76th-Ranked Daniilidou Stuns Henin-Hardenne

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The New York Sun

WIMBLEDON, England – For Justine Henin-Hardenne, being the best female tennis player in the world has always had more to do with grit than strokes. No doubt the versatile Belgian possesses some of the best and most graceful shots, and considering her size – just under 5-foot-6 and 126 pounds – she generates incredible pace. But it’s her mental fitness that separates her from the pack. However tense or dire the situation, Henin-Hardenne almost always finds a way out of it.


Yesterday was that rare exception. For the first time in her last 25 matches, Henin-Hardenne had too little nerve to compensate for unusually poor play. She double-faulted on match point of her 7-6 (8), 2-6, 7-5 loss to the unseeded Eleni Daniilidou, handing an impressive upset to the a 22-year-old Greek who until yesterday had been long on talent and short on success.


Henin-Hardenne, the French Open champion, was seeded no. 7 at Wimbledon. She nearly mounted one of her trademark comebacks before walking off dejected. Trailing 5-4 in the third set, Henin-Hardenne saved two match points on her serve, the first after she hit a difficult backhand slice with her momentum moving away from the baseline. Surely she was plotting another shocker like the one that denied Svetlana Kuznetsova on match point at Roland Garros this year, or her rally to defeat Jennifer Capriati at the 2003 U.S. Open despite a 5-2 deficit in the third set.


But as the tension built on Court 1, where temperatures again climbed into the 80s, Daniilidou carried the day. She held her serve with little trouble for a 6-5 lead and then capitalized on Henin-Hardenne’s miscues in the final game, which included two double faults. Daniilidou had withstood a final surge from the toughest player on the tour.


“Everyone is shaky a little bit sometimes during the match,” Daniilidou said afterward. “I think today I was a little bit better on that.”


Henin-Hardenne was seeking a bit of history here: A Wimbledon title is all she needs to complete a career Grand Slam. Instead, she leaves the All England Club with the dubious distinction of being the first French champion in the Open Era to lose in the first round at Wimbledon.


When she left Paris, Henin-Hardenne was hobbled by back and hamstring injuries. She proceeded to skip all of the grass-court warmup events, preferring instead to rest. She said yesterday that her hamstring worsened while practicing on the grass, which causes her to bend more often for low balls.


“I knew when I came here without any matches that it would be very difficult for myself,” she said. “The draw didn’t help me. But that’s life.”


Henin-Hardenne prides herself on the ability to create openings with a series of well-placed shots, and has more difficulty finding her rhythm when matches move quickly. As she put it, she has the all-court game for grass, but the mind of a clay-courter.


In contrast, Daniilidou thinks and plays her best on grass, and it’s no wonder: She stands just shy of 6 feet and has an effective serve, powerful strokes, and a polished technique at the net. Her obvious weaknesses – poor speed and footwork – play better on grass, too, as long rallies are less common.


Daniilidou now owns an undefeated, if modest, record against Henin-Hardenne on grass. She beat her in three sets in their only previous meeting on the surface in 2002, and she wasn’t afraid to pat herself on the back for her achievement.


“It’s pretty tough to beat Justine twice on grass,” Daniilidou said. “She’s a great player.”


***


SERENA’S GRIT SHINES THROUGH


While guts and passion are so important to Henin-Hardenne, they never used to matter to Serena Williams until the final weekend of a Grand Slam, if at all. Who needs courage when you can intimidate – and batter – lesser opponents with a ferocious forehand, blistering backhand, and powerful serve?


These days, however, the 23-year-old American relies more on her feisty spirit than her physical talents. In her 6-7 (12), 6-4, 6-2 first-round win over countrywoman Angela Haynes, Williams offered more evidence of her decaying tennis.


Even still, she gave further indication that she still has the character of a Grand Slam champion. The only question that remains is whether Williams will begin to resemble the player she once was before a more formidable challenge presents itself.


This is not to say that Haynes, a 20- year-old left-hander who, like Williams, learned much of her tennis on the hard courts of Lynwood Park in Compton, Calif., did not play a big role in extending Williams to three sets over two hours and 20 minutes. Haynes, ranked no. 104 in the world and playing her first Wimbledon, pressed Williams with angled forehands and well-placed serves. As late as 4-4 in the second set, she seemed destined to pull off the day’s second major upset.


“I think I’m right around the corner,” she said afterward. “Just a couple of points here and there and I had the match.”


Williams’s opponents used to sport looks of disbelief and hopelessness. Not Haynes. Far from scared, she was confident, even cheerful, on the court. Perhaps she had learned something about how to play Williams from her brother, Dontia Haynes, a college player at San Diego State who used to beat Williams all the time when they were children, according to his sister.


After making 15 unforced errors in the first set and slamming her racket to the ground, Williams cleaned up her game a bit and made only 15 more the rest of the way. Even so, she served poorly for most of the match and spent too much time pinned behind the baseline, rather than moving into the court. Later, she admitted that she is rusty and had essentially willed herself to victory.


“I just didn’t want to lose this match today,” she said.


If she is to go much further, Williams will not be able to do it on grit alone. The women’s draw is bottom-heavy this year, even with Henin-Hardenne’s defeat. Williams may still have to face her sister, Venus – who won 6-2, 6-4 yesterday against an overmatched Eva Birnerova – and Maria Sharapova, who breezed by Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-2, 6-2, and seems certain to reach the semifinals.


One thing, at least, in Williams’s favor is her ability to wipe bad performances from her mind, like those losses to Haynes’s brother.


“I remember playing her sister,” Williams said. “I don’t quite remember playing him.”


***


SHARAPOVA GLITTERS


Maria Sharapova opened her Wimbledon title defense yesterday by thumping Nuria Llagostera Vives 6-2, 6-2. But it was the 18-year-old’s new shoes that hogged the glory: They were trimmed with 18-karat gold.


The New York Sun

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