Stephen Bierley Tennis
There is a madness in New York City. On a ravishingly clear and sunny late summer’s day Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis 6-3, 7-6 last week to become the first African-American woman since Althea Gibson in 1958 to win the US Open title, while just a few kilometres away “mosquito-killing squads” were attempting to halt the spread of a killer disease, St Louis encephalitis.
Laconic New Yorkers returned home after the women’s final celebrations wondering if a little of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s toxic spray should have been aimed at Serena’s father, Richard, who in the wake of his younger daughter’s magnificent victory – which she followed by winning the doubles title with her sister Venus with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Chanda Rubin and Sandrine Testud – continued to poison the air with his idiosyncratic ramblings.
He suggested Lindsay Davenport, beaten by the 17-year-old Serena in the semi- finals, should be “taken to the junkyard” and claimed that Hingis, still the world’s number one, who knocked out Venus in the other semi-final, “had been so scared before she went out for the final that I told one doctor he should be standing by in case she had a heart attack”.
And so it went on. “Venus will win two grand slams next year and is still the best player in the world. They’ll both be in the finals next year; they’ve already taken over tennis. Nobody can sell sweets and popcorn like they can. Tennis was dead before my girls came along …” And on.
Much is harmless, although two years ago, when Venus barged into Romania’s Irina Spirlea during a changeover, he was quick to raise the race issue, calling Spirlea a “big white turkey”.
Williams is a complex man and it is not always possible to gauge his intent.
As the years roll on, and Venus and Serena gain in maturity, he is likely to be increasingly marginalised, but for the present his self-publicity is feeding on the oxygen of their success.
To be fair, he has bucked the system, raising and coaching his daughters outside the United States Tennis Association’s jurisdiction. And, as he frequently points out, the association’s system has produced hardly any successful juniors in recent times, either boys or girls.
It was quickly realised, after a bumpy beginning, how much the sisters, with their flair for publicity on and off the court, could bring to the women’s game, and gradually they were accepted.
Of course, the playing rivalry between Hingis and the Sisters Sledgehammer has not gone away and never will. They want to get to the top; Hingis wants to stay there.
Richard planned that Venus would reach the top first, and when she and Serena reached this year’s Lipton championships final it was no surprise that Venus won.
Their father then predicted the first “all-black final” at the US Open, but Hingis won a stunning 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 semi-final over Venus.
For Hingis, who ended the French Open in emotional turmoil after losing to the now retired Steffi Graf of Germany, and then bombed out of Wimbledon in the first round against the 16-year-old Australian Jelena Dokic, this past fortnight has seen her re-establish her credibility.
She is back with her mother and coach, Melanie, and has clearly worked extremely hard on her stamina, as she proved against Venus, who ended their match badly cramped and virtually unable to serve.
But two Williamses were too much for Hingis in this ridiculously scheduled, television-driven tournament with its back-to-back semis and finals.
Hingis had a mild swipe at the US Tennis Association and CBS but was openly generous towards Serena. “No excuses. I had my chances but she was better. But there are many more years to come against the Williamses.”
This was not a great final, for the huge battle with Venus had taken the physical and mental edge off Hingis.
Serena raced to a 3-0 first-set lead, then her nerves began to grip. She survived two break points before serving out the first set, and missed two match points at 5-3 in the second set before, half an hour later, decisively winning the tie-break 7-4.
“After I lost those two match points I was very upset with myself,” said Williams, who had won four three-setters in a row to reach the final.
“I said, ‘Serena, this can’t happen. There comes a time when you have to stop caving, you just have to stop.’ You get so tired of going down because of the same problem. I just said to myself, ‘You’re going to have to perform.'”
The main difference between the two players was the power of the Williams serve, both first and second.
So Hingis missed her sixth grand slam title and Serena, who received the obligatory telephone call from President Bill Clinton, won her first.
As for her sister Venus, she has none. “Venus was really down,” said Serena. “I’ve never seen her that down before.”
It will now be fascinating to see what effect this victory has on all three women, as well as Davenport, the former US and reigning Wimbledon champion.
Asked what she thought of Richard predicting Venus would win two grand slams next year, Hingis, with a large grin, replied: “What if I say ‘no comment’?”
Hingis and the Williamses were dubbed the Spice girls of tennis, then the Spite girls. Just make that inspired.