|
WILLIAMS SAYS GRAF NOT A GREAT
GRASS COURT PLAYER
Did Venus diss Steffi?
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
|
FROM WIMBLEDON – We all know
that Venus Williams has never liked going into much depth about
her losses, so when she went into her usual rope-a-dope-journalist
routine on Monday when asked by tennisreporters.net about
her last loss as Wimbledon – her 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 defeat to Steffi
Graf in the '99 Wimbledon quarters – it came as no surprise
that she said "I was just missing, just not stepping up."
She didn't recall her comments at the time, which were to the effect
that she played great and that seven-time Wimbledon champion Graf
raised her level at the end.
For someone who has raised the level of her sport the last two years
in taking the London title, it isn't stunning that Venus can't remember
the player who ever lost here. (Remember, this is from a woman who
when once asked about a player she lost to in Canada, said she has
never played the match nor visited the country).
But how her that equates with her saying that Graf wasn't the best
player she ever played on grass is befuddling.
"I didn't consider Steffi a grass court player," she said.
CAN'T FIND A PLAYER IN THE GRASS
What impelled a major wire service to pick this story up
was that when Venus was asked who the best grass courter she ever
faced was, she said, "I don't know. I haven't really actually
played a grass court player. I think Serena played Els Callens the
other day. I think she was a good grass court player. Maybe Nathalie
Tauziat."
Els Callens? Because she pushed Serena but lost? Nathalie Tauziat,
because she reached the final here and Venus used to love pass her
at will? Why not throw in Natasha Zvereva, or Miriam Oremans, or
even Maureen Drake? Are the Hall of Fame officials in Newport overlooking
one of the great crops of the last decade?
Fortunately, Venus said she didn't
put Callens and Tauziat in the same category as Steffi. "But
I didn't consider Steffi a grass court player," she said. "I
considered her a champion, sure. She never really came in, never
served and volleyed. I don't think that was exactly grass court
tennis."
Courtsey of Agassi family |
What Steffi did do was serve with
power and accuracy, move better than anyone on tour, hit the most
low wicked backhand slice every seen on the lawns and was able to
back that up with her ferocious forehand. There was not player of
her era that Steffi didn't club here, which shows that at least
in the women's game, serve-and -volleying isn't the only way to
be queen of the lawns.
Venus should know that, since she
admittedly isn't a serve and volleyer, either. She will serve and
volley maybe 15 times a set on an ambitious day – not exactly
a Margaret Court or Billie Jean King in their heyday, much less
a Jana Novotna. Venus backs up her huge first serve with big groundies,
excellent movement and a forceful return. "I'd like to serve
and volley more," she said. "But I think my game is at
the baseline. That's what I was taught."
TWO REASONS FOR NOT GIVING GRAF HER DUE
Fair enough, but's it pretty clear from this vista that there
are two reasons why Venus won't give Steffi her grasscourt props:
one, because the '99 loss was a far more painful defeat than she's
willing to admit and because she never got to avenge the loss after
Graf retired a few months later; and two, because she doesn't want
to go deep into her memory banks and recall the Slam-less player
that she was in '99, with a shaky serve, a much weaker forehand
and a fear of the net.
"It was so disappointing," Venus said. "I just didn't
want to win. I didn't do what it took to win. … But that was years
ago. I'm a different person. I don't even know who that was anymore."
Even mentioning Els Callens and Tauziat in the same breath with
Graf and her 21 Slam titles is a slight, but it's not as if Venus
said that Graf stunk – she did call her a champion, only one
whose style didn't didn't mix with her idea of perfect grass court
play. To say that Steffi isn't the best grass courter she faced
is insulting, since she never played Martina Navratilova and beat
one-time champ Martina Hingis only once on the surface. Maybe she
was mulling over Novotna, but Graf completely owned the Czech. A
diss? Somewhat from the outside looking in, but we'll have to wait
until Steffi steps out of her large shell of a mansion in Northern
California and addresses this issue before we really know how insulted
the German legend is. For right now, it sounds like a simple case
of sour grapes.
|
