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'Out of control' Fernandez knocks out a wild Serena Williams
Posted: Friday May 28, 1999 05:38 PM
PARIS (AP) -- Serena Williams saved her best shot at the French Open for last, a crisp whack at a Perrier sign that summed up her frustration. Whether the crowd took it as an attack on a symbol of France or a show of teen-age petulance, the shot sparked derisive whistles that accompanied Williams off center court after a 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 third-round loss Friday to Mary Joe Fernandez. Williams was less perturbed by the whistles than all the reckless shots she hit in the match. "Why would I care whether they whistled or not?" she said. "It's my own double-fault." That nice malapropism fit Williams' day. There were the overheads she clunked long and wide, the volleys she punched 10 feet out, the groundstrokes she hit as if she were trying to drill a hole in the fence. She wound up with 42 unforced errors -- 15 more than Fernandez -- and six double-faults. "I couldn't keep the ball in play," she said. At 17, Williams had been one of the hottest players on the tour this year, winning titles in Paris and Indian Wells and reaching the final of the Lipton, where she lost to her sister, Venus. She came into the French seeded No. 10. But on this day, hardly anything worked in a horrendous final set against Fernandez. "I was out of control," she said. "I had planned on doing very well here, even taking the title. I never even dreamed in my wildest nightmares that I would have went out in the third round. "There was no excuse for the way I played today really. I should have been taken off the court and immediately asked to leave the facilities, never to return again." Williams giggled when she said that, and no doubt she will be back many times to Roland Garros and produce more memorable tennis. She said she'll take from this match a simple lesson: "Come out prepared and be serious." Fernandez was both. Off the tour much of last year following wrist surgery in 1997, the 27-year-old impressed top-ranked Martina Hingis when they practiced together in the morning. "She wouldn't miss a ball," Hingis said. Fernandez wasn't quite that perfect in the match, but she had moments that recalled her run to the French final in 1993. She mounted the greatest comeback of her career in that tournament, beating Gabriela Sabatini after trailing 1-6, 1-5 and facing five match points. Fernandez then upset Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the semis before losing to Steffi Graf in three sets. "That pops up in my head every once in a while," Fernandez said, recalling how close she came to winning a Grand Slam title. She reached the Australian Open final twice, too, but remains without a major victory. Next up for her is Sanchez-Vicario, the defending and three-time champion who advanced with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Irina Spirlea. "We're going to have a lot longer rallies,'" Fernandez said. "I'm going to have to work a lot harder for the points."
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