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 Tauziat goes from shadows to bright lights
Posted: Thursday July 02, 1998 06:52 PM
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- She could have developed a complex by now. Nathalie Tauziat, however, is used to all this. "For me, it's no problem," said Tauziat, who will play the role of uncelebrated outsider in the Wimbledon final on Saturday against Jana Novotna. Tauziat is the first Frenchwoman to reach a Wimbledon singles final in 73 years. She advanced to the title match by beating Natasha Zvereva 1-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in Thursday's semifinals. "I'm somebody who lives my life and I don't care if I am in the shadow," Tauziat said. "In France I was always in the shadow because I wasn't in the system of the [French tennis] federation." Seeded 16th, she's the lowest seeded woman ever to make the final and one of the most obscure -- even to hard-core tennis fans. Her lone victory this season over a top player came in Wednesday's quarterfinal against second-seeded Lindsay Davenport. Born in the Central African Republic -- she now lives in Bayonne in southwestern France -- Tauziat (pronounced TOE-zee-ott) is coached by outspoken Frenchman Regis de Camaret, an unpopular figure with the French tennis establishment. "My coach is somebody who likes to speak -- he always says what he thinks," Tauziat said. "Sometimes it's not nice to listen to what he thinks. I can tell you." Tauziat, 30, has won only four WTA Tour titles and has yet to crack the top 10 in 15 seasons as a pro. But two of those came on grass, which made her start against Zvereva embarrassing. She lost seven of the first eight games, scattering shots all over Centre Court. "The thing I was most embarrassed about is not playing," Tauziat said. "Suddenly I started to think, `I'm going to miss this chance. Nathalie, you have to fight,' and I fight good." When Zvereva struck a return long on match point, the somber Tauziat screamed, tossed her racket skyward and flopped on her back at Centre Court. "I don't know what I'm going to do if I win the final, but I was so happy ... to win and be in the final of a Grand Slam," she said. "For me, I'm not on the moon already, but almost." Tauziat came back by serving better and going to the net more often against Zvereva's wide variety of soft shots. "The ball of Davenport comes at you very fast," she said. "Natasha, she plays slowly, and I think Centre Court is also slower." Tauziat, the first Frenchwoman in the final since Suzanne Lenglen won her sixth Wimbledon title in 1925, is 4-4 in matches against Novotna, a 29-year-old who was twice a Wimbledon runner-up. The two have never played on grass. Their combined age of 59 makes them the oldest women finalists at Wimbledon since 1977. "I have nothing to lose," Tauziat said. "For me it's going to be a nice present to be there. To be on Centre Court with any player -- I don't care."
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