Lindsay Davenport won yesterday's ASB Classic singles final in a canter. The 31-year-old former world no 1, whose genial and down-to-earth style charmed the crowds as surely as her power hitting left her opponents gasping, brushed aside Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai in straight sets.
It was just the resultlocal tennis fans would have wanted, since it ensured that the focus remained on local hero Marina Erakovic, whose quarter-final upset victory over the tournament top seed, Vera Zvonareva, was the sports story of the week.
The 19-year-old from St Heliers was ranked 152 in the world before she took the court against someone ranked 22. But the numbers counted for little as Erakovic, in a nailbitingly tense, never-say-die display, bounced the favourite. Down 2-4 in the final set, she mixed up big serves and double-faults with high-risk, line-teasing forehands and botched drop shots. Her her supporters didn't know whether to cheer or scream.
In the end, they cheered. And screamed too, probably. Erakovic's improbable, richly deserved victory is just the shot in the arm that New Zealand sports fans need as the new year begins. The TV sports commentator who said that Erakovic's success had "sparked a resurgence of interest in tennis" (how does he know?) was absurdly overstating it. But certainly 2007 was a sporting year to forget.
Erakovic is hard at work today in Melbourne trying to qualify for the Australian Open. However she does, she has done great things already - not just for her tennis, but for a country that needs to savour the taste of victory more this year than last.
