Sanchez Vicario Runs on Empty and Is Upset

That tank of gas with the needle always on full that has fueled Arantxa Sanchez Vicario through 11 years and $11 million in winnings on the women’s tennis tour may have developed a leak.

She is only 25 and is still the fourth-ranked player in the world, as well as the top-seeded player in this week’s State Farm Evert Cup Tournament here.

But Thursday night, she showed signs, once again, in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Irina Spirlea of Romania, that the marathon she has run in all these years of high-pressure, high-power tennis may finally be taking its toll.

Her semifinal loss to Spirlea, the third in a row to the 22-year-old from Bucharest who has moved into the No. 9 spot in the world this week, was telling on a number of fronts.

It was Sanchez Vicario’s best result of the year to date. It followed a first-round loss to Amy Frazier in Sydney, a third-round loss as the No. 2-seeded player to Dominique Van Roost of Belgium and two unheard of consecutive losses for Spain in the recent Fed Cup matches. That, of course, followed losses in the finals of the French, Wimbledon and Olympics in 1996.

It was also telling because, in true Sanchez Vicario fashion, she dug deep after trailing in the final set, 4-0. She scurried side to side, retrieving, attacking and scrambling, leaving everybody in the place, including her opponent, with the impression that this energizer bunny would still be going as long as it took.

And then she seemed to run out of gas.

She got it back to 4-3, and she got it to deuce on Spirlea’s serve. Spirlea clearly knew the history, and the importance of the moment.

“She’s not the kind of person who lets you go very easy from the court,” she said, adding a bit later, “I knew the game at 4-3 was very important to win.”

But suddenly, there was no Tiger in Sanchez Vicario’s tank. She floated a forehand long, undercutting it like a club player, and then netted a running forehand like somebody lacking the legs to execute the shot properly. Then, serving at 3-5, Sanchez Vicario netted a tired backhand overhead on the first point and went easily, missing a forehand on match point.

Understandably, Sanchez Vicario has a positive spin for this. She is now coached by her brother, Emilio, and says, “He gives me the confidence back at the moment that I need [it].”

Spirlea will play the winner of today’s Mary Joe Fernandez-Lindsay Davenport match in Saturday’s final.