Saturday, September 06, 2003
LAST NIGHT brought us an instant classic.
Henin-Capriati started with the violent intensity of Hagler-Hearns, with Henin playing Hagler. No two women have consistently hit the ball at each other the way Justine and Jen did for the first half-dozen games. The slugging abated a bit as Capriati pulled herself off the canvas, and suddenly it was Connors-Krickstein, with Capriati playing Connors, chasing down would-be winners to slug winners of her own.
Then it was simply an epic, with the requisite lead changes and, of course, a third-set tiebreaker. Henin once again demonstrated that you don't need to be as big as a Williams, or even a Hingis, to be one of the game's biggest hitters. The only shame was that, ultimately, such a great match became yet another Capriati three-set defeat.
Henin-Capriati started with the violent intensity of Hagler-Hearns, with Henin playing Hagler. No two women have consistently hit the ball at each other the way Justine and Jen did for the first half-dozen games. The slugging abated a bit as Capriati pulled herself off the canvas, and suddenly it was Connors-Krickstein, with Capriati playing Connors, chasing down would-be winners to slug winners of her own.
Then it was simply an epic, with the requisite lead changes and, of course, a third-set tiebreaker. Henin once again demonstrated that you don't need to be as big as a Williams, or even a Hingis, to be one of the game's biggest hitters. The only shame was that, ultimately, such a great match became yet another Capriati three-set defeat.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
ROGER FEDERER keeps getting compared to Pete Sampras for his shotmaking ability. I have to disagree. Sampras was a great shotmaker, but he wasn't an elegant and effortless shotmaker. You have to go back a decade or two further to find a player worthy of comparison: to the 1970s and the elegant and effortless Ilie Nastase. In fact, with his more solid build and more powerful racket, Federer is even more effortless than Nastase, and almost as elegant.
The comparisons of Federer's temperament to that of Bjorn Borg, however, are right on the money.
The comparisons of Federer's temperament to that of Bjorn Borg, however, are right on the money.
Wednesday, September 03, 2003
I'M NOT QUITE SURE what this is all about, but it is intriguing. (I found it when I did a Google search on "Francoise Durr's backhand," so I'm in no position to call anybody weird.)
