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Comeback city Serena, Davenport win three-set thrillers to reach semis
Posted: Thursday September 09, 1999 04:06 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Serena Williams out-slugged, out-hustled and out-grunted two-time champion Monica Seles, serving 15 aces Wednesday night to reach the semifinals of the U.S. Open in only her second year as a pro. The 17-year-old Williams stayed on track to fulfill her father's prophesy of a final against her big sister Venus, but first has to get past defending champion Lindsay Davenport. In beating the No. 4 Seles for the third time in three matches, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and gaining a Grand Slam semifinals spot for the first time, the seventh-seeded Williams showed a wealth of power, speed and cleverness. She blended crushing serves and groundstrokes with deft drops and lobs, raced down virtually every drop Seles sent her way, and matched her stroke for stroke from the baseline. Even when it came to grunting, Williams proved louder than Seles. Williams ran her ace total for the tournament to 42, more than any other woman, while serving at speeds of up to 116 mph against Seles. "It was always a goal," Williams said of closing in on the title. "But it's really coming true. I'm so excited that my work is paying off." Seles said she has come to accept that she had her time as a champion and "now it's Venus' and Serena's time." "The desire is still there," she said, "but physically I can't cover the court as well." Davenport barely clung to her reign as U.S. Open champion, thanks to the most auspicious shower and a double fault on match point by Mary Pierce that made a packed stadium groan. Davenport survived two match points against her, then came back from the rain break to beat Pierce 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. "I should have been on my way to Manhattan and started packing to go home tomorrow morning," Davenport said. "I'm just lucky to be here. Sometimes it just turns the tournament around, you play even better after that." Davenport and Pierce engaged in the most thrilling women's match of the tournament so far, riveting the fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium right to the wrenching end. Just as compelling was Yevgeny Kafelnikov's 7-6 (7-0), 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 1-6, 7-5 (7-5) quarterfinal victory over Richard Krajicek, who set an Open era record with 48 aces. Kafelnikov, seeded No. 3, will play in the semis against No. 2 Andre Agassi, who happily settled for a less thrilling 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-4 victory over French qualifier Nicolas Escude. "Whoever wins has a pretty good chance of finishing the year as No. 1," Agassi said of the match against Kafelnikov. "He's had such a great summer since Wimbledon. He's a big guy, moves well, hits well, does everything well. It's good for it all to come down to this one match."
Krajicek, seeded No. 12, broke Goran Ivanisevic's record of 46 aces, also set in a losing effort, against Magnus Norman at Wimbledon in 1997. For all the power of the Kafelnikov-Krajicek match, it didn't exceed the tension of the Davenport-Pierce duel. "I don't think she completely froze," Davenport said of the match-ending double-fault by Pierce. "I think she maybe got a little nervous. Everybody does it. I don't care if you're No. 1 in the world, No. 100 in the world, a guy or a girl. Everyone gets tight whenever you're serving for a match in a big situation, no matter how many times you go through it." Pierce played perhaps the best tennis of her life for most of two sets as she dictated points with deep, hard groundstrokes and pushed Davenport to the brink of defeat. But the 1995 Australian Open champion couldn't quite put the match away when she served at 5-4 in the third set. "I had my chances," Pierce said. "I guess that's what makes Lindsay one of the top players -- she's always there and she plays the big points well. I give her a lot of credit. She played a great match. I'm just proud of myself. I kept hanging in there." A few sprinkles fell as Pierce took the court at 5-4 in the third in hopes of serving out the match. Davenport, desperate for a break, pawed the court with her foot and looked at the umpire for a rain delay but didn't get it. Pierce reached her first match point at 40-30 when she struck a crisp backhand winner crosscourt. But after narrowly missing on an ace attempt, she saw Davenport save the match with a sharply angled backhand from midcourt that clipped the sideline. Pierce then served her first double-fault of the set and sixth of the match. She brushed that off, though, fought back to deuce, and secured her second match point with a brilliantly played rally that ended with her punching a forehand approach shot out of Davenport's reach. With the spitting rain holding off, Pierce whacked a backhand crosscourt that she thought gave her the match. She pumped her fist in triumph, but her celebration was premature. The linesman called the ball wide - replays showed the shot missed by an inch or two - and Pierce threw back her head in frustration and nervous laughter. "I'm human. I got a little bit nervous and a little tight," Pierce said. "I went for that shot, which I really didn't need to do. It was short and I felt like I could go for it. It felt good. But it wasn't, unfortunately." Two unforced errors -- a backhand long and a forehand in the net -- then cost Pierce the game and tied the set at 5-5. The sprinkles suddenly came down more frequently, and Davenport showed no eagerness to continue. She remembered the slippery surface that caused good friend Mary Joe Fernandez to fall and hurt herself against Venus Williams, and she wanted a little time after gaining the big break. She asked the umpire to stop play, and, after a brief discussion, got her way. Pierce had to go into the locker room and ruminate about the chances she had missed, and Davenport could take the time to collect her thoughts about capitalizing on the opportunity she now had. "I talked to my coach for 10 minutes, then just kind of lay down, tried to relax as best I could," Davenport said. "It's such a difficult position for a rain delay, more so for her, I'm sure." When they returned an hour and 10 minutes later -- the thin rain had persisted through bright sunshine during that time -- Davenport opened with a pair of aces. Though Pierce pushed the game to deuce with several clean winners, Davenport held serve for a 6-5 lead. Pierce's only hope was to take the match into a tiebreaker, but when she had her first chance at 40-30, she made another unforced error to make it deuce. Davenport then earned match point with a superb forehand crosscourt that Pierce slapped long. Pierce had three more chances to win the game, but couldn't convert any of them. Finally, Davenport gained a second match point when Pierce hit a forehand long. Pierce looked tight as she served to save the match, and her seventh double-fault reflected that -- the first serve landing in the net, the second sailing long to give Davenport the victory.
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