Hingis Foregoes the Ski Slopes to Open Hunting Season
by Priya Prasad
Once again showcasing the quality of the women's draw, the first
round match-up featured on center court had Justine Henin in action
against Barbara Schett. The heat was once again soaring, and had
conditions been a little milder, the Belgian would surely have been
in deeper trouble against Babsi. As it was, the Austrian looked like
her feet were cemented to the ground towards the end of the match,
and gave up after having fought so hard in the first. Justine is
still yet to find her form, and with the changes she's been making
over the last weeks, she might need a good handful of tournaments
more to settle down. One worries if her attention to gaining strength
will draw from the qualities that have gotten her thus far, as had
happened with Martina Hingis. Whatever comes in the following months,
though, we can be assured of Justine's enthusiasm for her tennis.
Speaking of the Swiss Miss, Martina Hingis was on court next
against Lisa Raymond, one of the handful of players who had
actually beaten her in her golden year (1997). Martina dropped only
two games in her first match since undergoing knee surgery, and looked
a renewed person in the press conference. Flashing her brilliant smile
and accommodating every question with a sunny disposition, Martina
expressed her happiness with the lack of expectation of her, and once
again felt the thrill of doing the hunting instead of being the hunted.
The break has given her time to think, and in the smartest move she's
made in recent times, the Swiss has decided to concentrate on building
her game, concentrating on her strokes and her tennis, what got her
to #1 in the first place, instead of her obsession with hitting the
ball harder. Her one regret: she couldn't go skiing following her
knee surgery, and once she had actually recovered enough to go skiing,
it was too late. I for one wish her the best of luck in her bid to
rediscover the tennis that will save us from the muscle contest that
is taking over the game.
Meanwhile, the elder of the Lapentti brothers crashed out of the
draw against Bohdan Ulihrach, who is unlikely to get past Andy
Roddick in the next round. Every point was a struggle for Marcelo
Rios against big-serving Ivan Ljubicic, but the Chilean has plenty of
mustard on his own serve to get through 6-7(5) 6-3 7-6(1) in yet
another match that depended on the first-serve percentage of both
players. Unfortunately for the Croat, he tried to push too hard and
missed going for the big shots, giving the match to the surly Rios.
While the Chilean has been excellent in obliging fans for photos and
autographs, he still has yet to develop a stomach for the media.
Out on center court, Sebastien Grosjean did indeed follow hot on the
heels of his best buddy Arnaud, bowing out to top Asian Paradorn
Srichaphan in two quick sets. The young Thai, riding high on the
success of the previous week, played without any pressure at all
against a rather tight Grosjean, and got the deserving 6-2 6-3 win.
That opens up the top half of the draw for either Max Mirnyi or
Guillermo Canas. Having done the hard work, Paradorn will probably
be too tired to make it through himself.
Qualifier Ramon Delgado played hard against fourth seed Guillermo
Canas, but couldn't finish off the match, and the Argentine only
had to hold steady against Delgado, who got shaken and fell apart
after losing the second set. To complete the men's second-round
lineup, Roger Federer only marginally escaped with a 7-6(5) 7-6(5)
win over Tommy Robredo in the second night match, following Xavier
Malisse's 6-3 win over Hicham Arazi, who then had to pull out of the
tournament. The second half of the draw is certainly the one to
watch, with Federer likely to meet Marcelo Rios in the quarterfinals
and the winner of that one to meet Roddick in the semis. In the top
half, Max Mirnyi looks good to make a relatively easy run to the
final.
The feature match of the day had to be the one between Anna
Kournikova and Serena Williams, although attendance was still poor
at the site of the 2000 Olympic Games. While Anna showed up in the
same aquamarine shorts with white belt and top as the previous day,
photographers were still more focused on the Russian than on Serena,
who donned a red one-piece with gold trim and gold shoes to match
her now blonde hair, an outfit only marginally harsher on the eyes
than her lurid fuchsia number from last year.
The American played strong in the first set, almost as if to put her
opponent in her place, but her service started to let her down in
the second set. Anna herself was doing well to be aggressive, not
giving an inch of ground to Serena's waning serve, and once again
showcased the tennis that had gotten her to the semifinals of
Wimbledon at such a young age. Not having any trouble with the pace
and showing her usual superb conditioning, Anna had no trouble
running down balls and did her best to play aggressive tennis,
absolutely frustrating her opponent. Serena got frustrated and
couldn't believe it when her serve got broken a second time after
she had gotten an early break back, to lose the second set 6-4.
The Williams sisters have never been really warmly received by the
Aussie crowd, and this year was no different. Suddenly aware that
they actually had a match on their hands, men, women, boys and girls
alike started cheering loudly for the Russian, hoping for her to
prove the critics wrong. Neither player
was visibly affected by the crowd, but Serena continued to struggle
to hold the pieces together, while Anna stuck with the relentless
attack. Unfortunately for the Russian, she started making absolutely
heartbreaking errors, sending too many shots long with her flat
groundstrokes, including three from inside the service line. Anna was
in the driver's seat, but couldn't finish off the points and had to
be content with her strong performance in the 2-6 6-4 3-6 loss.
Serena, on the other hand, while maintaining her aloof demeanor, will
have plenty to think about before her potential match against Amelie
Mauresmo.
In a final note, Tina Pisnik lost nine straight games before finally
getting on the scoreboard against Sandrine Testud. Always one to wear
her emotions on her sleeve, the Slovenian raised her hands in the
air, smile on her face and pumping her fist at finally winning a
game. Playing an atrocious game against Sandrine (who had done well
in shaking off the cobwebs after her wakeup call the previous week),
the Slovenian will appreciate some time to recover from her run.
There was no animosity between the two, though, and Sandrine had a
few words of encouragement for the youngster at the end of the match.
Testud next meets Henrieta Nagyova, who played against Arantxa
Sanchez-Vicario in a match that would have seemed less out of place
had it taken place 20 years ago. Both players played like someone had
tied them to the back of the court, hitting the ball to and fro in a
three-set torture session in which Henrieta's "aggressiveness"
eventually won her the match 6-1 2-6 6-3. A bleak performance from
both players, especially Nagyova who has constantly battled various
injuries in the last few years and is determined to climb back up
the rankings. In an interesting note, in her doubles match the night
before, Arantxa, who was playing with Daniela Hantuchova, had
constantly looked over to her support group between points, looking
not only for encouragement, but reinforcement, while her young
partner was totally focused on her game. The Slovak is eager to
learn how to play doubles from the best, and has done well in her
steep learning curve so far.
Tomorrow will see second round action in both draws, and the action
promises to hot up with an all-star lineup due on center court.
|
|
The views expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect those of this magazine.
https://tennis-ontheline.com/02syd05.htm © 2025
Last updated 26 September 2015
// -->
|