LOSES SIX MATCH POINTS TO SELES

Why can’t Serena close?

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

It must have happened somewhere against someone, but pinpointing the match where Serena Williams lost her ability to close out opponents is as difficult as finding out what happened to the Acura car won by Venus last year in San Diego.

(Totaled? Stolen? Exchanged by Richard for a new Nikon lenses? Traded by Serena on Ebay for Princess of Wales cocktail cress?)

Serena came into Manhattan Beach as the two-time defending champ but she ran up against Monica Seles in quarters and couldn't convert one of her six match points in a 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (2) loss.

"I definitely should have closed it out on each chance. I guess you could say I got a little tight," said Serena, who committed slew of boo-boos to hand Seles the contest. "I made a ton of errors. I just made the wrong shots. I got crazy. I should definitely be in the semifinals, but I didn't do the right thing."

If memory serves us correctly, the last time '99 U.S. Open champ Serena had
really dug herself into a Grand Slam was '00 Wimbledon, when she froze up
against Venus in the semis. She has played wonderfully on occasion outside of
the Slams (like in winning '01 Indian Wells), but one hasn't had the sense
since then that she has a tremendous amount of confidence when the going gets
tight at the majors – especially against elite opponents. In her four Slams
since her tearful loss to Venus, she was bewildered by Davenport at the '00
U.S. Open, couldn't serve it out against Martina Hingis at the "01
Australian, and then completely collapsed emotionally in three-set defeats to
Jennifer Capriati at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

What's sad here is that when she's on and committed, Serena is as good as
anybody out there. But she's still immature and has a hard time understanding
her weaknesses. Ironically, when Venus was asked recently which player taught
her how to close, she said Serena. However, Venus was thinking of the '99
Serena, and added that maybe Serena can now look to her for inspiration.
Maybe Venus can lend her that '00 Wimby trophy, the one that could have been
hers.

Serena was also impressed by Seles, who up until two weeks ago, hadn't been a
standout three set player since early 1996. "She played great and she stayed
focused until the match was over,'' Williams said. "At the end it all boils
down to mental work. She always fights to the last ball. You can learn from
that."