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THE
SCOOP: U.S. OPEN, DAY 3
Hobbled
Clijsters looks up at Venus
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FLUSHING
MEADOWS, N.Y., AUG. 29 –
There are few players in the draw with enough firepower and shotmaking
capabilities to upend Venus Williams, but Kim Clijsters is one
of those competitors.
The
Roland Garros finalist and Stanford titlist could meet Venus in
the quarters, that's if her sore right quad holds up.
After
wasting Pavlina Nola 6-1, 6-1, Clijsters said she was compensating
for the injury a little bit and not striding like she normally
would. She still worried that she might pull the muscle and presto,
her chance of trading blasts with Venus would be history.
Clijsters
showed in knocking off Lindsay Davenport in the Stanford final
that when she's able use her terrific movement and is able slide
on asphalt (yes, she likes to skid on hardcourts), she a big time
threat to all the elite players. She's just as fast, can gun it
off both wings and has a significant serve. But her results post-Stanford
were' not impressive: a loss to Ai Sugiyama in San Diego, one
to Nathalie Tauziat in Manhattan Beach and then her withdrawal
with the quad injury before her match with Davenport in New Haven.
She
said she was mentally fired.
"I
really needed a break," she said. "I felt like after
I went to Indianapolis (to be along side her boyfriend, Lleyton
Hewitt) and didn't play for about five days, I was hungry again.
I felt motivated. I was really enjoying myself and that's very
important to me. I'm the type of athlete who puts a lot of energy
into my matches. … Maybe I shouldn't have played San Diego or
LA."
The
17-year-old's problem is her lack of maturity, but that will disappear
in time. When she is focused and driven, she a threat at every
major, and you can't say that about too many players.
"I
know all the top players are going to try extra because this is
another Grand Slam. They're going to work very hard and are very
motivated in these big tournaments. But I'm motivated here as
well. I'm going to try. We'll see. Maybe I can. Maybe I can."
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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JAN-MICHAEL
UNNERVED
Jan-Michael
Gambill won her first Grand Slam match of '01 when he rocked the
bizarre planet of Cedric Pioline. Gambill, who came into the year
with high hopes of ending the year in the top 10, is in a world
of trouble right now, battling a nerve injury that affects his
serve and occasionally his groundies. He can't serve his 130-mph
plus bullet and hasn't won a significant match since the spring.
But at least he busted his Slam losing streak.
"At
least the curse is gone," he said. "It's ough. I actually
thought about it before my match. "Gee, let's get through
this one."
Despite
not having set the country on fire this summer, Gambill believes
he can have an impact here. "I'm a threat to anybody on hard
courts," said Gambill. "I have as good a hard court
record as the guys out there, better than most actually. On the
hard, I can win against anybody."
The
Washingtonian might face Pete Sampras in the third round, which
is a golden opportunity for Gambill, considering what a funk Sampras
has been in.
If
he takes down the slumping Sampras, Patrick Rafter might be next,
then Andre Agassi. Call that quarter the fourth circle of hell.
"It's
by far the hardest quarter of the draw but that's what a Grand
Slam is
all about," Gambill said.
CAN
DEMENTIEVA REVIVE HER GAME?
Since
her brilliant run to the semis of the U.S. Open and her follow-up
charge to the Olympic silver medal, Elena Dementieva has all but
gone away as a significant player. She's been battling injuries,
but she doesn't seem to have the same fire in her belly that she
did in '00 and hasn't improved her biggest weakness much, her
lollipop serve.
The
No. 11 seed says she has a tough draw here, but at least on paper,
Dementieva should be able to work her way past Anke Huber in the
third round and has a good shot against Clijsters in the quarters.
"I
feel OK but its kind of tough to be here because I have so many
points to defend," she said. There are so many good players.
I feel I'm playing better than I played last year but I'm not
sure if its where I want it to be."
Dementieva
said that one of her problems is that players have caught on as
to how to play her and added that she is going to have to make
some adjustments to counter that, like come into net more and
develop a more significant serve. The tall blonde is an excellent
mover, has huge groundies and a ravenous return, but serving and
volleying are far out of her reach right now. She has hands of
stone at net and still doesn't have enough upper body strength
to get a good snap on her serve.
When
asked who would be the first Russian woman to win a Slam singles
titles – herself,
Kournikova, Nadia Petrova or Lina Krasnoroutskaya – Dementieva
wouldn't say, and added that she doesn't like her own chances.
"No,"
she laughed. Sounds like a player who might not make it to the
second week.
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