Chakvetadze Crushes Mauresmo's Hopes
February 8, 2008
In the last quarterfinal of the day, number one seed Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze defeated Coubertin’s favorite player Amelie Mauresmo after a 2 hour 04 match. She will face another Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, in the semifinal.
For the second time in as many years in the Open Gaz de France, Russia’s Anna Chakvetadze was facing Amélie Mauresmo of France, playing in front of her home crowd that adores her so much. Their 2007 quarterfinal had been so contested, with Mauresmo only winning 7-6, 7-5 and before the match the Russian had made it clear she was eager to get her revenge in Paris. Needless to say, most of the spectators were hoping for the opposite and made it very clear by cheering and chanting loudly as the two athletes warmed up. But today, the Frenchwoman was far from being the favorite, having dropped to n°18 in the world, and she was going to need all the crowd’s support and then more to defeat the number one seed and most of all prove she was back on tracks after a disappointing 2007 season and a far from reassuring Australian series earlier this year.
The spectators’ darling stormed through the first games, looking more than ever like the player who had won twice here and is a two-time Grand Slam champion, soon taking a 3-0 lead without letting her opponent much room to react to her serve efficiency. But Chakvetadze’s very flat baseline strokes, that had initially not proved sharp enough, became challenging enough to allow the Russian to break back Mauresmo’s serve. Yet eventually, the Frenchwoman’s ability to use different lengths in her shots, added to her younger opponent’s difficulties to move forward fast enough, made the difference and spectators could let their enthusiasm loose as their favorite player won the first set 6-3 in half an hour. They were as much cheering in appreciation of the score as they were expressing relief at the regained quality of Mauresmo’s tennis.
Looking totally unimpressed by both the atmosphere in the Coubertin stadium and her opponent’s fighting spirit, Chakvetadze apparently started the second set with stronger resolve, if not with a greater variety of strokes and tactics. With only 50% of her first serves in throughout the set, the Russian made up for that temporary weakness with a better concentration and less of the generous unforced errors that had marred her first set. That gave her the slight advantage she needed to close the set 6-3, winning three games in a row in the process.
As on a roll, the youngest of the two players also broke Mauresmo’s serve, having then won four consecutive games, before seeing the French catch up at 1-1 after a series of impressively long rallies in which neither of the athletes try to spare their energy. They then proceeded to both hold their serve games, Chakvetadze doing so more easily than Mauresmo, before engaging in a series of consecutive breaks again. Serving at 4-3, Chakvetadze put an end to the trend and took a 5-3 lead, letting Mauresmo dealing with the pressure of serving to stay alive in the tournament she likes so much. Increasing her own accuracy while Mauresmo was starting to feel the physical impact of such an intense clash, Chakvetadze took the final set 6-3.
“It was a tough match today, we had to fight hard until the end. I was a little luckier on my serve games, that’s what may have made the difference. After such a long and disputed match, it won’t be easy to feel very fresh tomorrow. I feel like I’m playing the French championships here, but I hope some of the spectators will be on my side this time”, said the Russian after the match.