Thursday, March 24 was my first day ever attending the Lipton Championships on Key Biscayne. Wouldn't you know it, Flo was scheduled right at the start, 11 AM. She and on-again, off-again partner Rika Hiraki were set to take on Claudia Porwik and Kristine Radford on Court 9. It was the least prestigious of the outer courts seeing action that day, but it's nicer than most of the US Open side courts. It has pretty good seating and some very picturesque palm trees for a backdrop. There was also a very cordial atmosphere at the beginning, as the chair umpire chatted with Rika and asked the ballboys to bring some more towels for the players (they were supposedly entitled to only one each, which the umpire considered unfair in the hot weather).
Rika lost the opening coin toss, but she and Flo got off to a good start after that. They each hit winners in the opening game to break Radford, then hit two winners apiece in Florencia's service game for a quick 2-0 lead. Porwik next held at 30 and Hiraki held at love, with Florencia chuckling at the end of Game Four. She and Rika don't play together very often -- this was only their second tournament of the year as partners -- but they certainly seem to enjoy each other's company.
Labat and Hirkai squandered three break points in the very long game which followed, but Flo recovered to hold at love for a 4-2 lead. When a Labat backhand winner down the line secured a break of Radford for a 5-2 lead, it looked like clear sailing for the #16 seeds. Unfortunately, Rika's attempt to serve for the set was unsuccessful, as she committed a backhand error to finish the break. A questionable non-call on a Porwik serve brought the next game to 40-15. Florencia argued fairly vehemently, insisting "it was so clear." The umpire would not be swayed, however, and the set went to 5-4 as Hiraki put a backhand into the net on the next point.
Having won her first two service games easily, Florencia now stepped up with a chance to close out the set. It wasn't to be -- serving with new balls, Flo was broken at love to even the set at 5 games apiece. Growing more confident and fiery with every game, Porwik and Radford held for a 6-5 lead; Porwik ended the game with an ace. It was now up to Hiraki to hold serve and force a tiebreak. Their chances still looked pretty good at 30-all, but two straight errors by Rika ended the game and the set. Radford and Porwik had won five games in a row to claim the set 7-5.
Rika and Florencia needed to start strong in the second set...and they did. Porwik hit a volley long to end the opening game, a love break of Radford. Labat/Hiraki took a 2-0 lead, another Porwik volley error bringing the Flo/Rika run to seven of the first eight points in the set. However, Porwik completed an easy hold with another ace. Hiraki countered by holding for a 3-1 edge. The fifth game of the set was an exciting one, with Rika hitting a beautiful little forehand flip on the run to go up 15-30 on Radford's serve. A nose-to-nose volley exchange three points later ended with a Radford miss, bringing the Labat/Hiraki lead to 4-1.
Unfortunately, holding serve continued to prove difficult for the Labat/Hiraki team. They rallied from down 0-40 to 30-40 in Flo's service game, but a nice winner by Radford clipped the baseline and cut the second set deficit to 4-2. Porwik had to fight off a break point in the next game, but eventually won it with a scorching backhand volley for 4-3. Hiraki held at love in the next game, with a couple volley winners by Flo along the way. When Radford double faulted early in the next game, it looked like Flo and Rika might take the set without having to serve again. Alas, Radford held to make it 5-4.
A slight drizzle began in the next game, but it wasn't strong enough to stop play. Florencia may have been hoping it had after the game. She hit a double fault to get down 15-40, fought back to deuce, but still managed to get broken. Flo and Rika had once again lost a three-game lead. With their backs against the wall, this time they fought back. They took a 15-40 lead on Radford's serve and broke on the next point when Florencia's lob sailed over Radford's head and dropped for a clean winner. Rika got her third chance to serve for a set and came through this time. A forehand error by Porwik at 40-15 made this match dead even: 5-7, 7-5.
Porwik and Radford held to open the first set, the game ending on a successful forehand volley by Porwik. The tall German was having the best day of anyone on the court, keeping her team in contention with big serves and great volleys. She and Florencia actually have some notable history -- it was Porwik and a different Australian partner, Rachel McQuillan, who defeated Labat and Barbara Rittner in the 1993 Schenectady doubles final.
The momentum definitely shifted to Radford and Porwik in the next game, a Hiraki backhand volley into the net at 30-40 making the set 2-0. Porwik followed with a love hold for a 3-0 lead. Things looked grim for Labat and Hiraki, but they turned around their fortunes after the changeover. Hiraki held her serve quickly and Labat scored a forehand winner to complete a break of Porwik. We were back on serve at 3-2.
The tension increased in a see-saw sixth game which saw Florencia argue another serve -- this time one of her own called a fault. She had game point on her racquet, but hit a forehand into the net for deuce and yelled in dismay. Several deuces followed, with neither team willing to surrender this crucial game. Florencia fought off two break points with winners and Radford fought off a game point with a lovely drop volley. Flo finally sealed the deal with a service winner. She and Rika had come back from down 3-0 to even the third set at 3 games apiece. Radford completed a 15 hold with a winning smash, however, and the pressure was back on at 4-3.
Rika was the next to serve and the early results were not good -- she and Flo got down 0-40. However, a backhand winner by Florencia staved off break point #1. A service winner by Rika then made it 30-40. A dramatic backhand winner down the line by Rika killed break point #3: it was now deuce. Radford hit a volley over the baseline to give Labat/Hiraki the advantage. When a Radford forehand was called wide on the next point, it appeared that Flo and Rika had held on to even the set at 4-all. However, the chair umpire made her first overrule of the entire match, calling the ball good and ordering them to replay the point. Florencia went BEZERK! This was the most upset I have ever seen her. Flo was standing right over the ball when it went out (or hit the line) and she clearly thought the original call had been correct. "It was this far out", "this is the mark", "it was not even close", and "you're being so unfair" were all part of Flo's unsuccessful tirade. When she and Rika finally agreed to play the point over, things took care of themselves -- Radford hit a backhand long to make it 4-all. The growing Court 9 crowd roared with the biggest ovation of the match. Obviously the fans were siding with Florencia on the disputed call.
Game 9 was less eventful -- Porwik's smash at 40-15 gave her and Radford a 5-4 lead. It looked like Florencia would counter with an easy hold of her own up 40-15, but the German/Australian combo battled back to deuce. Hiraki hit a backhand volley winner on the next point, however, and the third set became deadlocked at 5-all when Radford's service return sailed wide. Porwik's powerful serves carried her to a love hold, ending with one her many aces. The pressure was squarely on Florencia's shoulders down 6-5. Aside from getting her serves in, however, Flo wasn't a big factor in the outcome of Game 12. It was a big backhand down the line by Rika which gave them a 30-15 edge, followed by two straight Porwik errors for 6-all. After more than two hours of play, we were headed for a third set tiebreak to finally decide it all. Not that you would know if you'd just arrived -- the court scoreboard began malfunctioning wildly late in the set and was never corrected.
The 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 triumph certainly was a wild, exhilerating ride. It was a match with something for everyone: a few great rallies, aces from Porwik, Florencia's very heated argument with the umpire, many service breaks, some rain, and a broken scoreboard (I even noticed that one of the Miami papers incorrectly reported the third set tiebreak score 7-3). I was definitely flashing back to the last Labat doubles match I saw -- the 1996 US Open second round loss. Flo also had a Japanese partner (Naoko Kijimuta), the match was also a 2-hour-plus marathon, and Labat was of the losing end of another big argument. Thankfully, this Lipton match ended in victory. Florencia and Rika looked very happy as they left the court and signed some autographs.
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