voilà un morceau d´un article qui m´a beaucoup impressioné, surtout parce que j´ai vu le match...
Things heat up for Hingis
The second challenge is one only Hingis can fully understand.
The Swiss Miss was once the undisputed queen of Melbourne Park. She was champion for three consecutive years and a finalist for six. Such was her affection for the Rebound Ace surface that she had a court installed at her Florida home. But it was on the Rod Laver Arena, in the 2002 final against Jennifer Capriati, that Hingis endured one of the most brutal experiences of her tennis life.
When the players walked out on court, the temperature read 33C. But as the match progressed, the mercury climbed and humidity increased. The extreme heat policy was enacted but, under the rules insisted upon by the players, the roof could not be shut once the match was in progress. For the first hour Hingis appeared in control of the match but on the inside, she was melting. She led 4-0 in the second set, but Capriati forced it to a tiebreak. She had four match points but her resolve was fried by the sun. With the match at one set all, the players were given a 10-minute break off court.
McNamee (tournament´s president) remembers walking behind Hingis down the corridor and watching her stumbling into lockers like a drunk. "She could hardly get back to the locker room," McNamee said. "She actually couldn't walk in a straight line. She was really struggling. She covered herself from head to toe in ice to get her body down but she was gone. "All the medical staff were there and we put a wheelchair courtside in the third set. There was a concern. "When they call for a trainer, the doctor has the right to say someone is not fit to play, but it would have been a big call in the final of a grand slam." Hingis won two games in the final set as Capriati defended her title. She has since claimed she suffered no lasting effects from her heat exhaustion and cites her WTA tournament win in Tokyo a week later - the 40th of her career - as evidence.
But if Hingis recovered physically from her ordeal, Monday suggested that psychological scars still linger. After she failed to hold serve against Stosur, Hingis admitted to having flash-backs to her final against Capriati. And this was during a fourth round match played at night, in blessedly cool conditions.
Things heat up for Hingis
The second challenge is one only Hingis can fully understand.
The Swiss Miss was once the undisputed queen of Melbourne Park. She was champion for three consecutive years and a finalist for six. Such was her affection for the Rebound Ace surface that she had a court installed at her Florida home. But it was on the Rod Laver Arena, in the 2002 final against Jennifer Capriati, that Hingis endured one of the most brutal experiences of her tennis life.
When the players walked out on court, the temperature read 33C. But as the match progressed, the mercury climbed and humidity increased. The extreme heat policy was enacted but, under the rules insisted upon by the players, the roof could not be shut once the match was in progress. For the first hour Hingis appeared in control of the match but on the inside, she was melting. She led 4-0 in the second set, but Capriati forced it to a tiebreak. She had four match points but her resolve was fried by the sun. With the match at one set all, the players were given a 10-minute break off court.
McNamee (tournament´s president) remembers walking behind Hingis down the corridor and watching her stumbling into lockers like a drunk. "She could hardly get back to the locker room," McNamee said. "She actually couldn't walk in a straight line. She was really struggling. She covered herself from head to toe in ice to get her body down but she was gone. "All the medical staff were there and we put a wheelchair courtside in the third set. There was a concern. "When they call for a trainer, the doctor has the right to say someone is not fit to play, but it would have been a big call in the final of a grand slam." Hingis won two games in the final set as Capriati defended her title. She has since claimed she suffered no lasting effects from her heat exhaustion and cites her WTA tournament win in Tokyo a week later - the 40th of her career - as evidence.
But if Hingis recovered physically from her ordeal, Monday suggested that psychological scars still linger. After she failed to hold serve against Stosur, Hingis admitted to having flash-backs to her final against Capriati. And this was during a fourth round match played at night, in blessedly cool conditions.
