Home >  Sports >  Other Sports

Monday, November 13, 2000

By Maria Sciullo, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Sandra Cacic can blister a ground stroke, all right. She can fire a serve down the middle of a tennis court that takes the fuzz off the ball, too. But that's not nearly enough to win a professional tournament, not when thousands of women have grown up smacking two-handed backhands and honing a baseline game.

	Sandra Cacic returns a shot in her three-set victory in the USTA Women's Challenger of Pittsburgh final in Monroeville (Darrell Sapp,Post-Gazette) .

"Today, it was all about heart," said Cacic.

Unseeded but undaunted, Cacic staged a big comeback to take the $50,000 USTA Women's Challenger of Pittsburgh at the Oxford Athletic Club East in Monroeville. Her 7-5, 1-6, 6-2 victory against Rossana de Los Rios, the top seed, was a testament to Cacic's drive.

"It's who wanted it more; that's what finals are all about," said Cacic, who won three previous Challenger titles this year and isn't shy about hitting out on every shot.

She netted $7,700 for her victory; de Los Rios won $4,200 in Pittsburgh's inaugural hardcourt event.

Early on, there was every indication de Los Rios would eventually wear down Cacic with a crafty mix of crosscourts, varied pace and the occasional sly backhand dropshot.

Cacic, a Chicago native, didn't help her cause, double-faulting to fall to 1-3 in the first set and generally struggling to nail a first serve.

"I figure it can't go on forever," she said.

But after de Los Rios held for a 5-2 lead, things looked pretty grim.

Cacic came up with an ace to open the eighth game, which she won when de Los Rios mishit a backhand return. She then broke on four consecutive points, highlighted by a smart forehand-winner that pulled de Los Rios far into the right corner.

De Los Rios is a clay-court expert who knows how to confuse an opponent. She didn't quit, working her way to set point twice.

"You just never know where she's going to hit the ball," Cacic said. "She has such phenomenal racket-head speed and she can change the face so well. She can really disguise her shots."

Cacic's serve kicked in at an opportune time. She jammed de Los Rios several times in the ninth game, staying alive at 5-5. After breaking to 6-5, Cacic engaged de Los Rios in a lengthy game featuring long rallies and five set points. She finally won the set on a backhand-winner.

Playing with a bandage wrapped around her middle after aggravating some pulled stomach muscles, de Los Rios nonetheless looked sharp as she whipped through the second set. On her fourth set point, she clinched it on a backhand-winner.

That, she said, was when her injury really started to affect her play. De Los Rios requested a trainer timeout between sets.

"It is much, much worse today than yesterday," she said. "I was thinking about the first set -- having two set points -- and after I won the second set, that would have been the match.

Still, the momentum belonged to de Los Rios.

"She was ahead, but she had to win it," Cacic said. "I wasn't going to give it to her."

At 2-2 in the decisive set, Cacic came up with her best service yet. Two unreturnable serves, another of de Los Rios' increasing number of unforced errors and an ace produced a 3-2 lead.

It was finally settled when de Los Rios hit out long on a forehand at match point.

"I have confidence in my serve," said Cacic. "If you can dictate play with your serve, that's it. That was pretty much the key today."

In the doubles championship, Nana Miyagi of Japan and Nirupama Vaidyanathan of India defeated Kirstin Freye of Germany and Seda Noorlander of The Netherlands, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0.