Huber, Van Roost, and Schett Strive To Survive
by Christopher Gerby
Barbara Schett vs. Silvija Talaja
Singles: First Round
Court 1
After making steady progress in the past few seasons, Barbara Schett
has come back to earth a bit in 2000, putting together a win/loss
record of just 19-15. She got the 14th seed here in Montreal, though,
and was a slight favorite against Croatian slugger Silvija Talaja.
Schett and Talaja play quite similarly, their games centered around
strong groundstrokes from both wings. They were evenly matched in
the early going here, but Schett seemed to lose her way after misfiring
on a backhand to fall behind 1-3. Talaja held easily for 4-1, snuck
out another break for 5-1, and closed out a 6-1 win of the set with an
ace. Talaja had only played one hard court match (a loss to Alexandra
Stevenson) since March, but she was in sterling form here.
After a double fault in the opening game of Set 2, Schett whacked a
ball high over the Court 1 bleachers, incurring a mandatory "ball
abuse" warning from chair umpire Cristina Olausson. When Schett then
steered a backhand wide on break point, one got the impression this
could be a quick victory for Talaja. Trailing 1-3 and 0-40,
Barbara set herself to serve to the deuce court...only to see Talaja
correctly standing on the ad side. That blatant display of lost
focus may have been exactly what Schett needed to wake herself up.
She came all the way back to win that game, break for 3-3, and add a
love hold for 4-3. With former doubles partner Patty Schnyder looking
on from the stands, Schett was striking the ball with renewed
confidence. After an exchange of holds made the score 5-4, the
Austrian earned triple set point against Silvija's serve. She'd only
need one chance -- Schett ripped a cross-court forehand winner to
complete a love break and a 6-4 win of the set.
The first six games of Set 3 went with serve, but several of them were
grueling affairs punctuated by long rallies and forced errors. Holding
break point at 3-3, Talaja broke a string on her racquet, but Schett
instinctively went for a down-the-line winner...and barely missed.
Displeased with the line call, her shot selection, or both, Schett
angrily whacked the net with her racquet. A good service game from
Talaja made it 5-3 and Schett stayed alive with a hold for 4-5.
Talaja still had the advantage and wasn't about to give it
away. From 30-15 in Game 10, she smacked two aces in a row, forcefully
closing out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 upset. A dejected Barbara Schett tossed
her racquet to her chair and made a very brisk exit from Court 1.
Next up for Silvija Talaja: a second round meeting with Nathalie
Dechy.
Anke Huber vs. Sarah Pitkowski
Singles: Second Round
Centre Court
Anke Huber ran up a 3-0 record in her previous meetings with France's
pesky Sarah Pitkowski, but the little redhead doesn't discourage
easily. I took my press box seat just as Pitkowski was guiding a
backhand winner down the line to break Huber and take a 4-3 lead.
Two easy holds later, Pitkowski was serving for the set at 5-4. Game
10 turned into a three-deuce thriller, with nearly every point decided
by Huber's forehand. A good side-to-side rally on set point ended
with Anke clocking a forehand long. Pitkowski's quickness and
consistency had taken her to a surprising 6-4 win of the opening
set. However, Anke really got her act together in the second set.
Cutting down on her errors, she quickly sprinted to a 5-1, 40-0
lead. Pitkowski then laced a clean return winner into the corner
which was called out by chair umpire Lynn Welch. As Pitkowski
complained, Huber quietly went over, checked for a mark, and
decided the ball really was in. Welch announced "replay the point,"
but Huber insisted the point be given to Pitkowski. Of course,
sportsmanship is easy when you've got a big lead. Pitkowski netted a
return on the very next point to give Huber a 6-1 win of the set.
After Pitkowski returned from a shirt change break, the tense third
set got underway. Huber overcame an incredible running forehand
winner by Pitkowski to break for a 1-0 lead. However, Sarah came
right back, winning the next two games. Anke furiously slammed her
racquet after an error in Game 4, but fought off a break point in
holding for 2-2. Pitkowski won Game 5 with a nifty scoop forehand
winner on the dead run and then broke Huber at love to take an
imposing 4-2 edge. Now it was Anke's turn to reclaim the momentum,
getting to 30-40 on the Pitkowski serve. On break point, a Pitkowski
backhand which looked closer to the inside of the sideline than the
outside was called out. Sarah flipped out, but there was no way Huber
would give up this point. The 25-year-old marched to her chair,
back on serve at 3-4.
Huber's form had been fading in and out for much of the set, but
she came through in the clutch, holding for 4-4 and breaking for 5-4.
She now had an opportunity to serve for a spot in the third round,
but nothing would come easy in this match. Huber double faulted
twice in a row, giving Pitkowski a break point at 30-40. A couple
errors from Pitkowski gave Huber a match point, but she lost it by
netting a forehand. Demonstrative at ever, Anke threw her hands up
in frustration. The # 7 seed finally did get her victory, though,
as two more forehand errors from Sarah Pitkowski ended the 4-6, 6-1,
6-4 battle. "She gets a lot of balls back, she's moving well and
you always know that you have to work for every point," Huber
said afterwards of her diminutive opponent. "I could have played
better, but I'm happy I won."
Conchita Martinez vs. Annie Miller
Singles: Second Round
Centre Court
After scoring her first victory in nearly two years on Monday,
semi-retired Annie Miller's reward was a Centre Court showdown with
reigning French Open champion Conchita Martinez. Clad in an eye-catching
lime green dress which almost perfectly matched the court surface,
perhaps Miller's plan was to blend into her surroundings and
disappear. That was almost a reasonable inference to make a few
games into this lopsided encounter. Struggling mightily against the
versatile Spaniard, Miller dropped the first four games of the match.
Martinez was looking very relaxed, moving Miller around and taking
advantage of every short ball. Annie even tried some uncharacteristic
moonballs, unwisely trying to beat Conchita at her own game. Miller
did stake a 40-0 lead in Game 5, but Martinez won the next five points
and extended her lead to 5-0. A Miller forehand floated long on
set point, concluding the first set bagel job after just 26 minutes.
Martinez called for the trainer in between sets, but from my vantage
point I couldn't tell what the specific situation was. I don't
believe Conchita was ever treated for an actual injury and she
certainly wasn't playing like she had one. Martinez quickly went
ahead 2-0 in the second set. Game 3 went to four deuces, with Miller
gamely trying to hold serve. However, she was once again wide with a
forehand on break point and the deficit increased to 0-3. Still on a
mission to save face, Miller earned three break points in Game 4, but
Martinez kept fending them off. The third was an unbelievable rally --
Miller taking control of the point, losing control of the point,
scrambling to hit a ball which had gotten behind her, and finally
watching helplessly as Martinez whipped a backhand winner down the
line.
Miller double faulted on her way to losing yet another service game
and falling behind 0-6, 0-5. The second set really had been
somewhat competitive, though, and Martinez apparently decided to
reward Miller by giving her one game. After taking a 15-0 lead,
Martinez made four undisciplined-looking errors in a row. Miller was
finally on the board at 1-5 and couldn't help smiling when she was
granted a round of applause. I suppose only Conchita knows for sure
whether that one game was an intentional gift. At any rate, she then
got back to the task at hand, breaking Miller for the sixth time to
finish a 6-0, 6-1 drubbing. The numbers told the story for Annie
Miller -- a paltry 2 winners, compared to 24 unforced errors. However,
for the rest of Miller's story, you can check out a transcript of the
one-on-one interview I conducted with her
after the match.
Hingis/Tauziat vs. Grande/Habsudova
Doubles: Second Round
Court 1
With regular doubles partner Alexandra Fusai absent for a couple
weeks, Nathalie Tauziat has found an OK replacement -- none other
than Martina Hingis. Despite a 13 year gap in their ages, Hingis
and Tauziat have a bit in common. Both are fantastic doubles players
and both have a penchant for making
blunt comments which get them in trouble. (In Tauziat's case,
outspokenness even led to her being left off the French squad for the
upcoming Olympics.) Their partnership got off to a rocky start, as
they suffered a surprising loss to Els Callens and Dominique van Roost
last week in Los Angeles. However, the # 2 seeds made pretty short
work of their opening match in Montreal. Tauziat was all over the
net in the last few games and it was she who put away a winning backhand
volley to wrap up a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Rita Grande and Karina
Habsudova. In a reversal of last night's ending, this time it was a
defeated Grande and Habsudova leaving Court 1 to a nice ovation.
Hingis and Tauziat, meanwhile, did their best to accomodate a huge
throng of autograph seekers.
Tuesday's first round doubles results:
- (5) Davenport/Kournikova def. Arendt/Bollegraf: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
- (8) Black/Likhovtseva def. Appelmans/Tarabini: 6-1, 6-3
- Coetzer/McNeil def. Dokic/Stubbs: 2-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2)
- Boogert/Oremans def. De Lone/Schnyder: 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
- Po/Sidot def. Garbin/Husarova: 6-2, 6-4
- McShea/Selyutina def. De Swardt/Vis: 7-5, 6-3
Dominique van Roost vs. Kveta Hrdlickova
Singles: First Round
Court 1
The final match of the first round finally took place on Tuesday
evening. The reason for the delay: Dominique van Roost was still
in Los Angeles on Sunday, teaming with Els Callens to win the doubles
title at the estyle.com Classic. It's been quite a turbulent year
for Van Roost. After watching her mother tragically lose her battle
with cancer in March, a distraught Dominique considered retirement.
However, shortly after coming back she pulled off the biggest win of
her life, upsetting Lindsay Davenport at the French Open. A few
weeks later, she toppled Davenport again, this time on a grass court
at Eastbourne. Across the net from her tonight was Kveta Hrdlickova,
a hard-hitting Czech who bears a facial resemblance to Natasha
Zvereva. Hrdlickova's results have been inconsistent, but her goal
of reaching the Top 20 next year is realistic, since she can just
about knock the cover off the ball.
The match's first nine games all went with serve, but only because
Van Roost failed to capitalize on six break points and Hrdlickova
squandered two. As in the Schett-Talaja match, most of the games
were long, hard-fought, evenly-matched baseline wars. Now it was
just a matter of which player would break through on a big point.
It was Hrdlickova, ripping a forehand winner on her second set point
to break Van Roost for 6-4. Never one to quit, Van Roost began
imposing her will, snaring a 3-1 lead in the second set. Losing that
fourth game even prompted Hrdlickova's first outward show of emotion,
as she hit her shoe with her racquet. The Czech held for 2-3 and
then earned a break point chance. Van Roost seemingly got back to
deuce with a forehand winner, but chair umpire Lynn Welch overruled,
calling it out. Van Roost looked up in disbelief, but didn't bother
to argue. The set was back on serve at 3-all.
Hrdlickova's rocket forehand, which had gotten a bit out of control
early in the set, was back in gear now. It carried her to a hold
for 4-3 and a break for 5-3. The tournament's 12th seed was just
one game away from elimination. Still moderately effective with her
flat, deep groundstrokes, Van Roost took a 30-40 lead against
Hrdlickova's serve. However, she buried a backhand in the net on
break point. Two points later, Hrdlickova knocked off an easy smash
to seal the 6-4, 6-3 upset. It actually wasn't a bad performance
from Dominique van Roost -- she had more aces and fewer double faults
than usual -- but Hrdlickova was just a little too powerful and was
the better player on the big points. Kveta will look to extend her
run on Wednesday, as she takes on Jana Nejedly, the last Canadian still
going in this year's tournament.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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