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 Move over, blokes Smith's win over Martinez a boon for British women
Posted: Saturday June 27, 1998 02:47 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- For the last several years, British men Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski have been the local story at Wimbledon. Now a British woman -- Samantha Smith -- has broken through. Smith, 26, ousted No. 8 seed and former champion Conchita Martinez 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Saturday to become the first British woman to advance to the fourth round since Jo Durie in 1985. She's also the first British woman since Virginia Wade in 1977 to beat a former champion at Wimbledon. Wade won Wimbledon that year, the last British singles champion. Smith will face 16th seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France in the fourth round. "It was a great match," said Smith, who admitted she was inspired by England's overnight 2-0 victory over Colombia in the World Cup, which moved England into the second round. "I played some of my best tennis I've ever played." Last year at the U.S. Open, Smith won just one game from the Spaniard. So what happened? "I'd qualified, and to go from playing people ranked around 100 to suddenly playing someone in the top 10 is such a shock," she explained. "The last few weeks I've been playing people around 50, 40, 20, and it doesn't seem so much of a jump." Smith, who won three straight games to level the match after play had been suspended overnight by rain, also won the last three games of the deciding set, dropping just three points. So what went wrong for Martinez? "Pretty much everything," Martinez said. "I played really, really badly today. I didn't return well and I couldn't break her serve. I was really rushed and just couldn't play." "I was rushed the whole morning and that showed in my whole mood," she added. "I didn't feel I was there. She played well, but I didn't do much today." Now Smith has the chance to play on a major showcourt at Wimbledon. She also gains valuable ranking points to put herself into the top 60. And the money. Smith earned the biggest paycheck of her career. To many of the millionaire players, the 25,120 pounds (US$41,700) for reaching the fourth round is loose change. But not for Smith. "I can't even -- I can't even imagine that," she exclaimed. "That's such a lot of money. I can't think what I would do with it." Smith may have also boosted the sagging women's game in Britain, where she is the only player ranked in the top 100. Three others are ranked above 200. "I think that my win will really give women's tennis a boost in this country," Smith said. "If people can see that I can do it they're going to go out there and think that they can do it, too."
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