Eastbourne 07 - Hail Tennis Queen Justine! - 網球

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Eastbourne 07 - Hail Tennis Queen Justine!
23/06/2007:

Belgian tennis queen Justine defeated arch rival Francophonic Amelie Mauresmo
7-5 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) in two hours and 37 minutes. It was a match that was
billed by the British media as the "avenging" bout or even a "prelude" of
Wimbledon between these two rarities of women's tennis: the brilliant
1-handed backhand grand slam stylists. The Eastbourne title is Miss Henin's
fifth of the year.

"Apparently when you have been married you remain Mrs forever in tennis. But
Miss, Mrs, Justine, that's fine by me; I don't care." - Justine

Under the typically heavy onshore winds in the seaside town of Eastbourne,
this year's final looked to be about which player had better control over
handling the rougher North end of the court. The signs didn't look promising
for Justine in the first set as she battled in practically all of her games
against the wind for placement of her immaculate shots. The more physical
style of Mauresmo didn't fare any better than Henin in the gusty conditions,
and the Frenchwoman's serves were slightly more vulnerable in the latter
stages. Justine took the first set 7-5 by breaking, and standing stronger
from 1-4 down.

Mauresmo took a more cautious approach in the second set, and chose to
utilize the safe, and secure volleys simply blocking returns as Justine
started to go astray with her higher risk, and low margin shot making.
Belgian percision simply didn't work well against French stability. Mauremo
won the second set with a confident tiebreak display as Justine made a
tactical change too late after falling behind and saving four set tiebreak
points at 4-7.

The match went into a lower gear in the start of the third set as both
players held serves without much resistence until Mauresmo looked to have
taken over with a deja vu of last year's Wimbledon final in a 2-4 lead. But a
very different Justine emerged, one that's less removed from 2006 and more in
tuned to the classic spirited fighting 2003 tennis season version. Justine
levelled things at 5-5. The gauntlet was again thrown down with another
tiebreaker, but this one was all Henin as she again changed tactics and went
back to the hyper aggressive rapid passing shots, and crosscourt winners
mode. This switch in plans by Justine left Mauresmo stranded and off guard up
at the net in the midsts of following through with volleys. Justine won the
tiebreaker 7-2.


Final Score 7-5 6-7(4-7) 7-6(7-2) in 2 hours and 37 minutes

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