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by Christopher Gerby Maria Sanchez Lorenzo vs. Yulia Beygelzimer Women's Singles: First Round Court 6 "She's Spanish...and pretty...wow!" observed one fan as he got a gander at Maria Sanchez Lorenzo. After back problems and a subsequent dip in the rankings kept Sanchez Lorenzo out of the past two US Opens, the Spaniard was back with a vengeance on Tuesday, sporting a killer tan and knocking on the door of the Top 50. Opposing her was Ukranian qualifier Yulia Beygelzimer, perhaps most notable for her 1920's flapper hairstyle. Sanchez Lorenzo has an unorthodox game, with two-handed grips that essentially give her backhands on both sides. Also setting her apart in women's tennis: she tends to be much more proficient in her service games than when returning. The same was true of Beygelzimer on this afternoon, as the first eight games sailed by without either player facing a break point. Beygelzimer found 15-40 trouble in Game 9, then appeared to save herself with a pair of big serves. However, Sanchez Lorenzo earned a third break point in spectacular fashion, running down a drop shot and a lob. Maria then secured the break, hitting a deep forehand approach that drew a defensive error from Beygelzimer. But just as soon as she'd put herself in a winning position, Sanchez Lorenzo dropped her own serve to tie things up at 5-5. Following a well played exchange of holds, we saw a tiebreak...
Sanchez Lorenzo looked emotionally spent as she opened Game 11 with back-to-back double faults. Beygelzimer's forehand started flying on her, though. The Spaniard held for 6-5 and reached match point yet again, only to have Beygelzimer stave off elimination with a service winner. On match point # 5, the Ukranian missed her first serve...and badly shanked her second. The double fault was an unfortunate end to a very gripping 7-6, 7-5 battle, but all Beygelzimer could do was toss her racket end over end into the sky. Dinara Safina vs. Carly Gullickson Women's Singles: First Round Court 7 The luck of the draw paired up a couple teenagers best known (so far) for who they're related to: Dinara Safina, little sister of 2000 US Open champion Marat Safin and Carly Gullickson, daughter of former Major League Baseball pitcher Bill Gullickson. Carly (who kinda looks like a filled out Ashley Harkleroad) recently gained some international experience by qualifying at Wimbledon and playing in the Pan Am Games. She looked out of sorts as she made her main draw US Open debut, however. Right from the start, Gullickson was fumbling with a hat that didn't fit properly and then she was called for a foot fault on the very first point of the match. Gullickson caughed up four double faults (two of the podiatric variety) in her opening two service games, allowing the talented Safina to sprint to a 3-0 lead. But just when it was looking like Gullickson wasn't ready for prime time, her forehand came alive and she ran off a string of five straight games, even breaking Safina at love to pull ahead 5-3 in the first set. Facing a break point in Game 9, Gullickson dumped an ill-advised drop shot into the net. Back on serve, Safina took charge. Momentum was a key word in this wild first round match: after losing five games in a row, the Russian won nine straight! Gullickson was still foot faulting up a storm, while Safina was painting the lines with deadly flat groundstrokes, sometimes shouting "vamos!" (Like her brother, Safina spent several of her formative years training in Valencia, Spain.) Serving for victory at 5-0 in the second, Safina came unglued over a line call, kicked in a couple double faults, and let Gullickson on the board. Carly added a hold for 2-5, but it was too little too late. Dinara concluded matters with a love hold, whipping a backhand winner down the line to put a 7-5, 6-2 triumph in the books. Both of these powerfully built teens bear watching in the future: Gullickson just needs a little more seasoning. Tatiana Perebiynis vs. Marta Marrero Women's Singles: First Round Court 17 Tatiana Perebiynis and Marta Marrero were two of the lowest ranked players to gain direct entry into the main draw, but it's not an unattractive first round matchup. Marrero was a rookie quarterfinalist at the French Open three years ago and Perebiynis has risen about 50 spots in the rankings over the past four months. Tatiana still has the baby face we took note of when she stormed through qualifying here in 2001, but she's become quite an impressive physical specimen. A loose fitting shirt (displaying her abs whenever she'd serve) and tight little shorts (accentuating her toned legs) left little doubt that "Tati" has been hitting the gym. I found a veritable tennis braintrust sitting next to me as this match began: Perebiynis' coach Simon Walsh had called over Rafael Font de Mora (longtime coach of Meghann Shaughnessy) to check out his pupil for a few games. Tatiana did not disappoint, blasting her way to a 3-0 lead in no time flat. Font de Mora left and a young fan struck up a conversation with Walsh, telling him how much he enjoyed watching Perebiynis play. Walsh thanked him profusely for his support and then shouted out a "c'mon Tati" to his charge. Serving exceptionally well and cracking multiple forehand winners, Perebiynis simply had too much for the Spaniard, claiming a 6-1 opening set in just 20 minutes. Simon Walsh continued extolling Tatiana's virtues, describing her as a "quiet, responsible" young woman who causes him no headaches off the court. When Marrero held serve to open the second set, Walsh advised the Ukranian to "stay focused, play aggressive." Perebiynis did just that, holding at love in her next two service games, then breaking Marrero for a 3-2 lead. Marta was doing a solid enough job of keeping the ball in play, though, and she finally earned her first break point of the match in the set's sixth game. Perebiynis answered with authority, striking three service winners in a row to hold for 4-2. Leading 6-1, 5-2, 40-0, Perebiynis finally lost the focus Walsh was instructing her to maintain. She dropped three straight points, completely whiffed on an overhead, and netted a forehand to let Marrero back in the set at 5-3. Perebiynis squandered a fourth match point on a backhand error in Game 9. Walsh reminded Tati to think "positive, positive" as she came out to serve for the match again at 5-4. Perebiynis managed to blow two more match points (both on errant forehands) before Marta missed a forehand of her own to end it. Breathing a sigh of relief at the end of the 6-1, 6-4 tilt, Walsh arranged for Perebiynis to pose for a picture with her enthusiastic young fan. The kid also got an autograph, which might become valuable one day if Perebiynis can get better at closing out matches. She went on from here to take a set from 11th-seeded Elena Dementieva in the second round before crumbling. (23) Nathalie Dechy vs. Bethanie Mattek Women's Singles: First Round Court 13 Stuffed into an ill-fitting dress, with tufts of unruly blonde hair sprouting up through her visor, 18-year-old Bethanie Mattek wasn't going to win any style points on Tuesday. However, she was winning plenty of points on the court, snaring a 6-3, 2-0 lead over Top 30 stalwart Nathalie Dechy. Nursing a left wrist injury that caused her to withdraw from the previous week's tournament in New Haven, Dechy could have been expected to fold up her tent at this juncture. But a funny thing happened: Dechy broke Mattek's serve, clawed out a tough hold for 2-2, and earned another break to take control of the second set. Mattek was still brimming with competitive spirit, shouting "come on!" every time she'd win an important point, but Dechy was quietly making her move, bedeviling the young American with deep groundies and deft passing shots. Dechy was up 5-3 in the second set when a rock band named Dakona began performing live right outside the Court 13. One might have expected the noise to disrupt Dechy -- after all, this is the woman who complained to a chair umpire in Birmingham about Maria Sharapova's grunting. Nathalie didn't utter a peep, however, and she eventually took the set 6 games to 4. A lunging backhand pass down the line gave Dechy triple break point in the final set's opening game. Mattek meekly dumped a backhand in the net to surrender the break, but got it right back a couple minutes later, emitting her loudest "come on" yet when a winning volley got her back even at 1-1. But Dechy was giving no quarter -- a low, dipping pass got her another break for 2-1. Nathalie was in full flight over the next few games: moving well, seeming to anticipate Mattek's every move, and swinging away with pinpoint accuracy. She upped her lead to two breaks, going up 5-2 when a sizzling forehand pass was too much for Bethanie to handle. Curiously, in a match pitting a Frenchwoman against an American, the New York fan support seemed to lean slightly in favor of Dechy, perhaps because she'd made such a nice comeback effort. Mattek is nothing if not spunky, though, and she had another run left in her tank. The Florida resident broke at 30 and held at 30 to make things awfully interesting -- 5-4 in the deciding set. Dechy double faulted to 15-15 before putting in a series of first serves. On double match point, Mattek failed to put her return in play and stood frozen on the court for several moments, oozing disbelief that the match had gotten away from her. It goes down as a gutsy 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 win for Nathalie Dechy, whose injured wrist forced her to drop out of the tournament two days later. Hicham Arazi vs. Jeff Salzenstein Men's Singles: First Round Grandstand It took six years for Jeff Salzenstein to get back into the main draw at the US Open, so the USTA rewarded him with a plum evening showcase on the Grandstand court. Now if only they could have arranged for the other Hicham Arazi to show up. There are two Arazis, ya know: the uber-talented, graceful shotmaker who once took two sets from Patrick Rafter in this tournament...and the tanking malcontent who sometimes meets the other definition of "effortless." Arazi may have been dressed in all black, but it was apparent early on that we were seeing the Good Hicham. Cheered on by friend and compatriot Younes El Aynaoui (who very graciously stopped to sign some autographs en route to the Grandstand), Arazi breezed through a 6-1 win of the opening set. Salzenstein got his vaunted lefty serve going in the second, but Arazi was still running him all over the lot and winning his own service games with ease. Arazi had committed only 9 unforced errors by the time the second set tiebreak got underway...
Down 3-4 in the third set, Salzenstein blasted a 128 mph service winner for 30-30. Unfazed, Arazi won the very next point by massaging a little inside-out forehand winner. Arazi then whipped a flawless cross-court backhand pass to break Salzenstein for a 5-3 lead. The 29-year-old American refused to give in, bouncing on his toes after taking a 15-30 edge in the following game. Arazi just had way too much game on this night, however. Match point came soon enough and a stab volley from Salzenstein sailed wide to give Hicham Arazi a 6-1, 7-6, 6-3 victory. |