US Open, DAY 9

Capriati and bad calls stop Serena
Alves won't ump anymore; Roddick, Hewitt, J-Jo, Haas, Dementieva move on

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Ron Cioffi/TR.net

Jen fought while Stefano and Steven cheered.

FROM THE US OPEN – Serena Williams feels she was ripped off in her 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Jennifer Capriati in the US Open quarterfinals Tuesday night. Yes, chair umpire Mariana Alves made a terrible mistake in the opening game of the third set, over-ruling her lines person on a backhand that was two inches in. That over-rule ended up meaning that she won't officiate the rest of the tournament.

Serena also received two lousy calls in the match's final game, the worst one coming on the final deuce, when her hooking forehand kissed the tape and was called out. One point later, she dumped a forehand into the net and the game's most dominant player of 2002 and most of 2003 ended her 2004 season without a Slam.

"I'm very angry and bitter right now. I felt cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed," Williams said of the overrule. Serena said it brought up memories of Venus's loss to Karolina Sprem, where umpire Ted "Where am I now" Watts falsely awarded a point to Sprem in the second-set tiebreak. "At first, I thought it was another Wimbledon conspiracy," Serena said.

While Serena clearly lost some sprit because of the early third-set call, it is not why she lost. She fell because Capriati fought harder, was far more consistent in long rallies and kept her head on straight during the big points, Serena lost because she didn't' serve big enough when she needed to, or return with enough force, or come to net when she should. She played tentative and sloppy at times, while Capriati had a vision of how to win and stuck with it.

"She had a game plan to get every ball back and wait until I made mistakes," Serena said. "I don't think I played well. I think I played like an idiot."

Not quite, but her spirit was often missing. Had she kept up her high level from the first set, she may have walked a way with a straight-set win, but she knew Capriati was going to keep testing her in long and deep rallies and she didn't have the stomach for it. She was confounded by Capriati's change of pace with the chip backhand and lost the forehand to forehand battle.

Jennifer laid in wait all summer long planning her assault on this US Open and when it came time to avenge her harrowing night time loss to Justine Henin-Hardenne last year, she stayed mentally strong.

"I played smart, mixed up my shots and believed in myself. There were a couple times [the Henin-Hardenne match] went through my head and I said, 'I'm not going to let that happen again," Capriati said."It was a good thing to think about it. I said, 'No this is not going to happen again. I'm going to go for it the best I can.'"

Going for it for Capriati was making sure that Serena's legs ached in brutish rallies. In the end, her strategy worked, as Serena clanged 57 unforced errors while Capriati erred on only 29. But the match will always be remembered for the bad calls, which is what Serena spent the vast majority of her post match press conference talking about.

"I'm not making excuses," Williams said. "I didn't lose because of that. I probably should have closed her out in the second set. Even if the last game, I did have an opportunity to break. I had plenty of opportunities. But Serena did add that she was out of the tournament because "the lady didn't' want me to be in the tournament anymore. … I'd prefer she not umpire at my court anymore. She's obviously anti-Serena."

DEMENTIEVA DERAILS MAURESMO
In the semis, Capriati will face No. 6 Elena Dementieva, who stunned No. 2 Amelie Mauresmo 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (1). With the No. 1 ranking within her grasp, Mauresmo collapsed in the third-set tiebreak against the game Dementieva, who despite nursing a thigh injury, kept churning. Even though she lost, Mauresmo will go to No. 1 on Monday unless Lindsay Davenport wins the tournament. "No. 1 would be great anyway," Mauresmo said. But I would have loved to do it in a good way."

On the men's side, it appears that Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt are headed toward a semifinal showdown. Hewitt blasted Karol Beck 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 and Roddick torched Tommy Robredo in straight sets. Roddick will confront another huge server, Joachim Johannson, while Hewitt will face red-hot Tommy Haas.

"I'm playing the big points well," Hewitt said. "But a lot depends on the spur of the moment when you're are out there against the best players in the world. At the moment I'm happy with where my game is at. I'm ready for the challenge to try and step it up a notch. More than anything when you are out there playing against the best."