Spanish Armada Rules On Saturday
by Priya Prasad
Semifinal day, and four out of the six contending parties were of the
red-and-yellow flag so often seen in tennis. The first of them on
court would be Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues, taking on Asa
Carlsson in the first singles semifinal. The sun was at its full
glory as usual, but the air was considerably more humid than the
previous few. Both players came on court looking very focused, Asa
with her steely gaze and Ana with her glassy stare.
As the warm-up began, the spectators got a glimpse of what the match
was going to be like. The Swede had long easy strokes while Ana's were
more tight and compact. The match began, but the crowd (and Asa, for
that matter) was stunned when the Spaniard took the first set 6-1,
looking about as challenged as she had against Tatiana Panova.
Late last year, Ana had said that she would need to improve her
physical strength to get anywhere in this game. She has done so
indeed, but it isn't so much the increased physical strength that is
propelling her game now. Rather, it is the fact that she can sustain
her intensity and muscle endurance that is giving her the edge she
needs. Generating good racquet-head speed for a heavy spin on the
ball, she continues to play a very different game compared to the
other Spanish players, a game more suited to hard courts than clay
(not that her results on clay are lacking).
Asa was absolutely blown away in the first set. She had played
Janette Husarova, Rosanna de Los Rios and Francesca Schiavone in the
previous rounds, players who obviously play a less intense game, and
the heaviness of the shots coming at her were too much. She couldn't
do much with the ball, and was pretty much subjected to letting the
Spaniard have her way on court.
The second set took an unexpected turn when Ana started to make a lot
more errors, obviously struggling to maintain her focus in the
blazing sun after having gotten through the first set so easily. Asa
managed to keep the ball in play enough to get the errors from her
opponent, and took the second set 6-4 much to everyone's surprise.
Typically, once Medina Garrigues realized that the match was even once again, and
that she was pretty much back to square one, either something clicked
in her head or the adrenaline took over. Ana started to gradually
play like she had in the first set again, taking a few games to get
back to full speed, but when she did, she made Asa look as helpless as
Natasha Zvereva had against Steffi Graf in that infamous 1988 French
Open final. The Spaniard barely clenched her fists after hitting the
winning shot to move into the final -- in her mind, it was a certainty
from the beginning.
Soon after, the all-Spanish semifinal commenced on centre court.
Despite being higher-ranked and favored by the local bookies, Gala
Leon Garcia didn't look like the favorite coming into the match.
She and Cristina Torrens Valero are best friends, and know
each other's games well, but Cristina's confident demeanor on court
so far was more assuring than Gala's volatility. Sure enough, it
wasn't long into the match that Gala's colourful personality reared
its head on court, and her racquet got a taste of the grainy red
clay.
One good thing about the match was that the crowd was equally
supportive of each player, half decidedly for one player and the
other half rooting for the other. The best thing about the match,
though, was the amount of respect shown by both players for her good
friend. Line calls that were close were immediately decided by
whichever player whose side the ball landed on, and the umpire had no
need to leave her chair. Clay court tournaments have their share of
line call dramas despite the marks left by the ball, and at one point,
Cristina was very surprised by the call made on the baseline, feeling
that there was clearly a space between the mark and the line, but
didn't make as much of a fuss of it as she could have before playing
on.
As expected, the match was a tough one, Gala playing her shots high
and deep, keeping Cristina in the back of the court. Cristina, who
would have preferred a more aggressive game, ad to be contented with
biding her time and playing consistently. While I had expected a
three-setter, Gala made life difficult for herself by playing one
good point, followed by one totally careless mistake, alternating
renewed hopes and total frustration.
Cristina took the match 7-6(2) 7-6(4), leaving Gala about as happy
about it as a volcano near Palermo that had seen increased activity
at the very same time of the day. That set up the final match-up, an
all-Spanish final between Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues and Cristina
Torrens Valero, a match that will see two distinct styles of play
despite the players' close ties.
Cristina will most likely look to use her experience and consistency,
mixed with aggressive play every couple of points, while Ana Isabel
will look to play aggressively throughout the match and avoid making
too many errors. Cristina's chances will increase the longer the
match runs, but whether or not she can make it run long is another
question. I personally give the edge to Ana Isabel, but expect a
good match between two confident players.
In the doubles final, Tathina Garbin and Janette Husarova were in
their matching red shirts once again, and were determined to take
advantage of the fact that one of their opponents (Ana Isabel Medina
Garrigues) had a singles final to think about the following day
while the other (Maria Jose Martinez) was dealing with an
injured shoulder. Janette had been steadily improving her game,
sparked by a marked increase in confidence in the last couple of
days, which was good since Tathiana was struggling with her own
problems.
The first set was rather disastrous for the crowd favorites,
although they managed to hang in there score-wise. The Spaniards were
taking control of points a little too easily, and even when they
found themselves in tight situations, Medina Garrigues' quick reflexes
usually saved the day. Janette was playing well, and showed a
distinct improvement tactic-wise from her previous match. Tathiana on
the other hand had spurts of genius in her obvious physical fatigue.
Ana Isabel kept up a high level of play throughout, not having any
obvious problems with the exception of a few errors off the baseline
in the second set, while Maria Jose Martinez was obviously struggling
with her shoulder on court. Add to that the fact that her big frame
limits her mobility, and the Spanish team had an obvious weakness.
Having lost the first set 6-4, Tathiana and Janette started to play
smarter tennis, keeping Ana honest at the net and throwing in choice
drop shots, none of which Martinez got to. Ana herself started to do
most of the running around. On one point, she actually ran diagonally
across the court, reached low for a beautiful drop-shot from Janette
that was about to hit the court for its second bounce, crashed into
the courtside seats, but managed to spin a beautifully angled
drop-shot in return anyway to win the point.
Tathiana's game started to pick up in the second set, perked by the
adrenaline and the crowd, and all of a sudden, the Spaniards found
themselves in a pickle and about to lose the second set 6-2. Ana
continued to play with a lot of emotion, while her counterpart
continued to present a weakness in the team. With her power taken
away from her and speed, reflex and net-game not exactly being her
strong points, Maria got increasingly frustrated as the match went
on, although she never stopped trying. She tried to make up for it
by urging her partner on, while her partner started to get frustrated
with the fact that she was putting in so much effort and still not
getting anywhere.
The third set was similar to the second with the only exception of
Janette's game breaking down. She suddenly started to make silly
unforced errors, and her volleys which had been working beautifully
so far (she managed to come up with volleys that stopped dead just
past the net despite having tennis balls absolutely blasted at her),
even netting an easy sitter a foot and a half away from the net.
Eventually, the Italian crowd was indulged as Tathiana and Janette
converted their fourth match point at 5-4 (Martinez serving) for the
title. The Spanish had black clouds over their heads, but
congratulated their opponents warmly before planting themselves in
their courtside seats. The Italian crowd was delighted for their
Tathi (Janette received little attention despite being an obviously
crucial factor), and they couldn't get more of their heroine. After
the appropriate trophy presentation, she was urged to give a speech,
in which she very thoughtfully thanked everyone from her partner to
the cooks to the drivers, and obliged the fans for autographs and
photos.
The real challenge came in exiting the court, though, and a barrier
of bodyguards had to charge through the crowd so that Tathiana and
Janette would actually be able to get to the locker room. A good
confidence booster for both players, both going through an important
phase in their careers, but there will be no rest for either as yet.
Their shared coach of 3 weeks now (Raoul Ratzinger) acknowledges the
need for a break, but has decided that ranking points are a little
more important now and that the break will come after a few more
weeks of play.
As for the runners-up, Martinez was her usual cheery self after
having had enough time to get over the loss, graciously signing
autographs and such, while Medina Garrigues hardly had a word to
say to anyone. The tournament is not yet over for her, and today's
loss will only serve to fuel her hunger for tomorrow's win.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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