Unforced Errors

PARIS -- Her game is fragile, and so is her psyche, bad ingredients in a sport with little patience for shortcomings, particularly those of a prodigy who spurned it.Falling from the tennis pedestal happened much more easily than climbing back. First time around, she could do no wrong; second time around, she is worried she can do no right.Jennifer Capriati, who charmed the French Open as a bubbly 14-year-old phenomenon in 1990, is an adult now, but she is making her comeback in baby steps.

WASHINGTON - - It was an hour and 20 minutes into the Legg Mason Classic, and Andy Roddick had just reclaimed the momentum after a lapse earlier in the second set. As the American blasted yet another serve past his opponent, Juan Martin del Potro, a lone voice screamed out from a capacity crowd that had been lulled to a stupor by the sweltering heat: "Let's go, Andy! It's hot!" Roddick fell short in his ability to close the match. In the end, it was del Potro, the 6-foot-6 Argentine and the tournament's defending champion, who handled Washington's most miserable afternoon of the summer best, outlasting the oppressive humidity, 97-degree temperature and Roddick's 21 aces to prevail, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (6)

The Loch Raven volleyball team improved with each game in yesterday evening's Class 1A state semifinal match against Poolesville of Montgomery County. But in the end, 44 unforced errors were too much to overcome. Senior setter Stella Cho had 12 assists, and seniors Lauren Roth and Jackie Klien had six kills each, but the Raiders' season ended after a 15-3, 15-7, 15-13 sweep at CCBC-Essex. "We just couldn't get our passes down," said Cho, who fell short of her 5.53-per-game assist average.

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Wimbledon champion Venus Williams crashed in the first round of the Australian Open today, losing, 2-6, 6-0, 9-7, to Tszvetana Pironkova. It was only the third time in 34 Grand Slam tournaments that the five-time major winner has lost in the first round. The 10th-seeded Williams sprayed 65 unforced errors, including 41 in the third set, as she struggled to control her ground strokes in her first tour-level event since September. Bulgaria's Pironkova, ranked 94th, was broken when she served for the match in the ninth game of the third set. Williams, who also had a chance to serve for the match in the 12th game, gave Pironkova match point with a backhand into the net and surrendered the 2-hour, 28-minute match on another backhand error.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Serena Williams was the winner, coming back after being off the tour more than eight months with a knee injury and capturing the Nasdaq-100 Open title in a mortifying 50-minute final. But Elena Dementieva, whose wild serves were the butt of jokes during this 12-day tournament - she totaled 57 double faults, after all - was not the loser. The real loser was women's tennis, which took a terrible hit with several top players not entered because of injury or fatigue. That allowed sixth-ranked Williams to dance through the draw and crush No. 8 Dementieva, 6-1, 6-1, on a perfectly blue and perfectly boring afternoon yesterday.

If Pikesville junior Matt Jacobson walked through a rain shower this week, chances are he would escape untouched. Jacobson finished his surprising run to the Baltimore County boys No. 1 singles tennis championship with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Hereford junior Jeff Borowitz yesterday afternoon at CCBC-Catonsville. Meanwhile in the girls No. 1 singles final, freshman Ashley Harvey of Catonsville downed defending county champion Brooke Rogers of Franklin, 6-1, 6-0. Jacobson, who won the county No. 1 doubles title last year and the county mixed doubles title in 2000 as a freshman, improved to 10-0 this season.

WASHINGTON -- The Arantxa Sanchez Vicario express made a stop here last night without being derailed.The third-ranked player in the world used powerful ground strokes and some untimely unforced errors from Mary Joe Fernandez to win, 6-2, 6-4, on the second night of the Elizabeth Arden Women's Tennis Association Challenge at the William H. G. FitzGerald Tennis Center.In the second match, No. 12 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland rallied from a set down and beat No. 23 Lori McNeil of Houston, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.The four players were half of eight top-ranked players in the world who took part in the team competition.

When Ally Spector and David Nguyen dropped the first sets of their respective singles finals, they knew they had to make several changes against top opponents to win Howard County championships. Nguyen, of Wilde Lake, and Spector, of Reservoir, were up for the challenge. Both adjusted and won the next two sets handily to clinch their first county titles yesterday at Wilde Lake Tennis Club in Columbia. River Hill won both the boys and mixed doubles titles, securing a third straight team championship with 39 points.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Top seed Boris Becker erased a 2-4 second-set deficit with eight straight points for a 7-5, 7-5 quarterfinal victory over ninth-seeded Jakob Hlasek yesterday in the U.S. Men's Hardcourts Championship.No. 2 Jim Courier, fifth seed Pete Sampras and No. 6 David Wheaton also advanced to today's semifinals at the Indianapolis Sports Center.Volvo InternationalNEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Goran Ivanisevic sent his longtime idol, John McEnroe, another step closer to retirement with an easy win in the quarterfinals.

Someone was missing from yesterday's volleyball match between No. 5 Broadneck and Glen Burnie -- Gophers star Heather Hutson. With its primary setter sitting on the bench because of an intestinal virus, host Broadneck cruised past the Gophers, 15-3, 15-3, 15-2.Glen Burnie (5-4, 5-3) seemed to lack a passing game and rhythm without its honorable mention all-metro selection."We missed her leadership on the court," Glen Burnie coach Juanita Milani said. "She will run anything down and set it. We just didn't get the ball up to the setters.

When Ally Spector and David Nguyen dropped the first sets of their respective singles finals, they knew they had to make several changes against top opponents to win Howard County championships. Nguyen, of Wilde Lake, and Spector, of Reservoir, were up for the challenge. Both adjusted and won the next two sets handily to clinch their first county titles yesterday at Wilde Lake Tennis Club in Columbia. River Hill won both the boys and mixed doubles titles, securing a third straight team championship with 39 points.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - Serena Williams was the winner, coming back after being off the tour more than eight months with a knee injury and capturing the Nasdaq-100 Open title in a mortifying 50-minute final. But Elena Dementieva, whose wild serves were the butt of jokes during this 12-day tournament - she totaled 57 double faults, after all - was not the loser. The real loser was women's tennis, which took a terrible hit with several top players not entered because of injury or fatigue. That allowed sixth-ranked Williams to dance through the draw and crush No. 8 Dementieva, 6-1, 6-1, on a perfectly blue and perfectly boring afternoon yesterday.

The Loch Raven volleyball team improved with each game in yesterday evening's Class 1A state semifinal match against Poolesville of Montgomery County. But in the end, 44 unforced errors were too much to overcome. Senior setter Stella Cho had 12 assists, and seniors Lauren Roth and Jackie Klien had six kills each, but the Raiders' season ended after a 15-3, 15-7, 15-13 sweep at CCBC-Essex. "We just couldn't get our passes down," said Cho, who fell short of her 5.53-per-game assist average.

WASHINGTON-- If James Blake can arrange it, tennis coach Brian Barker might have to miss his student's matches more often. With Barker attending his sister's wedding, the sixth-seeded Blake battled temperatures in the upper 90s and No. 14 seed Paradorn Srichaphan to claim a 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory in the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center yesterday. Blake, who earned $111,600 with his first ATP singles title, joked about Barker's absence.

A Spanish invasion has overtaken Maryland tennis. Senior exchange student Jake Benzal of Franklin completed his run to the 2002 Maryland singles title with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over defending champion Jason Pinsky of Winston Churchill yesterday afternoon at CCBC-Essex. Meanwhile, in the girls final, Glenelg junior Marianne Baker defeated Franklin junior Beatrice Grasu, 6-0, 6-3, to capture her second consecutive state crown. Benzal became the first state tennis champion ever at Franklin, according to coach Warren White, who has led the Indians' program for the past 21 years.

If Pikesville junior Matt Jacobson walked through a rain shower this week, chances are he would escape untouched. Jacobson finished his surprising run to the Baltimore County boys No. 1 singles tennis championship with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Hereford junior Jeff Borowitz yesterday afternoon at CCBC-Catonsville. Meanwhile in the girls No. 1 singles final, freshman Ashley Harvey of Catonsville downed defending county champion Brooke Rogers of Franklin, 6-1, 6-0. Jacobson, who won the county No. 1 doubles title last year and the county mixed doubles title in 2000 as a freshman, improved to 10-0 this season.

Emily Stuard helped Liberty show visiting Richard Montgomery the importance of power in volleyball last night.Stuard dominated play at the net with nine kills and seven blocks, and Richard Montgomery could do little to stop her as Liberty needed only 55 minutes to score a 15-1, 15-12, 15-2 victory in the Class 3A West region final.This was the first region championship for Liberty (15-3) since 1991. The Lions advance to the Class 3A state semifinal Wednesday at 6 or 8 p.m. at Essex Community College against Northern-Calvert.

WASHINGTON - Andre Agassi's eyes turned on his racket, which had turned on him throughout the Legg Mason Tennis Classic final, and after three straight forehand errors on Alex Corretja's serve, Agassi, the No. 1 seed, had had enough. Holding his racket firmly, he swung - at his left foot. Whack! And then he swung again. The racket cracked. Agassi, in case no one noticed, was having a very bad afternoon yesterday on his way to a 6-2, 6-3 loss at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center's stadium court.

NEW YORK -- A Swiss Miss beat Steffi Graf on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court at the U.S. Open last night. And it wasn't Martina Hingis.This was the other one, No. 10-ranked Patty Schnyder, a 19-year-old from Bottmingen, Switzerland, who used solid serves and a devastating forehand to end Graf's Open comeback.Schnyder's victory was Graf-like. A decisive, 6-3, 6-4, in 59 minutes. But one couldn't call it painless.Graf, who was the crowd favorite, yelled at herself and tried every ploy she could think of to find her rhythm, but could not.And afterward, as she considered what had happened on court, she wore a sad expression, the corners of her mouth unable to find even a hint of a smile.