  Decisions, decisions. Because I decided to follow Korda's quest for number one, I had to forego the Hingis-Serena Williams quarterfinal: reluctantly, though, as I thought it would be a dandy. I hope you all saw it on TV! In case you missed it, Hingis fought off two match points, a controversial case of cramps, and survived to win a thrilling (so they say) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4) battle.

  I did see the press conferences, though, and they were almost as wild as the match. See below.

  Meanwhile, Anna Kournikova's coming-out party continues. Yet to lose a set this week, today she wiped out a flat-footed and disinterested looking Conchita Martinez in a quarterfinal matchup, 6-3, 6-0. The 16-year-old Russian, who had already rolled past Mirjana Lucic and Monica Seles this week, now looks at a semi-final encounter with world number two Lindsay Davenport.

  We certainly expected a better performance from Martinez, who has looked to be getting her career back on the rails this season with a surprising appearance in the Australian Open finals. Especially in view of the fact that when the two met earlier this month at Indian Wells, Martinez was a 6-3, 6-4 winner. But Conchita did little more than show up today, as her woeful stats suggest: 2 winners, 21 unforced errors. Her crazily spinning groundstrokes landed too often at mid-court, and the confident Kournikova did not miss the opportunities granted.

  Make no mistake, Kournikova is in splendid form this week. Cat-quick, patient when she has to be (this is probably her biggest improvement in recent months), and aggressive at the right time. "I didn't try to go for winners right away. And when I did go for for winners, they all went in." And she was making frequent and effective trips to the net, cashing in on 15 of 17 net rushes and showing solid volleying technique. "I try to come to the net every time, as much as possible. I really like to play volleys, I like to play an exciting game." I must say, it's great to hear words like that from a female player.

  Next up will be the stiffest test yet for Kournikova. She now will face #2 Davenport in the quarterfinals. I would say that Lindsay had better be ready for a tussle.

 Shooting from "The Lip":

 On the men's side:

  And then there was one:

  Not only did the man with the best chance to become number one next week, Petr Korda, suffer a setback: so did the man with the slimmest chance. Britain's fifth-ranked Greg Rusedski, who needed to win this tournament and have a lot of other luck along the way, was trounced by Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, 6-2, 6-2. The Swede thereby gained revenge for a narrow three-set loss to Rusedski two weeks ago in Indian Wells.

  The only man left with a chance in the number one sweepstakes is Marcelo Rios. The ATP now confirms that the third-ranked Rios will vault over both Korda and Sampras and into the top spot in next week's rankings if he wins the tournament. If anyone else wins the Lipton, Sampras will stay number one.

  Rios did not have to extend himself in a 6-2, 6-3 walk in the park against a sub-par, slouching Goran Ivanisevic. Goran has resurrected the bizarre, upward-sprouting pony tail that was last seen sticking out of the top of his head in late 1996. But it didn't help him much today. 45% first serves, 6 double faults, and 39 unforced errors pretty well summarize Goran's awful day at the office. Rios will probably have to work harder in the quarterfinals, when he faces an in-form Enqvist.

  Tarango show: The man no top player ever wants to play, unseeded Jeff Tarango, caused the shocker of the day, a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over the puzzling Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov. The 6th-seeded Kafelnikov started well, but grew increasingly frustrated when the tenacious Tarango kept plugging away and making him work for every point. "I don't think he expected me to stay out here so tough and so long," noted Tarango, who with his quarterfinal appearance is having the most successful Super Nine of his career.

  By the third set Kafelnikov's game and resolve had both broken down, and after losing his serve to trail 1-4, he smashed his racquet into a twisted mess on the court. After the match, Tarango made a point of retriving the mangled implement, walking back onto the court and theatrically holding it triumphantly above his head for all to admire. The gesture was greeted with a mixture of cheers and boos by the grandstand crowd. As are most of Jeff's gestures, of course....

  Topsy-turvy top half: The likeable qualifier from Detroit, Steve Campbell, created yet another shocker by ousting Wayne Ferreira -- yes, the same Ferreira who had vanquished Sampras the day before -- and the top of the draw has blown wide open. The quarterfinal pairnings in the top half: Campbell-Corretja, and Tarango versus either Agassi or Albert Costa.

  On the women's side:

  Hingis gamesmanship?: A bitterly disappointed Serena Williams, sniffling and apparently fighting back tears just after her heartbreaking loss, made not-so-veiled suggestions that when Hingis called for a trainer in the third set, complaining of cramps, she was faking physical problems. "I think she was very nervous so she called the trainer to get some time some coaching, I'm not sure what she did. If you watch her matches, there's a pattern in that."

  When confronted with Serena's accusation, Martina initially claimed the reason for the trainer's presence was purely physical. "In yesterday's match, I was already cramping a little bit at the end when I played Testud. Today it started also a little bit." But when pressed, her denials were considerably more equivocal. "Like Venus. We were playing in Sydney and she called for the trainer. She was limping on the court, but she could run pretty well. I guess there are games, everybody's playing games." Hmm, I think the WTA will have to get a little stricter with appearances by trainers on court, don't you?

  The Williams family and racism, again...: Remember Richard Williams's comments about racism following the Venus-Spirlea bumping incident at the US Open? We had echos of that today. Serena Williams showed she is a chip off the family block when she reacted angrily to a reporter's question that seemed innocuous enough, and indeed seemed design to put Serena in a good light. Reporter: "Were you pleased that you were able to rally with her?" Serena: "A lot of people think that black people can't rally, just think they're athletes and can't think. As you can see, that's not true."

  Granted, Serena was frustrated and angry after losing a big match that she thought she should have won. But her comments indicate that the Williams family still harbours strong and deep feelings on the racial question, and the issue of race will likely be a recurring theme as long as Venus and Serena are in the forefront of the tennis world.

  It is unfortunate that the post-match controversies might be remembered more than Serena's tennis at this tournament, as the 1998 Lipton confirmed her enormous potential to be a future top player. Finally, Martina has not seen the end of the Williams clan this week. Hingis now must deal with the older Williams, who will surely be primed to avenge her sister: Martina and Venus will meet in the semifinals. Big sister has yet to lose a set this week, and won her quarterfinal against Silvia Farina with ease.
 

Want to react to this report? Click here to send us feedback.