Stéphanie Dubois: thrills, chills, and heartbreak

Dubois, ranked 112 and not even seeded as a wild-card entry, was the centre-stage attraction in the three-hour, three-set match against Kirilenko, that saw her conquer the world’s 20th ranked player in front of a near capacity crowd that stuck around the entire time to watch her pull off the second-round upset. This is the second straight time she reached the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, reaching a similar lofty perch in 2006, the last time the women’s competition was held here.

In the second set, Dubois seemed to suffer from the same jitters that plagued fellow Quebecer Aleksandra Wozniak in a tough second set the night before, showing little confidence in dropping the set 2-6, committing four unforced errors. (In the second round, both Dubois and Wozniak overcame their nerves to take their matches, although the third round proved fatal for both.)

Kirilenko broke serve early, taking advantage of some largesse from Dubois as the Laval athlete smashed two returns directly into the net.

The third set was a different story. The energy and drive she demonstrated in the first set, no doubt spurred on by the warm, intense and vociferous support from the crowd, came back to her, although the outcome wasn’t reached without suspense. Serving at 4-4, Dubois was broken by Kirilenko, who took a 6-4 lead after several exchange of points. If others would have thrown in the towel at this turn of developments, Dubois would not cave in, returning the favour by breaking Kirilenko’s serve with some cannon shots, finally winning 7-6 (7-4 on a tiebreaker), after the set had been evened up at 6-6.

And that's where the 2008 run ended for Dubois, on the losing end of the third-round match against Jelena Jankovic (6-3, 6-2), who turned out to be a conqueror of Quebecois hopes, having defeated another Quebecer, Alekandra Wozniak, 6-0, 6-4 in a very late match the night before. Dubois and Wozniak were two of only four Canadians in the main draw at the Rogers Cup.



"When you play against the world's second-ranked player and the tournament's second seed, you've got to be at the top of your game," summed up Dubois, after her loss to Jankovic. "I played good tennis, but not my best," she added, specifying that she felt the pressure of playing against one of the best, players in the world.

"She didn't make many errors, she served really well and I think it was a good match. Despite some errors I'm not proud of, I think I did the best I could today. It's good for the future, to learn the little things. "I'm very happy with my week here. I played two good matches. I think my tennis has improved, I've made progress, and I was successful in managing the many aspects of my game," she concluded.

As for the near future, Dubois won't have too much time to contemplate putting into practice what she's learned lately, as she moves on to a tournament in Cincinnati next week, after which she'll be preparing for the United States Open. But she can certainly take with her the good memory of the warm applause from fans who appreciated the exceptional effort she brought to her matches at the tournament.

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(Photo: Tennis Canada)