There she was, splashing cold water on her face. The Face, to be precise a face that has adorned a million magazine covers, sells hundreds of things ranging from sunglasses to perfumes to breakfast cereal, makes millions of hearts skip a beat or two, puts thousands of people in stadium seats and, most of all, earns its owner upwards of $ 5 million each year in endorsements.
Today, as temperatures soared towards 100oF in the Wimbledon tennis championship, The Face, Gabriela Sabatini's face, did little to mask the desperation that she must have felt as she towelled the mingling droplets of sweat and water from her forehead.
As she left her chair to walk to the other end, down 0-5 in the first set of a third round match against Nancy Feber of Belgium, one of her many fans on court No. 13 shouted in a shrill voice that conveyed distress: ``Come on, Gaby, you can do it.'' Briefly halting in her stride, The Face managed a weak smile.
More often than not, such shouts would acquire a ring of futility and even the weak smile would disappear in a hurry in such situations. But, today, Sabatini, for once, believed she could do it and this, more than anything else, was the key to her 7-5, 6-1 defeat of the Belgian teenager.
For Sabatini, a player to whom mental edge is something that has always been elusive, one who has lost more matches from winning positions than anyone will care to remember, Friday's show of resilience and determination must have been encouraging, no matter the stature of the opponent.
Asked what happened in the first part of the match, the first five games when she was outplayed, Sabatini said, ``I just wanted to make it a little more exciting.''
And then she smiled, a smile that would melt the hardest of hearts and turn them into dripping chocolate drops. The million dollar smile was followed by a coquettish tossing back of her long, dark brown hair as Sabatini turned from jest to real earnest. ``She played very well at the start and I was struggling to find my rhythm,'' said the Argentine megastar.
That makes a nice change really. More often than not, it is the other way around. Sabatini running away from her opponent before being struck by an all-too-familiar disease called Home Bend Horrors. Remember the French Open quarterfinal two years ago, the one in which Sabatini was leading Mary Joe Fernandez 6- 1, 5-1 and 40-30 that was an advanced case of the illness, Finish Line Horrors!
Other top players afflicted by the disease have successfully managed to find a cure, mostly on the sports psychologist's couch. But, for Sabatini, the illness seemed alarmingly terminal as she slipped down the abyss and went without a title for two and a half years.
The turnaround came when she was almost written off at the Virginia Slims world championship at the Madison Square Garden last November. After beating Martina Navratilova in the great lady's last professional singles match, Sabatini went on to beat Linsday Davenport for the title.
``That was a big relief,'' said Sabatini. ``It was very important. That turned things around. I was not getting great results and the way I played there gave me a lot of confidence. It made me feel good with my game. Mentally it makes a great difference.''
For the woman with the smouldering Latin looks, that was an achievement not just the Virginia Slims title which ended a drought but the few sentences you read above. Really, what used to be press conferences of unrelieved tedium, of long pauses and answers in monosyllabes, is rather entertaining these days, as much because Sabatini's English khas improved as because she now opens up and speaks without inhibition.
Yet, in professional sport, last November is something that is a million miles behind in time, tucked away in history. So, what has that brief revival meant to Sabatini? Can she recapture the glories of 1990-91 when she won the U.S. Open and a few months later lost a close three-setter to Steffi Graf at Wimbledon in 1991?
``Yes, I'd like to get there, get back to the top. I think it would be a great feeling for me,'' said Sabatini, seeded eight this year. ``I am not obsessed with being No.1 but the important thing is to improve.''
At age 25, more than 10 years after turning pro, can this remarkably gifted woman really improve? Can she strike one last purple patch to round off a roller coaster career?
Realistically, it would seem unlikely. For the woman who is almost always there at the quarterfinals or semifinals has seldom shown the mettle to consistently put it all together at the business end of the championships, especially so in the majors.
In the event, it will be a surprise a pleasant surprise surely for her millions of fans if Sabatini manages to take wings again and soar to the summit.... or thereabouts.
Meanwhile, in today's match, Sabatini was clearly outplayed in the first five games as Feber, a slightly overweight 19-year-old from Antwerpen, came out with her guns blazing. The younger woman punished Sabatini's serves time after time and hit some superb passes to open up a massive lead.
But, suddenly it struck Feber that she was leading the great Sabatini, the woman who symbolised the rare blend of athletic gifts and beauty, by 5-0. And thought is a greater enemy for the inexperienced ones in such situations that their opponents.
Final wake-up call
And so it turned out to be as Feber, who was hitting the lines unerringly until then, started spraying her shots all over the place even as the fighter in Sabatini responded to the last and final wake up call.
And responded in style too, with a classic forehand pass at setpoint on Feber's serve in the seventh game. ``Come on, Gaby, let's go,'' shouted a fan. And off went Gaby, reeling off eight games in a row, seven from that point, to set up a 1-0 second set lead, taking the pace off the ball with the backhand chip and serving quite well for the most part.
In the second set, the Argentine conceded one game, on her own serve, to Feber before galloping away to the finish.
``It was very hot out there. I wanted it to end quickly. I got to know her game better as the match went on and my experience helped,'' said Sabatini.