Al-Ahram Weekly 29 Apr. - 5 May 1999 Issue No. 427
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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An Egyptian at heart

By Nashwa Abdel-Tawab

Under sunny skies, top seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario easily defeated Irina Spirlea to win the Dreamland Classic, the first international women's tennis tournament to be staged in Egypt and the Middle East.

Spain's Sanchez Vicario, ranked No 7 in the world, needed only one hour to beat Romania's Spirlea, the fifth seed in the tournament and 20 in the world, 6-1, 6-0.

"I dominated the game from the very beginning," said Sanchez Vicario. "Spirlea couldn't make it out that time." For her efforts, Sanchez Vicario earned $27,000 out of the $180,000 in total prize money and applause from the nearly 4,000-strong spectators who jammed centre court in Sixth of October City. "I feel that deep inside me I'm an Egyptian and that's what I felt at the Al-Ahram matches and [that's why] I signed on in this tournament immediately." Sanchez Vicario was referring to exhibition games staged last October which included teenage sensation Anna Kournikova.

An injury to her left wrist had kept Sanchez Vicario out of tennis from January. Although surgery would be required, she says she will not go under the knife since that would keep her off the tour for approximately a year. A former number one, Sanchez Vicario is the third woman in tennis history to reach $14 million in career earnings and the ninth to win 600 career matches.

Last year was good to Spirlea. She beat Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport in back-to-back matches in Hilton Head, then defeated Serena Williams at the US Open. Spirlea has been ranked in the top 10 since 1997 and has qualified for the year-ending Chase Championship, which includes the top 16 players of the year, three times.

Spirlea could count herself lucky to have reached the Dreamland final. She was down two match points against Kristie Boogert in the second round before rallying to win.

Sanchez Vicario and Spirlea have met eight times since 1992, with Spirlea holding a 5-3 advantage. The last time they faced each other was in November 1998 at the indoors Chase Championship World Cup in New York where Spirlea ousted Sanchez Vicario 7-6, 6-1 in the first round. The last time Sanchez Vicario defeated Spirlea was in June 1997 on grass in Eastbourne, England.

It has been almost a year since either player has won a singles title. Spirlea's last championship was in Strasbourg on 23 May. Sanchez Vicario last tasted victory in Roland Garros on 6 June.

Vicario in the final match; Mary Pierce playing golf; Jelena Dokic; Vicario holding her trophy photos: Khaled El-Fiqi and Amr Gamal

In the semi-finals, Spirlea easily disposed of Canadian Maureen Drake, ranked 64, 6-3, 6-0, while Sanchez Vicario rallied from a 1-4 games deficit to defeat Switzerland's Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-5, 6-0.

In the quarter-finals, second-seeded Mary Pierce of France, ranked No 8 worldwide, was knocked out by Spirlea 6-4, 6-2. Pierce was expected to reach the finals but in a post-match interview, blamed her early exit on many self-inflicted errors. "I just made a lot of mistakes and Spirlea played very well, with few errors," Pierce said.

Also in the quarter-finals, Sanchez Vicario beat the up and coming 16-year-old Australian Jelena Dokic 6-3, 6-1. Dokic, one of the top clay court players (16 of her 26 singles titles have been on clay), had beaten Sanchez Vicario three months ago in straight sets when the Spaniard's wrist problem was at its worst. The International Tennis Federation had given Dokic, ranked 199, a wild card to help her advance in professional tennis.

In doubles, Sanchez Vicario made it a double victory when she teamed up with Laurence Courtois of Belgium to beat -- again -- Spirlea and Caroline Vis from the Netherlands 5-7, 6-1 and 7-6. Sanchez Vicario chose Courtois specifically to be her partner. "Arantxa is good at preparing good plays and Courtois is good at finishing it," Sanchez Vicario's coach Angel Gimenes said. It was the 141st time that Sanchez Vicario had won both the singles and doubles championships in the same tournament.

The first surprise of the tournament saw Natasha Zvereva from Belarus, ranked 17 in the world and No 1 in doubles, crash out of the first round and also fail to play in a doubles match. "I wanted so much to play doubles here but there was a misunderstanding so I signed on for singles only," said Zvereva, who has three singles titles, 76 doubles crowns and 18 double Grand Slams under her belt. "I came to Egypt because I used to dream about seeing this country and now I'm here but I lost because I was really tired," Zvereva added. "But next time I'll win the doubles."

Dreamland drop shots

While in Cairo
Although Mary Pierce lost in the quarter-finals, she stayed on in Cairo for a full day of sightseeing on Saturday. The day included a visit to the Pyramids, then a tour of the Egyptian Museum, followed by a round of golf with coach Michaek de Jough at Dreamland's golf course, and finally shopping at the Khan Al-Khalili bazaar.

Mother Marisa
Seeing Arantxa Sanchez Vicario means mother Marisa can't be far behind. They travel together all over the world. Marisa, a retired teacher, accompanies her daughter at all tournaments. "Mum is a good friend and a good omen for me to win," said Sanchez Vicario. "She makes me feel strong." After every victory and even after each loss, Vicario Sanchez darts for the stands and gives Marisa a kiss and a hug. As for coach Angel Gimenes, he, too, gets a kiss but later on.

Sun, sun everywhere
"I don't like sun so much," said Natasha Zvereva, the world's top-ranked player in doubles. Perhaps that's why Zvereva always wears sunglasses while playing.

They don't bite
Dutch player Sed Noorlander likes to paint and read -- and spend time with her pet snakes. Noorlander bought them from a pet shop in Amsterdam and claims they are cute and don't bite.

Happy birthday
Natasha Zvereva from Belarus celebrated her 28th birthday on 16 April, just four days before the Dreamland tournament began. Jelena Dokic of Australia celebrated her 16th birthday on Shamm Al-Nessim, a Pharaonic feast also held just before Day One of the tournament.

Great expectations
Sixteen-year-old Jelena Dokic of Australia received a wild card from the Egyptian Tennis Federation to encourage her in her pro-tennis career. In 1998, Dokic finished as the No 1 junior in the world in singles. She also won the 1998 US Open junior singles title and the French Open doubles title. At 15, she led Australia to its first Hopman Cup title in 1998 with teammate Mark Philippoussis, upsetting world No 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No 15 Sandrine Testud. In the 1998 Australian Open, she reached the third round in both singles and doubles. Dokic is considered Australia's great hope in tennis. .

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