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Quite a start Australian Open may be a glimpse of things to come
Posted: Tuesday February 01, 2000 12:59 PM
Agassi's adored accession. Davenport's delightful dominance. Capriati's captivating comeback. It was an Australian Open to tantalize the taste buds, tease the palate and satisfy the appetite for tennis excitement and excellence. It is hard to fathom that Agassi was not so very long ago ranked 141st in the world. Now he's on top of the world and playing like he rules the universe, let alone planet earth. Have you ever stopped to wonder how a man can hit the ball so flat and hard and still get it in the court? If we tried that we'd be firing projectiles past the heads of our unsuspecting opponents or way into the orbit of an adjacent court. Not Agassi. He carries out some kind of personal vendetta against each and every ball that comes his way. Exquisite timing. Punishing power. Breathtaking entertainment. His semifinal victory over Pete Sampras was an epic. The standard of play wasn't always the best because of unusually cold and blustery conditions. But the intensity and stakes were high. The drama was immense and Agassi came through a gripping encounter with a show of impressive resolve.
The Russian had ruled in the first set. Suddenly he was rocking and reeling without ever really doing too much wrong. Agassi, in his fourth consecutive Grand Slam final, was a man of title destiny yet again. The look in his eyes told you there would be no other outcome. Davenport's dominanceLindsay Davenport isn't normally one to carry that same air of confidence around the court, however well she's playing. I say normally because in the women's singles final against world No. 1 Martina Hingis, she was striding around like a women possessed. For one set and six games she played one of the most dominant Grand Slam finals we're ever likely to see against an opponent of Hingis' quality.
6-1, 5-1 Davenport. Simply staggering stuff. Lindsay perhaps paused just long enough to take in the enormity of her performance. Just long enough to wobble and let Hingis through the side door to a 5-5 second set. But two games later it was all over. Davenport is just the French Open title away from a Golden Grand Slam in her still young career. The Olympic, Wimbledon, U.S. and Australian Open crowns have all been claimed by the affable American. Don't bet against a successful flirtation with French clay before she's done. Captivating comebackIn the semifinals, Davenport accounted for her fellow American Jennifer Capriati -- and therein lies another fabulous tail from Melbourne Park. The once brilliant-but-troubled teen was a player Davenport once revered, even though they are the same age, 23. Davenport was a later developer and avoided the teen terror that befell Capriati and dragged her into tennis oblivion. The road back has been long. How many times have we heard Capriati's on the comeback? But this one's for real. Reaching a Grand Slam semifinal in the women's game today is no cakewalk. Capriati last achieved it in 1991. Under Harold Solomon's guidance, Capriati is up to No. 17 in the world rankings and rising. He and she believe the No. 1 ranking isn't a mere pipe dream. Just the beginningIt provides us with another fascinating chapter for tennis in the coming year. Already we have talk of Agassi emulating Rod Laver and possibly achieving the Grand Slam in a single year. He could do it with one of the sport's legends Steffi Graf by his side. Then there's Pete Sampras and his bid for a record 13th men's Grand Slam singles crown. How about the continued climb of Aussie teenager Lleyton Hewitt or Hingis' attempt to thwart the power girls: Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams. Plus there's a whole new way of presenting the ranking system and men's tennis in general from the ATP Tour. 2000 could be a scintillating year for tennis. If it is, you have to know the Australian Open set the tone.
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