[外電] Amelie Takes the Fast Track to the Semis, But Bigger Tes
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Amelie Takes the Fast Track to the Semis, But Bigger Tests Await
by Brian Cleary
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
There are a few different ways to look at top-seed Amelie Mauresmo's
one-sided win over the No. 12-seeded Russian Dinara Safina, 6-2, 6-3.
The first is to see this one-hour and two-minute match, in which Mauresmo was
in complete control throughout, as an example of Mauresmo having gotten her
game back on track. After winning two of the first three Grand Slams this
year, the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Mauresmo had a dismal summer
hard-court season. In the only two tournaments she entered, she pulled out of
Montreal with a right shoulder strain and then got clobbered by Lindsay
Davenport in the second round of New Haven.
Another way to look at it is that Safina, 20, whose brother Marat Safin also
lost today to Tommy Haas in a men's fourth-round match, either was
overwhelmed by the occasion or just had a really off day. She hit a
remarkably high 27 unforced errors (and just nine winners), starting off the
match making seven errors in the first nine points. She was also broken in
her first service game in both sets. She spent a good part of the match
scolding herself in her Russian dialect.
But for the purposes of ascertaining where Mauresmo is at in this tournament,
perhaps the most useful way is to look at what it takes to beat Mauresmo and
what Safina wasn't able to do. Despite being just shy of 6-feet, Safina
doesn't hit the ball consistently hard, hitting her groundstrokes with a lot
of spin, and she doesn't have a particularly big serve. According to
legendary coach Nick Bolletteiri, that's not going to do it against Mauresmo,
arguably the game's fittest and physically strong player.
"Unless you hit the ball early and flat, it's tough to beat Mauresmo," said
Bolletteiri before the match. "If you hit with a lot of spin, and don't take
advantage of your opportunities by hitting through the court and hurting
Mauresmo, it's tough to beat this world No. 1."
Coming off a huge win over Serena Williams in the fourth round here, Mauresmo
says that, although she's struggled since Wimbledon, she feels things are
looking up here at the Open.
"I needed some matches [to get my game going]," said the top-seeded
Frenchwoman who, to give you an idea of how off her game was coming into New
York, in the first-round in New Haven she had to go three sets to beat Galina
Voskoboeva, a qualifier who was ranked just No. 93 in the world. "But now, I
feel my game is really coming together.''
While Mauresmo wasn't tested too much by Safina, any time a player wins this
easy in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam against another seeded player, it's
a good sign. But Bollettieri thinks Mauresmo has her work cut out for her
from this point on, particular in the form of such players as Maria Sharapova
and Justine Henin-Hardenne.
"[Mauresmo] won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, but this is New York,''
Bolletteiri said. "She moves beautifully. She has all the shots. But I don't
think she's a clear, odds-on favorite because there are too many other
players on top of their games."
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