Geez, that was a long off-season! To launch a new year of bi-weekly columns, this week Mr Ed sizes up the ersatz race for number one in Doha, as well as the differing fortunes of the legitimate number ones at the Hopman Cup.
Gambill yields ?No. 1 in the world? honours to Koubek in Doha
In our 2002 Year-End Awards article, yours truly took a gentle poke at Jan-Michael Gambill for claiming that he had reached ?number 3 in the world? because he had led the race standings in March 2001. Well, ?Jan-Mike? came within a match of becoming ?number 1 in the world? in Doha this week.
Of the three ATP tournaments on the schedule in this début week of the season, Doha is the one most rich in ranking points. For this reason, since the inauguration of the ?Champions Race? in 2001 the Doha winners (Fabrice Santoro and Younes El Aynaoui) have had the ephemeral thrill of seeing their name atop the rankings for a week or two.
This week, Gambill, currently ranked 42nd, took the trip to Doha, where he had the fortune of inheriting a seeded spot when Sjeng Schalken withdrew with a wrist injury. Showing flashes of his 2001 form, the 25-year-old from the state of Washington marched to the finals, notably collecting upset wins over top seed Roger Federer and Davis Cup hero Mikhail Youzhny. In the final he came up short, however, losing to unseeded Stefan Koubek, 6-4, 6-4.
To be fair to Gambill, many of his problems in 2002 can be attributed to leg injuries that dogged him on and off during the season. When healthy he is capable to some impressive exploits on fast surfaces, as shown by his Miami final in 2001 and Wimbledon quarterfinal in 2000. During the past month, Gambill says he is refreshed and ready to go after a month?s break in Hawaii after the end of the 2002 campaign. "I did not hit a single ball there, I did not even go for a run,? Gambill told reporters. ?I jus
t relaxed and took time off to revitalize myself for the new season.? The young man nicknamed ?Hollywood? has also been trying to improve his volleys and come to the net more often, under the tutelage of his father and coach, Chuck.
More important than that dubious but elusive number one honour, Gambill can now look ahead to the Australian Open with more optimism than usual: he has yet to win a match in Melbourne in five tries.
As for our Doha winner, Koubek?s title was surprising, given that he ended 2002 with 10 straight defeats. But the blond Austrian has always been tough to figure out. Stefan, who turned 26 on Thursday is a talented lefty shot-maker with great foot speed, but his concentration often seems to wind up on a different continent than his body. Koubek?s return to form comes at the right time, as he has some points to defend coming up: he was a surprise quarterfinalist at the Australian Open last year.
Serena hot, Lleyton not
The Hopman Cup in Perth, also part of the year?s kick-off events, is usually a star-studded exhibition. This year?s event was no different, as it boasted both the women?s and men?s number ones (Serena Williams and Lleyton Hewitt), who were on hand to lead the top seeded U.S. and Australian squads.
The early days were marked by the local press?s attempt to whip up a rivalry between Williams and the woman who dethroned her in the WTA Championships final in Los Angeles last November, Belgium?s Kim Clijsters. Williams started tongues wagging by dismissing the importance of the Los Angeles loss. "Mentally I was shot and physically I was dead," claimed Williams, comments for which she was awarded adjectives such as ?cocksure?, ?patronising?, ?cocky? and ?brash? in the Australian media. Clijsters
obligingly fired back in her press conference: ?"It's always easy to say afterwards that you are tired. Actually, I thought she had about four weeks off before LA."
Presto, we had our grudge match!
A grudge match that fizzled, as the American reasserted her domination with a decisive 7-5, 6-3 victory that put the U.S. into the final. Ironically, this was the same score by which Clijsters had won in Los Angeles. Williams went on to lead the U.S. to victory over Hewitt?s Aussies in the final, and finished the week undefeated, dropping nary a set along the way. The impressive Serena has a week of practice to fine-tune her game for a run at her fourth straight major title in Melbourne, where she will
be the runaway favourite.
Meanwhile, Lleyton Hewitt was looking less convincing than his WTA ranking-topping counterpart, losing two of his four matches. His executioners, Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, and, in the final, American James Blake, had a combined 0 wins and 8 losses in previous matches against Hewitt, but were able to collect their first career wins over the Wimbledon champion in Perth.
Granted this was just an exhibition, but Hewitt?s struggles at the Hopman serve as an alarm bell with his nation?s Open just around the corner. Hewitt?s future opponents will be encouraged by the way Blake and Novak were able to put the little Aussie on the defensive with flat, penetrating baseline drives.
These wins will also be confidence-builders for both Novak (a semi-finalist at the Australian Open last year) and the fast-rising Blake. Both could be troublesome opponents for anyone in Melbourne. Even if Hewitt was clearly not playing his best tennis, beating the world number one is always a thrill. As Blake put it after the match, ?He didn't have his best form -- but my kids and grandkids won't be hearing that.?
Quotable quotes
"I know I am at the end stage of my career. I will probably play to when I am max 31."
-- Monica Seles (now 29), winner of an eight-woman exhibition in Hong Kong
?The media and others think that I am a changed player after my Davis Cup victory, but to tell you the truth I am the same old player. I look at the Davis Cup victory as a one-off win and it has not changed my life or my attitude."
-- Mikhail Youzhny (Doha semifinalist this week)
``It is tough when you have not played in a long time. It is very frustrating. I was running like a headless chicken out there.''
-- Injury-riddled Mark Philippoussis employing the well-worn "headless chicken excuse" after losing to Rainer Schuettler in Chennai