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Surprising Schwartz

Venus Williams ousted by 125th ranked player in the world

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Posted: Sunday May 30, 1999 03:52 PM

A broken promise: After predicting she would win the French Open, Venus Williams lost in three sets to Barbara Schwartz. AP

PARIS (AP) -- Once so certain she could win this tournament, Venus Williams was ousted from the French Open on Sunday after blowing three match points to a player ranked 125th in the world.

Williams produced her worst showing in her last seven Grand Slam appearances, losing 2-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 in the fourth round to Austrian qualifier Barbara Schwartz.

"I'll just have to do my best in the next Grand Slam now," said Williams, seeded fifth. "This one is not mine. There's no need to be sad or depressed because it's only a small part of life."

Asked what happened in the crucial second-set tiebreaker, she said merely: "I lost it, that's what happened. Couldn't believe it. Suddenly I was in the third set."

Also eliminated at Roland Garros was Jennifer Capriati, her exceptional comeback run ending with a quick 6-2, 6-3 loss to No. 2-seeded Lindsay Davenport.

Capriati won three matches in Paris just a week after she captured her first title in six years.

"I've come a long way just in the last month," Capriati said after her loss. "I never would have thought in a million years that I'd be at this point. I definitely exceeded my expectations."

And she said she was looking forward to playing on the grass at Wimbledon, "one of my favorite surfaces."

Martina Hingis, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles all advanced to the quarterfinals in straight sets.

But No. 4 Jana Novotna, a serve-and-volleyer, fell to Sylvia Plischke of Austria 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Hingis defeated Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), to move into the quarters where she'll face Schwartz.

And Graf fought off a second-set surge by Anna Kournikova to win in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), setting up a quarterfinal meeting with Davenport.

Graf looked headed for an easy win when Kournikova broke her in the second set for 5-5. Two games later, Graf saved three set points to force a tiebreaker, which she won when Kournikova hit her last forehand wide.

"It's nice to be back," said Graf, a five-time champion here. "I've had some memorable matches on center court."

Seles defeated the last Frenchwoman in the draw, Julie Halard Decugis, 6-1, 7-5.

Elsewhere in the women's draw, Mary Joe Fernandez, who upset Serena Williams in the third round in one of the tournament's big surprises, withdrew with a groin injury during doubles. That means defending champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario advances automatically to the quarterfinals.

Williams, who had appeared primed for championship contention, now joins her sister Serena on the French sidelines.

That makes Hingis happy she will now meet Schwartz instead of Venus Williams in the quarters.

"I think the candle I lit at Sacre Ceur helped," she joked. Earlier in the week she said she'd lit a candle at the famous church in Montmartre to help her chances.

Williams saved two match points in the final set before losing. Schwartz had saved three match points in the second set and forced a tiebreaker. The 20-year-old Austrian had never gone this far in a Grand Slam before.

"It was just a great match," Schwartz said. "After the first set I was getting tired, but I decided to fight until the end. I believed I had a chance if I would just fight, and it worked."

When asked why she hadn't played so well in the past, Schwartz said she had been concentrating on her studies and hadn't much time for tennis.

"It was important to go to school, because now I have something else besides tennis," she said. Asked to describe herself, she said, "I'm just normal."

At the outset, Williams looked as if she would make quick work of Schwartz by taking the first set easily. But she fell into trouble in the second, with Schwartz serving at 5-6, 0-40. Hitting out and long, Williams failed to convert on any of her match points, and then two more to lose the game.

In the tiebreaker, Williams hit a forehand into the net to give Schwartz the set. In the third, Schwartz broke three times, leaving the French Open without the Williams sisters.

 

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