By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net

SCHETT SHOCKS VENUS There's more behind Barbara Schett's straight-set shocker over Venus Williams than just blowtorch groundies and a rusty, unmotivated opponent. Schett feels like she starting a new life after breaking off her engagement and coaching relationship with Tomas Pererovsky last year.

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The 25-year-old Schett had been with Pererovsky for six years and was apparently consumed with the relationship. Now the athletic blonde bomber has hooked with Harald Mair (for coaching only!) and says she is putting much more time on the practice court and refined her game.

VENUS ALL RUST
Don't panic too much over Venus' desultory loss. Sure, she was on the defensive all day, served poorly, rarely attacked and was frequently wrong-footed, but Schett played the match of her life and you can bet that Venus is embarrassed and will work with a tigress to defend her Wimbledon crown. The Scoop doesn't put much into other analystså contentions that Venus doesn't play enough tournaments out of choice: our view is that her knees are ridden with tendinitis and she can't play three tournaments straight without risking further injury. It's not that Venus will ever grind al la Hingis, playing 20-plus events a year, but you can bet with full health that she'd play 15 or so.

GOODBYE AMELIE Our hearts – but not our minds go out to Amelie Mauresmo, who is the antitheses of a pressure player at Roland Garros and should have wasted Jana Kandarr, who has had more success as a model than she has had as a player. Amelie has never looked comfortable on Court Centrale – whether it's because she's a small-town girl and is uncomfortable with the rabidly patriotic fans, or because she is out of the closet but doesn't

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feel she has been fully accepted by her fans, is debatable (or a little of both). The fact is that Amelie is a superjock with tremendous weapons who has yet to show a tremendous amount of intellect on court. Kandarr is easy to figure out, but Amelie didn't have a clue where to locate her weaknesses.