Black topples Raymond for first WTA singles title
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i — Cara Black won her first Sanex WTA singles title yesterday, defeating Lisa Raymond 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 in the serene semi-privacy of Hilton Waikoloa Resort. Pete Sampras added to his record Grand Slam collection a week earlier in one of the premier spectator events on the planet.
What tennis tie binds the winners of the Big Island Championships and U.S. Open?
The "Moose," and he is on a roll.
Brett Stephens, a former Aussie Rules football player and "Moose" of a man, has been Sampras's fitness coach the past few years. His work paid sentimental dividends in Sampras' grueling run to the U.S. Open championship. When Sampras finished off Andre Agassi, "Moose" caught a plane for paradise to catch up to Black, his girlfriend of two years.
"She is probably the fittest girl on tour," Stephens said of Black, who is 5 foot 5, 120 pounds, without an ounce of fat. "In some ways, I think what Pete did actually helped Cara. She knows all the things Pete's been through this year and she knows the attitude he's had — that he's really kept working. For her to see what he did last week ... she said during a couple of her matches that she actually thought about how Pete was playing and it helped her play more aggressive this week."
Black has the startling quickness of Steffi Graf and the endurance of Lleyton Hewitt. And she is now the first WTA singles champion from Zimbabwe.
Black, 23, won her first singles championship — she has 10 doubles titles — by forcing Raymond, the No. 2 seed, to hit one too many shots a few too many times. That gives the Black family two pro singles titles, including brother Byron's. Cara and brother Wayne won this year's French Open mixed doubles title.
Ironically the person she beat yesterday, in front of a cloud-covered crowd of 100 at Kohala Tennis Garden, has been the world's top-ranked doubles player much of the past three years.
"It's about time we finally played in a singles final," said a discouraged Raymond, who was trying to win her fourth singles title of a nine-year career. Her third came in February, after she held off five match points against Alexandra Stevenson.
That relentlessness was evident early this week as she outlasted former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in three hours. And yesterday Raymond — the only seeded player to reach the semifinals — erased a 5-2 first-set deficit.
But this was Black's week, from the moment she lost her first set to eighth-seeded Alina Jidkova to Raymond's final unforced error. Black believes this is the best singles she's played in two years.
"A bit more attitude," Black explained. "I wasn't really motivated enough the last couple years. I've just finally got my desire back. Brett has been a big part of that."
Black, No. 61 in the rankings, won her last 10 sets here. She dominated yesterday's tiebreaker with a flawless surge and took control of the second set by breaking Raymond's serve in the fifth game.
"If I'd won the tiebreaker maybe I would have relaxed a little bit and she would have felt like she had to come up with some better tennis than she did after blowing a 5-2 lead," said Raymond, No. 21 in the world. "She's scrappy. She'll hit some shots that aren't maybe solid shots but she gets it done. She's tenacious."
Both can make that claim. Much about their games are similar. They play singles as if they are two of the world's best doubles players. Both can bring big serves and like to find their way to the net — but rarely following their serve. They prefer to slice their way in or, in Black's case, simply get so many balls back the opponent finally gets frustrated.
SHORT LOBS: The second-seeded team of American Meilen Tu and Maria Vento-Kabchi of Venezuela won the doubles, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3, over third-seeded Nannie De Villiers and Irina Selyutina. ... The Tier IV WTA event had a $140,000 purse. The singles title was worth $22,000 and the winning doubles team split $6,500.
