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Bye bye claycourt season, bye bye baseliners. Hello grasscourt season, hello serve/volleyers© Michael Cecilio
Well, it's been a long two weeks, hasn't it? Little do we appreciate the space in between the clay court major and the grass court major - well, actually that can be a good thing and a bad thing. It means we get a lot of tennis for the June-July period, but no tennis for so much of the year. Well, that's not exactly true, there are still lots of important tournaments but none so exciting and adrenalin pumping as the Slams.
Meanwhile, what's been happening between the two European Grand Slams, you ask? Well, surely nothing as exciting as what we encountered the weeks beforehand or what we will encounter in the weeks ahead. But, there are quite a few results from this past fortnight which need to be taken into consideration in the lead up to Wimbledon. And now I give to you - the world of tennis in the past fortnight. Steffi Graf. How long can she play without injury? Let's face it. It is only a matter of time before Steffi will have to retire. Not because she loses the hunger or because she loses her talent or because she loses. She has been very injury prone over the past year, which we already know, but to me, it seems to be her only restriction in an otherwise flawless game. And sooner rather than later, it will get the better of her. Not to worry for Steffi, who seems to be focusing on what she's doing now rather than what she will do in the future. And good for her! She's pulled through quite well this fortnight, playing in only her third and fourth tournaments of the year at DFS Classic at Birmingham and Direct Line Insurance Championships at Eastbourne. WOW! You wouldn't have guessed she had just been off the tour for three months! Well, in her first grass court match since taking the Wimbledon crown in 1996, you may have noticed a slight rusty quality about the champion when she dropped the first set against Australian Rennae Stubbs but powered away in her usual way with a 5-7 6-2 6-4 win. Had the tournament not been plagued with rain and hence completely abandoned at semi-final stage, it would have been highly probable, in fact almost odds on, that Steffi would have taken her first title in thirteen months. Graf clearly was on her way back up with a 62 64 win over Kristie Boogert of the Netherlands in the 3rd round and a 6-4 6-4 victory over Spaniard Magui Serna in the quarter final. And although down 0-3 in the semi final against Nathalie Tauziat, the defending champion, no doubt Steffi would have undergone a serious comeback (she leads the head-to-head results against Nathalie 19-0), had play not been halted. Oh well, there's always next tournament, right? Wrong! Close, but wrong. Impressive as she was at Birmingham, Graf faced some serious opposition at Eastbourne by a lovely little lady in Anna Kournikova, officially ranked 80 places higher than Graf, but realistically, perhaps only a gap in the single digits. Although clearly, Anna proved to be the better player. And clearly, it was Anna as the better player and not Graf as the worse player - Anna's game being highly suited for grass with dangerous volleys feared by all the women on tour. Not to discredit Graf for a fine performance there, reaching the quarters of the tournament before elimination. Obviously, things seem to be picking up for Steffi, and not only do I know it, but the punters at Wimbledon know it with Graf second best on the odds table after Martina Hingis. No doubt, we are going to see some fine things from Graf at Wimbledon. And may she have a great Wimbledon, even if it does prove to be her last.
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