TENNIS/French Open: There is another new name we must learn to pronounce. Nicole Vaidisova has all the credentials: she's Czech, like Martina Navratilova; she speaks English with an American-Eastern European accent; she trained at the Nick Bollettieri academy in Florida; she's 17 years old, six feet tall and yesterday beat Venus Williams in the Roland Garros quarter-finals.
The fact the last American, male or female, in the tournament beat the teenager last year on clay in Istanbul would have fortified the 25-year-old Williams. But she came to Paris having played in only three competitions this year. That is like trying to conquer Everest on a training regime of an occasional stroll up to the local beauty spot.
Williams went out of the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, in the first round - only the third time in 34 career majors she was beaten first match up. She then withdrew from Antwerp, Dubai, Miami and Charleston with arm injuries before her recent comeback in Warsaw and Rome, where she reached the semi-final.
It's scant consolation but Williams will not construe this result as anything other than meeting a better player on the day, one who deservedly earned her place in the semi-final against the Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Remember, Viadisova was also responsible for the demise here of the great local hope and world number one, Amelie Mauresmo, in the last round.
Undoubtedly this is her breakthrough tournament, but the youngster is determined not to rush ahead of herself.
"The next match is incredibly hard," she said. "I struggled today a little bit with some parts but I still pulled it off. It's great. You are in the last 16 in a Grand Slam, so you're not going to give it up, say, 'Maybe I'll try next time.' You give it your all, know you've done 100 per cent."
A big hitter off the ground and a big server, Vaidisova had to come from behind to win the match as Williams squeezed out the first set on a tiebreak in just under an hour. But from there she controlled play, and Williams found herself chasing the second set. It went to 1-1 before Vaidisova rattled off five straight games for 6-1.
Dealing well with the Williams serve and again playing a consistent, big but error-free game, Vaidisova broke serve twice in the third set for 6-3 for the match, taking some of the limelight from Belgium's Kim Clijsters.
The number two seed sent Martina Hingis tumbling. Another player on the long road back after a lay-off, Hingis couldn't match the power of Clijsters, who took the first set, narrowly, 7-5, before treating Hingis to a level of tennis the former world number has yet to attain.
The Hingis serve has never been a weapon. But neither has it been crucial to her performance if she is hitting in a high percentage of good first serves.
If that is not happening, her serve is the first port of call for most opponents to exploit, and Clijsters found it in the second set. Denying Hingis any foothold, the 22-year-old simply blew away her opponent 6-1.
"It seems you were able to deal with Clijsters's power in the first set, then collapsed," a journalist rather coldly but accurately pointed out afterwards.
"That's a nice analysis," replied Hingis with a smile that could kill. "Hopefully I'll get to play her more and be in better condition next time."
Clijsters meets her compatriot Justin Henin-Hardenne in the semi-final as Henin-Hardenne defends her title and chases a career third. The fifth seed beat Germany's Anna-Lena Grönefeld in the same way Clijsters dusted down Hingis. A protracted first set, which went 7-5 to the Belgian, was followed by a 6-2 thumping, leaving the 13th seed with a sharp taste in the mouth after her best ever run in a Grand Slam.
Vaidisova will meet Kuznetsova after the Russian beat her compatriot Dinara Safina, again after a faltering first set, which went to a tiebreak 7-5 and was followed by a 6-0 drubbing, all in just under 90 minutes.
