FROM THE BACK COURTS... exclusive to
OnThePunt
Updated 9:14 AM AEDT, Sunday 31 August
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - SATURDAY 31ST AUGUST
MOVE THE BLIMP:
We all know that blimps are a dime a dozen here in the States - they are
everywhere - and the Big Apple is no exception with no less than three
(Fuji Film, Good Year and Ion) sighted here this week. But apparently
the noise emitted from the hovering billboards are an unnecessary
distraction for Jennifer Capriati. At one stage in her match with
Emile Loit, J-Cap approached the chair umpire asking for the
blimp to be moved. "I just asked if they were going to be flying around
the whole time. It was loud. Usually it's' farther up, it just seemed to
be much closer," she said after the match.
YOU KNOW:Lleyton Hewitt had a easy time of things today when his opponent
Czech Radek Stepanek retired with a bad back. Rusty even had time
to hit some balls with 'coach' Rasheedafter his 42 minutes on
court. But the Aussie saved his best for the following press conference
when the former world number one (not known for his diverse use of the
English language) tied his record for the use of the phrase "you know".
We made it nineteen "you knows" in total and an commendable four "you
knows" in one 27 word stretch. Who said he's in a slump?
BAD TIMING:
The longest match of the tournament had just reached it probable climax
and for the first time in over a week the heavens opened. After four
hours and thirty-eight minutes on court, chair umpire Carlos Ramos
made quite possibly the biggest call of his career when he called a let
with match point in progress. Jonas Bjorkman was serving for the
match against Karol Kucera and with light rain falling. The Swede
had match point when he slipped twice. To the hoots and boos of the New
York crowd, Ramos quickly interjected, "Let, replay the point, court is
too dangerous for play to continue". Before a packed grandstand almost
four hours later, Bjorkman duly went on to win the next point.
FULL HOUSE:
Another record crowd attended Saturday's day session. A total of 33,998
punters filed through the turnstiles as the 'house full' sign was
erected at Flushing Meadows. With ground passes starting at USD$45,
courtside seats as much as USD$475 and not much change given from USD$15
for a burger and fries, the USTA look on course to break last year's
paltry USD$90 million profit. Who needs the Williams sisters after all?
BACK TOMORROW:Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov were both said to be
shocked when tournament referee Brian Earley told them that
they'd be coming back tomorrow to complete their third round match.
Agassi won the first set 6-3 but was broken in the first game of the
second. Both players were in the trainers room at the time and were
given little explanation from Earley, apart from the fact that tickets
had been sold and the night session had to go ahead. The winner of the
match will be forced to play three days in a row. Earley was the smart
cookie who choose to play the first round over three days.
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - THURSDAY 28TH AUGUST
THE MATCH:
It didn't involve an American so there were no TV cameras present, but
this folks, was THE match of the tournament to date. It will take
something special to top this one. It looked liked just another
straight-sets result out on Court 8 when Frenchman Jean-Rene Lisnard
marched to a two sets to love lead on former top-10 Swede Magnus
Norman. Lisnard became tight late in third and it was Norman who
took the breaker and marched through the fourth to love. The following
set had to be seen to be believed.
Both players exchanged breaks early. Both
looked extremely nervous. Then, with Norman serving at 3-all and with a
break-point against, Lisnard became visibly distressed with cramping in
the left thigh. ATP trainer Doug Spreen, already called to the court by
Lisnard a game earlier, rushed to the Frenchman's aid. Treatment was
given, but Lisnard could hardly walk back onto the court. Norman held
serve and then at 3-4, Lisnard was broken to 15, hardly able to move.
Paramedics and a wheelchair were by the side of the court on standby.
Sections of the crowd called on the Frenchman to retire as he peered
over to his camp pointing to his leg with tears streaming from his face.
Serving at 5-3, Norman just has to get the
ball into court and the match is his. Either that or Lisnard retires. A
combination of nerves and a somewhat rejuvenated Lisnard and the match
was on again. Lisnard saved one match-point and then held serve to level
the most unpredictable fifth set at 5-all. An increasingly shaky Norman
then stumbled his way to 0-40 in the eleventh game and was eventually
broken on a miss-hit forehand long.
Lisnard remained standing during the
changeover and and it looked to be all over as Lisnard raced to a 40-15
lead. Norman then saved two match points himself and broke serve with a
forehand down the line. So, the increasingly vocal Court 8 crowd had one
final climax - a fifth set tie-breaker. Fittingly, a marathon rally
kicked off the breaker. Then at 3-all, it was Lisnard who secured the
crucial mini-break. Serving at 6-3, he rolled in a second serve only to
have smashed past his feet. Match point #4 and a Norman backhand long
and it was all over. Lisnard raised both arms in triumph, Norman throws
his racquet into the crows in disgust.
Key match stat: Lisnard 1st serve: 36%.
NO TREATMENT:
Jean-Rene Lisnard wasn't the only
Frenchman to make a stunning comeback on Wednesday. Anthony Dupuis saved
two save match points serving at 4-5 in the fifth set of his Court 18
encounter with Mikhail Youzhny. He broke Youzhny in the next game before
the Russian suddenly made what has become an all too predictable call
for the trainer. Thankfully, on this occasion the chair umpire and
referee were awake to what was happening and as Youzhny had shown no
prior signs of discomfort, he was denied treatment. Suffice to say,
Dupuis served it out with little fuss.
NOTES:
Tournament favourite Andy Roddick
attracted a larger crowd than were present at many matches when he
practiced on Wednesday. A spirited session with coach Brad Gilbert was
punctuated by much laughter and crowd interaction... John McEnroe
confirmed his "no fear" reputation as a commentator when he criticized
the USTA for scheduling the first round over three days in the opening
of the USA Networks coverage on Wednesday night. Someone had to say it.
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - SATURDAY 23RD AUGUST
QUALIFYING NOTES:
Another day of stifling heat greeted players on Friday at Flushing
Meadows, the only difference being the increase in wind speed... All
credit must go to top two qualifying seeds Moodie and
Soderling. After the withdrawal of Safin and Canas
yesterday, both were guaranteed a spot in the main draw win or lose but
both played like it was sudden death. Especially Moodie, who after a
long match on Thursday could have been excused for taking it easy up
against the improving Zach Fleishman. The South African used his
giant serve to great advantage and he held on in a tight second set...
It was no surprise to see the Griswold's out supporting their future
son-in-law Joachim Johansson. The Swede, who is going out with
Rusty's sister Jaslyn, overcame a slow start to blow away Ricardo
Mello... Seen practicing Friday: HT Lee-Vicente,
Corretja-Acasuso, Schuettler-Burgsmuller, Massu-Coria,
Chang-O Rochus and Spadea-Ferreira (the next to go
sleeveless?).
Big serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic
only lost 1 of 29 points on serve in his 0 & 2 win over 18 year-old
Dudi Sela - another 1st round Grand Slam shock on the cards?... The
handful of Brits who showed up to support Arvind Parmar were left
flabbergasted as their man wilted in the mid-afternoon heat to lose the
deciding set 1-6... Struggling Swede Thomas Enqvist received a
much need confidence boost by qualifying for the main draw without
dropping a set.
Interesting match-up's involving
qualifiers: A battle of the bullets when Robin Soderling goes up
against a rusty Taylor Dent; a fit Ramon Delgado against
Frenchman Sebastian Grosjean who is under a slight injury cloud
with an elbow; Joachim Johansson against Cincinnati winner
Mardy Fish; a couple of Frenchman meet with Julien Benneteau
drawing elder statesman Fabrice Santoro; Felix Mantilla
the next to receive the attention of Ivo Karlovic in the first
round of a slam; talented Russian Dimitry Tursnov against
Gustavo Kuerten and finally, two to watch from quallies - Moodie
and Enqvist find themselves up against clay courters Montanes
and Portas respectively... #9 seed Thomas Berdych (l.
Karanusic, to play Behrend) and #10 Fernando Verdasco (l.
Salzenstein, to play Robredo) advance to the main draw as lucky losers.
Organisers of the world's richest and most
profitable sporting event copped another blow today with the withdrawal
of Venus Williams. Like her injured sister, she had not played a
match since Wimbledon. CBS's "prime-time" women's final a fortnight from
now looks like a bottler already. For the sake of all concerned, let's
hope AA's hip holds up for the fortnight!
FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY - FRIDAY 22ND AUGUST
QUALIFYING NOTES:
Number one seed Wesley Moodie survived a thrilling encounter with
Czech Jan Hajek. In sweltering New York heat, the pair fought out
a marathon triple tiebreak match which saw both players greeted with
warm applause ahead late in the third set. Double faults by Hajek at
2-all in the final breaker were crucial as the up and coming South
African converted his second match point. A devastated Hajek was seen
smashing his racquet every 10 metres or so on the way back to the locker
room... No wonder the players were on edge - if it wasn't the intense
heat, it was the constant roar of jet engines overhead, hammering from
nearby workman or uneducated tennis fans moving around between points...
A slumping Lleyton Hewitt showed off his softer side on Thursday
when he continued his association with Special Olympic athletes. Rusty
looked to be genuinely interested throughout the hit-about and following
Q & A... Seen practicing Thursday: Vahaly-Spadea,
Rusedski-Ancic, Lee H-T-Burgsmuller, Dupuis-Dent and
Coria-Heuberger... Fast running Daniele Bracciali posted
one the biggest upsets of the day when he won a tight three set
encounter with Brit Martin Lee. There wasn't much that the
Italian couldn't get back and he eventually wore Lee down... Rising
Frenchman Florent Serra won another tight three setter in a high
quality match to round out the day on Court 12. As disputed line calls
dominated the final few games, it was the Norwegian Jan-Frode
Andersen who cracked first with a crucial double fault at 4-4 in the
third set breaker.
LONG ISLAND, NY - THURSDAY 21ST AUGUST
U.S. OPEN DRAW:
The draw was conducted today under tight security at the UN Dag
Hammarskjold Library in Manhattan. It threw up a few surprises, but with
one or two of the seeds under an injury cloud, there is still a lot of
uncertainty regarding a few potential first round match-ups. Most
notably, man of the moment and #4 seed Andy Roddick has drawn an
unseeded Tim Henman. The Brit however, is next in line should a
seed withdraw prior to Monday. Marat Safin (wrist) must be rated
unlikely as is Albert Costa (back) who pulled out of Long Island
yesterday.
In the top half, #1 seed Andre Agassi looks to have landed a
dream draw. He will face an out of form Corretja in the first
round and then either Vinciguerra or Kendrick in the
second. Kafelnikov is a possible third round opponent and if the
seeds advance it will be Mirnyi or Gonzalez in the fourth.
Number 9 seed Grosjean (elbow?) and #5 Coria are likely
quarter-final opponents. Michael Chang no doubt would have been
hoping for something a little easier than Fernando Gonzalez for
his final (halleluiah) farewell.
French Open champion Juan-Carlos Ferrero is another who looks to
have drawn quite nicely. He is scheduled to open up against Guillermo
Canas who has not played all year, then Melzer or Baker
in the second. Safin (doubtful) is seeded to meet him in the
third, and French Open runner-up Verkerk in the fourth. And then
in the bottom quarter of the top half, the only threat looks to be #11
Srichaphan or the terribly out of form #6 seed Lleyton Hewitt.
The Aussie opens against the improving Victor Hanescu and then
will face either H-T Lee (0-9 ATP run) or Voltchkov in the
second. The winner of the Felicano Lopez/Radek Stepanek
encounter will certainly test Hewitt should they meet in the third
round.
The bottom half is interesting. Number four Andy Roddick and #2
Roger Federer are seeded to meet in the semis, but there is a lot
of tennis to be played between now and then. Roddick, on a 12-0 run and
29-2 since teaming with Brad Gilbert, is scheduled to play Henman
in the first round, but it would only take one seed to withdraw for the
Brit to be replaced with a lucky loser. He will then face either
Mathieu or Ljubicic in the second. A possible fourth round
encounter with Kuerten should be entertaining, while the quarter
final seeds of Schuettler, Costa, Mantilla or
Schalken hay not pose too much of a problem. In other matches,
Mark Philippoussis meets a qualifier, while James Blake will
have his work cut out against the in-form Mariano Zabaleta.
EL AYNAOUI ESCAPES:
Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui was forced to save two set points in
the tenth game of the first set in his encounter with qualifier Rik
de Voest. The South African was holding serve far more comfortably
throughout the first set. El Aynaoui saved two break-point's in the
sixth game and then in the tenth pulled out a big serve followed by a De
Voest error to hold for 5-all. The breaker was relatively one sided as
the Moroccan mixed up his game with a series of sliced backhand's
forcing the errors. De Voest called the trainer in between the first and
second sets and retired at 0-3 in the second citing a groin strain.
LONG ISLAND, NY - WEDNESDAY 20TH AUGUST
COSTA INJURED:Albert Costa was in noticeable discomfort during the warm-up for
his encounter with Flavio Saretta. It makes one wonder why he
took to the court in the first place. In front of a very sparse crowd of
four coaches and trainers and two spectators (including myself), the
Spaniard pulled the pin at 0-3 in the first set having won just four of
the fourteen points played. He'll no doubt be hoping the back clears up
in time for next week's Open.
VICENTE CRUMBLES: For the second
week in a row, Fernando Vicente squandered an early lead. He
broke Olivier Rochus in the fourth game and then consolidated to
lead 4-1. Enter Olivier Rochus at his retrieving best - he saved a break
point that would have put him down 1-5, held serve and then broke
Vicente in the seventh. The tour's shortest player then saved set points
in the tenth and twelfth games - the latter with a remarkable stretch
volley. The first seven points of the breaker went against serve - the
sixth and seventh both Rochus double faults. Then at 5-all, Rochus
lucked out with an irretrievable net cord while Vicente followed with an
forehand error on the first Rochus set point. The rest is history.
Key match stat: Vicente break points won: 1/9.
SECURITY CALLED: A small but rowdy
group of Armenian supporters helped Sargis Sargsian defeat
Alex Corretja and make it 0 from 4 for the Spanish contingent on
Tuesday at Long Island. The pair exchanged breaks in the first two games
before Sargsian broke in the ninth but then he failed to serve out the
set. He regrouped to break Corretja in the next game and then served it
out in a tight 12th. "You suck Corretja" was the call from the crowd as
security was called to the Grandstand court in the second set with
Sargsian leading 4-1 and 40-0. Calm was quickly restored as games went
on serve for a comfortable Sargsian win.
NOTES:Jan-Michael Gambill's
woes continue after posting a very disappointing loss to clay courter
Agustin Calleri. With a camera-clicking Mother on the sideline,
Gambill made a series of poor errors to relinquish a second set break...
Paradorn Srichaphan had a taste of things to come at the
inaugural Bangkok tournament later in the year when a large group of
Thai supporters attended today's match. Players were distracted on
countless occasions by cheering mid-point and in between first and
second serves... Jeff Morrison sprung the surprise of the day
when he blew past Arnaud Clement. One break in each set was
enough as the Frenchman failed to take advantage of any of five break
point opportunities.
LONG ISLAND, NY - TUESDAY 19TH AUGUST
YOUNES
SURVIVES: Out of form Moroccan
Younes El Aynaoui had his hands full with the talented youngster
Fernando Verdasco. The trademark El Aynaoui forehand went missing in
the first set as the left-handed Spaniard did enough from the back
despite a horrendous 35% first serve percentage. El Aynaoui saved two
break points at 5-all, but a host of errors handed Verdasco the set in
just under 47 minutes. The Moroccan looked to be on the verge of defeat
when 0-40 at 2-3 in the second set, but he ended up saving four break
points and then breaking Verdasco in the next game. He then served out
the set to love and never looked back in the third when gaining total
control of the match. Key match stat: El Aynaoui break points
saved: 6/6.
MATHIEU STUMBLES: Out on the
Grandstand Court at the Hamlet Club, Paul-Henri Mathieu also let
a one set to love lead slip. The Frenchman broke Nicolas Kiefer
early in the first set to lead 3-0 only to be broken back straight away.
Kiefer however, produced an error riddled service game at 4-5 to lose
the first 4-6. Mathieu looked the likely winner when leading the second
set tiebreaker 3-1, but the German started mixing things up and it did
the trick with Mathieu going for too much and producing the errors.
Kiefer broke early in the final set and games went with service until he
served it out 6-3. Key match stat: Kiefer aces: 14.
ROBREDO RISES:Jose Acasuso
remarkably became the fourth player to win the first set and lose his
match Monday. Tommy Robredo was very flat early on in his
encounter with Acasuso - his forehand was off the boil while the
Argentinean had his serve and backhand working a treat. Acasuso broke
twice in the opening set to take it 6-2. The second went to Robredo 6-3
with just one break in the fourth game. The third set was a topsy-turvy
affair - an exchange of breaks in the first two games before Acasuso
broke in the sixth game to lead 4-2. He had a game point in the seventh
to go 5-2 up. Alas, he was broken with a backhand error after initially
saving two break points. The eleventh game proved most crucial. Serving
at 5-5, a nervous Acasuso made an exquisite drop shot at 30-40 but was
unable to stop a Robredo passing shot to save the game and the match.
FAREWELL #36:Michael Chang
played out his penultimate farewell in front of a very sparse crowd in
the Long Island twilight. The world number 223 ranked Chang was no match
for the 189th ranked qualifier Rik De Voest. Chang fluffed a
simple forehand straight into the net on match point. He shook hands,
grabbed his gear and walked straight from the court - no goodbye, no
autographs - very unlike Chang indeed. Let's hope the misery for all
concerned will be over within a week. The 23 year-old South African De
Voest goes on to play El Aynaoui in the next round.
FISH OFF THE MENU:Gustavo
Kuerten will play lucky loser Dominik Hrbaty in tomorrow's
opening encounter on Centre Court after Mardy Fish withdrew today
citing 'fatigue'. The American won 74
consecutive service games last week in Cincy, saving no less than 20
break points along the way - and still lost the final. To play well into
the week here surely would not have provided the ideal U.S. Open
preparation.
QUOTE: "Let's hear it for a
wonderful match" - Hamlet's Centre Court announcer after Rik De Voest
defeated Michael Chang 62 63 in one of the most uninspiring
encounters one is ever likely to witness.
LONG ISLAND, NY - MONDAY 18TH AUGUST
LONG ISLAND
PREVIEW: With most of the big name player’s fine tuning their
U.S. Open preparations, the Long Island tournament could be excused for
lacking a little spark, but it’s certainly not the case this year.
French Open champion Juan-Carlos Ferrero
has withdrawn citing injury (I'd be surprised if this is legit) which
is a blow, but the tournament still boasts 15 of the top 40 in the world. Crowd favourite
Gustavo Kuerten is a late entry. He
accepted a wild card, no doubt hoping to get a few more matches under
the belt before next week’s Open after losing in the first round of the
two Masters Series events. ‘Guga’ last played at Long Island when
reaching the quarters in 1998. It’s also worth noting that the Brazilian
reached the round of sixteen at Flushing Meadows last year after going
0-2 in the two preceding TMS tournaments. Defending champion Paradorn Srichaphan,
rising star Feliciano Lopez and a host of Argentinean and Spanish clay courters
round out the quality field.
QUALIFYING WRAP:
Sunday's final round quallies provided quite a few shocks in the hot and
humid New York conditions. The in-form Karol Beck didn't need to
lift a racquet to advance to the main draw after the injury-prone
Moroccan Hicham Arazi pulled out with a leg problem. Hyung-Taik Lee
can't seem to do anything right at the moment. On a horrific 0-9 run at
ATP level, the Korean looked to be back on track with solid wins over
Kevin Kim and Victor Hanescu here, but he ended up going down to local
Jeff Morisson in a pair of breakers. Rising Spaniard (yes,
another one!) Fernando Verdasco once again highlighted his
potential after coming back from a set down to the more experienced
Hrbaty. The upset of the day however, went to 23 year-old Rik De
Voest. The South African edged Robert Kendrick in a third set
breaker. Kendrick is just getting back to his best after injury, but he
had conceded just five games in his first two matches against the likes
of Gimelstob and Lisnard. De Voest has drawn to take part in Michael
Chang's penultimate farewell on Monday night.
SENSATIONAL CINCY:
I can't sign off without mentioning yesterday's amazing all-American
final between Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish. For those stats
minded out there, how about these? Roddick saved two match points to
become the first to win two back-to-back TMS tourney's since Double-A
(Indian Wells-Miami '01);
he has gone 29-2 since teaming with coach Brad Gilbert, and will
go into next week's U.S. Open on a 12-0 run. And wait for it, Fish lost
the final after holding serve 74 consecutive times, saving no less than
20 break points along the way. You can't be ...!
RUSTY UPDATE:
The son of the Griswold's is currently training and staying with
Flip (ahh, the rift is finally over) down at his old residence in
Florida (now Nick Philippoussis' pad) in a desperate attempt to get back
on track for the U.S. Open. Thankfully, Wally Masur has come to
rescue to provide some much needed guidance to the slumping former world
number one. Things reached crisis point last week with a first round
loss at Cincinnati. Long-time ATP trainer Walt Lunders worked
with Hewitt and co. for the last two weeks and has privately expressed
grave concerns for where the Aussie is heading - with his harshest
criticism saved for inexperienced coach Roger Rasheed. The ex
ground announcer copped plenty of flak not only for his noticeable lack
of coaching experience but also his poor tennis related training
regimes. What was that about a hamstring strain that forced Hewitt
out of doubles in Cincinnati last week? Is it possible to fine ATP
trainers and players for feigning injury?
PREMIER
LEAGUE 09
