I saw some good tennis today, which turned out to be a day of big matches. Six five-setters out of sixteen matches. Ferrero and Cilic came back from two sets to love to win, against Petzschner and Levine. Istomin-Lapentti and Dent-Navarro both went to fifth set tiebreaks.
But there weren't a lot of matches that were big draws, and it was tough to get a good seat. Also, it's tough to sit through a long match by yourself, especially after a long week of tennis. So I bounced around a lot, checking out bits and pieces of a variety of matches. When I could get a seat, that is. I ended up checking out a bit earlier than usual, so I could keep up with the matches I wanted to see on TV, since they were so ridiculously swamped on the stands. Turns out that may not have been the best decision, because that Dent match was something I would never have expected, but I regret missing out on.
Fortunately, my family is coming in tonight so we can enjoy some tennis tomorrow, which should be fun. We're probably going to hang out in Louis Armstrong, I think, since the tennis on the outer grounds is really starting to get sparse. Basically, I'll be anywhere to see the Verdasco-Haas match.
Tomorrow's schedule is weird, but not in a way that affects me. It turns out that the Tennis Channel has the night session during the first weekend and CBS has the day matches, so here's the lineup for Saturday: Day Session - Roddick, Federer, Sharapova. Night Session - Blake, Safina.
This is not such a big deal, except for the fact that I have tickets to Sunday's night session, and I'm going to (almost certainly) miss out on Murray-Dent and Clijsters-Venus. Any weeknight, those two matches would have been the marquee matches and would have taken place under the lights. However, the tournament organizers are not stupid enough to send those matches out to the relatively sparse subscriber base of the Tennis Channel, rather than the behemoth that is CBS.
On Sunday, they're probably going to put both Williamses and Murray on during the day, and then put Nadal-Almagro and ... Zvonareva-Pennetta on during the night session? I won't lie, if that happens, I'm going to be really upset. When you buy a night session ticket to the U.S. Open, you're expecting the best matches of the day.
We'll see tomorrow, when Sunday's schedule is posted, but suffice it to say that I'm not thrilled at the prospect.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day four at the U.S. Open
Another day done. I managed to stick to my game plan pretty tightly, this time. I watched the entirety of Safina's match, as well as Kuznetsova's. Kuzzie's was not very exciting, because she was so clearly dominant the whole time. Safina, on the other hand, started out brutally bad, and then got intermittently better. She began the match with two double faults, served for the first set and was broken, then double faulted on set point in the tiebreak. And then she served two more double faults to start the second set - I saw her serve seven faults in a row. That's just... oof.
But when she was on, she was hitting some great balls - heavy and deep, and hard to handle. I can see how she got to number one in the world, and based on what I heard about her first round match, she seemed to be more on top of her game and her mental state (15 double faults aside) today. Which is good to hear! I hope she pulls herself together, because she is actually a really good player when she's not driving herself insane.
It was a fun to match to watch, because after she shook off the worst of the rust (when the crowd was stunned into silence), everyone was really pulling for her. Every rally that didn't end in an unforced error would be rewarded with riotous applause. Safina played pretty clean, with 36 winners and 38 unforced errors. Compare that to 19 and 48 in her last match, and it's definitely an improvement.
I saw Djokovic, too. He looked so, so solid against Carsten Ball. I left after the second set, when it was clear that the Aussie couldn't do anything to Novak. Every part of his game is good, but what's interesting to me is that he doesn't really have a defining aspect to his game. The other top players are 'the best' at something. They're good (or at least pretty good) at every part of the game, but they've got a clearly defined strength. Djokovic is just solid in every aspect of the game, but he doesn't really have anything that defines him.
He used to be a jokester, but his light-hearted ways haven't appeared on-court in a while. Really, the thing he's most known for these days is retiring due to exhaustion or getting nervous before big matches. I'm not sure what he should do about it, but it's interesting to me. I wonder how he'll deal with the expectations at this tournament.
I also watched some of the Querrey-Kim match, but there wasn't too much to see. Both of the players were just about even on winners to errors, big serving, not a lot of long points. I'm surprised not to have seen more from Kim before, because his game looked pretty strong. Nice serve, great backhand, but he's been around forever and not done much. Well, this is a good time to go on a hot streak, but it's just a shame when you run into the hottest player on tour this summer.
I saw a bit of Youzhny, who was looking great while I watched him, but then he went on to lose to Chiudinelli (who?). I also got to see Ljubicic in doubles for a few games, and a bit of Isner in the third set. But I mostly watched matches on Louis Armstrong. It's getting tougher to move around the grounds, since there are fewer matches that are really drawing people out there, and you have to set up a lot earlier for a seat.
This is going to make tomorrow really tough, where there isn't a particular court where I definitely want to spend my time. I do want to see Del Potro and Jurgen Melzer, but I've seen Almagro and Ginepri before. And I would like to see Clijsters, though that match may get moved to Ashe, and I have tickets to the night session on Sunday, which is looking very likely to be a Venus Williams-Kimmie Clijsters match.
Tsonga and Nieminen are on the grandstand, and so's Azarenka and Taylor Dent... but Ferrer-Acasuso are on Court 4, and Berdych-Zeballos are on Court 7. And Court 11 has Cilic-Levine, Bellucci-Simon (could be great), and Monfils-Beck. And Ferrero starts the day on Court 13, which then has Ouanna-Gonzalez, later.
This is going to be tough.
But when she was on, she was hitting some great balls - heavy and deep, and hard to handle. I can see how she got to number one in the world, and based on what I heard about her first round match, she seemed to be more on top of her game and her mental state (15 double faults aside) today. Which is good to hear! I hope she pulls herself together, because she is actually a really good player when she's not driving herself insane.
It was a fun to match to watch, because after she shook off the worst of the rust (when the crowd was stunned into silence), everyone was really pulling for her. Every rally that didn't end in an unforced error would be rewarded with riotous applause. Safina played pretty clean, with 36 winners and 38 unforced errors. Compare that to 19 and 48 in her last match, and it's definitely an improvement.
I saw Djokovic, too. He looked so, so solid against Carsten Ball. I left after the second set, when it was clear that the Aussie couldn't do anything to Novak. Every part of his game is good, but what's interesting to me is that he doesn't really have a defining aspect to his game. The other top players are 'the best' at something. They're good (or at least pretty good) at every part of the game, but they've got a clearly defined strength. Djokovic is just solid in every aspect of the game, but he doesn't really have anything that defines him.
He used to be a jokester, but his light-hearted ways haven't appeared on-court in a while. Really, the thing he's most known for these days is retiring due to exhaustion or getting nervous before big matches. I'm not sure what he should do about it, but it's interesting to me. I wonder how he'll deal with the expectations at this tournament.
I also watched some of the Querrey-Kim match, but there wasn't too much to see. Both of the players were just about even on winners to errors, big serving, not a lot of long points. I'm surprised not to have seen more from Kim before, because his game looked pretty strong. Nice serve, great backhand, but he's been around forever and not done much. Well, this is a good time to go on a hot streak, but it's just a shame when you run into the hottest player on tour this summer.
I saw a bit of Youzhny, who was looking great while I watched him, but then he went on to lose to Chiudinelli (who?). I also got to see Ljubicic in doubles for a few games, and a bit of Isner in the third set. But I mostly watched matches on Louis Armstrong. It's getting tougher to move around the grounds, since there are fewer matches that are really drawing people out there, and you have to set up a lot earlier for a seat.
This is going to make tomorrow really tough, where there isn't a particular court where I definitely want to spend my time. I do want to see Del Potro and Jurgen Melzer, but I've seen Almagro and Ginepri before. And I would like to see Clijsters, though that match may get moved to Ashe, and I have tickets to the night session on Sunday, which is looking very likely to be a Venus Williams-Kimmie Clijsters match.
Tsonga and Nieminen are on the grandstand, and so's Azarenka and Taylor Dent... but Ferrer-Acasuso are on Court 4, and Berdych-Zeballos are on Court 7. And Court 11 has Cilic-Levine, Bellucci-Simon (could be great), and Monfils-Beck. And Ferrero starts the day on Court 13, which then has Ouanna-Gonzalez, later.
This is going to be tough.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
U.S. Open - Day Three
It's officially the middle of the first week. The first round on the men's side is done (and two matches from the second round) as well as half of the second round on the women's side. As excited as I am, I'm beginning to feel worn down. Not while I'm at the tournament, but right now, as I'm getting ready for bed, I am beat. And this is after just three days! I'll try to rest up tonight, maybe sleep in a bit and get to the tennis center at 10:30 instead of 10 tomorrow morning. We'll see.
Anyway, looking at the laundry list of players to see that I posted yesterday, I did a surprisingly good job getting all that done. I watched the entirety of the Monfils-Chardy match, but not because it was great tennis. Mostly because it was short. Chardy was making too many errors - I see from the stat sheet that Gael had a +15 differential while Jeremy had -10. That's ugly. But there were a few occasions for stunning shot-making from Monfils, and I got to see him slide across the hardcourt to an amazing cross-court passing shot.
I watched a bit of Safin against Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and I'm glad I at least saw some, because it looks like I'll never have the chance to see Safin live again. Unless he unretires, a la Kim Clijsters. I don't think it's terribly likely, though. But if he takes some time to get his head together, that's really all that (I think) was keeping him from playing at the top level of the game lately, so he theoretically could return. I actually have him pegged to come back as a cyborg and win Wimbledon in 2015. When that happens, just remember - I called it: Robo-Safin!
I was surprised at how easily Kiefer dispatched Llodra, but it was a pretty well-played match, based on what I saw. Kiefer's next opponent is Rafael Nadal, who I'm also surprised at how easily he brushed aside Gasquet. I hope Richard can come back, because he has a beautiful game when he's on. He certainly wasn't, today.
After watching the end of the Kiefer match, I caught some of John Isner and Sam Querrey playing doubles, and those are some big serves. They won, handily, but I only watched about seven games, because it was on a tiny side court and the stands were just full to bursting.
I also saw Daniel Koellerer beat Machado, and I think that Daniel's new nickname should be crazycakes. It's not only his on-court gesticulating and yelling, but also the look in his eyes. That's a look that I have not seen in any other tennis player. But he's fun to watch, as a result.
The new flavor of Australian men's tennis, Carsten Ball, will be taking on Djokovic tomorrow, a match I hope to watch. This leaves last year's Aussie, Chris "Gooch" Guccione, kind of high and dry, losing to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on a way outer court. He served at 46% today, so he was definitely off his game.
I didn't quite manage to curse Nicolas Almagro this - at last year's U.S. Open, I watched him lose from two sets to love up against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, in a match with three tie-break sets. It was a great one, and it looked like he was about to do the same against Steve Darcis, winning the first two sets, dropping the third, and then losing a break lead in the fourth, but he pulled it out in a tie-break. He'll play Ginepri next round, after the American beat Andrei Pavel (a match I did not get a chance to see).
I did see a few games of, but did not get to watch too much of the tennis in, Gilles Simon and Jose Acasuso's matches, which they both won. Those are players who are not very exciting to watch against players that they are better than - their style is very workmanlike, constructing points and hitting high-percentage winners. They know when their game is just better. They're fun to watch against top players, because they can really raise their games - Simon did it a ton of times last summer, but his current year has not been as good, so far.
I saw the very end of Bellucci - Lu, which I hoped to see more of, but wasn't too upset about because it was a rout by Tomaz. That kid has no business in the qualifying draw. He'll get a regular entry to the 2010 Aussie Open, I'll bet you.
One of the last matches I watched was Ferrer against Alberto Martin. That guy is definitely a bulldog, because he was down 5-1 in the first set and reeled off the next six games. That's got to be discouraging, and not surprisingly, Martin went on to lose the match.
Tomorrow, I'm not entirely sure about what I'm going to do with the schedule. Doubles is starting to jump into full-swing, and the selection of matches on the outer courts is dwindling somewhat. There aren't a lot of matches that are blowing my mind... unless you look at Armstrong: Safina, Querrey, Kuznetsova, Djokovic? I think I'm just going to hang out there, all day. Sure, I'll miss the Bryans and the Williamses playing doubles on the grandstand, as well as some pretty good match-ups, scattered around the outer courts, but that is a line-up that I'm tempted to enjoy in a very sedentary fashion.
Anyway, looking at the laundry list of players to see that I posted yesterday, I did a surprisingly good job getting all that done. I watched the entirety of the Monfils-Chardy match, but not because it was great tennis. Mostly because it was short. Chardy was making too many errors - I see from the stat sheet that Gael had a +15 differential while Jeremy had -10. That's ugly. But there were a few occasions for stunning shot-making from Monfils, and I got to see him slide across the hardcourt to an amazing cross-court passing shot.
I watched a bit of Safin against Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer, and I'm glad I at least saw some, because it looks like I'll never have the chance to see Safin live again. Unless he unretires, a la Kim Clijsters. I don't think it's terribly likely, though. But if he takes some time to get his head together, that's really all that (I think) was keeping him from playing at the top level of the game lately, so he theoretically could return. I actually have him pegged to come back as a cyborg and win Wimbledon in 2015. When that happens, just remember - I called it: Robo-Safin!
I was surprised at how easily Kiefer dispatched Llodra, but it was a pretty well-played match, based on what I saw. Kiefer's next opponent is Rafael Nadal, who I'm also surprised at how easily he brushed aside Gasquet. I hope Richard can come back, because he has a beautiful game when he's on. He certainly wasn't, today.
After watching the end of the Kiefer match, I caught some of John Isner and Sam Querrey playing doubles, and those are some big serves. They won, handily, but I only watched about seven games, because it was on a tiny side court and the stands were just full to bursting.
I also saw Daniel Koellerer beat Machado, and I think that Daniel's new nickname should be crazycakes. It's not only his on-court gesticulating and yelling, but also the look in his eyes. That's a look that I have not seen in any other tennis player. But he's fun to watch, as a result.
The new flavor of Australian men's tennis, Carsten Ball, will be taking on Djokovic tomorrow, a match I hope to watch. This leaves last year's Aussie, Chris "Gooch" Guccione, kind of high and dry, losing to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets on a way outer court. He served at 46% today, so he was definitely off his game.
I didn't quite manage to curse Nicolas Almagro this - at last year's U.S. Open, I watched him lose from two sets to love up against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, in a match with three tie-break sets. It was a great one, and it looked like he was about to do the same against Steve Darcis, winning the first two sets, dropping the third, and then losing a break lead in the fourth, but he pulled it out in a tie-break. He'll play Ginepri next round, after the American beat Andrei Pavel (a match I did not get a chance to see).
I did see a few games of, but did not get to watch too much of the tennis in, Gilles Simon and Jose Acasuso's matches, which they both won. Those are players who are not very exciting to watch against players that they are better than - their style is very workmanlike, constructing points and hitting high-percentage winners. They know when their game is just better. They're fun to watch against top players, because they can really raise their games - Simon did it a ton of times last summer, but his current year has not been as good, so far.
I saw the very end of Bellucci - Lu, which I hoped to see more of, but wasn't too upset about because it was a rout by Tomaz. That kid has no business in the qualifying draw. He'll get a regular entry to the 2010 Aussie Open, I'll bet you.
One of the last matches I watched was Ferrer against Alberto Martin. That guy is definitely a bulldog, because he was down 5-1 in the first set and reeled off the next six games. That's got to be discouraging, and not surprisingly, Martin went on to lose the match.
Tomorrow, I'm not entirely sure about what I'm going to do with the schedule. Doubles is starting to jump into full-swing, and the selection of matches on the outer courts is dwindling somewhat. There aren't a lot of matches that are blowing my mind... unless you look at Armstrong: Safina, Querrey, Kuznetsova, Djokovic? I think I'm just going to hang out there, all day. Sure, I'll miss the Bryans and the Williamses playing doubles on the grandstand, as well as some pretty good match-ups, scattered around the outer courts, but that is a line-up that I'm tempted to enjoy in a very sedentary fashion.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Day two at the U.S. Open
My second day at the tournament proper was a bit less frenzied, and much more focused. I started the day with a gameplan, and with very few exceptions, I accomplished everything I wanted to do. It was a pretty ordinary day, as far as the big names are concerned - after I'd gone home for the night, Ana Ivanovic lost in a third-set tiebreaker.
The other biggest upsets were the elder Lapentti (Nicolas) over Stan "the Man" Wawrinka in five. I had Stan going far in this tournament, so that is quite a surprise. I caught a bit of the match, and saw that Wawrinka's backhand, while still gorgeous (I mean wow, what a wonderful shot to see) was not quite firing as consistently as it usually is. Still, to lose the third and fourth sets in tiebreaks had to be tough. And to think, he was top ten just a year ago.
And the other upset on the men's side was one that a lot of people (players and fans included) were not going to get too peeved about - "Dr." Ivo Karlovic going down in straights to an inspired Ivan Navarro. They had never played before, but Navarro was ranked 91 places lower than the tallest man on the ATP tour. But Navarro played great attacking tennis and came up with some marvelous shoestring volleys. I can't say whether Karlovic's serve was off since this was the first time I'd seen him live. It was a thing to behold - too bad he wasn't on a court with a speed gun, by the way. But he served 22 aces and 71% first serves, better than his average for the year. However, he only won 45% of his second serve points, and he's usually better than that. Andy Murray (in his section of the draw) must be glad to see him gone.
The Dr. lost two tiebreaks, just like Wawrinka, but that's not as bad as one of my sentimental favorites, the hard-luck Seriban Janko "Tipsy" Tipsarevic, who lost three straight tiebreaks. He actually won one more point in the match than his opponent, Florent Serra, but still lost in straights. That's tough. Janko's fortunes are heading south, and I'd like to see him turn it around, because he is a fun player to watch - and he has "Beauty will save the world" tattooed on his arm. It's a Dostoevsky line, by the way. Who doesn't love that?
A match that I really enjoyed watching even though it didn't even come close to a tiebreak was J.W. Tsonga against the youngest player in the men's draw, 18-year old Chase Buchanan. I really hope that Chase doesn't get discouraged by the loss, though, because he played very well and could easily be a top 100 or top 50 player, based on what I saw today. Unfortunately, he came up against one of the most in-form players on tour on his favorite surface and got demolished.
Another player who got beaten pretty badly was Igor Andreev, the seed who lost to American Jesse Witten. I tried to see that match, but the stands were packed with fans rooting for Jesse. Which is why I was so surprised that there was nobody there to support Rajeev Ram while he was getting beaten in a tight match by French hopeful Josselin Ouanna. Ram's more of a prospect than Witten is, but no love for Rajeev, I guess. There was plenty of support for Kevin Kim, another American who rode it to beat an out-of-sorts Dudi Sela today in four sets. Sela is another one that's fun to watch, but I won't be watching him any more this year.
Taylor Dent also pulled off an upset against Feliciano Lopez, but good luck trying to get to see that match. If there's three things that U.S. Open grounds pass fans love, they are: 1 - Americans (natch) 2 - Veterans (good luck seeing Tommy Haas on the outer courts) and 3 - Comeback Stories. Guess how many of these Taylor Dent happens to be. I really wanted to watch him play... maybe he'll be on the grandstand later and I'll be able to get a seat.
I also watched Carsten Ball for a while as he beat Brzezicki (that Aussie's an up-and-comer!) and Victor Troicki as he almost managed to find a way to lose to 30-year old Peter Luczak. Troicki's ranking is moving in rather the opposite direction to Carsten's, at the moment.
The only women's match that I caught much of (not a lot of female players that I knew too well were on the outer courts today) was Carlos Suarez-Navarro, who is not quite following up her breakout year last year the way some people would have hoped. She looked pretty strong, and her backhand is just as pretty as Wawrinka's, but fortunately, she won her match.
Tomorrow, the first match on grandstand is Gael Monfils against Jeremy Chardy. Do you think I'm going to be courtside for that match? You bet I am. After that, I'll try to see Ferrer, Almagro, Guccione, Kiefer-Llodra (that could be a tough one), Ferrero-Santoro (I'll never be able to get a seat for that one, alas), and maybe Bellucci-Lu, Na Li against serial grunter Larcher De Brito, and crazycakes Koellerer is out there, too. I'd also like to see Acasuso and Gilles Simon, if I can get on that court. There's no way I'll get all that accomplished, though.
I'm actually sort of looking forward to later in the week when I can just camp out on the Grandstand or Armstrong and watch entire matches, rather than trying to run around and see everything. On the other hand, I also love the chance to see all these players. I would have really been upset if I hadn't seen Karlovic, Wawrinka, Tipsarevic, or Sela, and they all lost today, so I wouldn't have gotten another chance.
Until next year's open, that is...
The other biggest upsets were the elder Lapentti (Nicolas) over Stan "the Man" Wawrinka in five. I had Stan going far in this tournament, so that is quite a surprise. I caught a bit of the match, and saw that Wawrinka's backhand, while still gorgeous (I mean wow, what a wonderful shot to see) was not quite firing as consistently as it usually is. Still, to lose the third and fourth sets in tiebreaks had to be tough. And to think, he was top ten just a year ago.
And the other upset on the men's side was one that a lot of people (players and fans included) were not going to get too peeved about - "Dr." Ivo Karlovic going down in straights to an inspired Ivan Navarro. They had never played before, but Navarro was ranked 91 places lower than the tallest man on the ATP tour. But Navarro played great attacking tennis and came up with some marvelous shoestring volleys. I can't say whether Karlovic's serve was off since this was the first time I'd seen him live. It was a thing to behold - too bad he wasn't on a court with a speed gun, by the way. But he served 22 aces and 71% first serves, better than his average for the year. However, he only won 45% of his second serve points, and he's usually better than that. Andy Murray (in his section of the draw) must be glad to see him gone.
The Dr. lost two tiebreaks, just like Wawrinka, but that's not as bad as one of my sentimental favorites, the hard-luck Seriban Janko "Tipsy" Tipsarevic, who lost three straight tiebreaks. He actually won one more point in the match than his opponent, Florent Serra, but still lost in straights. That's tough. Janko's fortunes are heading south, and I'd like to see him turn it around, because he is a fun player to watch - and he has "Beauty will save the world" tattooed on his arm. It's a Dostoevsky line, by the way. Who doesn't love that?
A match that I really enjoyed watching even though it didn't even come close to a tiebreak was J.W. Tsonga against the youngest player in the men's draw, 18-year old Chase Buchanan. I really hope that Chase doesn't get discouraged by the loss, though, because he played very well and could easily be a top 100 or top 50 player, based on what I saw today. Unfortunately, he came up against one of the most in-form players on tour on his favorite surface and got demolished.
Another player who got beaten pretty badly was Igor Andreev, the seed who lost to American Jesse Witten. I tried to see that match, but the stands were packed with fans rooting for Jesse. Which is why I was so surprised that there was nobody there to support Rajeev Ram while he was getting beaten in a tight match by French hopeful Josselin Ouanna. Ram's more of a prospect than Witten is, but no love for Rajeev, I guess. There was plenty of support for Kevin Kim, another American who rode it to beat an out-of-sorts Dudi Sela today in four sets. Sela is another one that's fun to watch, but I won't be watching him any more this year.
Taylor Dent also pulled off an upset against Feliciano Lopez, but good luck trying to get to see that match. If there's three things that U.S. Open grounds pass fans love, they are: 1 - Americans (natch) 2 - Veterans (good luck seeing Tommy Haas on the outer courts) and 3 - Comeback Stories. Guess how many of these Taylor Dent happens to be. I really wanted to watch him play... maybe he'll be on the grandstand later and I'll be able to get a seat.
I also watched Carsten Ball for a while as he beat Brzezicki (that Aussie's an up-and-comer!) and Victor Troicki as he almost managed to find a way to lose to 30-year old Peter Luczak. Troicki's ranking is moving in rather the opposite direction to Carsten's, at the moment.
The only women's match that I caught much of (not a lot of female players that I knew too well were on the outer courts today) was Carlos Suarez-Navarro, who is not quite following up her breakout year last year the way some people would have hoped. She looked pretty strong, and her backhand is just as pretty as Wawrinka's, but fortunately, she won her match.
Tomorrow, the first match on grandstand is Gael Monfils against Jeremy Chardy. Do you think I'm going to be courtside for that match? You bet I am. After that, I'll try to see Ferrer, Almagro, Guccione, Kiefer-Llodra (that could be a tough one), Ferrero-Santoro (I'll never be able to get a seat for that one, alas), and maybe Bellucci-Lu, Na Li against serial grunter Larcher De Brito, and crazycakes Koellerer is out there, too. I'd also like to see Acasuso and Gilles Simon, if I can get on that court. There's no way I'll get all that accomplished, though.
I'm actually sort of looking forward to later in the week when I can just camp out on the Grandstand or Armstrong and watch entire matches, rather than trying to run around and see everything. On the other hand, I also love the chance to see all these players. I would have really been upset if I hadn't seen Karlovic, Wawrinka, Tipsarevic, or Sela, and they all lost today, so I wouldn't have gotten another chance.
Until next year's open, that is...
Monday, August 31, 2009
U.S. Open Day One
Ah, the first day of the U.S. Open proper. It was a fun one - not a ton of upsets or fascinating matches, but there was plenty to keep me occupied. Here's a rundown of some of the highlights that I didn't get to see first-hand:
Kim Clijsters just destroyed Kutuzova, 1 and 1, announcing herself as a real contender and a danger. Watch out Marion Bartoli, who she has already beaten this summer and who she faces in the next round, after the Frenchwoman trounced Rossana de los Rios (I watched a bit of that match, but at 1 and 0, it wasn't too exciting). That one's a pick-em, but I'm leaning toward the former champion.
Tommy Haas had a struggle but ended up beating Alejandro Falla. I wanted to watch that, but for some reason, whenever Haas plays on the outside courts, it's standing room only. People were literally climbing in trees to get a look at that match.
For reasons that are not quite clear to me, it was almost the same situation on the court where Donald Young was playing Tommy Robredo. I wanted to watch it, but I couldn't get a seat! The Donald won a set, but he ended up losing, predictably. I hope he can pull his game together, because he is incredibly talented, but this isn't the year for it.
I wasn't on the court for it, but I watched the end of the 16-14 tiebreak in the second set between John Isner and Victor Hanescu. The Romanian blew - I think - ten set points in that tiebreak. Several on his own serve. That's just brutal. Good for John, though. He's really playing strong.
Amelia Mauresmo and James Blake, both trying to get their mojo back, had good wins. I actually watched a bit of Blake's match from a distance (Armstrong is a big stadium) and even from there, that guy hits his forehand ridiculously hard.
I also watched part of Lleyton Hewitt destroy Thiago Alves. They weren't even in the same league, which was a shame. Surprisingly, Olivier (the older and smaller Rochus brother) was similarly dominant against Igor Kunitsyn. He was fun to watch, though. His brother Christophe lost a break lead in the fifth set to go down 7-5 to Marsel Ilhan, which was a shame.
Davydenko was not quite as strong against Dieter Kindlmann, but the German (lots of Germans in the draw this year) was never really in the match. It was my first time watching Kolya in person, and he was fun to see.
Speaking of fun to see, I saw Nadal playing a few practice games against a player I wasn't sure if I recognized - it could have been Michael Berrer, another German - but it was insane to be about ten feet from the Australian Open champion. And let me tell you, I could see the spin he put on his forehand, and it was awe-inspiring.
I also watched Potito Starace lose two close tiebreak sets and then completely go away in the third against Marco Chiudinelli, who is the fourth ranked Swiss player at 161 in the world, after Federer (1), Wawrinka (20), and Stephane Bohli (144). Interestingly enough, I think that the umpire for the Starace-Chiudinelli match was Mariana Alves. Anyone remember her? I'm not a hundred percent sure, though. I did see a couple umps that I recognized; namely Norm Chryst and Carlos Bernardes. What were they doing away from the show courts?
Another interesting match I saw was Robin Soderling versus Albert Montanes, which was odd because it was between what I suspect may be the highest and lowest ball-tossers on tour. Montanes just basically places the ball in the air, drops his left hand and hits it with his racket. Soderling, on the other hand, tosses his ball between eight and twelve feet in the air before hitting it.
I also watched the fifth set tiebreak between Simon Gruel and the younger Lapentti (Giovanni), which was as tight as a drum. It was out on court 16, and Lapentti seemed (to me) to be calling his own lines, or at least trying to influence the judges on a close call. I don't know exactly how that worked, but there were a handful of balls that were very close to the lines on the tiebreaks, and Lapentti called them out before the line judges did. Unfortunately, it did not avail him on the last point of the match, when Greul hit an ace past him that was right under the ump's nose.
I was sad to see Dokic go down, as well as Rainer Schuettler and Dmitry Tursunov. They're not quite upsets, but they are players who I thought could go farther. But so far, the biggest upset of the first day was Mikhail Youzhny over Paul-Henri Mathieu. He did his salute to the four corners of the court after winning, which I always love to see.
More fun to look forward to tomorrow. I've got to rest up so I can be back in Queens in time to get a good seat! I don't know whether I'm going to start with Nieminen-Fognini, Witten-Andreev, or Tsonga-Buchanan. It's great having to deal with this problem!
Kim Clijsters just destroyed Kutuzova, 1 and 1, announcing herself as a real contender and a danger. Watch out Marion Bartoli, who she has already beaten this summer and who she faces in the next round, after the Frenchwoman trounced Rossana de los Rios (I watched a bit of that match, but at 1 and 0, it wasn't too exciting). That one's a pick-em, but I'm leaning toward the former champion.
Tommy Haas had a struggle but ended up beating Alejandro Falla. I wanted to watch that, but for some reason, whenever Haas plays on the outside courts, it's standing room only. People were literally climbing in trees to get a look at that match.
For reasons that are not quite clear to me, it was almost the same situation on the court where Donald Young was playing Tommy Robredo. I wanted to watch it, but I couldn't get a seat! The Donald won a set, but he ended up losing, predictably. I hope he can pull his game together, because he is incredibly talented, but this isn't the year for it.
I wasn't on the court for it, but I watched the end of the 16-14 tiebreak in the second set between John Isner and Victor Hanescu. The Romanian blew - I think - ten set points in that tiebreak. Several on his own serve. That's just brutal. Good for John, though. He's really playing strong.
Amelia Mauresmo and James Blake, both trying to get their mojo back, had good wins. I actually watched a bit of Blake's match from a distance (Armstrong is a big stadium) and even from there, that guy hits his forehand ridiculously hard.
I also watched part of Lleyton Hewitt destroy Thiago Alves. They weren't even in the same league, which was a shame. Surprisingly, Olivier (the older and smaller Rochus brother) was similarly dominant against Igor Kunitsyn. He was fun to watch, though. His brother Christophe lost a break lead in the fifth set to go down 7-5 to Marsel Ilhan, which was a shame.
Davydenko was not quite as strong against Dieter Kindlmann, but the German (lots of Germans in the draw this year) was never really in the match. It was my first time watching Kolya in person, and he was fun to see.
Speaking of fun to see, I saw Nadal playing a few practice games against a player I wasn't sure if I recognized - it could have been Michael Berrer, another German - but it was insane to be about ten feet from the Australian Open champion. And let me tell you, I could see the spin he put on his forehand, and it was awe-inspiring.
I also watched Potito Starace lose two close tiebreak sets and then completely go away in the third against Marco Chiudinelli, who is the fourth ranked Swiss player at 161 in the world, after Federer (1), Wawrinka (20), and Stephane Bohli (144). Interestingly enough, I think that the umpire for the Starace-Chiudinelli match was Mariana Alves. Anyone remember her? I'm not a hundred percent sure, though. I did see a couple umps that I recognized; namely Norm Chryst and Carlos Bernardes. What were they doing away from the show courts?
Another interesting match I saw was Robin Soderling versus Albert Montanes, which was odd because it was between what I suspect may be the highest and lowest ball-tossers on tour. Montanes just basically places the ball in the air, drops his left hand and hits it with his racket. Soderling, on the other hand, tosses his ball between eight and twelve feet in the air before hitting it.
I also watched the fifth set tiebreak between Simon Gruel and the younger Lapentti (Giovanni), which was as tight as a drum. It was out on court 16, and Lapentti seemed (to me) to be calling his own lines, or at least trying to influence the judges on a close call. I don't know exactly how that worked, but there were a handful of balls that were very close to the lines on the tiebreaks, and Lapentti called them out before the line judges did. Unfortunately, it did not avail him on the last point of the match, when Greul hit an ace past him that was right under the ump's nose.
I was sad to see Dokic go down, as well as Rainer Schuettler and Dmitry Tursunov. They're not quite upsets, but they are players who I thought could go farther. But so far, the biggest upset of the first day was Mikhail Youzhny over Paul-Henri Mathieu. He did his salute to the four corners of the court after winning, which I always love to see.
More fun to look forward to tomorrow. I've got to rest up so I can be back in Queens in time to get a good seat! I don't know whether I'm going to start with Nieminen-Fognini, Witten-Andreev, or Tsonga-Buchanan. It's great having to deal with this problem!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
U.S. Open Preview
Thankfully, the nightmare scenario I described in my last post has not come to pass. The weather was sufficiently cooperative yesterday to allow all of the qualifying matches at the U.S. Open to be completed, and the New Haven Pilot Pen tournament finished up, as well.
The most interesting result, from a busy day of tennis, was Laura Robson (the 15-year old British phenom) losing 6-7(6) 6-4 6-7(4) to Eva Hrdinova. That's a tough loss for any player, but if the stats sheet is right (which it may not be, since it's definitely listing break points wrong) then Robson served 22 double faults to only 5 aces. She's got to be better about that. But she'll be back next year - I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have to qualify when the next USO rolls around. An encouraging performance for the 15-year old.
Verdasco beating Querrey in the final is also interesting. Verdasco (nicknamed "Hot Sauce") has had a good year, but hasn't quite been able to follow-up his excellent run at the Australian Open. Now that he's back on hard courts, will he be back at his form from the beginning of the year? It's also worth noting that he and Federer are the only players going into the open on winning streaks. But Querrey has also been playing well (he surpasses James Blake to be the number 2 American this week) so both could have good Opens.
Looking ahead to the U.S. Open, on the men's side, let's start with Roger Federer's quarter. Federer has the ongoing record of most consecutive men's semifinals, and it looks like that will continue. In his quarter, only three players have a win over him: Lleyton Hewitt (last win in 2003), James Blake (last year's Olypmics), and Rainer Schuettler (in 2002). Since James is on a particularly bad run at the moment, it's tough to see anyone getting out of this quarter except for Federer. If you're really looking for an upset, Sam Querrey is your best bet, but it's still not a very good one.
Even if the outcome is a given, there are still some interesting matches. Donald Young, who did well to qualify, is a bit unlucky to get Tommy Robredo in the first round. Also, P-H Mathieu is going up against Mikhail Youzhny, who holds a 4-1 lead over the Frenchman. The Russian is anxious to get back up to the level he was playing at a few years ago, when he was in the top twenty. His ranking is at 60, now. So this is going to be hard-fought, no question.
The second quarter of the draw is a bit more wide open. Djokovic is the top seed, but he opens with one of the toughest first-round match-ups, against veteran Ivan Ljubicic. And when he (presumably) makes it through that, he should meet in-form Australian qualifier Carsten Ball in the second. Roddick, who is really the favorite in this quarter, opens against German Bjorn Phau, and could get Dmitri Tursunov in the second. Roddick only lost once to Tursunov, but it was in a 17-15 fifth set in a Davis Cup match in 2006. What is it with Roddick and killer fifth sets?
Some of the other interesting match-ups in the first round are John Isner against Victor Hanescu, who has been playing well, Indian qualifying Somdev Devvarman against Frederico Gil, and Florent Serra against Janko Tipsarevic. If Tipsy wins, he could get Verdasco in the second, assuming he makes it through Benjamin Becker. Verdasco is a possibility to make it out of this quarter. "Hot Sauce," Roddick, and Tommy Haas are all in the same eighth, and are all possibilities to beat Djokovic (the main contender in the top half of the quarter) and make it to the semis.
It's crazy to have Nadal in the third quarter and not the last one, but with his time off with injury this summer, his ranking has dropped. Normally that doesn't make so much of a difference with who you play in the first round, but with Richard Gasquet coming back from a doping suspension, he gets Nadal right off the bat. "Baby Fed" will have to be out of practice, but if he's smart, he worked on his fitness. And Nadal is still rusty, so there's an outside chance of an upset here, hard as that may be to believe. Even if Nadal makes it through Gasquet, his second round is against Llodra or Kiefer, both tough. He also has Almagro, Ferrer, Monfils, and Chardy in his eighth of the draw. It's going to tough to see him winning this quarter. Even if he makes it through to the quarterfinals, he'll probably get either Tsonga or Gonzalez. Somebody's going to wear him down, and he won't make it to the semis.
This is a tough quarter, no question. It also features Berdych and upstart Frenchman Josselin Ouanna. Lots of hot-and-cold players here, so whoever goes on a run will make it out of the quarter. Pretty good draw for Tsonga, who has been stymied by the big servers a la Karlovic and Isner lately, and he won't run into anybody like until the fourth round at the earliest, and Berdych isn't quite that type of player. So Tsonga's a good bet to make it through.
The final quarter, featuring new number two Andy Murray, is not quite as loaded as the third, but still has some solid players. Murray opens with a match that people are calling a tough one, but Murray schooled Ernests Gulbis at Wimbledon, and the Latvian is going through one of the worst sophomore slumps I've ever seen. Smooth sailing for Murray, there. He could get Karlovic in the third round, which would be tricky. And then possibly Cilic or a rematch of the Wimbledon under-the-roof match against Stan Wawrinka. Stan would want some revenge, there.
The second-highest seed in this quarter is also good to watch - JMDP, Juan Martin Del Potro. He followed up his miraculous summer last year with another strong showing, but he has a tough couple of opening rounds as well. He opens against Juan Monaco and then could give Marat Safin his U.S. Open farewell. If he makes it to Gilles Simon, that could give him trouble, since Simon plays the same kind of game that Hewitt used to stymie him at Wimbledon this year.
Unfortunately, Mardy Fish has been hobbled with injury, so he probably won't be much of a factor, but Ferrero (who opens against Fabrice Santoro, a great first-round match) could make some noise. So could top-seeded qualifier Tomaz Bellucci. Another first-round to watch is Feliciano Lopez against Taylor Dent. Not sure where Dent has been all year, but if he's going to do anything, this is the stage to do it. All in all, it's tough to bet against Murray to make it through this quarter, but that's why we play the games. It's going to be exciting, no matter what.
I'll admit that I'm just not as familiar with the players outside the top 40 on the women's side, so it's tougher for me to analyze the opening rounds. But I'll jump in for second or third-round analysis, once I've got a better picture of what's going on. I'm interested to see what Melanie Oudin, Kim Clijsters, and Jelena Dokic might be able to do. Keep an eye on them.
Tomorrow, the action officially starts. I'll be on the outer courts, since there's more action to see, and it's cheaper than a stadium seat. I'm absolutely thrilled, and will be there at 10 when the gates open. Hope you're looking forward to watching it on TV!
The most interesting result, from a busy day of tennis, was Laura Robson (the 15-year old British phenom) losing 6-7(6) 6-4 6-7(4) to Eva Hrdinova. That's a tough loss for any player, but if the stats sheet is right (which it may not be, since it's definitely listing break points wrong) then Robson served 22 double faults to only 5 aces. She's got to be better about that. But she'll be back next year - I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have to qualify when the next USO rolls around. An encouraging performance for the 15-year old.
Verdasco beating Querrey in the final is also interesting. Verdasco (nicknamed "Hot Sauce") has had a good year, but hasn't quite been able to follow-up his excellent run at the Australian Open. Now that he's back on hard courts, will he be back at his form from the beginning of the year? It's also worth noting that he and Federer are the only players going into the open on winning streaks. But Querrey has also been playing well (he surpasses James Blake to be the number 2 American this week) so both could have good Opens.
Looking ahead to the U.S. Open, on the men's side, let's start with Roger Federer's quarter. Federer has the ongoing record of most consecutive men's semifinals, and it looks like that will continue. In his quarter, only three players have a win over him: Lleyton Hewitt (last win in 2003), James Blake (last year's Olypmics), and Rainer Schuettler (in 2002). Since James is on a particularly bad run at the moment, it's tough to see anyone getting out of this quarter except for Federer. If you're really looking for an upset, Sam Querrey is your best bet, but it's still not a very good one.
Even if the outcome is a given, there are still some interesting matches. Donald Young, who did well to qualify, is a bit unlucky to get Tommy Robredo in the first round. Also, P-H Mathieu is going up against Mikhail Youzhny, who holds a 4-1 lead over the Frenchman. The Russian is anxious to get back up to the level he was playing at a few years ago, when he was in the top twenty. His ranking is at 60, now. So this is going to be hard-fought, no question.
The second quarter of the draw is a bit more wide open. Djokovic is the top seed, but he opens with one of the toughest first-round match-ups, against veteran Ivan Ljubicic. And when he (presumably) makes it through that, he should meet in-form Australian qualifier Carsten Ball in the second. Roddick, who is really the favorite in this quarter, opens against German Bjorn Phau, and could get Dmitri Tursunov in the second. Roddick only lost once to Tursunov, but it was in a 17-15 fifth set in a Davis Cup match in 2006. What is it with Roddick and killer fifth sets?
Some of the other interesting match-ups in the first round are John Isner against Victor Hanescu, who has been playing well, Indian qualifying Somdev Devvarman against Frederico Gil, and Florent Serra against Janko Tipsarevic. If Tipsy wins, he could get Verdasco in the second, assuming he makes it through Benjamin Becker. Verdasco is a possibility to make it out of this quarter. "Hot Sauce," Roddick, and Tommy Haas are all in the same eighth, and are all possibilities to beat Djokovic (the main contender in the top half of the quarter) and make it to the semis.
It's crazy to have Nadal in the third quarter and not the last one, but with his time off with injury this summer, his ranking has dropped. Normally that doesn't make so much of a difference with who you play in the first round, but with Richard Gasquet coming back from a doping suspension, he gets Nadal right off the bat. "Baby Fed" will have to be out of practice, but if he's smart, he worked on his fitness. And Nadal is still rusty, so there's an outside chance of an upset here, hard as that may be to believe. Even if Nadal makes it through Gasquet, his second round is against Llodra or Kiefer, both tough. He also has Almagro, Ferrer, Monfils, and Chardy in his eighth of the draw. It's going to tough to see him winning this quarter. Even if he makes it through to the quarterfinals, he'll probably get either Tsonga or Gonzalez. Somebody's going to wear him down, and he won't make it to the semis.
This is a tough quarter, no question. It also features Berdych and upstart Frenchman Josselin Ouanna. Lots of hot-and-cold players here, so whoever goes on a run will make it out of the quarter. Pretty good draw for Tsonga, who has been stymied by the big servers a la Karlovic and Isner lately, and he won't run into anybody like until the fourth round at the earliest, and Berdych isn't quite that type of player. So Tsonga's a good bet to make it through.
The final quarter, featuring new number two Andy Murray, is not quite as loaded as the third, but still has some solid players. Murray opens with a match that people are calling a tough one, but Murray schooled Ernests Gulbis at Wimbledon, and the Latvian is going through one of the worst sophomore slumps I've ever seen. Smooth sailing for Murray, there. He could get Karlovic in the third round, which would be tricky. And then possibly Cilic or a rematch of the Wimbledon under-the-roof match against Stan Wawrinka. Stan would want some revenge, there.
The second-highest seed in this quarter is also good to watch - JMDP, Juan Martin Del Potro. He followed up his miraculous summer last year with another strong showing, but he has a tough couple of opening rounds as well. He opens against Juan Monaco and then could give Marat Safin his U.S. Open farewell. If he makes it to Gilles Simon, that could give him trouble, since Simon plays the same kind of game that Hewitt used to stymie him at Wimbledon this year.
Unfortunately, Mardy Fish has been hobbled with injury, so he probably won't be much of a factor, but Ferrero (who opens against Fabrice Santoro, a great first-round match) could make some noise. So could top-seeded qualifier Tomaz Bellucci. Another first-round to watch is Feliciano Lopez against Taylor Dent. Not sure where Dent has been all year, but if he's going to do anything, this is the stage to do it. All in all, it's tough to bet against Murray to make it through this quarter, but that's why we play the games. It's going to be exciting, no matter what.
I'll admit that I'm just not as familiar with the players outside the top 40 on the women's side, so it's tougher for me to analyze the opening rounds. But I'll jump in for second or third-round analysis, once I've got a better picture of what's going on. I'm interested to see what Melanie Oudin, Kim Clijsters, and Jelena Dokic might be able to do. Keep an eye on them.
Tomorrow, the action officially starts. I'll be on the outer courts, since there's more action to see, and it's cheaper than a stadium seat. I'm absolutely thrilled, and will be there at 10 when the gates open. Hope you're looking forward to watching it on TV!
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