Getting the drop on opponents

A soft touch can be effective on clay

PARIS -- It was the first time that she had smiled all afternoon. After Serena Williams' sluggish, evil twin stood in for her during the first set of a fourth-round match against Russian teenager Vera Zvonareva, the original incarnation emerged in the second set. For the next five games, Serena as we know her -- resplendent in her gold getup and Michael Johnson-esuqe shoes -- pelted winners that strafed past Zvonareva and seemingly left a contrail reading: "Welcome to the big leagues, kid."

On set point, however, Williams tried a different tack. Once, twice, thrice, she hit backhands that landed deep, deeper and deepest in the court. With Zvonareva way in the backcourt, somewhere near the Boie de Bolougne, Serena unfurled a well-disguised drop shot that came close the kissing the net before crossing over to Zvonareva's court and dying in the dirt. Zvonareva took a few steps forward before realizing that the shot -- and the set -- was irretrievable. On the other side, the ball had barely bounced twice before Serena lit up.

On other surfaces, it's the last refuge of a pusher, a desperate tactic that works roughly as often as baseball's hidden-ball trick. Hit a dropshot to most players on asphalt and you're simply bolstering your opponent's winners count. But on clay, where positioning is everything and balls don't penetrate the court, the dropshot can be plenty effective.

Every match Sunday offered proof. Monica Seles extricated herself from manifold jams against ultra-talented Daniela Hantuchova with sharply angled dinks. (One of them, replays indicated, Seles executed with her eyes closed.)

At 4-4 in the second-set tiebreaker, Lleyton Hewitt hit a delectable, spin-laden, touch backhand that landed on the near sideline and then made a hard left toward the umpire's chair. Hewitt's opponent, Guillermo Canas, didn't merely miss the ball -- he pulled up limping afterward. (Canas did, however, recover and go on to win the breaker and the match.)

Around the same time, Jelena Dokic was punishing her fourth-round opponent, the powerful but hardly fleet afoot Katarina Srebotnik, with an array of dropshots set up by pounding groundstrokes. "Why not hit [dropshots]," Dokic wondered, "even if it's just to change things up a bit?"

Why not indeed? Most players pinned back are accustomed to moving side-to-side to chase balls, even if it means heading from one courtside flowerbed to the other. But few are prepared to make a headlong dash to the net mid-rally. In this sense, dropshots are the body blows of tennis; they might not elicit the oohs and aahs from fans seated ringside, but they can inflict just as much damage.

At the other Slams, you're likely to see all manner of high-powered weaponry and tracer-fire strokes. But something about winning a point with a whimper and not a bang can be just as satisfying.

Half volleys

Top-seeded Hewitt was bounced from the tournament by Slick Willy Canas. More remarkable than the defeat was the way in which Hewitt lost. Up 3-0 in the fourth set, he promptly dropped six straight games. Very un-Lleyton-like. ... Speaking of Hewitt, he received the Lemon Award from the media. Prix Citron is given for, well, officially, "strongest character," but that's a bit of a euphemism. Consider that Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov are the past two winners. Hewitt had a good sense of humor about it, though: "It's for strongest character and they call it the Lemon Award. That makes sense." ... Elena Dementieva continued her trend of breaking down on the side of the road. Up a set and a break, she fell to Clarisa Fernandez in three sets. ... Don't be surprised to see Kim Clijsters play more doubles. After losing to Fernandez the other day, Clijsters told Todd Woodbridge how uncomfortable she was feeling at the net. He advised her to grab a partner and enter the doubles draw. ... Lindsay Davenport has been practicing daily and is ready to roll. She's expected to be back at Eastbourne. ... There will be a new men's champion. Two-time defending titleist Gustavo Kuerten was taken out by Albert Costa, who now has won 12 straight sets.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim is in Paris covering the French Open and will file regular reports from Roland Garros. Click here to send a question to his Tennis Mailbag.

 

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