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THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: FRIDAY, APRIL
2, NO, 80
Serena set to take her first
title after long layoff
Coria's great comeback lands him
in Roddick's sight
By Sandra Harwitt
Special to tennisreporters.net
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
Eight months off and Serena
Williams comes back with her talent intact. |
FROM THE NASDAQ-100 OPEN IN MIAMI –
Maybe for Serena Williams, tennis is just one big personal reality
show?
These days, there's no denying that Williams is attached to Hollywood
like glue and everything she does seems to be regarded in a showbiz
orientation. Indeed, her biggest concern in playing the women's
semifinal against Eleni Daniilidou of Greece was being assigned
to the afternoon match so that her Thursday evening would be free.
Did she won't to meet up with some star power at Miami's trendy
South Beach?
Oh no! She needed to have the evening off because she wanted to
watch her favorite TV show, "The Apprentice." Never
shy, Serena admits she's addicted to "The Donald's"
corporate prime-time affair; maybe the only way she would have
been beatable here is if she was playing Thursday night and worrying
about missing who got to hear the Trump edict, "you're fired."
"I was nervous. I thought I was going to have to play tonight,
but I didn't," she said. "I was going to watch "The
Apprentice," that's my show. I'm a reality freak. You know,
when I heard that I might be playing a night match, I was so nervous,
just thinking to myself, 'Oh, my God. Do not play me at night.
Do not play me at night.' Thank God, I didn't."
Okay, Serena, hear it here first – if you're a real reality
freak why not get real?
Sure, we've all learned here at the NASDAQ-100 Open that regardless
of the fact that you've been away for eight months, your talent
doesn't just wilt away. But even though it's come to you easy
– you only lost one set thus far in the event – you
might want to take this all a bit more seriously. Not to mention,
you could've taped it on the VCR.
But the truth is that Serena seems to be a rare champion, someone
that can spread herself thin around many interests and still dominate
with her potent game. Elena Dementieva, the No. 8 player, is about
to find out that Serena can be multi-talented and still perform
to impressive standards on a tennis court.
ELENA EVASIVE ABOUT HER CHANCES
Dementieva, who earned her final berth by swatting fellow Russian
Nadia Petrova to the side in a precise 6-4, 6-2 semifinal victory,
seems to be looking forward to the final, but doesn't sound all
that confident that she can come through in the clinch.
"It's gonna be a tough match for me," Dementieva said.
"It looks like she's in good shape. She's a great player.
I think she has the best serve on the tour, so I'm gonna be in
trouble on her serve. But, you know, it's very interesting to
play against her. It's gonna be a great experience for me. I think
that I have nothing to lose. I did great already, so I'm going
to try my best on Saturday."
Dementieva is correct that she's done well by working her way
to the final, most especially in saving a match point to beat
Venus Williams 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3) in the quarterfinal. But when
you chat with the media and send out the message that you did
great already, you're opponent kind of gets the idea you've already
surrendered.
Of course, it might be possible that Dementieva is a student of
history and knows that beating both Venus and Serena in the same
tournament has not been an easy task. Only four players have attempted
that course of action and met with success – Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
at Sydney 1998, Steffi Graf at Sydney in 1999, Martina Hingis
at the '01 Australian Open and Kim Clijsters at the '02 WTA Tour
Championships.
"I think it's a great chance for me to play against both
of them in the same week, you know, feel the difference,"
Dementieva said.
Where Dementieva is likely to really get hurt is on her serve,
a flimsy shot at best. One can imagine that new traveling coach,
Olga Morazova, a former player of note, is making working on Elena's
serve a first priority. While a limp 63-mph, second serve that
just plopped over the net ended the third-set tiebreak of the
match against Venus in her favor, it could've been that the latter
was just stunned to see a professional player ranked in the Top
10 push such a meek serve over the net.
Dementieva even joked about her less than potent serve in terms
of playing Serena, saying with a smile, "She's gonna just
play three meters south from my second serve, I'm sure. It's gonna
be kind of a drop shot for her."
Unless something unexpected takes place, Serena is about to become
one of the few players to return to the game after a long time away
and win a title. The only player of note to do this in the recent
past is Monica Seles, who after more than two years of not playing
after being stabbed in the spring of 1993, won her first tournament
back at the '95 Canadian Open.
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA |
| Coria's clutch play overtook a shaky Fernando
Gonzalez in the semifinals. |
Coria's great comeback lands him in Roddick's
sight
In Sunday's men's final, there will be
a dynamic contrast of styles when the No. 2 seeded Andy Roddick
faces the No. 3 seeded Guillermo Coria for a first shot for both
of them at the NASDAQ-100 Open trophy.
This final is likely to bring about similar circumstances to when
Marcelo Rios beat Andre Agassi in the men's final in 1998. The
crowd – equally mixed between pro-US and pro-South American
fans – rocked the socks off the stadium. It's quite likely
it could be even more exciting when Roddick, who lived only one
hour north of Miami in Boca Raton, and the Argentine show up for
the men's final on Sunday.
Speaking of Agassi, a look at Coria conjures up images of the
eight-time Grand Slam champion. His aggressive baseline game is
very similar looking, although, in truth, he isn't quite as aggressive
as the soon-to-be 34-year-old, but you have to believe he's working
on it.
He certainly did his nickname of "Magician" proud on
Friday afternoon when he escaped the clutches of Fernando Gonzalez
of Chile. Coria was trailing 6-4, 4-0 before he staged the great
comeback to post a 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 win.
"When I go on court, I never give up," said Coria, who
on four different occasions in the match was only one point away
from defeat. "I will continue to fight throughout the match.
The match is never over until I shake hands with the opponent."
For his part, Roddick ended the Cinderella story of another Boca
Raton resident, Vince Spadea, with a 6-1, 6-3 payback match. The
only other time they played was in the semifinal of the recent
Scottsdale tournament, which turned out to be the 29-year-old
Spadea's first career title.
By far, his stunning victory over Spadea – winning seven
consecutive games from 1-1 in the first set – was the best
Roddick has played at this tournament. But where Roddick has learned
to separate himself from the rest of the pack is that even when
he isn't playing well, he's navigating a course through matches.
Coria certainly did not sound intimidated
about facing Roddick, someone he has lost to on both occasions
they've played, although they always went three sets.
He's going to have to win every point," Coria said. "I'm
going to fight very hard every point. Roddick is going to have
to earn it."
Roddick was the first to note that Coria's a marvelous talent
and will be an intriguing and complicated final opponent.
"He's one of the fastest guys on the tour, he doesn't give
an inch and has great feel for court," said Roddick, looking
for his second title of the year. "You can't say enough about
a guy who's a fighter – I'm going to have to beat him –
he's not going to give me anything, that's for sure. The guy can
play ball regardless of the surface."
While Coria is capable of giving Roddick a nail-biter, if Roddick
is on, the Argentine will have a hard time playing into the winner's
circle. At this point and time, Coria's game resembles Agassi's,
but lacks the pace and power that Agassi generates. While Roddick
might have a similar game to Gonzalez, the latter is unpredictable
and unreliable while Roddick has learned to be in command of the
situation from first ball to last. |
