Douchevina wins girl's trophy
Henry Wancke
Sunday, July 7, 2002
One could not have expected two Russians to be such complete opposites when it came to playing the game of tennis. In every other respect, the two 15-year-old Girls' Singles finalists with their blonde ponytails could have been sisters. Of the two, the more demure Vera Douchevina emerged a deserved champion, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, to go 2-1 ahead in their personal head-to-head.
The match had its points but was spoilt by the continual screeching of Maria Sharapova every time she struck the ball, a trademark of the Bolletieri school of tennis training. While Douchevina got on with the match in a more conventional manner, Sharapova displayed another Bolletieri trait, hitting her ground strokes as if there was no tomorrow.
Neither girl showed any finesse for the game, relying entirely on power, both off the ground and on serve and, inevitably, the Florida-based Sharapova was quickly into her stride powering into a 3-0 lead as she targeted her attack on the Douchevina backhand.
But the Muscovite remained calm, ignoring the constant battering on her eardrums and her racquet, and recovered her break in the fifth game. Although both girls went on swap serves again, Douchevina worked her way back into the match only to lose the set in the 10th game when a net cord helped Sharapova convert a set point.
The second set could not have been more different as the unflustered Douchevina kept to her task. Having soaked up everything that her opponent could throw at her, she took control by introducing more variety to her game, surprising Sharapova with drop shots or passing her. In a short space of time she had deservedly levelled the match at a set-all.
Sharapova then called for the trainer and sat down with her head in her hands, eventually receiving attention to the top of her right thigh. The 10-minute break could well have broken Douchevina's concentration but, on resumption, she picked up where she left off and extended her run of six successive games to 10 as she kept up the pressure with the accuracy of her ground shots.
There was a slight loss of concentration when she dropped serve in the fifth and seventh games of the decider, Sharapova again being helped by a net cord for the latter. These were only slight blemishes to what was an excellent overall performance .
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