Mauresmo Beats Nemesis S. Williams
Mauresmo Beats Nemesis S. Williams

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 5, 2006

FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y., Sept. 4 -- For a 23-minute spell during Monday's featured match at the U.S. Open, top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo and former champion Serena Williams reverted to their form of old, to the dismay of the former and the delight of the latter.

It happened in the second set of their fourth-round match at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Mauresmo suddenly lost her nerve and bearing, and Williams started scorching the court with outright winners, brandishing the swagger befitting a seven-time Grand Slam champion.

But times have changed atop the hierarchy of women's tennis. Mauresmo is no longer the sport's most gifted choker, and Williams is no longer its most dominant player. And their first meeting in 18 months bore that out, with Mauresmo shaking off her second-set collapse to prevail, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.

With the victory, Mauresmo advances to the quarterfinals and nudges her undistinguished career record against Williams to 2-9.

Monday's result should have been encouraging to both.

In snapping out of her lapse, Mauresmo proved once again that she has conquered the demons that for so many years kept her from winning major titles. She made her first major breakthrough in February, winning the Australian Open, then added her first Wimbledon title in July.

"It happens," Mauresmo said with newfound confidence, referring to her second-set shutout. "I'm happy I was able to focus back into the match."

For Williams, there was no shame in losing a close match to the reigning No. 1 player. Williams, of course, held that status not along ago, claiming the first of her major titles, the 1999 U.S. Open, on this very court.

But her ranking plummeted this year after she sat out six months with a sore left knee. Now 91st, the two-time U.S. Open champion needed a wild card just to enter the tournament. As a result, she was unseeded and faced a difficult draw.

Looking more fit and hungry than she had in months, Williams breezed through her first three matches without dropping a set. Mauresmo, however, proved a more formidable measuring stick.

After splitting sets, Mauresmo and Williams held serve early in the third set. The turning point came in a spectacular 35-shot rally in the sixth game, with Williams serving at 2-3. It ended with Williams netting a backhand. Her game, and her spirit, disintegrated from there.

"It just fell apart after that," Williams said. "I just wasn't able to put balls away as much."

Match point was a beauty: another long rally that ended with Williams running down a drop shot and firing a passing shot down the line. But Mauresmo anticipated the ball's trajectory perfectly and lunged for a sharply angled volley that was beyond Williams's reach.

Williams was in no mood to compliment Mauresmo during her post-match news conference. Nor was she interested in analyzing where she fell short, insisting that the lack of match play was a factor in her performance. The U.S. Open is only the fourth tournament she has competed in this year.

"I think I could have come out on top had I made a few more shots and had I just been a little more consistent -- maybe [had] a little bit more fire or something," Williams said. "But I don't think lack of match play had anything to do [with it] too much."

Although she conceded that she "wasn't pumping and jumping and the whole nine [yards]" for three full sets against Mauresmo, Williams brushed off a suggestion that she should rethink her approach to her training and conditioning in an effort to improve her ranking.

"I'm gonna go play some events in Europe and have fun," she said. "It's really a matter of me just playing better in the big matches, maybe. I don't know. It's just a matter of time. It's not that big for me. You know, I don't see me in this position much longer."

Earlier Monday, Lindsay Davenport's 6-4, 6-4 victory over Patty Schnyder sent Davenport into the quarterfinals, where second-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne awaits.

Davenport withdrew from Wimbledon with a back injury this year, and an arm injury two weeks ago left her participation in the U.S. Open in doubt. But nothing bothered her Monday -- not the aftereffects of a difficult three-set victory Sunday, the swirling wind or Schnyder's unpredictable strokes.

Henin-Hardenne, who breezed past Shahar Peer, 6-1, 6-0, is likely to present a tougher challenge. The Belgian holds a 6-5 record against Davenport, with all six of her victories coming since 2003.

Davenport hasn't had time to plot her strategy but agreed, with a self-deprecating chuckle, that her power should be an asset against the diminutive Henin-Hardenne, whose game relies on speed and artistry.

"Well, I'm not going to outrun her," said Davenport, who is 6 feet 2. "I don't have a ton of options."

Third-seeded Maria Sharapova rebounded from a sluggish start to defeat Li Na of China, 6-4, 6-2. Li bolted to a 4-1 start before Sharapova found her groove. Jelena Jankovic also earned a berth in quarterfinals with 6-7 (7-5), 6-3, 6-2 upset of sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion.