Labat/Paz vs. Lettiere/Tu

Angela Lettiere and Meilen Tu have been two of the more highly touted young American players to come along in the '90s, but their pro careers have been disappointing to date. Lettiere has become a more or less full-time doubles specialist now and hooked up with Tu to face Florencia Labat and Mercedes Paz. An ardent Lettiere fan gave her a big college cheer at the start of this 11 am doubles match. I think what he screamed was, "Hey Angela! Gooooo Dogs! Sick 'em! Hoo hoo!" The Argentines also had a small cheering section in the fourth and fifth rows, including Florencia's boyfriend.

The match got off to a weird start -- an overrule on the very first point. It didn't matter much, as Tu was quickly broken at 15. Flo held for 2-0 and Lettiere was broken at 30 on a Paz backhand volley winner. Paz got down 30-40 on her own serve, but rallied to hold for a commanding 4-0 lead. Tu then suffered another 15 break, serving her second double fault along the way. The Americans didn't find their rhythm at all until game #6, a break of Labat which ended on a high backhand volley winner by Lettiere. It looked like they'd finally have a successful service game up 30-0, but the veterans battled back to 30-30 and Lettiere lost the set on a volley error and double fault. After just over 25 minutes of very one-sided play, it was 6-1 in favor of Labat/Paz.

Florencia and Mercedes hadn't yet played a poor game, but that changed when Paz was broken at love to open the second set. Lettiere returned the favor, smiling wryly after committing three unforced errors in a row to be broken for 1-1. A rather casual looking Labat error got her down 15-40 in the next game, but she would eventually hold after four deuces, winning the game with a devilish drop volley. Tu got down break point on another double fault in game 4, but came back to score the team's first service hold. That was quickly answered by a Paz ace for 40-15 and a Labat smash for 3-2.

A quick break of Lettiere and a relatively easy Paz hold brought the second set score to 5-2. The trailing team didn't seem too upset, Lettiere giggling on her way back out following the changeover. The mood was further lightened when Tu mis-hit one of the worst serves I've ever seen, double faulting with a ball that barely reached the service box and then bounced over the net. Tu laughed it off and held for 5-3. Paz smacked an ace for 30-0, but up 40-15 double faulted away the first two match points. When Paz put a shoestring volley into the net, it looked like Lettiere/Tu might be getting back into the match. Tu saved a pair of overheads on the next point, but her third return went just long. Flo and Mercedes took over from there, each hitting a winning smash to finish off an impressive 6-1, 6-3 victory.