Sanchez Vicario Fights Her Way Out of Slump

It says something about the robotic consistency of Arantxa Sanchez Vicario that, asked to explain her decidedly average record of the last few months, she felt moved to point out that she’s human.

A decade’s worth of opponents may dispute that claim, all undone by the Spaniard’s relentless, unflagging approach to tennis. Put her career on a graph and it’s been such a steady plateau that the slightest dip seems like a chasm.

Thus, a slow start in her second-round match Saturday at the State Farm Evert Cup appeared something worse than it was. Sanchez Vicario, the tournament’s top-seeded player, defeated Silvia Farina of Italy, 6-4, 6-2, on a hot day at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, where the on-court temperature reached 103 degrees.

Farina had opportunities in the first set that she would have done well to capitalize on--Sanchez Vicario is not known for handing out free points. But neither is she famous for inconsistent play, which best describes the 25-year-old’s last few months.

“Any player has ups and downs. I have not done that,” said Sanchez Vicario, who is ranked No. 4. “I’m a human being. I know that other pros have some problems. That is happening to me right now. If you do the right things, it will come back like before. It’s a slow process, it doesn’t take just a day.”

Sanchez Vicario’s record this year has not been up to her standards. She has had uncharacteristic and perplexing losses to lower-ranked players: in the second round at Sydney to Amy Frazier, and in the third round of the Australian Open to Dominique van Roost of Belgium.

She also lost both singles matches in the Fed Cup last weekend against lower-ranked Belgian players.

After Saturday’s match, Farina was asked if Sanchez Vicario is vulnerable. Farina, stepping gingerly into dangerous territory, corrected the questioner.

“Even in August, she wasn’t playing well,” Farina said. “She lost a match she usually has to win. I think she can come back and play better. I think she’s not really in confidence. She lost a strange match at Fed Cup.”

Losing to Lindsay Davenport in the final of the Olympic tennis tournament in August was just the tail end of Sanchez Vicario’s slump. She had a hard summer, in which the accomplishment of getting to the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon was offset by the disappointment of failing to win a Grand Slam title.

More than she expected, the losses weighed on her mind.

“First the French Open, then Wimbledon and then the Olympics,” Sanchez Vicario said, reeling off the painful litany. “It’s not enough time to recover, mentally, more than anything else. You think, ‘It’s one ball, the difference in the match.’

“It’s a tough year, last year. But you are professional. I’m not going to give up. I have to keep going. There’s nothing wrong.”

The element of her game that has remained intact is Sanchez Vicario’s feisty spirit, which allowed her to battle back in Saturday’s match. A slow start in the first set gave way to a more focused second set.

Sanchez Vicario broke Farina in a testy fifth game in the second set. Farina was saddled with two line calls that were obviously bad and found herself serving at love-40. Fine shot-making and an artistic backhand brought her back into the game at deuce. Sanchez Vicario, having created her opening, pressed and forced Farina into an error that gave the Spaniard a 4-1 lead in the set.

Farina had five break points against Sanchez Vicario in the next game but was unable to capitalize and eventually lost.

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Eighth-seeded Amanda Coetzer led, 4-0, in the third set Saturday evening but saw that lead slip away to Florencia Labat of Argentina. Labat won, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, as Coetzer became the second-seeded player to lose.

Earlier, 16th-seeded Lisa Raymond lost to Sandrine Testud of France. Testud’s winning score was 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

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In Play

* What: State Farm Evert Cup

* Site: Hyatt Grand Champions Resort, Indian Wells

* Dates: Through March 15

* Times: Day sessions 10 a.m.; evening 6:30 p.m. (starting Monday)

* Top-seeded player: Arantxa Sanchez Vicario