Big surprise at Pacific Life Open
Let's say you have a terrible serve because of some shoulder problems you once had and some psychological problems you now have. Let's say you're down 2-6, 2-5 against the woman who is arguably the best female tennis player in the world. What do you do?
If you're Elena Dementieva, you upset Justine Henin-Hardenne! In one of the freakiest semi-finals I've seen in a while, that's exactly what happened. Henin-Hardenne served for the match at 5-2 and couldn't close. She served for the match again at 5-4 and couldn't close. Dementieva brought it to 5-all and broke Henin-Hardenne to win the set. The third set was typical Dementieva--it takes her two sets to get loose, and by then, she's very dangerous.
Dementieva had to serve for the match twice. She was unable to close at 5-4, but did it at 6-5. Half of the games were breaks. Dementieva couldn't hold her serve because, well, Dementieva can't hold her serve. Henin-Hardenne couldn't hold hers because she got tight, as she sometimes does in long matches, and Dementieva was gunning for her.
Commentator Mary Joe Fernandez is correct when she says that with Dementieva, the entire tennis paradigm is backwards: She knows she is going to lose her serve, so for her, the winning points come in breaking her opponents.
I believe that one day, Dementieva is going to overcome this service bugaboo and win a Grand Slam. She may even win one without overcoming it; she has twice been a Grand Slam finalist.
In the other semi-final, Martina Hingis--whose serve is badly in need of help--was overcome by Maria Sharapova, who brought her very best game to the court. However, it took Sharapova something like 2 hours and 40 minutes to beat Hingis in straight sets, and the score--6-3, 6-3--does not reflect what went on. Hingis is the same genius she always was, and she is even hitting the ball harder, but if she doesn't get some help with that serve, tournament wins may elude her. I hope she gets a service coach (Nick Bollettieri, could you give her a call, please?) because I would love to see Hingis win some tournaments and at least one more Grand Slam. Her game still outclasses everyone else's.
If you're Elena Dementieva, you upset Justine Henin-Hardenne! In one of the freakiest semi-finals I've seen in a while, that's exactly what happened. Henin-Hardenne served for the match at 5-2 and couldn't close. She served for the match again at 5-4 and couldn't close. Dementieva brought it to 5-all and broke Henin-Hardenne to win the set. The third set was typical Dementieva--it takes her two sets to get loose, and by then, she's very dangerous.
Dementieva had to serve for the match twice. She was unable to close at 5-4, but did it at 6-5. Half of the games were breaks. Dementieva couldn't hold her serve because, well, Dementieva can't hold her serve. Henin-Hardenne couldn't hold hers because she got tight, as she sometimes does in long matches, and Dementieva was gunning for her.
Commentator Mary Joe Fernandez is correct when she says that with Dementieva, the entire tennis paradigm is backwards: She knows she is going to lose her serve, so for her, the winning points come in breaking her opponents.
I believe that one day, Dementieva is going to overcome this service bugaboo and win a Grand Slam. She may even win one without overcoming it; she has twice been a Grand Slam finalist.
In the other semi-final, Martina Hingis--whose serve is badly in need of help--was overcome by Maria Sharapova, who brought her very best game to the court. However, it took Sharapova something like 2 hours and 40 minutes to beat Hingis in straight sets, and the score--6-3, 6-3--does not reflect what went on. Hingis is the same genius she always was, and she is even hitting the ball harder, but if she doesn't get some help with that serve, tournament wins may elude her. I hope she gets a service coach (Nick Bollettieri, could you give her a call, please?) because I would love to see Hingis win some tournaments and at least one more Grand Slam. Her game still outclasses everyone else's.
posted by Diane at 1:28 PM
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