Victory Column, Place du ChateletAna Ivanovic entered this French Open final with a completely different mindset than she had when she played the championship match in 2007. She was sharp, fresh and--with few exceptions--steady of nerve. Her opponent, Dinara Safina, who spent the week transforming the tournament into a one-woman thrill show, was lacking both the mental and physical power that got her past two almost-losses and launched her into her first major final.
Safina was not as aggressive as she had been earlier in the tournament, and she did not really find her big, winning serve on a consistent basis until it was too late. There were flashes of brilliance, and when Safina was down a set and one break, commentator Mary Carillo quipped "She has her almost where she wants her!"--a reference to Safina's two set down, 2-5 down comeback wins.
Safina herself had said that she knew this kind of comeback could not happen a third time, and she was, of course, correct. She also had hinted at what commentator John McEnroe talked about at the beginning of the match (and that I wrote about yesterday)--that a day off could cause her to crash. No longer operating on adrenalin and feeling the mental and physical fatigue of all she had gone through during the week, Safina could not match the precision and power that Ivanovic brought to the court. In her interview, she said that she could no longer get her body to cooperate on the court, after the stress of the past week.
For those who watched Safina become the unexpected (well, not to me--I had picked her as top contender) star of the French Open over the past couple of weeks, it had to be a disappointment to see her lose the most important match of all. Of the two players I wanted to win (meaning, the two who actually had a realistic chance to win) she was my close second choice, after Jankovic. Ivanovic took them both out, which at least saved me the agony of seeing them have to play each other.
Ana Ivanovic's progress is impressive. Once a slow mover, she can now work the court well enough to defend much better than she did even a year ago. She is also much stronger mentally, and she now has the air of a champion all about her. Her killer forehand will no doubt continue to take her far into big tournaments, and her serve is likely to get even better.
For her part, Safina takes her giant-killing Berlin win and her giant-killing French Open run into what one hopes will be an entirely new career.
Safina was not as aggressive as she had been earlier in the tournament, and she did not really find her big, winning serve on a consistent basis until it was too late. There were flashes of brilliance, and when Safina was down a set and one break, commentator Mary Carillo quipped "She has her almost where she wants her!"--a reference to Safina's two set down, 2-5 down comeback wins.
Safina herself had said that she knew this kind of comeback could not happen a third time, and she was, of course, correct. She also had hinted at what commentator John McEnroe talked about at the beginning of the match (and that I wrote about yesterday)--that a day off could cause her to crash. No longer operating on adrenalin and feeling the mental and physical fatigue of all she had gone through during the week, Safina could not match the precision and power that Ivanovic brought to the court. In her interview, she said that she could no longer get her body to cooperate on the court, after the stress of the past week.
For those who watched Safina become the unexpected (well, not to me--I had picked her as top contender) star of the French Open over the past couple of weeks, it had to be a disappointment to see her lose the most important match of all. Of the two players I wanted to win (meaning, the two who actually had a realistic chance to win) she was my close second choice, after Jankovic. Ivanovic took them both out, which at least saved me the agony of seeing them have to play each other.
Ana Ivanovic's progress is impressive. Once a slow mover, she can now work the court well enough to defend much better than she did even a year ago. She is also much stronger mentally, and she now has the air of a champion all about her. Her killer forehand will no doubt continue to take her far into big tournaments, and her serve is likely to get even better.
For her part, Safina takes her giant-killing Berlin win and her giant-killing French Open run into what one hopes will be an entirely new career.
Very disconcerting having Henin on the victory stand (just as everyone figured she'd be a few months ago), but not as a competitor. You couldn't help but think she could have worked over either of them in that moment if her head was into it.
ReplyDeleteIt provided a nice "changing of the guard" photo during the trophy presentation, but it also served to remind everyone that while there might not exactly be as "asterisk" next to this title, there's always going to be a "yeah, but" feeling about Roland Garros 2008.
I liked it when John McEnroe said he hoped she had her tennis clothes on under her street clothes because he thought she should play the winner!
ReplyDeleteEven if Justine was to jump over the stands and tear her street clothes off to face ivanovic, Ivanovic would have steamrolled her. She's jst got too much momentum and she definitely deserves the title! :)
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