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Saturday 7 June: As it happens
Saturday, June 7, 2008
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6.15 pm: Nestor saves a break point on his serve, despite Horna reaching back into the front row of the stand - literally - to retrieve a smash. Ah, but the Thouth Americanth get there in the end. 2-1 with Cuevas to serve.
6 pm: One-way traffic in the men's doubles final - the Uruguayo-Peruvian double-act took the first set 6-2.
5.53 pm: Yoiks, they've broken Nestor as well! 4-0 to the Thouth Americanth, to use my Hispanic pronunciation again (which I'm sticking to even though I've been repeatedly told that down there, Ss and Zs are pronounced as Ss). Poor Ziki Zimonjic - he's already lost one doubles final, the mixed which was snaffled by Vika Azarenka and Bob Bryan.
5.45 pm: The South Americans break Zimonjic then hold out there on Chatrier. 2-0 to them.
5.38 pm: The men's doubles final is under way - the South American duo of Cuevas (URU) and Horna (PER) against No2 seeds Nestor (CAN) and Zimonjic (SRB).
5.02 pm: Dina is gracious in defeat, Ana gracious in victory as both take the microphone. Ana's thanking everyone out there. She hasn't mentioned the blog yet but I'm sure she'll get round to it.
4.56 pm: On your feet everyone for the Serbian national anthem! The flag waves proudly above the stadium as Ana wipes away an emotional tear. A proud moment for a young emerging player from a young emerging nation.
4.55 pm: Here comes JuJu to present the trophies! Yay! The changing of the guard, out with the old (figuratively! She's 25 for heaven's sake!) and in with the new! And Ana hoists aloft the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen!
4.52 pm: Ana gets back down to earth, literally, from the stands and immediately gets nabbed for an interview. Dina is staring straight ahead, perhaps counting the missed chances.
4.50 pm: Drop from Ana, Dina can't get to it and Ana wins! Ana wins! 6-4 6-3. And Ana's off to see her entourage! She's climbing up a line judge's chair to get into the crowd.
4.48 pm: Winner, long and long and all of a sudden, Ana has three match points!
4.47 pm: Dina nets and berates herself. A scene seen on multiple occasions today. And one which she repeats 30 seconds later. 5-3 Ana.
4.44 pm: Big service game for Ana here and she starts off strongly. Big serve, moves Dinara around then puts one away for 15-0. And then next point up, she sits back and it's Dina's turn to pounce. 15-15.
4.42 pm: Winner, Ana unforced-er and winner and Dina finally takes the game. Ana to serve 4-3. That of course was the crucial seventh game, the winner of which goes on to take the set in 90% of case. Will this be the one in ten or will it prove the rule.
4.40 am: ARGH! Dina double faults again! Ad Ana.
4.40 am: ARGH! Dina double faults! Deuce (brought to you by the letter D).
4.39 pm: Drop followed by passing shot from Dina. She really needed that. Ad Dina. She needs to vary.
4.37 pm: Ooh, Ana thinks she's hits a winner but it's called out. She asks the question and the chair ump confirms. Deuce.
4.36 pm: More deucaliciousness from the ladies. Dina is totally dictating the pace and Ana is back in defence and waiting for the mistakes to come - and they are. Dina sends her left and right and then nets an easy forehand. Back to deuce, and then Ad Ana. Dina is so frustrated here, looking close to tears almost.
4.32 pm: Deuce on the Dina serve. She is shaking her head and berating herself after every mistake (and there have been a few).
4.28 pm: Dina's doing all the attacking here but making a few mistakes. Ana the defender - not often you see that. And Dina puts another one out and crouches down on her haunches. 4-2 Ana. Big game that one. So big in fact that Ana's gone and got herself a new racquet to go with the new balls.
4.25 pm: Titanic struggle here. Deuce-alicious. Let then virtual ace right down the middle to give her a game point. Second serve next up, biiig backhand from Dina followed by a perfect drop. Deuce.
4.23 pm: Lucky net cord for Dina but Ana sends a cross-courter onto the T between tram and baseline. 40-30, then Ana wiiiides one. Deuce. More crucialness… Forehand winner from Ana, who crouches down, clenches the fist and then does a pirouette (easily done on clay). Dina meanwhile curses herself.
4.21 pm: Big return and then a smash from Dinara. 30-30 on the Ana serve. Crucial points…
4.18 pm: A couple of weak returns from Ana make it 3-2 but she's still a break up.
4.16 pm: Beautifully weighted drop-shot from Dina who is showing some fight in this game. The Ana panic bus might come along again soon, maybe if Dina can wait just long enough… It's a dangerous tactic though - surely Ana won't lose her nerve again… Surely…
4.13 pm: Ana is serving and finally dictating pace. Sending her opponent hither and thither. And there we go - she holds to love like in the good old days of about ooh, an hour ago at the start of the first set. 3-1 Ana, Dina to serve.
4.10 pm: Ana steps back, makes room and hits an inside-out forehand, the way she loves to do, and she's a break up. 2-1. Dark clouds out there literally and also metaphorically, as Dina pings her racquet off the floor. The game is there for the taking as Ana isn't playing her best tennis but Dina can't grasp the nettle.
4.08 pm: Break point, saved by Dina.
4.06 pm: Dina hits one that makes for Ana like a tracer bullet and hits her, so point to Dina. She then aces (first of the match from either player) to make it 40-30, then a mega-rally ends with Ana lobbing up soft balls as if to give Dina smashing practice. She obviously needs it as she can't put them away, then Ana drops down a cross-court droptastic drop to take it to deuce. More Cyrillic epithets from Dina.
4.04 pm: Can anyone lip-read Russian… Where's my wife when I need her! Dina's serve sits up and asks to be hit which Ana does, prompting an outburst in Cyrillic from the No13 seed. She then strides to the net next point to level up but double faults, argh! Ana knows exactly where to position herself on Dina's second serve to put the pressure on.
4.03 pm: Dina punts one way long. 1-1.
4.02 pm: Long rally, Dina puts a back-hand out. She needs to make every shot if she is to win this, unless Ana goes to pieces again which cannot be ruled out…
4 pm: Dinara holds to love to open the second set. There's a marker laid down…
3.57 pm: Nerves nerves nerves from Ana. She is the better player out there but if Dina varies the height of her shots and can top-spin them up, she can get back into this. 14 winners for Ana, 12 unforced errors tells a tale.
3.56 pm: Long from Dina, set point No2. Ana serves big and takes the first set 6-4!
3.55 pm: Big serve and a ¾ smash in front of an open court is made. Phew. Deuce again.
3.54 pm: Whipped forehand down the line, Graf-esque as Matt on the radio has pointed out, to make it set point and then Ana nets an easy peasy lemon squeezy one. She hates the ball above waist height.
3.53 pm: Nerves nerves nerves. Ana longs one to give Dina a break point before stepping inside to deliver an inside-out forehand to make it deuce.
3.50 pm: Ana begins with a forehand into the net, causing Mansour Bahrami and Amelie Mauresmo, sitting together in the crowd, to sigh and raise their eyes. She then puts down an enormous serve and half smashes (horizontally, never overhead… too nervous for that) to level it at 15-15. Same again in the next two points, 30-30.
3.48 pm: Ana finally breaks back! 5-4 and she will serve for the set in two minutes. Dina needs to keep her pushed back, lengthen the rallies and build the pressure up. She needs to pounce on every serve here.
3.47 pm: Ana's snatching at shots, hitting lots of them long. Dina needs to keep looping the ball up - Ana doesn't like the ball at shoulder height or overhead.
3.46 pm: Breakback mountain! 4-4! Ana's service has totally unraveled! Shades of last year's final...
3.44 pm: Ana gives it all back with three unforced errors. Deuce. Critical passage of play here…
3.40 pm: Tati Golovin in the crowd. Wonder who the French No.3 (after Marion Bartoli and Alize Cornet now) is rooting for… If it's Ana, she's brought her luck as she's 30-0 up after pushing Dina back, despite her service having gone to pot, and then coming to the net. Dina then nets an easy one - she can't afford any errors here, she needs to take all her chances. 40-0 Ana.
3.37 pm: This match has indeed changed course as Dina holds to love! Ana to serve 4-3 after the changeover but Ana will have a nervous two minutes wait…
3.35 pm: Two points later and she does indeed break! 4-2 to Ana still but not the one-way traffic we'd had while I was out there watching. Perhaps I've turned the course of the game…
3.33 pm: Drew back, thanks Elaine! Ana indeed breaks but it's deuce in the next Ana service game. At 1-4 Dina needs to break now or forever hold her peace, as they say in the UK religious marriage ceremony…
3.26 pm: That's a disappointing game for Safina, she led 15-30 but let Ana come right back into the game with two unforced errors. First double fault for Dinara and her fifth unforced error. Mark my words, Ana's gonna break here.
3.22 pm: Word of warning, don't invite Ana into the net unless you're sure you can match her volley for volley. Two excellent forehands from Ana to bring it back to 40-30 but then she hits one into the trams. Game Dinara.
3.19 pm: Ana's up by two games now, she's moving Safina around a lot and playing well at the net, but Dinara's hit two great crosscourt forehands to move ahead in her service game.
3.16 pm: Ana's already broken serve, Safina will need to get back into this immediately if she's to keep her confidence up. That's a nice backhand winner from the Russian, 15-30.
3.12 pm: I deliberately ended that sentence with a "…" so you'd know it's Elaine and not Drew, therefore you won't start posting me strange drew-isms that I haven't a hope of understanding!
3.10 pm: So Safina gets the game under way…
3.04 pm: DINARA WINS! The toss. She calls heads correctly and elects to serve.
OK, my prediction. Ana 6-2 7-5.
2.59 pm: I'm happy now after my Justine sighting, even though Babsi Schett has been studiously avoiding me since I accosted her on Wednesday night. I'm going to watch some of the match (live) so Elaine will blog for a while. I'll have a look to see whether Marat is in the crowd for all you fans of the broody Muscovite. A French reporter has just interviewed both girls and they seemed reasonably settled.
And out they come! The announcer introduces Henin, and then Safina and Ivanovic. The girls are probably worried now to that Justine isn't going to tie her hair back and start playing them! The Belgian would no doubt like to get revenge for the last match she ever played when she lost to… Safina!
2.49 pm: Kontinen and Rungkat have won in straight sets. Bravo to the youngsters. On Chatrier meanwhile, we have the band playing out there as the crowd begin to fill the stands.
2.29 pm: Hello again everyone. I lost you all for a while (the comments didn't appear) as some naughty person posted in Cyrillic (and some naughty person here forgot to remove it from the post). You're all back now after our friends from IBM sorted it all out.
2.18 pm: Good grief, the Suomi-Indonesian combo has bageled the first set. They seem to whisper to each other between each point, no doubt discussing tactics.
2.10 pm: Let's hear it for the boy(s), to quote an 80s song. On No2, Kontinen (FIN) and Rungkat (from Indonesia no less) are 3-0 up over Brunken (GER) and Reid (AUS). Sorry, make that 4-0. They're playing in front of a good crowd as well.
2.02 pm: An hour to go - weather watch. 18 degrees, cool, overcast and very windy. Swirly conditions out there.
On Lenglen, Fitzgerland and Vilas are playing Pecci and the bespectacled Ramirez in the Legends.
1.34 pm: The Dutchies took the first 7-5, the Sloveno-Aussie duo the second 6-1 and now we're into a first-to-ten, two points clear tie-break game. Hercog and Moore are serving at 9-6 for the title when hoo cha cha! The Slovene pings the ball off her team-mate's head! Not only is a match point saved but the Aussie is a little shaken up. Another match point at 9-7 and that's the one, Moore and Hercog win. Sorry Marlies, Aniek et al and come on Aussie (and Slovenia!)
1.33 pm: Wow it's a super tie-break in the girls doubles!
1.19 pm: Ahem, and Amelie Mauresmo! Had forgotten that all Slam titles came after lots of semis and finals without winning and that in 2004, she was No1 for about a month. Well done to all of you who wrote in.
12.24 pm: Ana is out practicing on Chatrier. On No2 meanwhile we have Hercog and Moore against Kerkhove and Rus in the girls… doubles final and unfortunately for the meisjes who post regularly on here, the Dutchies are a break down, 1-2 in the first. Ooh, break point… and… second service… and… saved. The Dutchies went cross-court for a 20-shot rally but as soon as they tried to go for the passing shot, Moore pounced and dispatched a volley. Deuce.
12 pm: You do realize, lads and lasses, that Dinara Safina is currently on the third-longest winning streak of the year - 12 games. Maria managed 18 (including the Aus open) and Serena 17. During that streak, she has beaten Henin, Serena, Dementieva twice and Kuznetsova.
Ana meanwhile is hoping to avoid becoming the first woman to hit No1 in the world without winning a Grand Slam since Kim Clijsters. In fact Kim Possible is the only woman to date go get to No1 before winning a Slam. She was No1 in August 2003 for 10 weeks and didn't win a Slam til the US Open 2005. Ana will become world No1 on Monday whatever happens but as things stand, she is still officially No2. It would be such an anti-climax for her to become world No1 on the back of a defeat. Dinara will be No9 on Monday whatever happens.
11 am: Good morning, dobro jutro and strassvoitye - we have a Serbia v Russia final here coming up in a few hour's time. You can read all about the Ana Ivanovic - Dinara Safina match-up on the site: how Ana and Dinara won their semi-finals, what the keys to today's final will be and a full preview as well as the biographies of Miss Ivanovic and Miss Safina.
And of course there is the men's doubles final between Pablo Cuevas and Luis Horna of Peru and Daniel Nestor of Canada and beaten Serbian mixed doubles finalist Nenad Zimonjic. Let us know what you think the result of the final(s) will be - guess the exact result of the women's final (not just the winner and in how many sets but the exact score in games) and win… the admiration of your peers! And of course post all your opinions down below.
By Drew Lilley
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