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Disappointing performance Martinez fall to Jeyaseelan in second round
Posted: Wednesday June 28, 2000 12:55 PM
LONDON (Reuters) -- Fourth seed Conchita Martnez suffered the curse of Wimbledon's graveyard of champions on Wednesday, losing 6-4, 6-1 in the second round to 79th-ranked Sonya Jeyaseelan. The 1994 title winner looked sluggish as she succumbed to the diminutive Canadian's whipping groundstrokes on court two. It was the best win of her career for the 1.57-meter tall Jeyaseelan, who hits the ball double-fisted on both sides with remarkable ferocity and nearly gave up the game last year. "It's almost too hard to believe," she said. "It's Wimbledon and she's coming off the finals of the French Open...it hasn't sunk in yet." Martinez, 28, cut a forlorn figure as Jeyaseelan's inch-perfect shots kissed the lines on either side on the arena where former champions traditionally founder. The Spaniard, who lost to Mary Pierce in the French Open final earlier this month, could not find her rhythm on the slick grass surface after so long on clay. Her normally reliable, patient game deserted her and she won only 46 per cent of her favored baseline points. Jeyaseelan, 24, said she was shocked by the ease of her victory. "I noticed some balls she didn't run down as much," Jeyaseelan said. "But it's grass and it's faster. I have two hands off both sides. Maybe it's harder for her to read the ball." Jeyaseelan, who was coached for many years by her Sri Lankan-born father, said she had almost given up tennis last year, feeling she was not on top of her game. But she moved to Florida, started working harder and results improved. "Obviously it's working and I'm going to keep going for it," she said. She had never progressed beyond the second round at a Grand Slam before this year. Like so many young players coached by a parent, Jeyaseelan felt she had to struggle in her teens to break away from her father's influence. It was her father who encouraged her to choose tennis over figure skating, a sport in which she had also shown talent. She now works with two coaches in the U.S. and relations have improved with her parents, who live in Vancouver. They are trying to persuade her to visit Sri Lanka and India, where her mother is from, to show off her tennis talent. "In those countries I don't think there are many female athletes in general in any sport. I think it would be a good idea to get youngsters aware that they can also achieve," she said.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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