Pierce Out-Chokes Mauresmo; Nadal, Agassi Pull From Masters Cup

Posted on November 14, 2005

Mauresmo Ends Season with 2005 WTA Champs Title

It wasn't to decide the year-end No. 1 ranking. It didn't involve either player in the No. 1 race. It didn't even involve a player who had won a Grand Slam this year.

But it did involve two French players, and Amelie Mauresmo became the WTA Championships winner Sunday when she defeated Mary Pierce 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4 in a well-fought match that ended in typical French style.

The over-three-hour battle was decided in disappointing fashion for Pierce, whose battles with her own demons have become legendary, such as the gakker earlier this year in the French Open final.

This time the choking was mutual as Mauresmo, serving for the match at 5-4 in the third, tossed in a double fault to make it love-40 and seemingly extend the match to 5-all. But Pierce was not to be outdone, and blew the three break points with four consecutive unforced errors to end the match.

"I just did everything in my power the best that I could today, and it wasn't meant to be," Pierce said. "She was very motivated out there today. I could see it. She wanted it. She definitely played better today than a couple days ago when I beat her."

Mauresmo became the first Frenchwoman to capture the WTA Championships year-end title.

"It's great," Mauresmo said. "So many people said I couldn't win. I'm so glad I went through this moment. Hopefully there will be many more like this. I didn't want the rallies to last one of two shots. I wanted to make her work and that's what I did from the beginning. That paid off in the third set."

In the third set the pressure was evident on Pierce, whose ample toolbox of nervous tics and worried facial expressions multiplied exponentially before she finally came apart with the string or errors in the final game.

It was a fitting anti-climactic ending to a season where the tour's stars ducked in and out of play with a constant stream of injuries, allowing Lindsay Davenport to claim the year-end top spot after stars Maria Sharapova, Justine Henin-Hardenne, and the Williams sisters wrestled with various extended injuries.

As ESPN announcers lauded the wonderful "parity" on tour in 2005, the WTA Tour has still made no indication of examining the cause(s) of why few of its top stars can play a two-month stretch without suffering injury. Look for more such "parity" in 2006, the definition apparently being no player able to compete long enough to dominate since everyone is injured.

While the WTA Championships title is far from a "next level" accomplishment for Mauresmo, who is still searching for that first Grand Slam title, the former No. 1 says both she and Pierce are answering the accusations of chronic choking with their improved on-court play.

"You hear it anyway," Mauresmo said of the criticism. "And I guess for a sensitive person, it goes to you at some point, when you are still hearing the same things. But the best answer I can give is on the court and that is what we both did today because Mary, also got some tough moments on her side and people not really believing her being able to come back at that level. This is the best answer we can give to anybody."

In the doubles final, No. 2 seeds Lisa Raymond and Sam Stosur came from a set down to beat top seeds Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-4 for a tour-leading fifth title on the year.

Richard Vach is a senior writer for Tennis-X.com.

Agassi, Nadal Up Today at Masters Cup

Two doubles matches were completed as of early Monday morning (EST) at the Masters Cup, with the two singles matches scheduled for the evening in American (3) Andre Agassi vs. Russian (5) Nikolay Davydenko, and Spain's (2) Rafael Nadal vs. Argentine (7) Gaston Gaudio.

Wimbledon champions Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie upset second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi 6-2, 6-4 in their opening doubles match in the Gold Group, hurting the already-slim Swedish/Belarus duo's chances of overtaking the Bryan brothers for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Zimbabwe's Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett also won their opening match, defeating No. 6-seeded Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"The doubles is promoted so well here I think," Ullyett said. "There's posters everywhere, in the elevators in the hotel, on the streets...The people had a heads-up; they knew we were coming."

Black added: "It's great to be playing here. I mean, it's great to get this recognition. The fans are unbelievable. We don't travel to too many places where we're recognized like this and we get this much support."

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