THE SCOOP, WIMBLEDON DAY 9

Sick Serena slides out of The Championships

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Susan Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

It has now been one year and 10 months since Serena Williams won the '99 U.S.
Open, became an elite player with a bright future and showed the world that she had an identity all of her own. She beat up Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and then knocked out Martina Hingis and for more than a few months there, many analysts were saying that she was a better player than Venus.

She's not.

Serena was an awful mess on Tuesday in her 6-7 (4), 7-5, 6-3 loss to Jennifer Capriati in the Wimbledon quarters. Jennifer gave her a golden opportunity by
blowing the first set three times and Serena dug herself into the second by keeping the faith in her power game and not allowing Capriati to dictate
play. But then at 5-3 she left her champion's mettle in her racket bag, making bad decisions and not thinking clearly enough between points. She went on to lose nine straight games, eventually the match and the respect of her opponent, who was definitely irritated by Serena's two dashes to the
bathroom just before she served.

"Every time I play her, I'm used to something going on," Capriati said.
Serena claims that she is afflicted by a stomach virus and hasn't been able
to eat more than a morsel for four days, had not energy on the court and was
playing on pure emotion. She claimed that she thought of pulling out of the
tournament just before her win over Maggie Maleeva on Monday but decided to
go out there and rip winners and hope the match ended quick. She said she
approached the WTA Tour and told them that she might pull out but the tour
didn't back her up on this claim. The tour trainer only said that Serena was
sick and that she did treat her.

"I honestly think I have bad luck," Serena said with tears in her eyes. "I
went home after the French and really worked hard only to have this setback.
It was pretty disappointing."

If the truth is that she was really too ill to play, then how come Sarena was
was moving with the speed of light for most of the match? No one is seriously afflicted with nausea and diarrhea could run that fast for two and half
hours. Without question, Williams' 75 unforced errors indicates that she
clearly wasn't on her game, but it doesn't not point to an illness of the
tummy, but an illness of technique.

Serena did say that Jennifer stepped it up on the big points while she failed
to and serves credit for picking up her game in the end, but she also went on
ad nauseam about how much bad luck she has had when she plays Capriati. As
Jennifer inferred, it's always something else other than I beat her fair and
square.

Many of Serena's problems as of late come down to the fact that she hasn't
fully committed to her sport and doesn't appear to be training the right way.
She is not closing out matches against elite players.

For someone built like a block of granite, she has way too many cracks in her
core. She came into the '00 Aussie Open out of shape and was upset by Elena
Likhovsteva. She won Hannover and then injured her knee in March and was out
until Wimbledon, when she had an extraordinary run to the semis and then
emotionally melted down against Venus. Serena fiercely defended her title in
L.A., and then raced to the Canadian Open final where she suffered a foot
injury. She was clocked by Lindsay at the U.S. Open, hurt her foot again and
essentially skipped the fall, including the Chase Championships.

Serena entered the '01 Aussie Open with a lot of hopes, reached the quarters
against Martina Hingis, lost a marathon three-setter (where she served for
the match in the third) and then claimed food poisoning later. She somewhat
redeemed herself with her stirring run to the Indian Wells final, but
then jetted to Miami and somehow hurt her knee again in a three-set loss to
Capriati.

Serena said she is a hypochondriac and wrongly defined that state of being as
"someone that is prone to get sick, hurt and injured more than the next
individual. That's Serena Williams. Under hypochondriac, they should put,
'Serena Williams.'"

No under the word "Shaky," they should put Serena Williams.
We didn't see Serena again until '01 Roland Garros, when she couldn't get
the rust out and littered the court with errors against Jennifer in another
three-set loss. Serena said that wasn't the real Serena there, only an
impostor.

That comment really ticked Jennifer off who said she didn't notice a lack of
power coming off Serena racket on Tuesday.

"I thought she said she was an impostor in France and this was the real her
coming out," Jennifer said. "I think I know the truth inside. I think most
people do. It's only important for me to know. I could turn around and say I
was dealing with my own thing out there with my leg. It's pretty much the
same thing that happens every time that I play her so I'm used to that."
What was obvious on Tuesday is that Jennifer is a better player than Serena
right now, mentally and physically.

"Maybe it's a little of both," Capriati said. "Maybe with more experience, I
can be more consistent on important points, which makes a player break down
mentally. Maybe she gets frustrated when I return some of the balls that she
hits. It seems like sometimes she's not expecting them to come back, like
she's surprised that I get them back."

With her 19th straight victory at a Slam, Jennifer is now in a a terrific
position to win her third major of the year. She's taking a never-say-die
attitude on court and executing when it matter most.

For her part, Serena must deal with the fact that she's chasing Martina
Hingis amongst elite players for most months without a Slam title. "It's
really, really surprising," Serena said. "Really disappointing. Extremely
upsetting. But I'm only 19. People out there, I have a lot of time on my
hands."

She sure does and in the seven weeks leading up to the U.S. Open, she needs
to tame the wildness in her once lethal forehand, find more consistency on
her serve, not go berserk in returning serve and somehow rediscover her touch
at net. Doesn't anyone remember that her father, Richard, once said she would
be the "best volleyer in the world." Here's a stat that should scare her –
on Tuesday she was only 24 of 42 at net. I bet Martina N. never registered
those kind of numbers. Wasn't she the best volleyer of all time?