The Yips

Category: Tennis

Publish Date: 01-29-2009 03:25 AM -0500

I feel for Elena Dementieva. She's one of the fittest women on the tour, trains quite hard, and hits forehands and backhands as well as anyone in the women's game. She's also, by all accounts and impressions, a sweet person (no diva, this Dementieva). Sadly, the svelte Russian is afflicted with a disease known to club players as the yips.

For a while, the yips can go into remission, and its unfortunate carrier might well win a few tournaments, or even an Olympic gold medal. Sometimes a player can go so long without an episode that observers--even seasoned ones--might begin to believe that, miracle of miracles, the player has been cured.

And then suddenly, said player--in this case, our dear, dear Dementieva--steps up for her seventh major semifinal and a chance at her first major final in more than four years and--bang!--the yips are back. And nothing--nothing--can be done about it. After a hard-fought first set against Serena Williams, Dementieva double faulted eight times in the second set, including three times when she served with a 3-1 lead (she was broken), once at 3-3 (also broken), and two more times at 4-4 (broken again). A few of these doubles were doozies (the ball landed three to 10 feet outside the service box). Sitting in the cool air-conditioning inside Rod Laver Arena, I found myself--after every fault--tempted to look away as Dementieva readied herself for a second serve. When someone has such a severe case of the yips, it feels impolite to look at them.

Take away Dementieva's serving woes and this, for the most part, was a high-level semifinal. The baseline rallies were long, powerful and loud, with both players screaming at higher decibels with each stroke. Dementieva was much steadier from the baseline overall, even though she let loose a few of her trademark squeals after unusually awful errors. Williams, of course, served beautifully, as she always seems to do in the latter rounds of the majors. I was struck by something else in her game, though, something that ought to give Dinara Safina a lot of grief in the final: newfound zip on her running forehand. Only when Williams is at her very best does she hit the ball well on the run. Against Dementieva, she hit numerous crosscourt forehands from wide positions, including one that set up an easy backhand for a break of serve at 4-4 in the second set. Williams then spun back toward her box, screamed "C'mon!" and took a seat in her chair before serving out the match, which ended with a thunderous overhead, 6-3, 6-4.

In the second semifinal, Safina--much to everyone's surprise--rather routinely dismissed Vera Zvonareva in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6(4). This match had only a whiff of the comic drama we've come to expect from an afternoon with Safina (she surrendered a 5-4 lead in the second set and fell behind by a break of serve before recovering). Safina impressed with her continued aggression (no pushing today) and her range at the baseline. She may not be the fastest woman on tour, but height is an underrated defensive weapon. It's tough to put a ball out of this woman's reach.

If Safina can control her nerves--an yes, that "if" is large enough that one could see it resting on Safina's shoulders from outer space--we have the makings of a strong final, especially if Williams loses control of her backhand for long stretches, as she did in the second set today. Williams and Safina are two of the most striking athletes in the field, Williams with her powerful legs and large biceps, Safina with her long limbs and broad shoulders. As we've seen so often at this tournament and in history, though, the muscle between a player's ears matters the most. Williams has the best competitive mind in the business, so strong that I doubt Safina--even a Safina who plays free and easy--can overcome it.

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