Bad Loss for Pazcek

Victory against third seed Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the 2008 Australian Open was on Tamira Pazcek's strings more than once in their three-set thriller before one of them finally held serve and won the final set 12-10. There was that time on one of her match points that Pazcek had the court wide open and her best shot, a cross-court backhand before her and managed to hit it out.

All credit to Jankovic for hanging in there, but Pazcek completely psyched herself out. Sure, Pazcek appears to be in awful shape. She looks much like Navratilova in the 1970s. With her pot belly and a dress that accentuates it, you can't help but wonder exactly how many donuts she had before she stepped out on the court. It's like she has a will to lose to be so out of shape on the pro circuit when she has so much else going for her.

Up 4-1 in the third, I was wondering, exactly how many Grand Slams might this kid, one of the wonder kids who surprised the field by getting through to last year's fourth round of the U.S. Open, win if she got into better shape. Then Jankovic broke. Then Jankovic held serve. Then Pazcek held serve and was up 5-3.

So, Pazcek was understandably nervous. But still, she was hitting wonderfully from the baseline, running around forehands to hit her beautiful backhand.

Jankovic wouldn't go away though. She's nothing if not gutsy. And all about the defense. Suddenly, it was 5-4, then 5-5. And then neither player could hold serve. For 10 games. 10!

Both players called injury time outs. Both players had plenty of chances and choked again and again and served terribly. The match turned ugly, complete with both players asking for injury time outs and lots of dramatic gestures by Jankovic to her ailing back.

Ultimately, the biggest choker was Pazcek. I honestly think her groundstrokes are fundamentally much better than Jankovic's. But between the ears, Jankovic proved herself far steadier. She looked across the net every now and then with this expression of, can I really still be in this match? And, no matter what the score, Jankovic seemed calm. Like no big deal. She didn't want to win too much.

Not so with Pazcek, who looked positively freaked out by the situation and obviously wanted to win it way too much.

There's someone else on tour known for her backhand and who used to be known for an inability to close out big, close matches. She just happens to be number one in the world: Justine Henin. If Pazcek can show the same dedication to the sport and herself that Henin has, there's nothing to stop her from reaching not just the top ten, but the very top.

But first, she'll need to learn how to hit winners when they're right there before her, not double-fault away matches, not mess up clear winners and, in short, not be her own worst enemy.