Precision, not power
Australian men's title match figures to be baseline war
Posted: Saturday January 30, 1999 10:28 AM
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Kafelnikov: "I'll try to work as hard as I can on court. I definitely will not try to play for the shortest point possible." AP |
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- For those who complain that power is killing men's tennis, with aces flying wild at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, that will most certainly not be the case in the Australian Open final.
No matter who wins Sunday's match between Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Sweden's Thomas Enqvist, the rallies will be long and the points constructed by baseline craftsmen.
"The one thing I promise you," Kafelnikov said, "it's going to be a long match."
All their matches the past five years have been close, with Enqvist holding a 4-2 lead.
Kafelnikov and Enqvist are hardly wimps on the court, slapping moonballs back and forth. They're line-drive hitters, looking for the corners and sharp angles, working their way toward the net carefully and cautiously.
They'll each have their share of aces -- in three-set semis, Kafelnikov had 16 against Tommy Haas, Enqvist 10 against Nicolas Lapentti -- but the dominant shot will be the groundstroke.
"I'll try to work as hard as I can on court," Kafelnikov said. "I definitely will not try to play for the shortest point possible."
Nor will Enqvist, who is seeking to be the first unseeded winner at the Australian since Mark Edmondson in 1976.
They are grinders, Kafelnikov and Enqvist, trying to wear each other down.
That's how Kafelnikov won the 1996 French Open, and that's how he hopes to win this one on the relatively slow, rubberized hard court.
Enqvist has won 14 straight matches, including titles in a tuneup tournament and an exhibition. But Kafelnikov hopes the pressure of a Grand Slam final might work against the Swede.
"I don't know how he's going to handle the pressure in a slam final," Kafelnikov said. "But all I can say is I definitely feel like the underdog because he's playing a lot better right now than me. He's in great form at the moment."
Yet, Kafelnikov also knows that Enqvist is capable of capitulating at odd moments.
"I know I will get my chances," Kafelnikov said. "Thomas is known, I wouldn't say for choking, but ..."
He mentioned the way Enqvist "played loose" when he was serving for the match at 5-4 against Mark Philippoussis in the fourth round, then got pushed to five sets.
"I mean, you don't need to do such things," Kafelnikov said. "All you have to do is just concentrate for one game, just serve out the match and it's over. I know if I'll stay in the match with him, I will get my chances."
Someone suggested to Kafelnikov that he played just as loose serving for the match at 5-3 in the fifth set against Andrei Pavel in the fourth round. Pavel broke, but Kafelnikov broke back to win at 6-4.
"So do you choke?" Kafelnikov was asked.
"Sometimes," Kafelnikov had to admit, "yes."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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