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Preparing for a Grand Slam Triumph - Page 2

© Michael Cecilio

Lindsay has not been playing all that badly this summer, but has often come into some matches hitting a lot more unforced errors than she usually does. Sometimes, an uncanny number of unforced errors have cost her matches. Most of her matches in New Haven had not been played with her usual sharpness and accuracy, and has been pretty erratic at times. Undoubtedly, she could have played better in the New Haven final by cutting down on her errors and taking charge on her opportunities - she squandered two set points on her serve in the second set.

Someone I have yet to mention is Martina Hingis. Based on current form, it is Martina and Venus who will feature as the two favourites for the US Open, with Lindsay and Serena Williams not too far behind. Like Venus, Martina did not drop a set in her last tournament victory at Toronto over a week ago and is looking increasingly sharper with every match she plays. Some players and spectators even believe that Martina is hitting a much bigger ball than she used to, and this is something Martina realised she needed to do in order to remain competitive with the other girls. She killed Sanchez-Vicario in their quarter final encounter 6-1 6-1, marking the 10th straight time she has beaten the Spanish veteran. Mary Pierce was going to be a tough encounter in the next round, especially when Mary had been confident. It is difficult to break through against Mary when she is hitting confidently, which she has been doing a lot of lately, and it was important for Martina to jump out early and take the first set to lower Pierce's confidence. It was a high quality and highly entertaining match with Hingis eking it out 7-6 6-3.

Monica Seles is someone who not many are willing to put on their short list for the US Open, despite the fact that she is the sentimental favourite to win. She fought all the way to the Canadian Open final where she was defending champion. It was difficult to expect much from Seles in this tournament, especially coming off an injury which laid her off the tour for more than three weeks. Certainly, throughout the tournament, Monica did not play with much consistency nor with much gusto and intensity, but she did what she needed to do in her earlier rounds and most importantly, she fought for every match. Against Martina, it would not be enough to play the way she had been in her previous rounds because Martina does not give away free points. In actual fact, the match was entertaining and definitely of a high standard as Monica improved her level of play for the final. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as Martina had the ability to raise her game when she really needed to, and thus won her first du Maurier Open title with a 6-4 6-4 win over four time defending champion Monica Seles. Once again, Hingis would break another streak of Seles's, having ended her 33 match winning streak at the Australian Open earlier this year, and now ending Seles's magnificent run in Canada after winning the last four Canadian Open crowns since 1995, the year of her return.

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