Seles Swats Sanchez, Wins Fourth Straight Canadian Crown  Canadian Open Singles Final, Sunday, August 23 By Chris Gerby

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario vs. Monica Seles
Singles: Final
Centre Court

  The last time the women's du Maurier Open was held in Montreal, Monica Seles pulled out a 6-1, 7-6 win over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the final. Two years later, the same champions were back on Centre Court. Seles held an imposing 15-3 lead in their career meetings, but two of the last three had gone to the Spaniard. The first point here was typical of their matches -- a long baseline rally, with Sanchez Vicario doggedly fending off big shots by Seles before losing the point. Seles took the game with a service winner and jumped out to a 15-40 lead against Sanchez Vicario's serve. A Seles drive set up a relatively easy overhead for 2-0. She then held at love for a 3-zip lead, chalking up an ace in the process.

  Sanchez Vicario nearly lost Game 4 after taking a 40-0 lead, but she turned back the Seles charge with her trademark retrieving. Down 40-30 in the next game, Sanchez Vicario struck a forehand which landed just long. She stood in place for a while, doubting the call, but eventually walked to her chair with a 4-1 deficit. Sanchez Vicario held for 4-2, but Seles served her way to a 40-0 lead in the seventh game. At that point, Sanchez Vicario hit a forehand which conked the net judge in the head. Arantxa graciously kissed the injury to make it better. Feeding off good energy from the crowd, Sanchez Vicario held for 5-3. She continued to be at a loss against the Seles serve, however. Monica held at love on a Sanchez Vicario forehand error and took the set 6-3. It may not have been as lopsided as the first set of their '96 encounter, but Seles appeared to be in complete control of the match.

  Sanchez Vicario needed a good start in the second...and did not have one. She missed a pair of overheads for 0-30 and put a forehand in the net for 0-40. Triple break point in hand, Seles ripped a forehand which was close to Sanchez Vicario put too powerful to be returned in play. After that and a quick hold, it was suddenly 6-3, 2-0 in favor of Seles. Sanchez Vicario mixed up her game a bit in a hold for 2-1, but more solid serving by her opponent made it 3-1. The fifth game of the set was a six-deuce war. Sanchez Vicario five times failed to convert game point, but she stayed fired up (pumping her fist after an ace) and finally won the game by using a drop shot to set up a forehand pass. That nice flurry of stroke-making drew a resounding ovation from the crowd, who were probably hoping to see a third set.

  Sanchez Vicario finally earned her first break point of the match in Game 6, but lost it with her latest backhand error. Seles then hit an un-Seles-like touch volley to take the ad and won the game with a cross-court forehand. Sanchez Vicario kept fighting, but Seles was really finding the range. A netted forehand gave the naturalized American her second break point of Game 7. One more backhand error from Sanchez Vicario cost her there, as Seles added a second break to go up 5-2. Leading 30-15 in her attempt to serve it out, Seles came up with a half-volley drop shot to put Sanchez Vicario behind the proverbial 8 ball. A Sanchez Vicario groundstroke forced Seles to hit a one-handed forehand, but the shot clipped the tape and trickled over to finish the 6-3, 6-2 rout. The end may have been flukey and the 77-minute match was closer than it looked on the scoreboard, but Monica Seles had performed very impressively in claiming her first singles title of 1998.

  Stepping up to the microphone in the post-match ceremony, Sanchez Vicario opened by congratulating the winner in English and proceeded to give the rest of the speech in her admittedly shaky brand of French. Seles in turn saluted her opponent, calling Arantxa "a true champion both on and off the court." Later on, I asked Monica to elaborate on that. "I just have a very high regard for Arantxa. I mean, really, she's just a terrific person. Obviously we've known each other for a long time and she is just one of the very few human beings that has those qualities. I mean, you don't see them too often nowadays." The bickering teens of women's tennis continue to draw headlines, but -- as at the French Open -- it was a pair of tour veterans expressing their respect for one another after a hard-fought final.
 

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