Watching her play you wouldn’t believe she was ranked World No. 9 a decade back and has 16 WTA titles to her credit.

The serve she holds the record for the fastest at 130mph was in evidence, but everything else spoke of a player who was 36 and well past her prime. She lost in the first round of the Sunfeast Open qualifiers today to an Indian ranked 390 places below her at 691, but Brenda Schultz-McCarthy would probably be more miffed at the fact that her conqueror 18-year-old Sanaa Bhambri hadn’t even heard about her.

It was big comedown for the six feet two athlete who once terrorised the world’s top players with her booming serve. The likes of Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, Conchita Martinez, Anke Huber and Mary Joe Fernandes would testify to her prowess on the court having been her victims in the past, but today was a different ballgame altogether.

The Dutchwoman began well enough, whizzing through the first set 6-0, before Sanaa could even get a toehold, but once the latter did, chipping back her huge serve and keeping more balls in play, the weary legs of Brenda refused to carry her and the 6-0, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8) defeat soured her comeback efforts that began last year, to a large extent.

She had given up the game in 1999, injuries taking a toll, but returned in 2005 reaching the quarter-finals of the Ordina Open in her homeland. She broke Venus Williams’ record of the fastest serve in Mason, Ohio this year, sending down a 208kmph rocket, but all these was news to Sanaa.

... contd.