First week fanfare at the French Open© Michael Cecilio
May 31, 1999
Grand Slam fever is in the air
There's always something special about a Grand Slam event in tennis. News and sports programs rarely give any notice to the tennis world except for the eight weeks a year that Grand Slam events are played. Well, the tennis world is receiving plenty of coverage now, and will hopefully continue to do so what with Wimbledon looming. And although match coverage on television has been quite infrequent (at least in the country of Australia), just the mere thought that a Grand Slam event - a major tennis event - is taking place as of this moment is enough to induce a feeling of mirth and enjoyment.
Might I say at this point that the official website has kept me awake for the past few nights already! Living in Australia, one would need to keep a late night/early morning vigil by the computer to get the results live as they are happening. And the French Open website has been more than informative and efficient when it comes to up-to-the-minute results. If you have not already visited the site, check it out at http://frenchopen.org/.So, before we delve into French Open 1999, let's take a stroll down memory lane and try to reminisce over some of the highlights in French Open 1998.... French Open 1998 - memorable for Monica Seles in more ways than one
Who could forget that memorable semi-final encounter between Martina Hingis and Monica Seles?!?!? Before even mentioning the "winners-and-grinners", it is precisely this match which defined the 1998 French Open. Just two weeks after the death of her father, Monica had an inspired run to the finals of a tournament which had been kind to her in the past. Having won the French Open title three consecutive times from 1990-92, she was on track to become the first woman to win four consecutive titles before the unfortunate stabbing incident in Hamburg a month before the 1993 French Open. However, last year, the pain she suffered was unrelated to the stabbing incident, it was due to the death of her father, Karolj Seles who lost his battle with cancer. Many were surprised with her decision to enter the French Open so soon after Karolj's passing, but were even more surprised to find her still standing on centre court on finals Sunday. She had a tough time getting past 3rd seed Jana Novotna in the quarter finals, and put her away in three sets before coming across a determined world #1 Martina Hingis in the semis. Perhaps not determined enough! It was vintage Seles at her best. Monica displayed the exact same form reminiscent of her days as the dominating force in women's tennis. In fact, it was perhaps the best match that she had played since 1995, continually belting groundstrokes from corner to corner and frequently coming up with deadly winners. In short, she made the world #1 look meek. Unfortunately, she could not carry the same form in the final. Although she looked dead-set to win the final (after a 6-0 thrashing of Sanchez-Vicario in the second set), Seles quickly ran out of steam and lost to former world #1 and two-time Roland Garros champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.
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The copyright of the article First week fanfare at the French Open in Women's Tennis is owned by Michael Cecilio. Permission to republish First week fanfare at the French Open in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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