30 giugno 2003
Wimbledon
Women's tennis
may be in great shape at the moment but there is still an air of familiarity
about the early rounds of the grand slam tournaments. There are days, though,
when predictability is a good thing and Jennifer Capriati's 6-2, 6-3
trouncing of Anastasia Myskina in 52 minutes was not only on the cards, but
it was mercifully quick.
The line-up for all the show courts was mouth-watering but, alas, the
constant threat of rain was anything but. Just getting a match finished,
whatever the score, was something of an achievement. When even the weather
forecasters are looking worried, you know you are in for a bad day.
In her list of favourite things, Myskina lists clay courts and the Arthur
Haley's book In High Places fairly high up the pecking order.
Unfortunately for her, she has never flown as high at Wimbledon before -
her best result has been the third round - and the stuff beneath her feet
was that tricky grass rather than her preferred red dirt.
Still, Myskina is a stubborn soul. Much happier at the back of the court,
she likes to give the ball a fair wallop and she simply refuses to give in.
It is a policy that has brought her a fair amount of success this year,
gaining her two titles in Doha and Sarasota and has pushed her ranking into
the top 10.
The trouble was she was playing someone who was just altogether better in
every department. Capriati is an old hand at the All England Club and a year
after she made her debut in 1990 as a thumpingly powerful 14-year-old, she
reached the semi-finals. She did it again two years ago - this time as a
thumpingly powerful 25-year-old - and looks like she has every intention of
doing it again this year.
Having pulled
rank by breaking the Myskina service in the opening game, Capriati never
looked back. Hitting the ball deep, hard and low, she waited for her
opponent to make the errors. Myskina duly obliged and, as the more emotional
side of her Russian temperament came to the fore, there was much muttering,
harrumphing and despairing looks to the skies.
The skies were, indeed, the issue. As the clouds darkened and gathered in
threatening gangs overhead, Capriati watched Myskina's final backhand limp
into the net just before the heavens opened. She had beaten the No. 10 seed
and the elements and was safely into the quarter-finals to meet Serena Williams.
|
.gif){kind=small}