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Duel in the desert

Davenport, Venus to meet in Saturday semifinal showdown

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Posted: Saturday August 07, 1999 01:43 AM

It took a 103 mph ace and some unwarranted advice from a fan for Lindsay Davenport to tie up, and eventually take the second match. AP

CARLSBAD, California (AP) -- Lindsay Davenport served 12 aces and won the big points late in the match to beat qualifier Anke Huber 7-5, 7-5 in the TIG Classic quarterfinals on Friday night.

Davenport, the top seed, faces a semifinal rematch Saturday with fourth-seeded Venus Williams, who lost to Davenport in straight sets last week in the Stanford final.

Williams trailed 5-1 in the first set against Sandrine Testud of France before winning 11 straight games for a 7-5, 6-1 victory.

Seventh-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa defeated Amy Frazier 7-5, 6-1. Coetzer will play No. 2 Martina Hingis in Saturday's other semifinal.

Davenport trailed 4-3 and led 40-love on her serve when she became shaky. On the game's second deuce, Huber cracked a backhand crosscourt winner to set up break point.

As Davenport was about to serve, a fan yelled, "Just relax!" She looked at the man, shook her head and laughed.

"Oh yeah, you're trying to tell me what to do," she replied.

Huber netted a forehand service return, then Davenport served a 103 mph ace to set up game point. But she dumped a forehand into the net, faced another break point and another deuce before Huber's forehand went long to help Davenport even the set 4-4.

With the set tied 5-5, Davenport broke Huber's serve at love on a double fault to go up 6-5. She set up her second match point with a swinging forehand volley and won on Huber's netted forehand.

"She made the big points all the time and her serve is much better than mine," the German said. "She came up with some big shots at the end. There's a lot of pressure all the time when you play against her."

Williams also had a tough time in her opening set against Testud.

Trailing 5-1, she made her way back and broke Testud's serve at deuce to tie the set 5-5. In the 11th game, Testud came to the net on a short ball and her foot hit the net before she could strike the ball. The net judge gave the point to Williams, who held serve for a 6-5 lead.

"I started to think a little bit too much. It was maybe a little oo easy in the beginning," Testud said. "Then she started to play a little bit better, serve a little bit better. I started to get upset with some calls and I had problems with my shoes."

Williams held her serve, then broke Testud again at deuce to wrap up the set.

"Extremely terrible," Williams said of her start. "I couldn't stop myself from making unforced errors like having a bad day in practice, ad you can't have a bad day in practice in a match."

She broke Testud's serve in the second game of the second set with a backhand off Testud's drop volley for a 2-0 lead. Williams led 5-0 and held two match points on Testud's serve when she netted a return to lose the game.

"I told myself I was going to move the ball around a little bit more," Williams said. "At first I was on the run making the errors, and so I figured if I was running, I might as well give her the same treatment."

Williams ventured to the net to finish off some quick points in the second set.

"I'm not sure I'll ever be a serve-and-volleyer," she said. "Probably because I'm lazy, I don't like to run to the net lke that after every serve. It seems like a lot of work, but I think it's a good idea sometimes."

Williams' ace set up her third match point in the seventh game. Williams double-faulted, but hit a backhand crosscourt winner on her fourth match point to win.

Williams is ranked a career-high fourth in the world, but she has yet to dominate in the Grand Slam tournaments. She reached the quarters in the Australian Open and Wimbledon and the round of 16 in the French Open.

"She's a bit of a front-runner," Coetzer said of Williams. "She kind of goes on these rolls where she wins a lot of points and she hits a lot of winners.

"I also feel like a few times I've played her, she is vulnerable. I'm not sure if it's because she's young and her game is still really evolving," she said.

 

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