COVER STORY: OCTOBER 2004

Federer Continues to Amaze, Kuznetsova and Russians Continue Roll

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By Matthew Cronin

FROM THE U.S. OPEN - In a simply splendid 24-hour period for the small but sweet nations of Switzerland and Sweden, and for the bedeviled country of Russia, American tennis experienced one of the darkest brief periods in U.S. Open history.

Going into the '04 Open, there was more than a fair chance that America would be cheering at least one native singles winner by tournament's end. Even in a relatively down year for U.S. tennis when no player had won a Slam coming into N.Y., America's men and women were expected to flush opponents down the drain in the green meadows of Queens, as U.S. elite players almost always contend much tougher at home. Maybe someone should have anticipated what was ahead when the U.S. male B-list (Fish, Dent, Ginepri, Spadea) flamed out early, the so-called up-and-coming women (Perry, Jackson, Haynes) were stomped before the second week and the once-dominant Williams sisters (four titles in the five years) were more strident discussing their injuries then they were their title chances.

But none of that really mattered, because with four days left in the tournament, four U.S. icons still remained: the re-peaking legend Andre Agassi; the frothing-at-the-mouth defending champ Andy Roddick; the scorching hot Lindsay Davenport and the angst-ridden heroine Jennifer Capriati. But beginning on a gusty Thursday afternoon and ending at twilight on Freaky Friday, the dreams of an Andy vs. Andre and Lindsay vs. Jennifer finals were violently dashed like the linespersons' chairs that flew against the back walls of Ashe Stadium during 39-mph wind gusts during the quarterfinal between Agassi and Hurricane Roger Federer.

It was precisely in that match that eventual champ Federer proved he could handle any condition in a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the 34-year-old Agassi. That night, the 22-year-old Roddick showed in a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Swede Joachim Johansson that he still has a lot to learn about maintaining his composure.

Less than 12 hours later, Davenport injured her hip during a morning practice, could barely move in the third set and fell 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 to the oak-legged eventual champ Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the semis. Then an ultra-aggressive Elena Dementieva simply out-hit a defensive Capriati 6-0, 2-6, 7-6(5).
That meant that there were no Americans in either the men's semis or women's final, a first since '86. It meant that 28-year-old Davenport - who came into the Open not having lost a match since Wimbledon - will very likely end her career without a second U.S. Open title and that the 28-year-old Capriati likely will end hers without winning even one. So much for destiny.

"Maybe there's no such thing," Capriati said.

Davenport is thinking much the same. The favorite coming into the Open after winning four U.S. summer hard-court tournaments, her body failed her once again. She's had three years of hell physically and even when she did all she could to keep herself healthy this summer - including hiring a full-time trainer - her big frame seized up. There's more than a fair chance now she will retire at year's end. Her husband, Jon Leach, wants her home more and she is tired of fighting the not-so-good fight against Father Time.

"I hope to be here next year, but I don't know," said Davenport, who sat in the locker room completely numb after the loss. "I'm disappointed. I was playing really well and I'm bummed out. Things have been going so well I was thinking, 'Maybe it's going to keep going well.' But eventually, my body couldn't handle it."

Capriati didn't choke against Dementieva like she did last year in the semis against eventual champ Justine Henin-Hardenne (whose still-fragile body failed her in a loss to Nadia Petrova), but sure could have played more aggressively at crunch time. The suddenly fearless Dementieva - who also seized a third-set breaker from new No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the quarters - smoked 44 winners to only 15 from Capriati and won 30 of her 44 net approaches. In her fourth failed appearance in a U.S. semi, Capriati served for the match at 6-5 in the third set, but the Russian jumped on her. "I knew she was a fighter. I knew she wouldn't give up," said Capriati, who cried for a half-hour after the loss. "But the whole time I had confidence I was going to win."

The women's Open final was the third straight Slam, which featured a Russian and guaranteed for the third major in a row, there would be Russian winner. "I guess they're pretty hungry," Capriati said. "There are so many of them. All of them are good." For the 19-year-old daughter of two world class bicyclists, the Open was a coming out party for Kuznetsova. Even though she'd been playing in the shadow of fellow Russians Anastasia Myskina, Maria Sharapova and French finalist Dementieva, Kuznetsova knew she had the game to go far. "There are Russians who have more attention, but I don't mind," she said. "I'm still top 10 and am improving. If I do better, everybody will notice me."

With her athletic pedigree and slew of world-class coaches and partners, it was hard not to notice her. Kuznetsova - who had developed her game at the Sanchez-Casal Academy in Barcelona and plays much like a prototypical Spanish male clay-courter - had shown a lot of potential the past two years, but had come up far short in the majors. This year, she fell early in Australia, lost a tearjerker to Myskina at Roland Garros and was stunned in the first round at Wimbledon by Virginie Razzano. She had a mundane summer on hard courts and said she was overplaying. But in New York, she set her mind to carefully preparing for matches and found a new ability to close. With a powerlifter's physique, she took down a number of strongwomen including Mary Pierce, Nadia Petrova and Davenport.

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova said the fierce intramural rivalries between the Russian players propelled her to up her level. "It's the competition between us," said Kuznetsova. "Do you think I liked seeing Myskina win when I had match point against her [at Roland Garros]? I wanted to do the same thing. The same with Sharapova. I spoke to Vera Zvonareva, and she said, 'Now I'm ranked in the top 10 and I feel like nothing because I'm No. 6 in Russia.' The thing for us is to be good in Russia. You want to be No. 1 in Russia."

The day of the final, the nervous underdog Kuznetsova spent a half-hour on the phone with her part-time coach/sometimes doubles partner, former U.S. champ Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario. Before she went on court, her former doubles partner, Martina Navratilova, calmed her down. "She looked at me and saw I was maybe the color green, or blue," Kuznetsova said. "She said, 'Remember, I won my first Grand Slam final and you can do it, too."
Kuznetsova made her mark in N.Y. by owning the court with her fearsome forehand and munching on Dementieva's second serves. With her heavy topspin forehand, she was able to take Dementieva's slow slice serves (take note Mauresmo and Capriati) and whip them down the lines. She powered 34 winners to only seven from Dementieva, 23 from her forehand side.

Seeded ninth, Kuznetsova became the lowest ranked winner in the Open ear and most surprising titlist since Anita Lizane in '37. Yes, that ultra-famous Anita Lizane of Chile. But more importantly to her, the one-time unknown daughter in a world class athletic family had made even a bigger name for her well-known family internationally. Maybe not bigger than her father Alexander's claim of coaching five Olympic champions; or her mother Galina's 20 world records; or brother Nikolai's Olympic silver medal; but certainly worthy of a place on the mantelpiece. Forget the U.S. Open winner's $1 million check, in the Kuznetsov home in St. Petersburg, the U.S. Open Silver Cup is what will be cherished. There, only winning attitudes are acceptable.

"If you don't believe you can win a tournament, you shouldn't play," Kuznetsova said. "It depends on what you want to do with your life. Some players play tennis to earn money. Some do it because their parents want them to. Some do it just to do something in their life. I want success. I want people to remember my name."

Federer is only 23, has the most mouth-watering all-court game since Bjorn Borg and is a whole lot more regal to watch than the great Swede due to the way he smoothly flows through the currents of matches when he has both oars in the water. But it's not merely being a pretty that keys Federer's success, it's power, precision and a growing willingness to leap over every hurdle that's placed in front of him. Plus, in N.Y., he did what Borg never could do, which is pin his greatest rivals in front of the one of the toughest crowds in tennis.

It began with his victory over Agassi, a match which began on an electric, rainy Wednesday night and where he managed to raise the level of his game at the last moment of the third set when it appeared that Andre was going to punch him out. Then he walked on court in the winds on Thursday and was confounded by gusts, while Andre seemed to secure that he could find ways to keep the balls in the court in very ugly conditions. And why not? Agassi grew up in Las Vegas and Florida, where the gales and dust storms frequently whip through the windscreens. But Federer kept toying with his game until he discovered a way to right his ball toss, keep his backhand from flying and his forehand still penetrating. In the sixth game of the fifth set with Agassi serving with the wind howling at his back, Federer floated a backhand slice to the mid court, which Agassi yanked wide with a crosscourt forehand. Just like in three years prior when he couldn't convert on crucial points against Sampras and Juan Carlos Ferrero, Agassi looked indecisive and cost himself a match. The eight-time Grand Slam champ has been very close to winning his ninth major the past 18 months, but that old confidence is graying. Federer's confidence is blue-sky all the way.

"What you see is a great player who is bound to have some close matches" Agassi said. "But the quality of his game allows him to pull through most of those."

Limping down the hall after his loss (his bad hip appears to be acting up again), Agassi considered the thought that had the match not been stopped for rain the night before, he may have pulled out the last two sets with the roaring night time crowd behind him. "Yeah, well, we'll never know," he told IT. "We both had to deal a new day and he dealt with it better than I did."

There was no question coming into the Open that Federer had the on-court talent to win America's Grand Slam on U.S. cement, but whether he could find the gritty spirit necessary to survive the often zany conditions, the sometimes xenophobic crowds and an entire tour that was itching to take him down a notch was questionable. All through the tournament, Federer kept mostly numb on the subject, preferring to discuss his on court weapons rather than his off-court emotional doubts.

Agassi dismissed any notion that the gentle Federer wasn't New York-tough enough to win the title. "From what I've seen of him, there's no indication that he can handle the environment here," Agassi said. "He keeps proving himself everywhere he goes."

The Swiss went into the semifinal against Tim Henman with a losing record against the Britain, who used to serve-volley, chip-charge him until he was flying backhands above the Alps. Federer all-courted Tim in straight sets, who looked like he was climbing up his own Henman Hill (or is it Hell?) all day long. He then was bold enough to state that Federer has a chance of surpassing his friend, the great Pete Sampras record of 14 Slams.

"It starts with his serve," Henman said. "It's so deceptive that he doesn't really serve particularly quickly in terms of miles per hour, but his variation, his placement is as good as any. You feel like you're just trying to get the ball back. And you put the ball back on the court and he's ready to start running you ragged with his forehand, which is so heavy...When the conditions were a bit quicker and Pete was serving well, there was very little that you could do. I played Pete on a number of occasions, and felt like you could hang on to your own serve because Pete would perhaps miss a few returns and make a few unforced errors. But now, the conditions being slower, you talk about Roger's game being so complete, he probably feels that he can break every game as well as hold every game. That's what makes the combination so difficult. It's in the early stages, but he's got a hell of a platform to build from. Right now, he's playing phenomenally well. He's got every chance to go down as one of the best ever. He's won three and he's got 14 to compete. I wouldn't bet against it."

In the final, Federer made vegemite of '01 U.S. champion Lleyton Hewitt in a devastatingly simple 6-0, 7-6(3), 6-0 victory. Hewitt was the guy who just a year ago had come from two sets down against him in Davis Cup and whom he didn't feel he macho enough to hit through and the man who owned an 8-5 record against him.

Yet Federer utterly embarrassed Hewitt at times, crushing his forehand every which way he desired, volleying with direction and meaning and dared Hewitt to come up with bigger shots in long rallies. Amazingly, the man who made Pete Sampras look like a 110-pound weakling in the '01 final became the first man since Howard Taylor in 1884 to be double-bageled in the U.S. final. Hewitt knew quickly that it wasn't the preppy Richard Sears trying to prevent him from winning his second Open.

Hewitt saw the Swiss' mental toughness solidifying at the end of last season, when Federer whizzed past Roddick and Agassi to win the Tennis Masters Cup. After that, Federer responded to nearly every major challenge put in front of him, except for his large burp to Gustavo Kuerten at Roland Garros and his early round meltdown at the Olympics. He's dropkicked the snarling Hewitt at all three of the majors he's won this year. No one has received a closer look at Federer's mental transformation than Lleyton has.

"If he didn't have confidence with his style of game than he'd miss a lot more than he does," Hewitt said. He's been so confident the whole year. He believes in his ability and he should. He's picked it up another notch."

The Aussie hadn't lost a set coming into the final, but couldn't handle Federer's ever-changing serves, or get enough sniffs on his passing shots - his two greatest strengths. The Swiss converted a remarkable 31 of 35 net approaches. Hewitt tried to overpower Federer's one-handed backhand with his two-hander, but except for the second set when he couldn't get over fast enough with his topspin backhand, Federer hung in there just fine.

After winning the match by crushing a forehand down the line that Hewitt didn't bother to chase down, the Swiss fell to his back, stared up at the lights in Ashe Stadium and was flat-out stunned what he accomplished: he became the first man in the Open era to win his first four Grand Slam finals and the first since Mats Wilander in '88 to win three Slams in a year

Federer then spoke of his doubts as to whether he had in him to drive through a crowded Midtown Tunnel with a bunch of angry cabbies honking at him. "Not even in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I'm going to win the U.S. Open," he said. "It's America. I used to have difficulties winning here. The Americans are extremely tough, the conditions are rough. Even after winning Wimbledon, I knew it would be difficult to go back to back and win the U.S. Open. If I didn't win it this year, I'd have to work my way all the way back around to get another chance. I never thought I'd be sitting here. It's very special."

While it's way too premature to predict whether the well-rounded Federer can maintain the single-mindedness it takes a 14 Slam titles, with his ever-evolving game where he can seemingly pull out every shot or style that's been invented, one would at least have to give him a New York street fighter's chance of eclipsing Pete. "He's definitely has a chance at becoming [the best of all time]," said Hewitt. "He's always going to have a chance, even going into the French Open. He lost in the third round there to Guga, but it's going to a guy like Guga or someone like that to beat him at a Slam. You like the chances of him to pick up at least one of the four every year for a few years."

The relevant question isn't how good he is, but whether he cares enough about chasing the greatest accolade in his sport? "Obviously it would be nice, but the road is long," Federer said. "There's a lot of hard work you have to do. I'm still all the way at the beginning. I hope I can keep it up as long as I can. But one I get sick and tired of everything - you never know when that day will come. Now, I'm enjoying my life. It's very busy. But travelling the world as No. 1 in tennis is not too bad. I want to stay a little longer."

 

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