Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993 TAG: 9307310154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Miller, the fifth seed at the $10,000 USTA Women's Circuit of Roanoke tournament, said she wanted to break fourth-seeded Vanessa Webb's dangerous serve once a set in their quarterfinal match. So she broke Webb five times, three in the first set, and won 6-3, 6-3.
Webb, from Toronto, couldn't play her serve-and-volley game.
"When I serve well, I play well," the 17-year-old said. "I just wasn't able to get to the net."
Miller advances to a semifinal match against Mareze Joubert of South Africa at 6 tonight at Hunting Hills Country Club. The other semifinal, at 11 a.m., matches Liezel Horn and Alejandra Vento.
Horn, from South Africa, beat Julie Pullin of Great Britain 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Friday. Joubert defeated Japan's Keiko Nagatomi 7-5, 6-1.
Vento, a 19-year-old from Caracas, Venezuela, lost the first set before blowing away Russia's Vera Vitels 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 on Friday evening. Vento had won nine consecutive points to reach triple match point before Vitels fought to deuce. But a passing shot and a blistered service return that handcuffed Vitels - typical of Vento's searing accuracy - put away the match.
Vento is the only player in the main draw who has lost a match in the tournament. She was beaten in qualifying, but was awarded the spot the USTA reserves for a "lucky loser" - the highest-ranked loser in the four qualifying final matches. Earlier this summer she won a $10,000 satellite tournament in Indianapolis, and she reached the second round of a $25,000 event in Evansville, Ind.
"I was thinking I wasn't at my best in the first set," Vento said. "She really played well. I just told myself to concentrate and not to give up. This was I think so far the best [I've played]."
Miller and Webb were the only seeded players left. Now only Miller is left, which in one sense makes the Michigan native the favorite.
"Great," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to try not to think about it. If I do, I don't know what will happen."
Miller is hoping for a script like the one played out Friday, in which she exploited Webb's service problems with a hard baseline game that had her opponent skittering along the baseline, usually stopping only when Miller hit a winner.
Even when Webb got to the net a point wasn't guaranteed. She led 3-1 in the second set before Miller held serve in a love game to pull to 3-2. At 15-30 in the sixth game, Miller got caught in mid-court but made two stabbing saves of Webb volleys that brought the rally back to the baseline.
Webb ended it with a netted backhand. At 30-all, Miller hit a backhand cross-court winner. Miller won the game when Webb followed her first serve to the net but muffed her second volley.
"I really tried to work the ball around, tried to hit to her backhand," Miller said.
For the most part, Miller succeeded in pinning Webb, who at No. 352 is the seventh-ranked Canadian player in the latest Women's Tennis Association rankings. Unlike many Canadian junior players, she said, Webb won't leave home to train in warmer climates. She wants to finish high school, then try the pro circuit for a while before deciding whether to go pro.
Friday, she was moving mostly in one direction.
"Instead of going forward, I was going backward," Webb said. "I should have taken a lot of the lobs as volleys, but backing up I didn't have a chance."
Miller shortened several lob rallies with corner-bound groundstrokes.
"Sometimes I just get impatient and I want to hit the ball," she said.
\ SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED: Northside High School's Aaron Church received a $1,000 scholarship from Hunting Hills and The Olive Garden restaurants in a presentation after the evening singles match. Church, who was chosen from six area players nominated for the award, is headed to James Madison University, where he has been encouraged to join the team as a non-scholarship player. His goal, he said, is to make the top six as a freshman. "With all the competition [for the scholarship]," Church said, "it makes everything I've worked for pay off."
Keywords:
TENNIS
by CNB