Serving it out. It’s a uniquely pressurized situation, equaled perhaps only by holing out at 18 when you’re one up in a golf tournament or nailing down the last strike of a close baseball game. In those two situations, the extra pressure comes from knowing that while you have the advantage, you can lose the whole thing with one hanging curve or hooked drive.
It’s not quite that bad in tennis. If you’re broken at 5-4, it’s only 5-5. But how many times have we seen everything turn around at that point? The match suddenly hinges on this one game, and you can throw out everything that's come before. This is a cruel fate for the server, who has outplayed her opponent for two sets but will have nothing to show for it if she doesn’t hold here. But no one ever said tennis wasn’t cruel.
If you watched the Nicole Vaidisova-Svetlana Kuzetsova match Thursday, you know where I’m going with this. Vaidisova, a 17-year-old playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, had been in total control from 3-5 in the first set until she stepped up to serve at 5-4 in the second with the French Open final on her racquet. Vaidisova had indeed outplayed Kuznetsova, her more experienced opponent, in all aspects of the game. She won points with her serve, moved the ball around and hit blistering return winners with her forehand, and defended well, hitting a few nice reflex forehands past Kuznetsova at the net. For her part, the Russian was lucky to stay within one break in the second. She had collapsed over the course of the last four games of the first, spraying balls and defending weakly. She was just as bad early in the second, but three of her shots landed dead on the line (much to the frustration of Vaidisova) and helped her hold a couple of tight service games. Having multiple balls land on the line is not necessarily a sign of someone playing well—nobody is dumb enough to aim for them.
At 5-4, Vaidisova was still in command. It took about four minutes for her to give it up. She shanked a forehand wide, had a call overruled against her after she thought she had hit a winner, and double-faulted at 15-40. Still, Vaidisova reached a tiebreaker, where she fought back from 2-4; when she hit a winner to make it 5-5, I think everyone in the stadium felt that she was going to win. Even at this point, Kuznetsova didn’t have much energy or momentum going for her.
It took about 10 seconds for the match to turnaround again. Vaidisova worked herself into an offensive position, but with a chance at a winning forehand, which she had been hitting all day, she backed up. Later in the point, she had an open court for a forehand putaway, but she went the wrong way and hit it into the alley.
Vaidisova was shell-shocked in the third and just went through the motions. She rushed everything, serving even as the umpire was telling the crowd to quiet down. By the end she was wiping away tears. Kuznetsova hung in decently and played well in the third, but she hit far fewer winners than Vaidisova. She won’t win on Saturday with that performance.
Afterward, Vaidisova said the right things. “I can be proud of myself, how I did, take some experience from that to my next tournament.” True, and a good attitude—but am I the only who hears an echo of the old Sharapova post-loss mantra: “I’m only 18, guys.” Let’s hope Vaidisova, a fellow IMG meal ticket in the making, can unprogram herself before its too late.
I thought Kim Clijsters looked nice and relaxed when she walked on court today. The smile, the casual walk—then the match began. From the beginning, she looked like she was fighting an uphill battle. I’ll go back to my sideview analysis again—from there, you could see the quick snap and explosiveness of Henin-Hardenne’s strokes contrasted with the long, labored motions of Clijsters. It was easy to see who had the more natural and potent game.
From a mental standpoint, there’s something in this all-Belgian match-up that makes Clijsters press. Many times she had mid-court forehands that she would normally knock off with ease but she ran up on them too quickly, making contact too far back and sailing the ball long. Worse, Clijsters seems to believe in Henin-Hardenne’s excellence, if not superiority. Up 4-3, 15-15 in the first, Henin-Hardenne ripped a backhand that Clijsters couldn’t handle. After the point, Clijsters simply nodded at how good Henin-Hardenne's shot was. That may sound sporting, but it’s not something a player does if she’s in a tight match against an opponent she thinks she should beat. In that case, no matter how good the shot is, she shows real anger. Clijsters had little anger out there today, just a sense of inevitable disappointment. By the end, she was hitting returns of serve backwards into the stands.
As for Henin-Hardenne, she was at her cat-like best from the beginning. It takes her no time at all to get her strokes firing on all cylinders. Seeing her live, it’s amazing how little backswing she uses on either side. It’s also amazing how well she can serve at 5-foot-5. She ended the first set with two aces.
Then there’s that one-handed backhand, by now a classic of the sport. I’d never noticed it before, but I get the feeling Henin-Hardenne saves that shot up for the right moments. There was the one at 4-3, 15-15 in the first, then another at 3-2 in the second that Clijsters couldn’t handle. Both times they surprised her opponent and turned around points where Henin-Hardenne appeared to be in trouble. “Just remember, I can always do THIS,” was the impression they made. No wonder Clijsters was impressed. And discouraged.
Who do you have on Friday? I’ll take Roger Federer in five and Rafael Nadal in four. Judging from their match in Rome a few weeks ago, it’s the steady depth of David Nalbandian’s shots that frustrates Federer; but in the end Nalbandian didn’t believe he could win that one, and he didn’t, going down 7-5 in a third-set tiebreaker despite having many chances. I think Ivan Ljubicic’s serve will give Nadal trouble, even on clay, but I don’t think he has quite the ground-stroke weaponry to knock him out. Nadal is vulnerable to big forehands (Blake, Mathieu), but Ljubicic’s isn’t that type of shot. Still, expect a battle; Nadal never wins easily, and Ljubicic won’t be intimidated.
Sightings
Cedric Pioline in black, smoking a cigarette and laughing with a ridiculously beautiful woman. I guess life is very, very good for all former professional athletes. Though I’m sure he’s crying on the inside.
Guillermo Vilas hacking around with a 3.5 level player, with his wife playing ball girl. (Her sweats looked like some kind of makeshift ball girl uniform.) Overheard: Vilas starting a sentence, “You see, the problem with the young guys these days…”
John McEnroe signing an autograph for a kid without breaking stride. He held the pen down for him, but the kid couldn’t catch up and had to chase after Mac for a while.
Finally, those cruel tennis photographers: As the Clijsters-Henin-Hardenne match went into the second set today, the cameras on pit row gradually migrated toward Henin-Hardenne. Like reverse vultures, they were going after the winner. Must be a tough feeling for the person who’s losing—kind of like when autograph-seeking kids at the U.S. Open start to bring their oversize tennis balls down to courtside as a match is coming to a close. You know you’re going to lose if they gather behind the other guy’s chair.