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Analysis With Candy Reid

Aired June 06, 2003 - 15:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Serena Williams says she made too many mistakes during her French Open match and so she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium. My next guest will check me on that one. But Williams also says the crowd was aginer (ph). Candy Reid is a tennis player and a reporter for CNN International "WORLD SPORT," singular over there, not sports, it's sport.
(CROSSTALK)

CANDY REID, CNNIN WORLD SPORT: Just one sport.

O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us, Candy.

REID: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this reports. I didn't watch the whole match. I'm sure you did. The crowd supposedly really turned against her. Was it ugly, or just typical rivalries when you have probably a lot of fans of Belgium in the crowd?

REID: It was a little ugly, Miles, I'm afraid to say. Justine Henin won the first set, Serena won the second set, Serena was serving a 4-2 in the third set, 30-love. Justine Henin put her hand up while Serena was serving, Serena served it in the net. Serena asked umpire can I take two on that, which is the usual etiquette. The umpire said to Sarena said I didn't see Justine Henin put her hand up. Justine Henin-Hardenne didn't say I put my hand up, which she should have done...

O'BRIEN: She should have...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: ... been the right thing to do. Serena actually went on to lose the point and the game. She lost the session and the match.

O'BRIEN: So things kind of devolved from that moment?

REID: Yes. Serena said in her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) after the match that it wasn't the turning point. But she was serving a 4-2, 30-love. She lost the game. She lost the next game. It really was the turning point. She let it get to her. It was one point. It shouldn't have let it get to her but it did.

O'BRIEN: Did the crowd go ugly after that moment? Was that the thing that kind of spured it or was that brewing?

REID: Actually, obviously it was a French crowd. Justine Henin is Belgium. She speaks French, and they loved her. She's a slight Belgium, she's 5'5", playing against the world's No. 1 Serena Williams who's won the last four grand slams, she's won 33 consecutive grand slam matches. They were going for the underdog, they were going for Justine Henin-Hardenne. These things help.

Plus a few line calls that were close that went against Henin- Hardenne. They started booing a bit more and then it got worse. And Serena started serving serves in the net and they started booing which really bad.

O'BRIEN: That's not the way you're supposed to...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Very, very bad.

O'BRIEN: You know, this is out on a limb here. Do you think there's anything here to do with the simmering U.S.-French relations as a result of the Iraq war perhaps? I mean, are people kind of angry at the U.S. and took it out on Serena?

REID: I think it was a little bit of anti-American sentiment, definitely. Having said that, though, they love Andre Agassi over there. They would have been so happy to see him win a second French Open title.

And also they sometimes go against the French players. Amelie Mauresmo lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. They booed her even. They only just warmed to Mary Pierce when she won the championship, and she's French.

O'BRIEN: So what you're saying is the French are fickle?

(CROSSTALK)

REID: They like to see people that play well against each other. And they say, well done if they lose. Which Serena isn't known for doing particularly well.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this. What the odds of an all-Belgium final that we're going to see...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Clijsters reached the final here two years ago. Justine Henin-Hardenne has reached final at Wimbledon. So this is the first time they're actually going to meet in a grand slam final, just incredible. And it's in front of the French crowd, so an enormous amount of Belgiums are going to be there watching the match.

O'BRIEN: I can only imagine what that means to that small country to have this all-Belgium final. REID: Exactly. I know royalty are actually flying over -- they're actually traveling to France to watch the final. It's going to be a huge occasion. And what a great final it's going to be. Justine Henin-Hardenne played so well to beat Serena really. That was the women's match of the tournament.

O'BRIEN: And the last time we had a final of a grand slam tournament without a Williams sister was like two years ago...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Well, Serena (UNINTELLIGIBLE) won the last four. And each time in those four she's played Venus in the final. So it's very uncommon.

O'BRIEN: And I know that some people were anxious to see, not a repeat of that every time -- and that has no reflection on them necessarily, it's just that they're so good, it gets almost predictable.

REID: Right, well Serena has really been dominating the field. As I said she's won 33 grand slams. That was only her third loss of the year. And two of those it was to Justine Henin-Hardenne, both on clay actually.

O'BRIEN: Candy Reid, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate you covering the world of sport for us.

REID: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Come back sometime.

REID: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 6, 2003 - 15:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Serena Williams says she made too many mistakes during her French Open match and so she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium. My next guest will check me on that one. But Williams also says the crowd was aginer (ph). Candy Reid is a tennis player and a reporter for CNN International "WORLD SPORT," singular over there, not sports, it's sport.
(CROSSTALK)

CANDY REID, CNNIN WORLD SPORT: Just one sport.

O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us, Candy.

REID: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this reports. I didn't watch the whole match. I'm sure you did. The crowd supposedly really turned against her. Was it ugly, or just typical rivalries when you have probably a lot of fans of Belgium in the crowd?

REID: It was a little ugly, Miles, I'm afraid to say. Justine Henin won the first set, Serena won the second set, Serena was serving a 4-2 in the third set, 30-love. Justine Henin put her hand up while Serena was serving, Serena served it in the net. Serena asked umpire can I take two on that, which is the usual etiquette. The umpire said to Sarena said I didn't see Justine Henin put her hand up. Justine Henin-Hardenne didn't say I put my hand up, which she should have done...

O'BRIEN: She should have...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: ... been the right thing to do. Serena actually went on to lose the point and the game. She lost the session and the match.

O'BRIEN: So things kind of devolved from that moment?

REID: Yes. Serena said in her (UNINTELLIGIBLE) after the match that it wasn't the turning point. But she was serving a 4-2, 30-love. She lost the game. She lost the next game. It really was the turning point. She let it get to her. It was one point. It shouldn't have let it get to her but it did.

O'BRIEN: Did the crowd go ugly after that moment? Was that the thing that kind of spured it or was that brewing?

REID: Actually, obviously it was a French crowd. Justine Henin is Belgium. She speaks French, and they loved her. She's a slight Belgium, she's 5'5", playing against the world's No. 1 Serena Williams who's won the last four grand slams, she's won 33 consecutive grand slam matches. They were going for the underdog, they were going for Justine Henin-Hardenne. These things help.

Plus a few line calls that were close that went against Henin- Hardenne. They started booing a bit more and then it got worse. And Serena started serving serves in the net and they started booing which really bad.

O'BRIEN: That's not the way you're supposed to...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Very, very bad.

O'BRIEN: You know, this is out on a limb here. Do you think there's anything here to do with the simmering U.S.-French relations as a result of the Iraq war perhaps? I mean, are people kind of angry at the U.S. and took it out on Serena?

REID: I think it was a little bit of anti-American sentiment, definitely. Having said that, though, they love Andre Agassi over there. They would have been so happy to see him win a second French Open title.

And also they sometimes go against the French players. Amelie Mauresmo lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. They booed her even. They only just warmed to Mary Pierce when she won the championship, and she's French.

O'BRIEN: So what you're saying is the French are fickle?

(CROSSTALK)

REID: They like to see people that play well against each other. And they say, well done if they lose. Which Serena isn't known for doing particularly well.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you this. What the odds of an all-Belgium final that we're going to see...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Clijsters reached the final here two years ago. Justine Henin-Hardenne has reached final at Wimbledon. So this is the first time they're actually going to meet in a grand slam final, just incredible. And it's in front of the French crowd, so an enormous amount of Belgiums are going to be there watching the match.

O'BRIEN: I can only imagine what that means to that small country to have this all-Belgium final. REID: Exactly. I know royalty are actually flying over -- they're actually traveling to France to watch the final. It's going to be a huge occasion. And what a great final it's going to be. Justine Henin-Hardenne played so well to beat Serena really. That was the women's match of the tournament.

O'BRIEN: And the last time we had a final of a grand slam tournament without a Williams sister was like two years ago...

(CROSSTALK)

REID: Well, Serena (UNINTELLIGIBLE) won the last four. And each time in those four she's played Venus in the final. So it's very uncommon.

O'BRIEN: And I know that some people were anxious to see, not a repeat of that every time -- and that has no reflection on them necessarily, it's just that they're so good, it gets almost predictable.

REID: Right, well Serena has really been dominating the field. As I said she's won 33 grand slams. That was only her third loss of the year. And two of those it was to Justine Henin-Hardenne, both on clay actually.

O'BRIEN: Candy Reid, thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate you covering the world of sport for us.

REID: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Come back sometime.

REID: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com