Spirlea-Testud, Hingis-Testud, Seles-Huber, and Hingis/Novotna in Doubles  Canadian Open, Friday, August 21 By Chris Gerby

Irina Spirlea vs. Sandrine Testud
Singles: 3rd round
Court 1

  Two of the most improved players of 1997 (who also share the distinction of having fallen in love with their coach) were locked in a tight battle on Thursday when rain hit their match. Sandrine Testud had just held serve to force a first set tiebreak when chair umpire Cecil Hollins (perhaps best known for giving P

  Fast forward to Friday morning, where Spirlea and Testud would have to pick up right where they left off, at 6 games all. The tiebreak got off to an understandably sloppy start. Three of the first four points ended in unforced errors, leaving the score

  Testud gamely fought off three break points to open the second set, finally going up 1-0 on a wild Spirlea error. The next game also went to several deuces, but Spirlea won the last two points behind a feathery drop shot and a good kick serve. Spirlea r out! It's right here -- look," Testud pleaded to Hollins as she pointed to a mark with her racquet. There was no overrule, though, and Spirlea hung on for a 3-1 lead. Testud battled back with a hold and a break, but Spirlea matched that to garner a 5-3

  Testud won the opening game of the first set with a nifty stop volley at 40-30. She then got a break and a hold, at which point Spirlea simply appeared to go away mentally. Irina got down 4-0 by playing one of the worst games I've seen all week: double

  Playing loose as a goose with nothing to lose, Spirlea improbably held at love with three forehand winners and an ace. The competitive fire was all coming from Testud, though. She said "yes!" as a backhand winner put her ahead 30-15 in Game 7. Almost as if to rub salt in the wound, Testud used Spirlea's favorite shot against her, coming up with a nice drop shot for 40-15. The 14th see

Martina Hingis vs. Sandrine Testud
Singles: Quarterfinal
Centre Court

  The last time Martina Hingis and Sandrine Testud squared off was at this year's Lipton Championships, with the underdog pushing the world's #1 to three sets. Of course, that wasn't shortly after playing another match, the situation which faced Testud on Friday. She rose to the occasion early on, though. In a complete reversal of Martina's previous match (a break-a-thon with Ai Sugiyama), s

  It was Hingis trying to beat back a charge in the next game, needing a couple deuces to hold for 6-5. Testud then held at love with a forehand winner to bring up her second tiebreak of the day. Testud missed a forehand to lose the first point. The next

  Game 6 was a doozy, each player coming up with a few great winners and a few bad errors. Testud converted her third break point of the game behind a sharply angled forehand. She capitalized on the momentum swing by blasting two aces in a row in the seventh game, a quick hold for 5-2. Hingis kept her second set hopes alive with a hold for 5-3, but Testud once again tallied two consecutive ac

  Despite mounting pressure, both players continued to do well on serve. The first break chances of the third set went to Hingis, but Testud continued her fairly remarkable serving to hold for 2-2. They both then held at love for 3-3. Hingis executed a p

  Hingis regained her composure to hold for 5-4 and the players got a huge ovation coming out after the changeover. Testud jumped out to a 30-0 lead, but missed a couple first serves and paid in the ensuing rallies, Hingis getting back in the game at 30-30

Hingis/Novotna vs. Kijimuta/Miyagi
Doubles: Quarterfinal
Court 2

  Ardent fans packed the Court 2 stands on Thursday for a glimpse of the top two singles seeds, who also happened to be the #1 seeds together in doubles. However, Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna were only out there for seven games before their match agains mops. Alas, the weather-themed music playing on the Centre Court sound system ("Rain" by Madonna, "Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel, "Purple Rain" by Prince, "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors, etc.) proved prophetic. Play was finally suspended, Hingis and No

  It didn't take long for the Czech and ex-Czech to conclude the first set once play resumed around 6 PM on Friday. Miyagi broke herself at love with a double fault. Hingis and Novotna then got into a 0-40 hole, but a Hingis ace brought them back to deuce

  Novotna held at 30 to recapture the lead. Kijimuta almost decapitated Hingis with a shot in the next game, but it was the only point she and Miyagi won in being broken for 5-3. When Hingis/Novotna got to deuce, it looked like the only question left was Miyagi earned a break point, which Novotna dismissed with a volley. A second break point followed, but Kijimuta missed a backhand and cried out in agony. She and Nana got a third break chance, but Hingis ripped an unreturnable backhand to fight it off.

  On match point, Hingis chose to swing at what looked to be an out ball, extending a rally which was ultimately lost when Novotna blew a volley. Hingis then missed a backhand, lightly bouncing her racquet in response. Break point #4 was no better than th

  After winning the next rally to secure a third match point, Novotna pretended to become very intense, ordering Hingis to finish the match immediately. Ever ready with a flair for the dramatic, Martina obliged -- she hit an ace to win the match 6-2, 6-3.

Monica Seles vs. Anke Huber
Singles: Quarterfinal
Centre Court

  Seeded 5th and facing an opponent she'd never lost to, Monica Seles should have felt pretty confident going into this rematch of the '97 du Maurier Open final. She did not start strong, though. Anke Huber broke serve and might well have extended the lea long. It was by no means a dominant performance, but Seles took the opening set 6-3.

  The first five games of Set Two all went with serve, Huber going up 3-2 with an ace. It was Seles who finally struggled through an atrocious service game, lost at 15 on a forehand error. Leading 4-2, Anke got to deuce and took the ad with a desperation

  Seles broke for 4-3, got to 4-4 with a swinging volley winner, and went up 0-30 on two consecutive double faults from Huber, who had gone nearly a full set without one. She sadly dropped her racquet, drawing a round of applause from the sympathetic crowd

  Seles moves on to face Martina Hingis in Saturday's first semifinal. In the original draw -- the one finalized before Venus Williams withdrew -- Seles and Hingis were slated to meet in the quarters, not the semis. I mentioned this to Monica, but she did

  Anke Huber had obviously been rankled by her serve all week, so I asked her if she felt like it was improving at all. "It was a little better yesterday than today, so it wasn't improving. I changed my racquet in the middle of the week, so that's actuall
 

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