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Venus and Serena conquered Earth. Serena took care of Europe, Venus took care of America. By winning two separate WTA singles titles on March 1, the Williams girls set history by becoming the first sisters to win tour events on the same day. Not only did they set a precedent as sisters, but they set precedents in their respective careers. Serena won her first professional singles title in Paris - exactly a year after winning her first professional doubles title - and Venus successfully defended her first professional singles title at Oklahoma City for her fourth career victory. The week before their individual victories, Venus and Serena won the doubles title in Hannover, where Venus also appeared in the singles final. It looks as though things are getting red-hot for the Williams. Also on the winner's list this past fortnight were world #4 Jana Novotna for her 24th singles title at Hannover and clay court specialist Fabiola Zuluaga in for her first WTA title at Bogota.
Top seed and reigning Wimbledon champion, Jana Novotna, captured her 24th career singles title at the Faber Grand Prix in Hannover, a Tier II WTA tournament. Not only did she capture her first title of the year but she eliminated her competition in remarkable fashion - without dropping a single set in the entire tournament. However, it seemed from the outset that Jana's 1999 campaign would be marred by disappointments and upsets, having suffered a number of early round losses late last year, including a first round exit at the Chase Championships where she was defending champion. In addition, she missed a number of indoor tournaments in the October-November period due to injuries - a time of the year where Jana tends to flourish due to an extended hiatus in the beginning of the season. However this year, Jana opted not to take the extended hiatus and decided to play the Australian Open. It turned into a mini-disaster. Jana had exited much earlier than anticipated - the former Australian Open finalist had to deal with losing in the third round to a player known for not much more than having the longest name on the tour (Maria Antonia Sanchez Lorenzo). Thankfully for Jana, a number of indoor carpet tournaments after the Australian Open not only saved her from a poor start to the season but also from a lack of confidence heading into some major tournaments this year. The prestigious Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo provided Jana with some much needed confidence, as she honed her serve/volley game - well suited to the indoor carpet surface - all the way through to the semi-finals. But it was two weeks ago in Hannover where Jana displayed the tennis which has taken her to the higher echelons of the game. With Venus Williams and Steffi Graf - the #2 and #3 seeds respectively - on the opposite side of the draw, it seemed highly probable that Jana would be at least able to reach the final again for a fourth consecutive year. Added to the fact that defending champion Patty Schnyder, who Jana lost to in a heartbreaker in last year's final, had been upset earlier in the tournament, Jana had a clear path to the final. There were a couple of people in Jana's path who tried their best to conquer the top seed, but were absolutely crushed in their attempts. In the quarters, it was 7th seed Sandrine Testud who would try to put up a fight, but bowed out in surprising ease 6-1 6-4. Surprise package Elena Likhovtseva did her best to slow the momentum of a bullet train Jana Novotna, but to no avail in a 7-6(4) 6-4 rout in the semis. Go To Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
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