If you’re one of those who believes that tennis has become too brutal, grinding, and lengthy, this was the match for you. Julia Goerges and Daniela Hantuchova had never played each other before, but they wasted no time settling their rallies in Dubai today. Points were over quickly, as each player looked to finish them with their forehands at the first opportunity. Goerges, using the inside-out version of hers effectively, ended them more often with winners, racking up 49 on her way to a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 quarterfinal victory.
As you might expect, the attacks and counter-attacks made for streaky tennis. There were four breaks of serve in the first five games, and yet when Goerges did manage to hold in that set, she twice did it at love. But it was Hantuchova, after winning a long rally at 4-4, 30-30 on Goerges’s serve, who went on to break and win the set with a short flurry of winners.
As it has been so many times in the past, Hantuchova’s run of easy brilliance, and her ability to hold a lead, were short-lived. She quickly ceded control in the second set to Goerges, who used her body serve well and broke out to a 4-0 lead. While that streak also came to an end in the middle of the set, the German toughed out a final service hold at 5-3 after double-faulting to go down 0-30. Earlier in that game, with a break point to get back on serve, Hantuchova made an easy error. Moments later, at set point, Goerges closed it out by manufacturing a point with a short volley winner.
Goerges began to roll again in the third . . . until she didn’t. She went up 3-0, but this time it was her turn to let Hantuchova back into the match. At game point for 4-0 and then break point for 4-1, she tightened up and made errors. Serving at 3-2, Goerges tried a brain-cramp drop shot that landed in front of the net on her side. But that botch seemed to jolt her. She came right back with a forehand winner, held for 4-2, and closed out the match with an impressively nerveless love service hold.
Goerges began a strong spring run around this time last year, and she did it by beating her next opponent, Caroline Wozniacki. Still, watching today, it was hard not to mourn Daniela Hantuchova and the nerves that have kept her from playing her best tennis over the years. The winners she hit to hold for the first set were as effortless as anyone in the game can hit them—they almost looked brushed into the corner of the court. Earlier today, we saw the game’s most famous example of anxiety trumping talent, Ana Ivanovic, also lose in straight sets. But Hantuchova’s case may be even more frustrating. Call her the anti-Federer: Her elegance has brought her too little.
—Steve Tignor
