Australian Open: Day 13

Serena devastates Davenport for seventh Slam title
Men's final pick: Aussie Hewitt to reign over Safin

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

In another remarkable comeback in her storied career, Serena Williams won her seventh Grand Slam title on Saturday by taking down top seed Lindsay Davenport 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 to win the Australian Open.

Owning the corners of the court for the first set and a half, Davenport appeared to be on her to her fourth Grand Slam title, but completely melted down after failing to convert six break opportunities in the fifth game of the second set. Davenport held in the next game. But after that, Serena raised her levels to the heavens, adeptly moving Davenport around with razor sharp groundstrokes, regaining the speed and accuracy with her first serve and bludgeoning her returns.

Although Davenport let go of one-set leads to Maria Sharapova in the '04 Wimbledon semis and to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the US Open semis, it was unquestionably the fastest and harrowing collapse of the 28-year-old's long career.

At the outset of the match, she served with authority and precision and had Serena guessing as to where she was going with her groundstrokes. After falling behind 1-4 in the first set, Serena took a medical time out to treat a rib injury and returned to the court looking much spryer. But Davenport was able to close out the set by booming and ace and a service winner.

Both women stayed strong inside the baseline in the second set, but Davenport seriously threatened Williams on her serve in the fifth game and had her opportunities in the six break points she held, but missed an open forehand on one and a makeable backhand pass on another. On the other four break points, the warrior-like Williams whacked three forehand winners and cracked an ace.

Davenport then quickly lost all of her composure, double faulting to give Serena the break to 5-3 and then staring at a booming ace from Serena to lose the second set. The third set was a massacre, as Davenport displayed no fire and Serena cruised, taking the contest with a service winner and then falling to her knees with delight. "This will hurt Lindsay for a long long time," said her good friend, ESPN's Mary Joe Fernandez.

Cynthia Lum/WirePhoto.com

Lindsay Davenport lost her fire.

SERENA'S WILL TO WIN
For Serena, winning her second Aussie Open was an incredible accomplishment, as she came back from three match points down against Maria Sharapova in the semis and then turned the tables on Davenport, who had bullied her in their last two matches. Serena's victory is the first time in the last five Grand Slams that an American woman has won a major, the last coming when Serena won '03 Wimbledon. Serena has knee surgery a month after that and was forced to take nearly eight months off the tour. In the fall of 2003, her half-sister, Yetunde, was murdered in Compton, which Serena said emotionally devastated her.

Serena returned to play last March and amazingly won Miami, but spent most of the rest of the year struggling to rediscover her conditioning and form. But, during this fortnight, she fought tooth and nail to keep herself in matches even when she wasn't played her best and literally willed herself to victories.

"She's gone through a tough of couple years and is a real champ and everyone should applaud her for everything she gone through," said Davenport.

By winning six of the last 10 Grand Slams she's contested, Serena proved that when she's healthy and motivated, she's been the standout player on tour over the past three years and can put her record at the majors against many of the game's greats. She's now only two Slam titles behind Monica Seles at the relatively young age of 23. "It's a dream come true," Serena said "I still have so many things to work on and still keep improving."

Cynthia Lum/WirePhoto.com
Take Lleyton Hewitt over Marat Safin in the '05 Aussie Open.

Men's final pick: Aussie Hewitt to reign over Safin
Lleyton Hewitt v. Marat Safin: Is it smart to pick against Lleyton Hewitt becoming the fist man since Mark Edmondson in 1976 to win the title? Only if you think he'll pull a Pat Cash and find a way to lose deep in the fifth set, like the abrasive, hoop-earring wearing one did in 1988 against Mats Wilander.

Safin and Hewitt are locked at 5-5 in their head to heads, with five matches being played on hard courts, but only two played outdoors, both victories by the Aussie. They split matches last year, with Hewitt beating Safin at TMS Cincy outside and Safin getting the edge indoors at TMS Paris.

Just for the record, Andre Agassi picked Safin to win the match based on his firepower. Patrick

McEnroe likes Hewitt's heart.

Because Safin hit through and around the great Federer and has more variety and oomph that Hewitt does, it's apparent that if he plays as well as he did the rest of the tournament, he could come home with his first Aussie crown in his third final. But Hewitt has been playing very well too, beating a host of excellent players of all sizes and stripes, including Rafael Nadal, David Nalbandian and Andy Roddick. No one can seem to keep the extremely driven man down.

For Safin to win this match in hostile conditions, he's going to have to blow the cover off the ball consistently and not let the crowd get into the match. If he gets rattled, he's done, and there have been many occasions when he's lost his head and never crept back. Hewitt must serve as well as he did against Roddick and keep the Russian giant moving as much as possible. When Safin gets tired, he gets sloppy. So, the Aussie has to plan on keeping him out there for a good three hours, even if his hip and back are aching after playing some 17 hours going into the contest. Extending rallies will be the key for Bec Cartwright's new Hoss.

Safin does have about as much talent as anyone out there save for Federer, but this will be a mental battle, pure and simple. Knowing that, you have to take the man who finished No.1 two years running and who's spent his whole life itching for a shot at this title. Hewitt in five sets.