THE tennisreporters.net NEWSLETTER: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, NO. 50

Tears for jeers, ’99 Roland Garros final, Graf vs. Hingis
The WTA's 16 Greatest Matches: contests we loved

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane/ Camerawork USA, Inc.

Editor's Note: During the voting period for the WTA Tour's Top 16 Matches, tennisreporters.net will occasionally feature some of the more notable matches.

Her desperation had already overtaken her two days before she imploded in the final against Steffi Graf but she didn't recognize it. There could be no recovery for Martina Hingis because she was too obsessed with her status. She couldn't keep her deep intellect focused on the court; she only wanted to emote against the crowd that despised her and the legend who wouldn't quit.

After she thrashed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the '99 Roland Garros semis, Hingis tried to maintain a confident air, but she was obsessed with proving that she was the greatest of all time and that this "Steffi thing" on the other side of the draw was a merely a media illusion. After being asked a number of questions about whether Sanchez Vicario played badly, the 18-year-old Swiss No. 1 smelled a Grafian conspiracy. "It wasn't easy," she yelled. "Come on! Everybody is, like, from German TV! 'Was she so bad or were you so good?' Come on, I played great, just let me be happy."

But Hingis looked downright miserable and unfocused in her practice session the morning of the final. Her mother and coach, Melanie Molitor, sensed it, but couldn't get through to her stubborn daughter. After 15 minutes of lousy hitting, Martina sat on a bench, grabbed a Perrier, took a swig and began to read the ingredients over and over again. Melanie stared at her, her hitting partner stared at her, observers stared at her, wondering how many different ways one could read H20 + Carbon = Perrier. But Martina wasn't really reading; she was consumed by the thought that no one respected her, that the French crowds had booed her in every match, that everyone believed that when Steffi was healthy, her German master was still the best, and that today had to be the day that she showed the world that her heavenly game was superior to the old legend's washed-up attack.

'GIVE ME A GRAF FOREHAND'
Hingis got up and began to practice but quickly cracked again, snapping at her hitting partner, "Give me the Graf forehand. Can't you hit the Graf forehand? I want to see the Graf forehand, now!" Her partner answered meekly, "It's not that easy." Martina closed her eyes, shook her head furiously and squealed, "Aahh!," and looked like she was going to cry.

And she would sob – uncontrollably and somewhat tragically – after a bizarre yet stirring final that could have been hers were it not preordained to Graf's last glorious moment in Paris, a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 tearjerker.

In a petulant, pouty and disturbing performance, Hingis lost control in the second set, she frequently disputed calls and served underhanded on two match points, inciting the crowd to a frenzy of boos and whistles. After Hingis missed a backhand cross court to lose the contest, she fled the court weeping, only to return on the arm of her mother, who needed three minutes to calm her daughter down as the Swiss was heaving and choking on sobs that all 16,000 fans could hear. "Would you go out there if everybody boos you, if nobody wants you to win?" Hingis later asked. "That doesn't feel great."
Seeing what they had wrought and feeling guilty, the crowd lightly cheered Hingis as she approached the presentation stand. Hingis was able to regain control and speaking in French, said, "Maybe next year you'll be with me....I was too excited, I wanted it too much." Graf said, "I felt bad for her....It was one of the craziest matches ever. The only thing I can tell her is sometimes you don't see it in the moment, but you will have other chances."

Without a title in '99 and following her umpteenth minor surgery, Graf gave herself virtually no chance coming into the tournament. In the fourth round, she had her hands full with Anna Kournikova and also had a difficult with Lindsay Davenport in the quarters. She then soared high above the Eiffel Tower and old rival Monica Seles 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 in a nail-chewing semifinal played in gusty winds.

Graf, who hadn't won a Slam since the '96 U.S. Open, didn't expect to be in the final. In fact, she said that she was only using Roland Garros as a warm-up to Wimbledon. But after the Seles match when asked what her best chance to win a Grand Slam was, she answered, "Paris."

After dismissing defending champion Sanchez Vicario in the semis, Hingis appeared ready to take her first crown in Paris. "With Steffi's absence the last two years, I hope she'll be a little nervous. But Steffi's won it five times. This is about time for me."

Hingis was facing the biggest test in her career. After all, she had never faced a legend in a Slam final. In her five Slam victories she beaten Mary Pierce, Jana Novotna, Conchita Martinez, [a then unproven] Venus Williams and Amelie Mauresmo, all excellent players, but none with Graf's resume. Moreover, she was 2-6 against Graf entering the match, including three losses in Slams.

A BEAUTIFUL FIRST SET
Hingis played error-free, ethereal tennis in the first set, although her nerves were still apparent as she stomped her foot, smiled in disgust and broke her racket on the ground. But Hingis swallowed her anger and spit it out on the court, firmly controlling the match with picture-perfect two-handed backhands and deep forehand, disarming Graf's fearsome forehand.

But at 2-0 in the second set, Martina melted down, becoming unglued at an inconsequential point when one of her forehands that appeared to fall inside the tape was called out. Hingis was so infuriated that she went all the way over to Graf's baseline to circle what she believed was the correct mark, spurring the crowd into a jeering rage and earning herself an automatic point penalty . "I was surprised she got so upset," Graf said. "It showed she was tight and wanted it so bad. I've never seen a player come to the other side. It's a game out there, but I felt for her, it was more than that." The match had turned and Hingis's confidence was shattered.

Even though Hingis did serve for the match at 5-4, Graf's game had reached heights that the little Swiss could not scale. After the German hit a (topspin!) cross court backhand pass to go ahead 30-15, the door to victory lane was already slamming shut. "The candle burned out at 5-4, 15-30," Hingis said.

Graf rapidly closed out the set and held easily in the first game of the third set. Hingis then took a full five-minute bathroom break to change her clothes, but came out on the court with tears dried on her face, looking as white as a ghost. Graf recalled that the crowd "was going crazy, chanting 'Steffi, Steffi!' I almost started crying. I said, 'I don't need that now.' I said, 'Go for your shots.' That's what works: not worrying about winning or losing."

THE WRATH OF FRANCE
In the final game, Hingis felt the full wrath of France. On the first match point, she stunned Steffi by serving underhanded. "It was a hell of a serve, to do it for the first time then was very good," said the motherly Graf. "The crowd felt insulted, but I think she did it very well and shook things up." Hingis missed an underhanded serve on the second match point and then argued with the umpire, complaining Graf spoke as Hingis was tossing the ball. The angry crowd taunted her again and Hingis missed an easy backhand to lose the match.

"I wanted to win it so much," Hingis said. "The crowd and everything was against me. I wanted to show the world, 'I can do it anyway, without anybody's help, with just me, my mom, and Mario [Molitor's boyfriend].' They're always there for me. '[I wanted to show the world] I can fight whatever comes up to me because I am the best.' That's why I was emotional. I'm 18. I have the same feelings as everybody else."

Hingis needed to feel the crowd's love and have it embrace her genius, but Paris adored Steffi. "I have charisma," Hingis said. "If people don't see how my game is, OK. … I don't have to care about anybody. … It's probably too hard to understand me, the way I play looks too easy. If there's somebody like Monica, grunting 'Hah,' or Steffi hitting hard, running, jumping, the crowd understands. I basically can do what I want with the ball. Everybody feels, I can do that too."

After sweetly slurping down two glasses of champagne, a starry-eyed Graf leaned casually in a chair with the cozy thought that she may be the last player to say she was still hotter than the Spice Girls when the Spice Girls were entering their prime. "When I look back at my career, this will be the most incredible memory," she smiled. "This is the biggest win I've ever had."