Navratilova Offers Plan to Save Tennis
Posted on July 2, 2005
Federer Straight-Sets Hewitt to Gain Wimbledon FinalHe's the No. 2 player in the world, but Lleyton Hewitt became better known as No. 35 on Friday at Wimbledon, as in the 35th consecutive player beaten on grass by world No. 1 Roger Federer, who is chasing Bjorn Borg's record of 41 consecutive wins on the lawns.
Federer recorded his eighth consecutive win over Hewitt 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4), setting himself up for a shot at a third straight Wimbledon title.
Hewitt was also No. 22 on the Swiss' 35-player hit list with his loss last year in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
"The longer the match went, the better I felt I hit the ball and got into the match," said Hewitt, who by all accounts did not play aggressively enough or attempt to give the Swiss different looks. "I had a couple of love-15 chances, and I just didn't quite go after it maybe enough on those small opportunities that you get."
In a match that surely had champions of old spinning in their graves, both players stayed back for the majority of the match, with Wimbledon officials slowing the grass to the point that anything but a solidly-placed serve or volley would be answered with an immediate pass from both players.
"Definitely I think I can come more to the net, but it's not so easy," Federer said. "You try it out sometimes, and every time you get passed, it's not really helping out your confidence very much...That's something I would like to do more, but it's not easy."
Familiar with the Aussie's game to the point of recording numerous bagels over the past two years, Federer says playing Hewitt is not the most stressful of situations these days.
"I have the feeling I can always hang with him," Federer said about the counter-punching Aussie. "I always have the feeling if I'm good from the baseline, I'll get a chance also to break him. You know, it seems like he's having a hard time to break my own serve, which always keeps me level with him. Eventually I think with the variation in my game, you know, I get the errors out of him, too. I got the power when I need it. I think that sort of made the difference over the last few matches."
Federer's opponent in the final is yet to be determined, with rain halting the second semifinal Friday with No. 2 seed Andy Roddick leading No. 12 Thomas Johansson 6-5.
In doubles action Friday, No. 2-seeded Americans Bob and Mike Bryan reached their first Wimbledon final with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 4-seeded Zimbabweans Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett.
The Bryan brothers will be heavily favored in the final against the Aussie/South African pairing of qualifiers (first ever to reach the men's final) Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie, who shocked No. 1 seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max "The Beast" Mirnyi 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4).
"We're very excited. Obviously the pressure is on them," Moodie said. "If we win, that's fantastic. If not, we come away with our best result. Today was our toughest match. They played very well so we had to bring out something special."
Mike Bryan is also still alive in the mixed doubles draw with partner Martina Navratilova.
On tap today on the men's side is (2) Roddick vs. (12) T.Johansson (to finish), and the doubles final in (2) Bryan/Bryan vs. (Q) Huss/Moodie.
Davenport Finishes Off Mauresmo to Reach All-American Wimbledon Final
World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport finished off historic choker Amelie Mauresmo 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 Friday at Wimbledon to reach the final against fellow American Venus Williams, who on Thursday ousted defending champ Maria Sharapova.
The rain-delayed match resumed with Mauresmo serving at 3-5 in the third, with the Frenchwoman holding then Davenport serving it out. On Thursday Mauresmo blew numerous chances with a set lead and a break in the second. Mauresmo has now lost in three consecutive Wimbledon semifinals.
"I really, you know, felt I would have been able to really win this match," Mauresmo said. "But, you know, she was able to come back with great returning games at the key moments and also some good serving in the third set -- not only today, but also last night."
After 10 years of slam play, the Frenchwoman last year reached No. 1 briefly on the WTA Rankings but has yet to win a slam singles title.
Davenport said winning the short resumption of the match was all about concentration.
"It was really about concentrating on first serves," Davenport said. "I think I got two or three return errors, so that really helps a lot...Anyone would die to be in a position to serve for a match on grass in the semis of Wimbledon, so I had all that on my side."
Davenport says she doesn't see a lot separating her and Venus in the final.
"I think that it is so even," Davenport said. "I think I've played her by far more than anyone I've ever played on tour. I'm pretty sure about that. Yet we've both like gone through so many transitions from, you know, around '97 when we probably first played up until now. You know, in the beginning, I was always winning, then she was always winning. The last few times it's been me. But we both have kind evolved quite a bit and still play these close, crazy matches. They're always pretty much in finals or semis. We've played a lot of tough matches over the years."
Scheduled for Saturday is the women's final in (1) Davenport vs. (14) Venus Williams (Davenport leads career series 14-12, including the last four consecutive), and in doubles Aussies (11) Stewart/Stosur vs. (2) Black/Huber (on Court 13? Ouch.) with the winner facing (8) Groenefeld/M.Navratilova, and the unseeded Kuznetsova/Mauresmo vs. Russians (5) Likhovtseva/Zvonareva.
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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
It's confirmed -- Mark Petchey will officially coach the walking ATM Andy Murray, beginning next week in Newport on grass: "Andy and I are going to go off and hopefully have a successful year. I really believe Andy's going to go to the top of the game."...India's Sania Mirza has a new coach in American John Farrington: "It has to be someone and Mahesh Bhupathi told me he is good. He strongly recommended him. So I think he is going to be interesting."...Yeah, we know, site crashed Friday, the motherboard on our Commodore 64 burnt out...Funny commercial by the USTA, positioning the US Open Series like the Real World cast...SI.com's S.L. Price is showing his green tennis knowledge in covering one of his few tennis events of the year at Wimbledon: "Venus was completely prepared, mentally and physically. It's quite obvious now that she's put in the work. Her ground strokes are as solid as we've seen from her. Her forehand held up quite well. Her serve was great. Mentally, she really had a great approach to the match. She and Serena both are the ultimate "in-the-now" players." Huh? Serena looked anywhere but now against Jill Craybas. More from Price: "And we want to measure Federer a little bit. He played a great match against Marat Safin at the Australian, but he had a shaky outing against Rafael Nadal in the semis of the French -- really, his first spotty performance in a big match since he became Roger Federer, since he elevated himself to his current premier position in the game." Hmmm, guess you missed the Miami final too...Martina Navratilova, writing for The Guardian, says it's time for players to unionize: "The WTA merged with the tournament directors, so the WTA is now a combination of them and the players. Larry Scott, the WTA's chairman and CEO, represents the players and the tournaments, so he doesn't want to make anyone mad. So what happens then? Not much and certainly not enough. The changes he is trying to implement are going at a snail's pace. Tennis governance needs reform. The women players should start a union so they can take control of their sport. They should have the power the old women's tennis association used to have and make the changes necessary to make the sport better. The way it is going, well, it's just not going nearly as well as it could. Can all of this be done? Absolutely. How? By the players from both the WTA and ATP tours getting together and demanding changes from the ITF and the grand slams for the long-term good of the sport and by making adjustments on their own tours." Navratilova is playing doubles with Anna-Lena Groenefeld, a German who had not been born by the time Navratilova had won her first 10 slam title.