Maria Martinez-Sanchez was a virtual unknown when she arrived at the Rome Open at the Foro Italico at the beginning of the week, but by the end she had tennis purists purring over her traditional game.
The 27-year-old beat seventh-seed and twice former winner Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 7-5 in a hugely entertaining final with the kind of game that has not been seen in women’s tennis since Jana Novotna hung up her racket.
The world No. 26 raised eyebrows in the stands by coming in behind her serve, hitting crisp volleys, using spins and slices and a devilish drop shot game that saw her try that particular technique from almost anywhere on court.
PHOTO: EPA
She had her Serbian opponent completely bamboozled at times.
The term “breath of fresh air” has been readily bandied about when speaking of Martinez-Sanchez, particularly in an era when women tennis players appear to be molded from the same East European clone who stands 2m behind the baseline and sends exocets off each flank without ever tiring or varying.
Already when Novotna won Wimbledon in 1998 she was a dying breed, so to see a player like this this year enjoying success has become a complete novelty.
What is most remarkable is that it is only in the last couple of years that she has blossomed, having toiled for many years on the women’s challenger circuit.
The Spaniard said that it was belief that allowed her to keep progressing and now that she has reached this level, she said the sky is the limit.
“You have to go to a tournament with the passion and the desire to win. You have to feel this special feeling to give your best,” she said. “You never know what you can achieve so you should never set yourself limits.”
■ESTORIL OPEN
REUTERS, LISBON
World No. 1 Roger Federer was unconcerned by his form on clay after losing 2-6, 6-7 to Spaniard Albert Montanes in an error-prone performance in the semi-finals of the Estoril Open in Lisbon on Saturday.
Federer, who will defend his French Open title later this month, told Portuguese television: “I’m not worried, the French is too far away.”
The Swiss, who lost his first match of the clay-court season in Rome last month, looked far from his best on a slow court as Montanes forced him into numerous errors, most of them on his backhand.
■MADRID OPEN
REUTERS, MADRID
French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova went out in the first round of the Madrid Open when she was upset 6-3, 2-6, 6-0 by Shahar Peer on Saturday.
The world No.5, seeded fifth on the clay in the Spanish capital, dropped serve six times in the match and had no answer to the unseeded Israeli’s shotmaking in the deciding set.
Kuznetsova’s Russian compatriot Elena Dementieva, the world No. 6, had a much easier day’s work when she dispatched Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-0, 6-1.
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