Appelmans and Dokic Take It To the Limit
by Christopher Gerby
Virginia Ruano-Pascual vs. Vanessa Webb
Singles: First Round
Centre Court
In a quirky bit of scheduling, the first Centre Court match of the
week featured two players ranked outside the Top 100. To be fair,
though, Virginia Ruano-Pascual has established herself as one of the
best doubles players in the world and Vanessa Webb is a former NCAA
standout. Oh, and Webb also happens to be Canadian, which explains
this first round match getting the show court treatment. The first
game showcased most of Webb's pros and cons. She constantly used
her lefty serve and slice backhand in advancing to the net. However,
she missed some volleys and also committed two double faults. Webb
survived two break points in holding for 1-0 and Ruano-Pascual
weathered a whopping five before evening the set at 1. They continued
on serve to 4-4, with the steady Spaniard having survived another
scare in Game 8. At 30-40 in the ninth game, nerves may have gotten
the best of Webb. She pushed a backhand volley into the net, giving
Ruano-Pascual a 5-4 lead and an opportunity to serve out the set.
Webb got to 30-30 in Game 10, but then missed a sitter forehand and
buried a return in the net. "Vivi" hadn't done anything spectacular,
but was the more consistent player in the 6-4 opening set.
With Webb up 2-1 (on serve) in the second, Ruano-Pascual took an
injury timeout for a problem with her foot. After receiving treatment,
though, her movement appeared to be just fine and she held for 2-2.
Webb gave herself all kinds of trouble in Game 5, double faulting
twice in a row and eventually dropping serve by shanking a backhand
volley wide. Taking full advantage, Ruano-Pascual rolled through
an easy service game, pumping her fist after an overhead smash gave
her a 4-2 edge. However, Webb held for 3-4 and got right back on
serve by winning a weird eighth game (in which Ruano-Pascual argued
a line call and badly mis-hit a backhand on break point). The
momentum then took another sharp swing back into the Spanish direction
as Ruano-Pascual's accurate passing shots gave her a 15-40 lead.
Webb rallied to deuce and the crowd tried to fire her up with some
rhythmic clapping, but two consecutive forehand winners gave
Ruano-Pascual a 5-4 advantage.
Down but not out, Webb flicked in a reflex backhand volley to take a
30-40 lead in Game 10. Alas, Ruano-Pascual continued to make some of
her best shots when she needed them most. A winning smash got her
back to deuce and a forehand laser down the line gave her match point.
The long rally which followed ended with Webb pushing a backhand over
the baseline, drawing a collective sigh from the partisan crowd.
Virginia Ruano-Pascual had played solid tennis in her 6-4, 6-4 victory,
but Vanessa Webb knew she'd squandered some chances. "There were just
stupid mistakes here and there, I think, just some easy misses," Webb
said of a match which saw her double fault nine times and brick several
key volleys. "Normally I'm not that erratic...I took my eye off the
ball a couple times and a few points really cost me."
Annie Miller vs. Erika de Lone
Singles: First Round
Court 7
If you're a regular On The Line reader, you're probably familiar with
the Annie Miller story by now. Just as she was climbing to a career
high ranking of #40 in the world in 1998, Miller left the WTA Tour
and enrolled at the University of Michigan. Two years and one
surgery later, Miller is tentatively embarking on a comeback. It
didn't start promisingly -- she took a humbling 6-1, 6-2 loss to
Anna Kournikova at Stanford and lost a pair of three-set qualifying
matches in subsequent hard court events. For the time being she
carries a protected injury ranking of 43, but her winless record over
the past 12 months gives her an actual ranking of 866. If Miller's
comeback were to gain any momentum, it would have to start here
against De Lone, a solid veteran who works hard but doesn't have any
big weapons. De Lone's perserverance did pay off last year, as success
on the challenger circuit valuted her into the Top 100.
De Lone survived a double fault in the opening game, snuck out a break
in the second game, and took a 3-0 lead with a winning backhand down
the line. Miller removed her Nike cap during the changeover -- perhaps
deciding that was the problem for her slow start -- and promptly
notched a service hold for 1-3. De Lone won Game 5 handily, though,
and with the early afternoon sun beating down, Miller decided the cap
was a good idea after all. Shaky as her serve and returns looked
early on, Miller can still do serious damage with her hard, flat
groundstrokes. A great running forehand from Miller forced a De Lone
error to close out Game 6. Forehand winners then carried Miller to a
15-40 lead against De Lone's serve. The game went to deuce, but Erika
finally gave it away with back-to-back double faults. Miller actually
mumbled "sorry," unhappy to have gotten her first service break in
that manner. From that point forward, though, she started earning
her success. Big Miller groundies were key to a hold for 4-4 and a
break for 5-4. Suddenly serving for the set, Annie stormed out to a
40-0 lead and crunched a forehand winner down the line. First set to
the semi-retired Michigan native, 6-4.
De Lone finally got back on track, serving well in a hold for 1-0.
Not yet used to the new changeover rule, Miller sat down for a few
moments before realizing her mistake and apologizing. She then got a
bad case of the yips on her second serve. Miller overcame two double
faults in holding for 1-1, but threw in her sixth and seventh doubles
of the day as De Lone broke for 3-1. Undeterred, Miller broke back
for 2-3, once again being bailed out by her forehand. Game 6 was a
back-and-forth doozy, going to three deuces before De Lone drilled a
swinging backhand volley winner (which Miller sportingly declared a
"good shot" as it whizzed past). That gave De Lone a break point,
converted when Miller netted a backhand. After an exchange of service
holds, De Lone's 4-2 lead was 5-3. Miller was gallant in fending off
a pair of set points, but her form was really fading in and out. De
Lone put an exclamation point on her 6-3 win of the set, ending an
all-court rally with an accurate forehand pass.
At 1-1 in the final set, De Lone grabbed a 0-40 lead against the
spotty Miller serve. Staring down the barrel of another disappointing
loss, the Michigan native regained the form which once upon a time
enabled her to defeat Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce. Striking
deep, accurate groundstrokes, Miller won five points in a row to
secure a 2-1 lead. As Miller's quality of play improved, De Lone's
started to fall off. Annie broke at 30, held at 15, and broke at
love to go up 5-1. At 15-15 in Game 7, De Lone badly butchered a
backhand volley and groaned. She could obviously see the match
slipping away now. Two points later, a defensive shot from De Lone
fluttered in the air and seemed to be going wide, but Miller swung
anyway, ripping a forehand winner. It was a decisive end to an
impressive third set performance -- Annie Miller earned her first
victory since the 1998 US Open by a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 count. Whether a
showing like this will compel Miller to postpone her studies and
return to the Tour full-time remains to be seen, but finally getting
over that first hurdle had to feel good. She'll face a considerably
higher hurdle on Tuesday afternoon, meeting # 3 seed Conchita Martinez
on Centre Court.
Sabine Appelmans vs. Jelena Dokic
Singles: First Round
Centre Court
With 28-year-old Sabine Appelmans ranked 26th in the world and
17-year-old Jelena Dokic ranked 39th, this figured to be an evenly
matched battle of youth versus experience. Was it ever! The pattern
was clear early on -- Dokic would dictate play, making the majority of
the winners and errors, while Appelmans scampered around and kept the
ball in play. Dokic got an early 4-2 edge, but Appelmans came back,
serving well and shaking off a clearly wrong line call to snare a
5-4 lead. Dokic is one tenacious teen, though, and she got into a
first set tiebreak. Appelmans got the better of the early rallies
there, building up a 5 points to 3 lead. However, a running Appelmans
sent a forehand wide for 5-4 (and almost did one of her trademark
splits) and netted a backhand for 5-5. Dokic then earned set point,
getting great depth on a backhand winner for 6-5 and raising a
clenched fist. Appelmans blasted a service winner for 6-6, but a
backhand error allowed Dokic another set point at 7-6. This one was
on the Aussie's serve and she made good. Dokic sent Appelmans
scrambling all over the court before finally ripping a cross-court
backhand winner to win the 'breaker 8-6.
Appelmans, who has strongly hinted that she may retire following next
month's Olympic Games, gamely battled back, breaking Dokic to open
set # 2. Sabine and Jelena both did a fine job of protecting their
serve for the remainder of the set, so that early break proved huge
for Appelmans. Leading 5-4, 40-15, the lefty banged home her fourth
ace of the day to claim the set 6 games to 4. Having already dueled
for more than an hour and a half, the gritty competitors embarked on
a third set. The first four games went with serve and it looked as
if the fifth would when Dokic -- leading 40-30 -- executed a nice
looking drop shot. However, the speedy Appelmans tracked it down and
delicately flipped back a forehand winner. Two Dokic errors later,
the Belgian had the set's first break and a 3-2 lead.
Somewhere
around the two hour mark, either nerves or fatigue set in and a
sudden rash of service breaks took hold. Dokic broke for 4-4, was
in turn broken for 4-5, and got the break right back for 5-all.
A double fault put Dokic behind 30-40 in Game 11. Appelmans then
ripped what appeared to be a winning backhand return and was halfway
into a celebratory gesture when the ball was called out. Bugged by
dodgy line calls all afternoon, Sabine simply looked stunned. Two
points later, a Dokic backhand clipped the tape and dropped over the
net for 6-5. Jelena raised her hand in apology; Sabine dropped her
racquet in dismay. There was still some fight left in Appelmans,
though. She held at 15, sending the match into a winner-take-all
tiebreak. Here's how it unfolded...
- JD serves first, but nets a backhand -- 1-0 APPELMANS
- SA puts away an easy forehand -- 2-0 APPELMANS
- SA swings an ace out wide -- 3-0 APPELMANS
- JD rips a forehand winner -- 3-1 APPELMANS
- SA sends a backhand barely wide and complains about the call -- 3-2 APPELMANS
- SA makes a forehand error and swipes at the court with her racquet -- 3-3
- SA nets a backhand and screams at herself -- 4-3 DOKIC
- SA steers a lunging forehand wide -- 5-3 DOKIC
- SA catches the baseline with a backhand -- 5-4 DOKIC
- JD puts a backhand return in the net -- 5-5
- JD again fails to put a backhand return in play -- 6-5 APPELMANS
- JD goes for too much on a backhand, driving it wide -- 7-5 APPELMANS
So ended 2 hours and 27 minutes of tense, roller-coaster action between
two very determined baseliners. In what may be her final tournament on
Canadian soil, Sabine Appelmans notches a big 6-7, 6-4, 7-6 win. In
the second round, she'll meet either Anna Kournikova or Cara Black
(whose evening bout will be summarized momentarily...)
Centre Court ceremony:
Continuing a custom started here in 1996, the first night match was
preceded by a special parade of players. Nearly everyone from the
main singles and doubles draws took turns strolling into the stadium
and being acknowledged by the crowd. Some (like a lipstick-sporting
Anne-Gaelle Sidot) were dressed to the nines. Others opted to just
wear their warmup gear. The biggest ovation of the lot went to
Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, who has long endeared herself to the Montreal
public with her attempts to speak French. Runners-up on the applause
meter were Jennifer Capriati and Martina Hingis, who was then called
on to deliver a speech. Judging by the rambling oratory she came up
with here, Martina probably shouldn't run for office. She mentioned a
trip to this tournament as her "first time in America," noted how
happy she was to be in France (before correcting herself), and
threatened to light up a cigarette (in honor of du Maurier's final
year sponsoring this event). Let's hope Hingis goes on to demonstrate
better command of her tennis strokes than her verbal volleys.
Anna Kournikova vs. Cara Black
Singles: First Round
Centre Court
As contrast-of-style matches go, this one was pretty intriguing.
Cara Black -- younger sister of ATP Tour stalwarts Byron and Wayne --
came out playing her usual brand of solid, underwhelming, fundamentally
sound tennis. Anna Kournikova, on the other hand, was swinging for
the fences. Going for winners early in every rally, Kournikova fell
into a 0-40 hole before stringing five successful points together for
a 1-0 lead. Kournikova then rolled all the way to 4-0, peppering
Black with mighty forehands and even ending that fourth game with a
nifty stop volley. However, feast turned back into famine for the
blonde bombshell. The impressive forehand winners gave way to wild,
impatient forehand errors and the 4-0 lead shrunk to 4-3. The
multi-deuce eighth game featured a little bit of everything, but
ended with Black meekly dumping a forehand into the net to drop
serve and trail 3-5. Anna wasted little time serving it out. She lost
just one point in the ninth game, clinching one of the more topsy-turvy
6-3 sets you'll ever see.
Black and Kournikova were both broken in their first service games of
the second set. Anna then grabbed a 15-40 lead against Cara's serve,
squandered the first break point with a wildly errant return, and
went up 2-1 by putting away an overhead. At deuce in Game 4,
Kournikova tried to run down a Black drop shot, only to hear a "not
up" call, with which she vigorously disagreed. The call stood and
Black immediately broke serve with a down-the-line forehand. Black
and Kournikova finally got their service games in order, holding to
4-4. However, Cara crumbled in Game 9, double faulting at 15-40 to
put Kournikova one game away from victory. Anna got to match point,
but a couple fans became too exuberant, shouting out before her second
serve. That may have rattled her, as she double faulted. Two
more match points then came and went, Black valiantly fighting for
survival. After the third deuce, Kournikova committed two unforced
errors in a row, tying the set at 5. As close as the match had come
to being over, this deadlock was a fairly stunning turn of events.
Black held for 6-5, Kournikova matched that for 6-6, and the second
set improbably went into a tiebreak. Still dictating play with her
flat, aggressive groundstrokes, Kournikova scored four winners and
two errors on her way to a 4-3 lead. Black netted one forehand for
3-5 and mis-hit another for 3-6, giving the 11th seed triple match
point. Kournikova once again failed to close it out, sending a
forehand long to make the tiebreak score 6-4. However, match point # 5
was the last the glamour girl would need. Black sent a forehand just
long, ending a bizarre 6-3, 7-6 triumph for Anna Kournikova. Probably
not the way she would have scripted it (particularly that hiccup at
5-4 in the second), but a win's a win. Kournikova will meet Sabine
Appelmans in the next round.
Grande/Habsudova vs. Kolbovic/Pelletier
Doubles: First Round
Court 1
How about this for a fun nightcap: the Canadian wild card tandem of
Renata Kolbovic and Marie-Eve Pelletier (in matching powder blue
dresses) versus established veterans Rita Grande and Karina Habsudova.
It was appealing enough for the hundreds of fans who migrated from
Centre Court to Court 1 once the Kournikova match concluded. I arrived
to find Grande/Habsudova leading 6-2, 1-2. The growing crowd seemed
to inspire the Canadian players, though, as a dipping Pelletier
return completed a break of Grande for 3-1. Two more breaks (of
Kolbovic and Habsudova) advanced the score to 4-2. 18-year-old
Pelletier then held easily for a 5-2 lead. There was much rejoicing
among the fans, some of whom seemed to have knocked back a few cold
ones on their way over. However, reality set in a bit when Grande
held at love for 3-5 and hit a winning forehand return down the line
to complete an easy break of Kolbovic for 4-5. Pelletier and Kolbovic
weren't ready to roll over just yet, though. At 15-30 in the
Habsudova service game, Marie-Eve threw a beautiful lob over a leaping
Grande to earn double set point. Habsudova then steered a forehand
wide, surrending the set 6 games to 4.
The third set didn't start promisingly for the Canadians -- Pelletier
completely whiffed on a fairly routine overhead. Fast forward to
30-40, when Pelletier engaged Habsudova in an almost hilariously
prolonged cross-court baseline duel. It finally ended when Habsudova
ripped a backhand down the line (past Kolbovic), breaking for a 1-0
lead. Games then went with serve all the way to 5-3, when Pelletier
served to stay alive. Despite all the excitement she and Kolbovic
had helped generate, a victory wasn't in the cards. At 30-40, Grande
put away one last backhand volley to finish off a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
dashing of the crowd's hopes. Kolbovic and the immensely popular
young Pelletier left to a rousing ovation; Grande and Habsudova
move on to a second round meeting with Martina Hingis and Nathalie
Tauziat.
Monday's other doubles results:
- Qualifying final: Garbin/Husarova def. Maleeva/Petrova
- 1st Round: Cristea/Dragomir def. (6) Martinez/Sanchez-Vicario: 7-5, 6-4
- 1st Round: (7) Huber/Schett def. Cocheteux/Dechy: 6-3, 6-3
- 1st Round: Serna/Shaughnessy def. Frazier/Schlukebir: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
- 1st Round: Horn/Montalvo def. Drake/Webb: 6-4, 6-4
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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