Jana Advances to the Semis as Magui Meets Her Match   Canadian Open, Friday, August 21 By Ed Toombs

Jana Novotna (2) def. Magui Serna, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 (time: 1 hour, 29 minutes)
Quarterfinal
Previous head-to-head: 1-1 (both on clay).

  The dark horse of the quarterfinal field, unseeded Magui Serna, Slayer of Steffi, met her match today in the person of Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna, 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. With the win, Novotna moves on to the semifinals, where she is guaranteed to face an old foe, either Conchita Martinez or Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

  We basically saw two matches in one from Serna: brilliant domination by in the first set, and comparative ineptitude in the second and third. Jana weathered the early storm, slowly got her bearings and ultimately cruised to the win.

  In the opening set, the young Spanish lefty glided all over the court. Winners flowed freely from her raquet, giving an overwhelmed Novotna no chance. Blazing 14 winners and serving at 67%, Serna was executing an aggressive game plan that involved beating Jana to the net with repeated forward rushes. Once at the net, Serna impressed with crisp volleys. If Novotna did make the first move toward the net, her approach shots were often dumped into the net or not deep enough, and Serna, brimming with confidence, passed her at will.

  Serna told me that the tactic of trying to beat Novotna to the net worked well earlier this year, when she upset Novotna on clay at Hilton Head, so she tried it again. But Jana was not caught by surprise this time. "The funny thing is she doesn't do it against other players. So I think the advantage of this was that I played her before. I lost to her earlier this year, and I think I learned from my mistakes."

  Everything changed at 1-1 of the second set. From that point on Serna won but one more game, and bowed out meekly. Magui's tactics didn't change, but her execution plunged from excellent to horrible at the snap of a finger. Novotna thought that her opponent was having racquet problems: "I remember that she broke her string in her racquet at the beginning of the second set, and I knew that from that point on she wasn't quite happy with the racquet, that it was maybe a bit too tight."

  Magui said that while she was having a slight problem with string tension, her biggest problem was her serve. Her first serve effeciency started dropping steadily from beginning of the second set. "Jana could look at my second serve more, and started to hit great returns. I think that gave her confidence and she started to play a lot better." Veteran that she is, Novotna sensed a momentum swing and made the most of it, breezing through a one-seded third set to close out the match.

  At 2-1, 15-0 of the second set, and the outcome very much in doubt, there was an odd moment. With both players nose to nose at the net, Novotna drove a high volley right at Serna, who fell trying to dodge the bullet. This was perhaps retaliation for a ball that Serna had blasted at Jana's body in the first set, and which did not seem to amuse the Czech. Novotna explained, "I said this time I wasn't going after her or anything, but this high volley was right there, so I said I don't care where I'm going to hit it. I just wanted to put it over the net and of course it was coming right at her." Hmmmmmm....

  Then, with Serna lying on the court, Novotna reached over the net and playfully pretended to whack Magui several times on the head with her racquet. The crowd laughed and Jana chuckled, but I'm not sure Serna saw the humour in this. I forgot to ask her about it, RATS!

  Jana was quite pleased with the result. A semifinal appearance in her first official hard court tournament of the year is an achievement that delights the world number three as the US Open looms just 10 days away. "I really felt that I am moving well, and it feels really good. It feels like I'm back again."

  Meanwhile, Serna once again bows out of a tournament at the quarterfinal stage. Despite beating players like Graf, Pierce, Huber, and even Novotna (earlier this year), the skilled but mercurial 19-year-old has now reached six quarterfinals -- five this year -- but not a single semi. A hurdle which, one suspects, she will jump quite soon!
 

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