True
to the trend, the first two matches of the day were ones I had wanted to
catch. Olga Barabanschikova would take on Kristina Brandi and Anastasia
Myskina/Sarah Pitkowski would take on the giant-killers Julie Scott/Wendy
Fix. I decided that Olga would need the support more, and I would join
the doubles match later.
I found myself
sitting next to the Japanese girl again. Behind us sat Kristina?s coach.
I?d seen him around, but he looked local, so I thought he was just one
of the guys who hit with her. So I turned and asked if he was Kristina?s
coach. He said yes, and looked a little pleased. I asked him how Kristina
was, as she had been injured earlier in the year, and he said that she
was fine. A few seconds later, he asked how I knew she was injured, and
I couldn?t recall. I said something about playing in the Bol tournament
in Croatia, and he nodded. "That was last year, no?".
Anyway, I was
once again talking to the Japanese girl, and her English was really basic,
so I couldn?t get her to understand even with elaborate hand gestures.
He very nicely translated what I was saying (a Japanese speaking French!),
and I felt a little guilty about cheering against his player. But I wasn?t
going to desert Olga again. Nope, not this time.
So the match
started, and me and the Japanese girl were cheering and clapping for Olga,
and the coach was encouraging Kristina. Olga finally had a good start (I
later heard from her coach that Kristina always starts slow), and took
the first set very convincingly, 6-1. Thinking that a first set was insurance
enough and seeing that Anastasia and Sarah were in a bit of trouble, I
headed to the other court.
It was nice
to see professionalism for a change after all the yelling and screaming
that had been going on during certain players? matches. Sarah and Ana had
absolutely no bad blood between them (I?ve never heard of doubles partners
having an argument after a singles match anyway), but these players were
talking and laughing between points, consoling the other after a missed
shot, or congratulating her after a good one.
As is the trend,
Sarah and Ana started out slow, and the Americans who had absolutely demolished
the top seeds immediately took advantage of it. However, Sarah and Ana
somehow managed to hold on and took it to 5-all. The Americans were too
tough, however, and took the first set 7-5.
Things started
looking a little bleak for AM/SP. JS/WF took a 2-0 lead in the second set,
and looked like they were going to run away with the match, just as they
did in the previous round. However, AM/SP picked up their game at the last
possible moment again, and reeled off 4 games in a row in the process of
taking the second set 6-3. They now played absolutely flawlessly and took
the last set 6-0. It should be noted that Anastasia?s coach (her father,
actually. She doesn?t have a proper coach as is the fashion nowadays, and
her father plays the role) and Sarah?s coach would clap in encouragement
throughout the match.
On the other
side, Olga started to get in trouble. Kristina had picked up her game,
and the Belarussian looked like she was about to die from the heat. They
have some stand-up fans beside each chair, and Olga turned hers to face
directly at her during changeovers. It wasn?t actually really hot -- in
fact, it was a relatively cool day, but Kristina was running her around,
and the young Belarussian was running for all she was worth. I also think
that she isn?t used to the hotter climate, as I hadn?t seen her on the
practice courts at all. With all the cheering from the Japanese girl and
me, she put up a brave fight, but lost the last two sets 6-3 6-4.
Actually, I
couldn?t help but notice that Olga had the same Sergio Tachinni shirt with
cut-off sleeves and pleated skirt that she had on for her earlier match.
Also, during the break between the second and third sets, they both went
off for the break, and while all the other players had changed their clothes
for fresher ones, Olga came back in the same blouse and skirt. She either
forgot to bring a change with her or she?s having sponsor problems. I certainly
hope it?s not the latter, with talent like hers. She?s got the stuff, but
IMO, needs to work a little harder on honing her racquet skills.
Expecting Asa
Carlsson to demolish the Indonesian girl Wynne Prakusya, I went to the
little room where hard Rock Café was catering for the tournament
organisers, player service staff, umpires, and a few other people involved
in the tournament for lunch. I had been going there for lunch since being
invited by the tournament director?s wife, and it was nice to have decent
meals at a convenient time/location. I was right, and I hadn?t even finished
lunch when Asa finished her match, a 6-3 6-0 demolition. I finished up
my food and went to catch Laurence Courtois and Amelie Cocheteux. I had
missed Laurence?s match the day before, and was still upset over Amelie?s
win over Jelena Kostanic, so this was the opportunity to kill two birds
with one stone.
Laurence started
out a little slow, and Amelie took command of the match, going to a 4-1
lead. However, here, Laurence started playing better tennis and took three
games in a row, breaking Amelie back twice in a row to bring it to 4-all.
Amelie finally held serve, and Laurence had to serve to stay in the match.
She not only held serve, but held it at love. By this time, Amelie was
really steaming. She had been tossing her racquet around and slamming balls
since 4-2. Laurence broke again to go up 6-5, and would serve for the set.
However, errors started creeping in for her, and Amelie got a 40-love lead.
She took the next point to bring it to a tie-break. There Laurence?s unforced
errors kept coming, and Amelie got a 4-1 lead. Laurence brought it to 5-3,
but Amelie took the next 2 points to take the first set 7-6 (3).
Things continued
going wrong for Laurence, and a lot of errant shots gave Amelie a break
at 1-all to go up 2-1. Errors from Amelie gave Laurence the break back
at love. There came that Christmas spirit again. Amelie then squandered
a 30-love lead to give Laurence game point, and she got the game.
Laurence got
into trouble again on her service game, but both players kept it even in
the third set. At 4-3, Laurence took a toilet break to change her shirt
which was soaked, and Amelie had to keep moving to keep from getting cold.
She started to serve a few times, but the umpire asked her to stop, as
she was using match balls. She got a little annoyed, and walked around
briskly instead.
Laurence got
back soon enough, and looked a little refreshed. She played like it too,
and broke Amelie?s serve, losing only one point. The Frenchwoman then started
playing more aggressively to do the same, and served to stay in the set.
She got it, and it went to 5-all. It looked like Laurence was determined
to take it to three sets, she held her serve at love, but Amelie wasn?t
about to let all her hard work go to waste, and she also held serve at
love. Tie break in the second set as well.
Amelie immediately
got two mini-breaks, to go up 4-1, but gave them back. Amelie got another
break, and held it to take the match 7-6(3) 7-6(4). I went out to get my
inflatable ball from my car before the Kruger/Talaja match, as I had missed
catching Silvija after her earlier match in cheering for Anastasia against
Sarah Pitkowski, and didn?t want to miss my second chance. On the way back
to the courts, Laurence was sitting with a player friend on the sidewalk,
waiting for the bus to take them back to the hotel. I stopped to have a
few words, and she told me that she had a doubles match later. The schedule
for the day was pretty long, with 6 matches on one court and 5 on the other,
and the organisers hadn?t counted on nearly all of them turning out to
be titanic struggles.
Anyway, when
I got back, Silvija Talaja had taken to the court with Joanette, and they
were in the process of tossing the coin. Both players proceeded to warm
up, and it was nice to see both of them start well, the first match for
the day. Both players did well to hold their serves, until 2-1, when two
bad calls gave Joanette the first break. Silvija started having trouble
keeping her shots in, and squandered 2 break points to bring Kruger?s service
game to deuce. Silvija took the next 2 points and games went back on serve.
Joanette had
needed the wildcard because injury had hampered her performance during
the year, and she probably would have been seeded here otherwise. She and
Silvija ran each other all over the court, and both had some remarkable
gets and shots on the run. In terms of quality of play, this had to be
one of the best so far. At three all, Silvija got one break point and converted
it, consolidating it easily as well. Joanette then suddenly picked up her
game but it was too late, and Silvija took the first set 7-5.
Both players
held serve to open the second set, and Joanette was still carrying her
spectacular form from the first set. Silvija looked like she was doing
all she could to keep up with her. At 3-2, Joanette really started painting
the lines with her shots. She got the break and went to a 5-2 lead. Silvija
held serve, but failed to break, and Joanette evened it at 1 set all.
Silvija served
to open the third set, but couldn?t hold serve. She looked worn out and
tired. She was one of the hardest workers so far, I saw her on the practice
courts twice a day, and that was just when I went around. Joanette was
more relaxed, and apart from her mother, I didn?t see her hit with anyone
else. And how much good can hitting with her mother do her? Anyway, she
played out of this world, as she is perfectly capable of, and Silvija looked
to me like she had given up hope, even though she did try to keep up. What?s
more, Jelena Kostanic and Tina Pisnik had left her camp to go for their
doubles match on the other court. I went to watch the doubles match, and
I was right -- Joanette took the third set 6-0. She?s certainly justified
her wildcard here, and she?s my pick to take the title. A little coaching
on the sidelines never hurt, either.
From the earlier
matches, it was obvious that Jelena has the stronger service game, and
she started serving for her team. I had caught her on the practice courts
earlier and she had hardly begun to groove on her shots when the light
drizzle turned into a light rain, and she wisely asked to stop practice
in case she slipped and hurt herself. Considering that she hadn?t practised
before her match, Jelena started well. Both teams held serve, Jelena having
the easiest service game of all. Interestingly, Silvia Plischke was the
second seed in the singles draw, and had lost in the first round to her
doubles partner Rita Grande. So the two top seeds were done in by their
partners.
Jelena was pumping
her team up between each point, looking very bouncy on her feet and pumping
her fist, trying to motivate both her and her partner. She was the sole
Croatian survivor, and her team represented the only two active players
in her camp.
At 4-all, however,
Jelena?s service game went to deuce, and a good first serve got a blocked
return high in the air. Jelena called to take it, but slammed the ball
into the net 3 feet away. The Austrian/Italian team got the first break
to go up 5-4.
The youngsters
actually dug themselves out of a big hole and evened the set at 5-all,
despite a slight communication problem and Jelena nearly getting killed
when Rita Grande smacked a hard overhead right at her. Good thing Jelena
managed to get two steps backwards and turned around. The ball landed right
between her feet.
Relief was short-lived,
however, as RG/SP broke Tina?s serve and Silvia served for the set. JK/TP
got a 40-love lead, and needed all three points to bring it to a tie-breaker.
Jelena served first and got her point. Rita served and lost both points.
Tina served and got both points. 5-0, JK/TP! They nearly made it 6-0, but
Tina?s volley landed an inch wide. Jelena served a nice wide serve at 6-1
to force the errors from Silvia Plischke, and they youngsters took the
first set 7-6(1).
Down 15-40 on
her serve, Rita Grande got desperate, and for the second time, hit another
blazing overhead right at Jelena. It nearly took her head off, and I thought
Jelena looked a little dazed after that. I didn?t see any apology from
Rita both times, either. Nevertheles, Jelena shook it off and her team
constructed a point beautifully to take the next point and the break.
Tina started
to really serve well, and was the more active half of her team by now.
Some amazing rallies gave RG/SP break point, but they failed to convert
it. They immediately got another break point, but Tina hit a half-volley
that just dribbled over the net to save it. She turned around to high-five
Jelena (as they did on every point), and looked up to the sky (well, the
canvas roof, actually) as if to thank God.
After a long
point at 2-all, Tina had to run all the way to the back of the court from
the net to retrieve a lob, and couldn?t make it. Amusingly, she lightly
kicked the divider once with each foot, while her partner kicked the ball
over the net. Silvia Plischke and Rita Grande broke to go up 4-2, but JK/TP
took two games in a row at love to even it up at 4-all.
Then something
nice happened. A rather large bug had landed on court, and Silvia Plischke
tried to get it to fly away by lightly nudging it with her racquet. Since
it rained two days earlier, there had been a sudden appearance of bugs,
and I had seen several players stomping them rather violently (no names
here). When the bug refused to budge, Silvia picked it up with her racquet
and gently set it out of harm?s way. How nice is that?
The young team
then got a break on Rita?s serve, and took the match 7-6(1) 6-4. They joined
Anastasia Myskina and Sarah Pitkowski, and Rika Hiraki and Yuka Yoshida
in the doubles semifinals.
Next up was
Magdalena Grzybowska and Tamarine Tanasugarn vs. Laurence Courtois and
Alicia Molik. Mag was playing terribly, and Tammy was very supportive.
Before long, the pair lost the first set 6-2 to a very motivated looking
Laurence and fresh Alicia. I was starting to get the impression that Laurence
and Alicia were mild choke cases when they blew a lead in the second set
(as did the both of them in their singles matches), and Mag started playing
phenomenally to save her team. They stretched it to a tie-breaker, taking
it 7-6(2). It was 11pm by now, and a lot of people had had enough. Half
of whatever crowd had stayed to watch walked out of the stadium.
Alicia had run
around the court several times, and one time, she ran to the corner part
of the backdrop that opened into the player?s locker room corridor. She
ran through the swinging door, and disappeared for a few moments before
coming back on court. Of course, this got a bit of applause. She later
ran into backdrops or dividers several times, perhaps to motivate her team
a little with the applause. Mag and Tammy looked tired, and after the last
titanic struggle of the day, lost 6-3 in the third set. That signaled the
end of the tourney for Mag.