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IT is hard to imagine a less fashionable
double act than Nicole Pratt and Wayne Arthurs.
Both are on the wrong side of 30 and
neither has been given much chance of achieving anything
more spectacular than a win or two at Wimbledon.
Yet this is what Australian tennis has
come to in the bottom half of the draw after one round.
As Pratt and Arthurs point out, it is neither a particularly
good thing, nor reason for national mourning.
Pratt will today play Venus Williams
and believes she can win. She says Williams has lost the
aura she once had and no longer bludgeons her way through
matches with raw serving power.
She has played Williams once before,
at Rod Laver Arena in the fourth round of the 2003 Australian
Open. She lost in straight sets but said it was closer
than it looked. More to the point, she says Williams is
not the player she was then.
"I just think she hasn't had the
match play that is necessary out here to win tournaments,"
Pratt said after beating Slovakian Ludmila Cervanano 3-6
6-3 6-1 in the first round.
"For her, the tough rounds are the
first few rounds. Once she gets her teeth into a tournament
she becomes a different player.
"Serena and Venus came out and they
were power hitters Now there are more and more girls that
are hitting the same type of paced ball. It is just a
matter of going out there and doing a good job."
For Arthurs, the next assignment is an
equally difficult one. He plays German Alexander Pop,
an accomplished grass-court player with a good Wimbledon
record. But Arthurs, too, the oldest player standing,
feels bullish.
"I think my experience probably
came through in the end," Arthurs said of his first-round
win - 6-3 6-4 6-4 - over Italian Filippo Volandri. "I
don't think Volandri had been on grass too often in his
life.
"I have been here now 11 years at
Wimbledon. I always look forward to this time of year.
"With so many Aussies out there
it is virtually like playing the Aussie Open."
The problem for Australian tennis is
that they are in the stands and propping up the bar rather
than out on court.
Pratt shares Lleyton Hewitt's concern
about the absence of a generation next.
"It is all pretty ordinary, to tell
you the truth," she said. "I don't feel like
there is too much coming through.
"I think Sam (Stosur) and Alicia
(Molik) are special talents. They are just very talented
players and I think they would have got there regardless
of the system behind them.
"Evie (Dominikovic) is starting
to do a little bit better but after that we haven't got
much. Obviously Tennis Australia is making a bunch of
changes and hopefully those changes will be positive changes."
Arthurs urges patience. Hewitt won Wimbledon
at age 21 but is the exception rather than the rule. Australians
have tended to blossom late, Arthurs said. None later
than Arthurs, who this year won his first ATP tournament
at 33.
The old man of Australian tennis has
no plans to leave the game any time soon.
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