Wimbledon '97: Sanchez Vicario and Hingis on cruise control

The person who suggested two months ago that the Wimbledon ladies' singles final would be contested by Martina Hingis and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was, until recently, being held, for his own safety, in secure quarters minus his shoelaces. Now that he is out perhaps he will be able to enjoy Saturday's contest.

Before the French Open, Hingis and Sanchez Vicario was not the obvious match-up for SW19. The Swiss Miss was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery on her left knee while the Spaniard was playing with the sort of alacrity that makes you want to throw at least your rackets off Beachy Head. Times have changed. Both advanced to the quarter-finals by similar scores, 6-1, 6-3, yesterday, and there was a certain symmetry also in the commendation they received from the vanquished.

Hingis has been walking unnoticed in the crowd to the courts this week inside the camouflage of a hooded sweatshirt, but there is no disguising her growing potency. In the first set against Belgium's Sabine Appelmans, the No 1 seed produced the best Wimbledon has seen of her. In the second, there was only the slightest of slackening in her intensity. The match ended with an outrageously delicate return of service which appeared to land on chewing gum.

"There's not so much I could have done differently today," Appelmans said. "She was just better and she's only 16 so I'm sure she can still improve. She has a very complete game but if she gets more power, she can maybe hit the ball even harder.

"Other players, like Graf and Seles, really have to work hard around the court, but everything seems so easy for Martina. She's always in the right position and it doesn't look like she has to work very hard on court. That's the difference from the other players. She's unique."

Hingis now plays her great friend Denisa Chladkova, with whom she grew up for nine years on the junior circuit in the Czech Republic. Chladkova passed Venezuela's Maria Alejandra Vento 6-1, 6-3 in a match between players who had not won a Grand Slam match between them before Wimbledon.

Sanchez Vicario and Mary Pierce were scheduled on Centre Court as the appetiser before Boris and Tim. Empty seats speckled the auditorium, and the Royal Box looked like Versailles just after the Republicans had knocked on the door. It took until 12.45 before the King and Queen of Malaysia, Sir Greville and Lady Spratt and friends took to their seats.

Sanchez Vicario turned up for duty minus her small-of-the-back ball-holder, but Pierce provided the reliable box of tricks. She smiles at such strange times you could imagine her guffawing at a cremation. The Frenchwoman ranged between despondency and high amusement at the battering she was taking.

It was a contest of Sanchez's guile and Pierce's muscle and in this chess game the latter was swiftly established as the pawn. The Spaniard shrewdly slowed down her opponent, and was particularly keen to let Pierce dwell on the loss of key points. In addition, she predicted the serve so consistently it appeared a recording of the match had already found its way into her possession.

After a first set which occupied just 21 minutes, there was an anticipation that Pierce, like Mont- serrat, would burst into devastating life. She rallied briefly, producing smashes that threatened to produce craters, but was then guilty of pressing too hard. It was over in less than an hour.

Sanchez Vicario has been in the last two finals and as the figure that has derailed her on both occasions, Steffi Graf, is now in the workshop, it appears restoration may soon be complete. "I didn't give her any chances and I approached and went to the net very well," she said. "It's a great win and it gives me great confidence."

So, too, will the words of the loser. "She played a great match," Pierce said. "She seemed very motivated. Definitely the way she was playing she'll be tough to beat. She brings a lot of balls back, and she actually served pretty well and hit some good passing shots. Those are important shots on grass."

Pierce further attributed her defeat to a damaged arm, and a mysterious state from which she cannot really have been suffering. "I didn't feel very into the match," she said. "I was a little tired." Tired, Mary, is what nurses feel at the end of a shift.

Weariness may have contributed to Helena Sukova's defeat. The Czech's 16th consecu- tive appearance at Wimbledon was ended 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 by Anna Kournikova, who at 16 was half her opponent's age. Jana Novotna tiptoed past Mary Joe Fernandez, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 and prom- ised there would be no repeat of her dramatic capitulation in the 1993 final. "Whoever labelled me a choker and said I can never win is totally wrong," she said. "I'm the world No 3 and that proves a lot." But not as much as victory in Saturday's final would.