Women's Final

The final of the women's involves the number 1 player, Amelie Mauresmo of France, and Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belguium, the world's number 3. Henin-Hardenne has been on a bit of a streak lately, having won the French Open. She had been debilitated with a hamstring injury that left her mostly off the tour at the end of 2005.

This is a surprising final for its style of play. Women's tennis has long abandoned serve and volley. A player like Venus Williams with a great serve and 6 feet 1 height should be charging net all the time. Instead, Williams plays a hard hitting baseline game. It doesn't make sense, but it's worked for her. She had the physique to be the best serve and volleyer ever.

Most women have mimicked that style, hugging the baseline, afraid to hit forehands. When Evert and Austin were queens of the tour, they would hit two-handed backhands all day long, lulling opponents into errors, rather than play power tennis. With the smaller racquets, women were not thought to be able to hit the kind of pace men did (indeed Graf was to soon prove that wrong). Larger racquets have lead to power hitters among the women, and the 40 shot rally has been a thing of the past.

Still, baseline play is the staple of women's tennis. So I find it surprising that the women play any kind of serve and volley. Mauresmo does more of it than Henin-Hardenne, but both will seek opportunities to get to net, making it far more of a cat-and-mouse game, the kind of opportunistic play that has not been seen lately in the women's game.

I had thought that Henin-Hardenne, with her mentally tough brutish approach to the game might win handily. Fortunately, Mauresmo has taken the second set, and is serving for the match in the third. She has used her forays to the net effectively, and it's a joy, I must say, to see women coming to net.

If only the men would find a new stunningly good volleyer, someone like Edberg or McEnroe (I'll pass on Sampras, thank you, and to me, Federer's smoothness mostly applies to his backcourt game).

And, there, Mauresmo has won, as Henin-Hardenne, fearless to the last, tries to whip a groundstroke, hits it inside out clipping the net, and the first French women since the great Suzanne Lenglen has won Wimbledon.

A nice match, quality play, not as great as the greatest, but quite watchable.

Congratulations to Amelie (she's run up to hug what seems to be coach and father, a la Pat Cash).