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 Twenty-year-old
Venus Williams blasted her way to victory at the $535,000 Acura Classic as she defeated
fourth-seeded Monica Seles, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-3 in one hour and 44 minutes before a sellout
crowd of 6,430 at the La Costa Resort & Spa.
The third-seeded Williams, who came to San Diego as the reigning
Wimbledon champion, wasted little time in winning the first set
at love. One fan yelled out, "Venus, give Monica a chance!"
Seles did make a match out of it and came back to win the second set in a
tiebreaker as Williams double faulted three times in the tiebreak.
In the third set Williams broke Seles at 4-3 and went on to serve out the
match in convincing style with a service ace, a backhand winner, a service winner and a
booming forehand winner on match point.
Williams, who had 55 winners, was awarded a check for $87,000. The
win marked her 15th straight match victory and third consecutive
tournament title.
The doubles final gave fans a good example of why they should stay and watch
doubles instead of leaving after the singles final.
Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs combined for a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
victory over Davenport and Kournikova who let a 5-0 lead in the third set slip away.
Raymond and Stubbs split $27,000.
Anna Kournikova had her best result at the La Costa Resort & Spa
as she played her way to the semifinals where she lost to Seles,
6-3, 7-6 (2). She began the tournament by defeating Alexandra Stevenson
6-2, 6-3.
In the second round, Kournikova upset defending champion Lindsay
Davenport, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. She eliminated tour veteran Nathalie Tauziat
of France in the quarterfinals.
The tournament's most stunning upset was unseeded Amy Frazier's 6-3, 6-3 quarterfinal
victory over defending champion Martina Hingis.
The 26th ranked Frazier fell to Williams 6-2, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Acura signed on as the tournament's new title sponsor through 2003.
The night session on Tuesday was sold out for the first time in tournament history.
A group of 22 African-American youths, who were part of the Venus & Serena
Tennis Academy in South Central Los Angeles, were treated to Venus Williams' 6-3, 6-0 quarterfinal
win over Conchita Martinez. The academy's goal is to groom the youths' tennis games to earn
college tennis scholarships. The Williams sisters have donated over $200,000 to the program.
Venus Williams' win streak would reach six tournaments and 35 matches before losing to Lindsay
Davenport in Austria in October.
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