Sunday, August 06, 2000
Seniors Tennis Championship
Fernandez, Fillol take title
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A near-flawless performance carried Gigi Fernandez and Jaime Fillol to a 6-3, 6-3 victory Saturday over Kathy Rinaldi and Mansour Bahrami in the Seniors championship of the Tennis Masters Series Cincinnati.
The match was played before a crowd of 6,000 at the ATP Tennis Center
Four games into Thursday's first-round doubles match with partner Fillol, Fernandez sensed that the duo would win the Seniors title.
“Jaime is such a gentleman, and it was relaxing playing with him,” said Fernandez, who teamed with Dick Stockton to win the 1999 mixed doubles championship. “We meshed together very well.”
Stockton and Mary Joe Fernandez finished third, defeating the team of Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and Owen Davidson 8-3.
The difference in the outcome was the ability of Fernandez to hold serve throughout the match.
“The opponent is always out to break the woman's serve,” Fernandez said. “When the women hold, it's puts added pressure on the opponent's partner to hold serve.”
Because of working 60 hours a week for an Internet company (Planesia) she founded, Fernandez wasn't sure what to expect in Cincinnati.
“I picked up a racket one time to get ready and that was two weeks ago,” Fernandez said. “I was lucky to draw such a standout partner.”
Ahead 2-1 in the first set, Fillol and Fernandez broke Rinaldi's serve to take a 3-1 advantage. They broke Rinaldi at 3-3 in the second to clinch the match that ended as the rain began.
The winners each received a check for $24,000 and a Mercedes bicycle valued at more than $2,000.
“I won a Mercedes bicycle last year,” Fernandez said.
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