Morozova on Russians: 'You were telling us we were coming and we came'

Myskina, Dementieva soar as Capriati tumbles
Worst showing for Americans since '97;
Hingis on Myskina: 'On court, if she keeps her head together, she can play'

By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Anastasia Myskina knocked off the last standing American, Jennifer Capriati.

FROM ROLAND GARROS – With Jennifer Capriati's desultory performance in her 6-2, 6-2 semifinal loss to Russia's Anastasia Myskina, the '04 Roland Garros will go down as the worst exhibition of American tennis at a Grand Slam since 1997, when only Monica Seles made it to the semis here.

All the US men bombed out after three days and for the first time since the Williams sisters became major factors, the women weren't able to carry the flag in a respectable way.

Who would have thought this when the tournament began: Former No. 1 Kim Clijsters on the sidelines; current No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne entering the tournament after just having gotten about of bed a few weeks prior due to a vicious virus; none of America's big four of Serena, Venus, Capriati and Lindsay Davenport would all go down so miserably?

Give credit to Russian 22-year-olds Myskina and Elena Dementieva for finally realizing their potential and guaranteeing that a Russian woman will finally win a Slam crown. But don't give too much leeway to the Bumbling Four, all of whom were unable to deal with not-so-trying circumstances. Between them, the four have 16 Slam titles. During this fortnight, they looked more like a collection of badly dressed wallflowers at a Russian debutante's sweet sixteen party.

At least Capriati survived to the semifinals. Davenport was the first to do down in the fourth round when Dementieva whizzed balls past her while she became obsessed by a click in her surgically repaired right knee. The 28-year-old Davenport really didn't even try during the second set of her defeat and then said later that she won't play Fed Cup, the Olympics are doubtful and that she wouldn't discourage anyone from throwing the "R" word around again.

The rusty Serena was next on Tuesday, erratic, slow and unsure of herself in a three-set loss to Capriati in the quarterfinals. Venus followed less than a half-hour later, out-steadied by Myskina while she gazed to the sky, wondering what happened to her once seemingly unshakeable confidence.

And then came Capriati – who with Henin-Hardenne, her nemesis Amelie Mauresmo and the other American out – was quickly tabbed as the tournament favorite. But what was forgotten on Capriati's glorious day of triumph over rival Serena (a day when a smitten reporter compared her looks to those of Princess Caroline) was that she hadn't really played well during the entire event. She had fought well – especially against Serena – but hadn't faced a Top-10 opponent who was peaking.

ANASTASIA IS DAY'S STANDOUT
Meet Myskina, sporting new nerves of steel, a hatchet of a backhand and the court sense of Czarina Alexandra. She mixed it up, moved the slow-footed Capriati around with ease and attacked when the three-time Grand Slam champion began to entertain odd thoughts that she had a chance in the match.

Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA

Elena Dementieva stomped Paola Suarez with a first-set bagel in a straight-set victory.

The American actually didn't do too much thinking at all. Her experience was pure torture. She had almost nothing on her balls, couldn't serve, didn't go for her returns, didn't play the angles. She sat on her feet and complained. She was as flat and colorless as a piece of mozzarella at lowbrow French restaurant. An incredible 36 unforced errors clanged off her racket.

"I had no rhythm, no timing," Capriati said. "My shots were flying. She was almost pushing on purpose. In your mind and body, you're going pretty crazy inside, trying to figure out what to change or what went wrong. You have a million things going through your mind. But when it's not there, it's not there."

Capriati was very upset after the match, but didn't consider it an out-and-out disaster; just six weeks ago, she was still getting blown out and feeling rusty after being forced to take the first month and half of the season off due to a back injury. But like Davenport, she's 28-years-old, which is downright ancient on the women's tour. The last woman to win a Slam title at 28 or older was Steffi Graf in Paris five years ago. The game went to youngsters and mid-20-somethings after that.

This week, it's gone to two Russians, one blonde, and one brunette, who have finally reached their potential. Two years ago, in an attempt to help popularize the WTA's new wave, they did a revealing "Easter Bloc Hotties" photo shoot for the magazine GQ, where Myskina straddled a horse sans clothes in a Lady Godiva pose and Dementieva slipped on a mini skirt and gave the world a good glimpse of her underwear. While they may have, as the headlines said, briefly made men "forget about Anna K" off-court, they did little to make fans forget about her on court.

Both have won titles since then, but the only way to become a legitimate marquee player in tennis is to at least reach a Grand Slam final and neither did so until Friday. With the Russian women, it's always been a question of self-belief.
More than Myskina, Dementieva had underachieved up to '04 Roland Garros. She was an Olympic silver medallist at age 18 and has a relentless ground game backed up by a 400-meter runner's toned body. After she wiped out Paola Suarez on Tuesday, fans recalled just how good she really is, wobbly second serve and all

Hingis: 'When Myskina's coach can keep her head together, she can play'

WTA Tour

Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis calls Myskina a late bloomer who always had the potential to go far if she got completely healthy and got her personal life in order. The emotionally turbulent Myskina used to date her coach, Jens Erlich, but no more.

"With her it's more the off court things with her coach and once that was settled, he was able to keep her calm. On court, if she keeps her head together, she can play," Hingis told tennisreporters.net.

Thirty years ago, Russian Olga Morozova reached the French Open final and was crushed by Chrissie Evert, 6-1, 6-2. Now Morozova is coaching Dementieva and has got her to believe in her abilities in the big moments. The Chrissie-type Americans are gone and Morozova will get to watch a Russian woman raise the trophy. The Russians have arrived.

"Somebody was supposed to be better [than me], somebody will do better," said Morozova. "Finally. It's been time enough. You were telling us we were coming and we came."