Zheng Jie brings mighty Ana Ivanovic down to earth
It was only thanks to a fortuitous net cord that Ana Ivanovic survived her second-round match against Nathalie Dechy, of France. There was no such helping hand yesterday as the world No 1, the Princess of Paris, was dispatched with a horribly indecent haste from Wimbledon by the No 5 ranked player from China. You could not make it up.
“Ivanovic was lost, she did not know what to do,” was the verdict of Virginia Wade, the 1977 Wimbledon champion who probably never saw a player from China in her career. The Wade verdict was hard but fair because Ivanovic survived against Dechy only on sheer instinct and willpower.
Zheng Jie, a 24-year-old from Chengdu, a tiny terrier of a hitter, had more than enough of those characteristics to defeat the new queen of the castle 6-1, 6-4.
Poor Ivanovic, it does not take long for the mighty to fall. Only that the Serb has not looked that mighty since taking the French Open by storm. On the final point of the match, her attempt to return a serve by Zheng sent the ball careering into the spectators and it was all she could do to hold back the tears. Her No 1 ranking is not under threat this fortnight but she does not feel much like a No1 this morning, that much has to be true. “I just told myself to keep going, keep going,” Zheng, a wild card, said.
Hers was a courageous win and its impact on the championships is immense. Zheng will now play Agnes Szavay, the No 15 seed from Hungary, in the last 16.
A third former champion joined the exodus yesterday when Amélie Mauresmo was beaten in straight sets by Serena Williams, 7-6, 6-1. The French girl followed Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova out of the gates and one wondered if she has the ability any more to carve her magic against the bigger hitters.
When Nicole Vaidisova lost in the first round of three consecutive clay-court events, in Berlin, Rome and the French Open, David Felgate wondered if his second dip into women's coaching was a shocking aberration. Things on grass had not been that much better, as Vaidisova succumbed in the quarter-finals of the Edgbaston Trophy a fortnight ago to Bethanie Mattek, of the United States, and in the first round at Eastbourne to Olga Govortsova, an up-and-comer from Ukraine.
Felgate is known as a chipper, positive person but he was having trouble accepting the 19-year-old's indifference to what was happening. Something had to change. When she smashed her racket midway through a run of nine consecutive lost games against Sam Stosur, of Australia, in the second round, it was all Felgate could do to stay in his seat.
Remarkably Vaidisova was the first woman to reach the last 16 yesterday, a 6-2, 6-4 victor over Casey Dellacqua, also of Australia, a creditable scoreline not least in that at 4-3, 30-all in the second set, with the Czech teenager poised for victory, the first drops of rain began to fall and the players had to scurry for cover. Vaidisova thwacked two balls against the backdrop of No 18 Court, so angry was she to have to stop.
Felgate, who coached Tim Henman for nine years, knows all about how players cope with breaks for rain in SW19 and he worried that Vaidisova might tie herself in mental knots. He should not have been unduly concerned. Vaidisova went out to complete the match with a competent hold of serve and, finally, a towering ace down the T. “I hadn't seen her smile that widely since we started working together,” Felgate said.
“My message to her all along has been about staying in the present. In her second match here, she was beginning to get worried about whether her opponent would start to play well, which is like not being able to tell the wood from the trees. We have been working on hitting the big spots on the court and focusing on every point. What was encouraging today was that she only had one break point against her in the whole match.”
Vaidisova reached last year's quarter-finals, where she lost to Ivanovic after having three match points. A year on, their emotions were quite different.
Original Source : http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article4228472.ece
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