| Mauresmo Wins Bausch & Lomb | |
Dateline: 04/16/01
Amelie Mauresmo defeated Amanda Coetzer 6-4, 7-5 in Sunday's Bausch & Lomb Championships final to claim her third consecutive title. Mauresmo has a 20-1 match record for 2001 thus far, her only loss being to Venus Williams at the Australian Open. Her two previous titles this year were at Paris and Nice, after which she took almost two months off to rest.
The ESPN television coverage of the final featured excellent camera work, with some points shot from court level and others from a higher perspective. The court-level view was particularly interesting, because it made most vivid the height at which the two players were forcing each other to meet the ball.
Mauresmo hits more topspin than any of the better-known players, except Conchita Martinez, and she had the 5'2" Coetzer meeting the majority of balls well above her head. Coetzer is probably the fittest player on the women's tour. She is known for tremendous foot speed, but she demonstrated remarkable upper-body strength as she was able to hit deep, hard, and with topspin on balls above her head for one long point after another in two long sets.
Both players displayed an entertaining variety of angles and spins. Mauresmo has a beautiful one-handed backhand stroke, and one of her favorite targets is the crosscourt "side pocket," the outside corner of the service box. She hits that shot with heavy topspin, so the ball kicks way off the side of the court, usually for an outright winner or an easy setup into the open court on the next shot. She can also blast her backhand straight down the line, making the court area her opponent has to cover almost impossibly wide when Mauresmo is on her game. Coetzer's best hope in the match was to make Mauresmo hit enough balls in each point that she'd eventually miss, but Mauresmo was too consistent this time around.
Coetzer's biggest disadvantage in the match was her serve. She is simply too short to have a powerful serve, and Mauresmo could often tee off on the return, especially on Coetzer's second serve, which sometimes dropped below 70 mph. Coetzer did better at breaking Mauresmo's serve than holding her own, despite the 5'9" Mauresmo serving 100+ mph first serves at roughly a 65% consistency.
To reach the final, Coetzer had survived another big hitter, Nadia Petrova, in an exciting 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 semifinal, and Mauresmo had defeated another scrambler, Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, 6-3, 6-2. Aranxta had upset Martina Hingis in the quarterfinals.
Adding to the fun at this Bausch & Lomb was Martina Navratilova's run all the way to the doubles final, paired with Arantxa. Martina didn't play especially well in their 6-4, 6-2 loss to Conchita Martinez and Patricia Tarabini, but the 44-year-old is enjoying being out there. She plans to play another ten or so doubles events this year, all with Arantxa.
Does anyone on the WTA Tour have as much sheer physical strength as Mauresmo? Join our discussion.
