Love Game - Season 2011 (40 page)

              This must have been someone else’s doing. But who? Sasha sighed. This was exactly what she didn’t need before a match. She shook her head angrily. She didn’t have time for this. Actually, she couldn’t even afford to let her mind focus on anything other than the forthcoming Grand Slam final.

              Why would anybody want to prove to her that she was apparently in love with one of the Galloways? Who would be interested in her life like that? Who was still in New York? Not too many players to be honest. There were the guys who would play the final tomorrow, but she was sure they had nothing to do with this. Several doubles finalists were still in town. But she had never played doubles, and didn’t have any friends let alone foes in the doubles circles.

              The only other female player still in Flushing Meadows was Amanda Auster, her opponent in the women’s final. But even though they were not close, they had always respected each other. Also, this was not Amanda’s game style. She wouldn’t resort to such a scheme to put Sasha off. No, it must have been someone else, and it was none of the players. But who was it then? Who might have a grudge or another reason to hurt her? Had she accidentally stepped on someone’s toes without noticing?

              She couldn’t think of anyone, even though she had the feeling she’d overlooked a clue. But finally she shrugged. Time to win a match, she thought. After Wimbledon it was her second Grand Slam final of the year and she had no intention of being runner-up a second time. Amanda Auster should be easy enough. How on earth she’d made it to the final after such a mediocre year was beyond Sasha’s wit. But there was nothing to worry about. The Australian had never beaten her in all their previous meetings. She had not even managed to take a set off her. Sasha exhaled.

***

It wasn’t a crappy start, Amanda thought. Yes, she had just lost the first set, as expected, but she wasn’t playing badly. Or was she fooling herself? She had tried to find excuses and explanations every time Sasha had beaten her in the past – weather, little injuries, a full tournament schedule or a too rigid training plan. However, deep inside she knew better. Sasha simply was the greater player – ruthless and imposing in the way she took the court, calm and cold-blooded when it mattered.

              Amanda squared her shoulders and breathed in deeply but to no avail. She was useless against Sasha. She’d never even won a set against her and if she kept on playing like this she never would. She had seen it coming. The fear of being humiliated again and being unable to find means against Sasha’s onslaught was crushing her. Leaning back on her chair Amanda closed her eyes. The chatter of a thousand spectators was surrounding her. In the midst of the noise she could hear Elise’s voice, her face being right next to Amanda’s.

              Elise had planted a kiss on her cheek. Amanda could still feel the touch on her face, like she did back then in Stuttgart.

              “Have fun out there. Enjoy it,” Elise had whispered into her ear when they were standing in the catacombs of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Amanda had felt that Elise was terribly proud of her for reaching the final and now her words echoed in her head. Joy. Sometimes she couldn’t find any when playing, but after the drought of the summer reaching a final was a huge success, she had to admit. And even if she couldn’t win it she wanted to play her best, she thought. For her team who believed in her and supported her. For Dan. For Elise.

              The Australian looked up at her box to the left and spotted her girlfriend there. Elise must have noticed that Amanda was looking at her direction because all of a sudden, she waved at her. It was only a little movement with her wrist. No one would have been able to understand that the wave was directed toward Amanda. However, as soon as Amanda wondered about that, Elise seemed to become even bolder. With a shy grin she bent over her hand and after looking around to check if someone was watching she blew Amanda a kiss.

              How daring was that? Amanda quickly turned her head back to the court but couldn’t help but chuckle. No girlfriend had ever done this before. Not back in the days of small challenger tournaments and certainly not on the big stages.               Elise had to be crazy, Amanda thought.

              A quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that Elise was still looking and still smiling at her. This time Amanda smiled back at her. Elise wasn’t naïve or careless. She knew what was at stake if the relationship was made public and still she would blow Amanda a kiss across Arthur Ashe where some thousand people could spot the gesture. Yes, she knew what was at stake and that made it special. She was fearless and all of a sudden Amanda understood why. Elise not only thoroughly trusted Amanda’s feelings – but she trusted her own feelings for Amanda.

              The break was over and Amanda got up and walked to the baseline. For one last time she looked up at her box and her girlfriend. Elise was still there, still smiling with encouragement. Her mouth was moving and Amanda could make out a silent ‘Come on’.

              Turning to one of the ball boys to give him the towel she had to smile to herself while reminding herself to remain focused on the match. It wasn’t over yet.

***

“That’s all you can wish for a Grand Slam final,” Hugh said excitedly.

              “Yes,” Sam agreed. “You could have asked anybody here and they would have told you that Auster would go down in flames in this match, and it certainly looked like it after the first set. But she has braced herself and now you can see why she made it all the way to the final.”

              It was an excellent second set so far and Amanda was playing her game with beautiful strong shots and smart movement, and unlike the first set never let Sasha dictate the play. They each had held serve until 3-3. But then the Australian player had broken the Czech for the first time in this match, and for the first time Sasha had taken her racquet and hit it on the ground in anger.

              “Auster’s composure after losing that first set seems to have baffled Sasha.”

              The commentators watched the players walk to their chairs for the change-over. Sasha suddenly looked anxious and tight.  Sat on her chair she was tapping with her feet and clutching the water bottle. Once in a while she looked over to the Australian.

              “After Sasha had won all her matches in straight sets everyone tipped the three-time Grand Slam champion to take another trophy home today. But perhaps the tide has changed?”

              “Auster did a great job putting pressure on Mrachova’s second serve and Mrachova had problems holding her serve throughout the second set. It’s not a surprise that she got broken at last,” Sam spoke into the microphone. “However, I’m a bit surprised by Mrachova’s attitude. It’s unlike her to so emotive, let alone so negative.”

              Hugh nodded. “You could sense that she was startled by the battle Amanda Auster put on. That one challenge she made in the third game was completely hilarious. She must have seen that Amanda’s shot was right on the line and she challenged nevertheless. It was clearly to put the Aussie off and get a grip on Auster’s serve.”

              The players walked back onto the court and Amanda took some balls to serve.

              “Auster doesn’t have a good record of holding serve in important games this year,” Hugh stated. “And this is a very important game.” If Amanda could hold for 5-3, Sasha had to serve to stay in the set.

              Amanda’s first serve was a pin-point ace on the T line. The Czech didn’t even have time to move into the direction of the serve.

              “219 miles,” Sam exclaimed. “That’s a good way to start when you want to hold.”

              With another good serve and Sasha’s return landing in the net, Amanda Auster led 30-0. Amanda was about to go over to the other serving side, but Sasha raised her hand to chair umpire Anastasia Stea.

              “She is challenging the call,” Hugh said in surprise.

              “Well, the serve was clearly in. Either there is something wrong with her eyesight, or – ,” Sam  began.

              “She’s doing it again. She’s trying to break Auster’s rhythm,” Hugh finished Sam’s thought.

              They both stared down onto the court in wonder. Sasha had never resorted to the little tricks tennis players once in a while used to put an opponent off like taking a long bathroom break, or repeatedly catching the tossed ball. This behavior was very unusual.

              “There you go,” Sam sighed, when the video screen showed that Amanda’s serve was well within the service box. “That was her third bad challenge.”

              “No challenges left for Mrachova,” Hugh explained into the microphone. “But she might get a warning soon for racquet abuse.”

Down on the court Sasha had hit her racquet onto the ground again. She shouted angry words at herself but when she had to serve to stay in the set she managed to hold.

              “5-4,” Sam stated. “Now, can Auster take this match into a deciding set?”

              She could. Three minutes and two aces later, pumping her fist, Amanda went back to her chair with a little jog. She had just won the second set.

***

Against all expectations she had not crumbled against the mighty Sasha Mrachova nor had she given in to the pressure of playing a Grand Slam final. After the lost first set the crowd got behind Amanda and, as the match moved on, was awed by her ruthless shotmaking. Every time she had won a point, she had let the roar of the stadium wrap her up. In this fortnight she had gained a lot of fans.

              It was strange. With a little gesture Elise had freed her mind. As if the blown kiss and the wave of Elise’s hand had magically touched the whole stadium and made it her home, it had brought a calmness Amanda never had before. In the past it had made her nervous when her girlfriend were in the stands cheering for her but now it inspired her to play even better. But Elise wasn’t expecting a win. She just wanted Amanda to play her game and relish the occasion while Elise sat in her box adoring her play on the biggest stage of the tennis world. And here she was, face-to-face with her nemesis in the vastness of Arthur Ashe Stadium, but Amanda who had always been awfully careful to hide her emotions and who would discourage her girlfriends from publicly displaying any affection toward her felt secure.

              After the second set there had been a quick exchange of words between Sasha and the chair umpire. Amanda had not been able to understand the words as Sasha had anrily hissed them at Anastasia Stea. She clearly was overwhelmed by finally losing a set to Amanda. Throughout the entire set break Amanda had been trying to surpress a huge grin. At last she had taken a set off the Czech. At last. Perhaps she could win another one? Everything seemed possible suddenly.

              The third set had become a close affair, too. Neither of the players let go and most of the games went to deuce multiple times. Amanda could sense Sasha’s anger spreading over the stadium and reaching out for her with every shot that Sasha smacked over the net.

              It was 3-4 and Amanda knew she needed to hold at all costs. But Sasha had found a way to return Amanda’s serves and dictate the play again, hitting her groundstrokes into the corners unable for Amanda to reach. And finally Sasha had a break point on Amanda’s serve. Standing at the baseline, Amanda breathed in deeply. If she got broken in this game it would be over. She knew it. Everyone knew it. The stadium seemed to have gone completely silent.

              Amanda hit an excellent serve to Sasha’s backhand but the Czech was able to return it, even though it fell short in the front of the Amanda’s side of the court. Amanda rushed forward and smashed it back into the court, but sprinting across the concrete Sasha was able to get her racquet on the ball. It flew up high over Amanda’s head. There wasn’t that much a player could do against a lob when standing that close to the net. Most of the times Amanda only watched it fly. Either it landed in or it was wide. But this time she ran back to the baseline while watching the ball descend. Just when it landed right on the line, Amanda reached it, took a leap and hit it back through her legs. It landed in the open court and Sasha was unable to get to it. The Czech was simply standing there watching the ball.

              The amazing shot had sent the crowd to their feet. They were cheering and screaming down to the court. Amanda could feel the adrenaline in her fingertips. She won the next two points to hold.

              And then she won the next four points to break Sasha Mrachova to love. It was 5-3.

              When Amanda sat down in her chair she looked across the court. Three minutes were a long time. She tried to clear her mind and calm her breath. But her hands felt shaky suddenly. She was so close. Closer than she’d ever thought she would be. She could actually win a match against none other than Sasha Mrachova. It would happen to be a Grand Slam final.

              “Time.”

              Anastasia Stea’s voice sounded as unaffected as ever and without waiting another second, the Australian player stood up, then reached the baseline jogging under the applause every player received when serving for a match.

***

Anastasia Stea entered the restaurant and looked around but the other five female chair umpires had already spotted her and waved for her to come over. Anastasia was one of the youngest umpires that worked on the tour, but she was one of the best. The match today had been only the second Grand Slam final she had called, but everyone had assured her that it wouldn’t be the last. Even after the strange and nasty incident with Sasha she was sure that this was only the beginning. There were many more Grand Slam finals to come.

              But as soon as she had sat down, the others were inquiring about the call that had stirred up Sasha’s emotions and was already being heatedly discussed in the media.