|
by Christopher Gerby In an unwelcome flashback to the second week of the 2003 US Open, rain was falling as the gates opened for the 2004 event. It was coming down hard enough to chase off a number of the players who were around the grounds for morning practice sessions. Fans entering through the main gate around 10:30 were treated to a virtual mini-parade as the likes of Jelena Jankovic, Justin Gimelstob, Ivo Karlovic, Petra Mandula, Shinobu Asagoe, and Maria Sanchez Lorenzo took the same path indoors. A few hearty souls hit through the drizzle, though -- Jonas Bjorkman and Dominik Hrbaty continued practicing together on Court 5 and Mario Ancic honed his game on 12. Before long, the clouds moved out, fairly oppressive heat moved in, and the tournament proper got underway. (18) Karolina Sprem vs. Jelena Kostanic Women's Singles: First Round Court 7 Karolina Sprem's upset win over Venus Williams at Wimbledon gave a bit of extra juice to her all-Croatian first round meeting with Jelena Kostanic. Sprem came in with a ranking impressively identical to her age of 19, but had her hands full with Kostanic. Throwing in a double fault on break point, Sprem fell behind 2-3. Kostanic extended the lead to 4-2 as Sprem's frustration grew. Karolina angrily kicked at a ball after missing a first serve in Game 7. She would eventually hold there and earn a chance to break back in the following game. Left-handed Jelena was playing the steadier tennis overall, however. She fought back to hold for 5-3 and broke at love, taking the opening set 6-3. Three consecutive service breaks marked the beginning of the second set. Sprem finally gained control after that, running her older compatriot around en route to a 5-1 lead. Sprem served it out 6-2 and the players wisely took advantage of the WTA Tour's extreme heat rule, leaving the court for a ten minute break. (The heat proved nearly as annoying as the Columbia University Kingsmen, an a capella quartet singing near Court 7). The tension was clearly mounting now, judging from Sprem's fist pumps and Kostanic's outbursts. "That was so long!" Jelena screamed after a no-call on the baseline early in the final set. When another questionable call was made by the same linesmen, Kostanic demanded to know, "What are you looking at?!?" Through it all, the players remained on serve to 4-3. The eighth game of the deciding set was an epic which saw Sprem grow increasingly weary. Long, grueling rallies had Karolina slowly walking to her chair for a towel, performing deep knee bends, tying her shoe, and often retreating to a shady corner of the court. It took considerable mercy on the chair umpire's part (and a sportsmanlike lack of complaining by Kostanic) for Sprem to avoid a time violation. The 18th seed would save one break point, but after three deuces, she went an exhausted looking backhand long for 3-5. Serving for the victory, Kostanic earned double match point at 40-15. The southpaw blew her first chance to close it out with a forehand error, then watched Sprem absolutely haul off on a backhand down the line to stay alive. A winning drop shot got Sprem to break point, but her backhand error brought up another deuce. An untimely double fault from a possibly nervous Kostanic brought up another break point. Kostanic was then called for a foot fault (at least her fourth in the match) on the ensuing first serve. Jelena got the second serve in, but Sprem sent back a sharp angled backhand return, forcing a Kostanic error. Sprem was back from the dead, on serve again at 4-5 in the third set. Just when it looked like she had her game in order, Sprem imploded. A backhand into the net put her down 0-30; another followed for 0-40. With her third match point in hand, Jelena Kostanic thumped an inside-out forehand return for a clean winner. After two hours and fourteen minutes of hard fought tennis under a blistering sun, Kostanic threw her head back in exaltation, savoring a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory. (30) Tatiana Golovin vs. Anca Barna Women's Singles: First Round Court 7 Maria Sharapova's coach, the venerable Robert Lansdorp, was eager for a look at one of his young charge's up-and-coming rivals. In fact, Lansdorp was eager enough for a look at 16-year-old Tatiana Golovin, he stood in line with the general public, finally making his way into the stands when Golovin changed ends leading 5-0 against temperamental Anca Barna. Golovin's presence looms large over the grounds of the USTA National Tennis Center, as a large sign featuring her face hangs above the new on site Lacoste store. She is one of the tour's new glamour girls, known as much for her outgoing personality and daringly low-slung short shorts as for her solid all around game. Golovin's putting together quite the on court resume, however, including a mixed doubles title at the French Open. She was certainly having her way with Barna early on, but the German made her work a bit, winning back-to-back games before ceding the first set 6-2. Anca then took a bathroom break, leaving Golovin to cool her heels and do some stretching exercises. Golovin looked poised and relaxed, smiling as she stormed out to an early 2-0 lead in the second. Barna, meanwhile, was a picture of frustration, playing very erratic tennis. The southpaw unhappily dropped her racquet after dumping a backhand in the net to trail 1-4. Across the way, Golovin suddenly lost focus and played a terribly loose game, losing serve to 4-2, shrieking as she missed an overhead. Tatiana dropped the next game, as well, and gave an uneasy look to her coach as she walked to her chair, up a single break at 4-3. Golovin continued to struggle in a long, testing Game 8. She coughed up three double faults, smiling wryly after the second, and needed a big forehand to stave off a break point. After five deuces, Barna got another break chance, but Golovin toughed out a long rally to extend the game. Two points later, Golovin steered a backhand winner down the line and got a big ovation, now within a game of the second round at 5-3. Barna held at love, putting the pressure on at 4-5. Golovin rose to the occasion, stepping into a forehand winner on match point, securing a 6-2, 6-4 win. It would prove to be a largely successful week for the Russian-born Frenchwoman, who went on to give Serena Williams a stern test in the third round. (22) Magdalena Maleeva vs. Flavia Pennetta Women's Singles: First Round Court 8 Appearing in her thirteenth US Open, recently married Magdalena Maleeva is nearing the end of an illustrious career which saw her reach # 4 in the world rankings. By contrast, 22-year-old Flavia Pennetta (girlfriend of ATP star Carlos Moya) was playing just her second main draw match at the Open. Pennetta is one of the better prospects Italian tennis has produced in recent years and she flashed that potential by taking a 6-2 opening set from Maleeva. The feisty Bulgarian fought back, breaking at 15 to snare a 6-4 win of the second. The loss of that closely contested set didn't sit well with Pennetta, who launched a ball out of Court 8, all the way to the temporary bleachers on Court 7. Flavia had further time to stew over her misfortune when Maleeva departed for a bathroom break. Maleeva may be a veteran nearing retirement, but she hasn't mellowed. Upon holding serve to open the final set, she shouted "come on!" Facing a break point in Game 2, Pennetta steered a backhand wide, prompting Maleeva -- before the ball even landed -- to issue an even louder "COME ON!" Maleeva carried her lead to 3-1, 30-15, but then put an ill-advised drop shot in the net. Pennetta took advantage, ripping a pair of unreturnable backhands to break for 2-3. With doubles partner Rita Grande looking on from the stands, Pennetta held serve easily and pumped her fist, having squared the deciding set at 3 all. Pennetta had chances to break in Game 7, but Maleeva held on, closing out the game with an ace. As so often happens, the player who expended a lot of energy trying to break wound up dropping her own serve. Her forehand going off badly, Pennetta surrendered the break to trail 3-5. Maggie couldn't seal the deal just yet, however. In a turn of events almost as eye-catching as the tattoo on Pennetta's lower back, Maleeva quickly lost Game 9, putting the final set back on serve again. Game 10 was an edge-of-the-seat thriller, with Maleeva throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the Italian, including a lot of uncharacteristic slice shots. At 30-30, Pennetta tried a drop shot, but Maleeva ran it down and answered with a winning dropper of her own, earning a match point. Maleeva squandered the chance, slicing a backhand into the net. The Bulgarian got a second match point, but Pennetta staved it off with a powerful cross-court backhand, drawing a big ovation from the near-capacity crowd. Maleeva got to match point a third time...and again failed to convert, barely missing the sideline with a forehand. Pennetta simply could not win the deuce points, but Maleeva was unable to close the deal. On match point number four, Maleeva tried a truly goofy drop shot from the baseline which fell well short. Pennetta finally earned a game point, but lost a very long rally. Pennetta got the ad again, shouting and pumping her fist, but a forehand error off her racquet brought up deuce # 6. Pennetta took control with a forehand winner...but Maleeva seized it back with a winning cross-court pass, good for deuce # 7. Maleeva went back to the drop shot well and made it work this time, picking up her fifth match point. In a finish unworthy of the drama that came before it, Pennetta committed a double fault on match point. Magdalena Maleeva raised her arms in triumph, having emerged victorious by the skin of her teeth, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Claudine Schaul vs. Lindsay Lee-Waters Women's Singles: First Round Court 9 Fresh off carrying her nation's flag in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics, Claudine Schaul breezed to a 5-1 lead over American veteran Lindsay Lee-Waters. Schaul failed to serve out the set, as Lee-Waters showed good fight in a break for 2-5. But the 27-year-old followed her break with a miserable service game, throwing in two double faults and netting a backhand on double set point. Schaul had a 6-2 opening set in her back pocket and looked well on her way to a second round meeting with Serena Williams. However, Lee-Waters was not to be counted out. After some short-lived hype when she burst onto the scene as a teenager in the mid-90's, Lindsay has shown incredible perseverance in finally re-establishing herself as a Top 100 player. Having given birth to a girl named Sevyn in January 2001, Lee-Waters happens to be the only mother playing in the main draw this year. It was Lee-Waters who claimed the first break of the second set, pulling ahead 3-2 when Schaul netted a backhand. Lee-waters was really attacking the ball, punctuating her deep drives with loud grunts. Schaul, meawhile, was all at sea. After her latest forehand error completed a second break for 2-5, Claudine whacked a ball off the backstop. Lee-Waters served it out easily from there, taking a 6-2 win of the second set. Flashing a willingness to charge the net, Lee-Waters kept her momentum going, winning the first two games of the deciding set. But Schaul finally came back to life, holding for 1-2 and breaking to 2-2. Schaul picked up her first career WTA Tour singles title earlier this year, beating Lindsay Davenport in the Strasbourg final. That was on clay, though, and Schaul has really struggled on the hard courts this summer. She was already facing a break point in Game 5 when Lee-Waters scampered up and knocked off a forehand volley for a 3-2 lead. Feeding off support from the crowd, Lee-Waters took the next seven points in a row. Schaul fought back, saving that service game and her next, forcing the American to serve it out at 5-4 in the third. A double fault brought up a break point at 30-40. Lee-Waters missed the first serve, but then came up with a clutch ace on the second. A forehand winner then took Sevyn's mom to match point. The ensuing rally saw Schaul send a backhand over the baseline, to make it official. Aggressive play had earned Lindsay Lee-Waters her first US Open win in nine years, by a final score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. Irakli Labadze vs. Jerome Golmard Men's Singles: First Round Court 14 Those who bemoan the lack of entertaining personalities in the men's game obviously haven't caught Irakli Labadze's act. A surprise semifinalist at Indian Wells earlier this year, Labadze has earned the nickname "Freak Show" for his unpredictable antics. The slow moving, hugely streaky native of Georgia (the former Soviet republic) was winless on the hard courts this summer and had to miss the Olympics with a wrist injury. However, he got off on the right foot against big serving Frenchman Jerome Golmard. Labadze used a nice dipping pass on break point to win the opening game. Irakli then gave the break right back, taking an insanely big swing on a forehand from the baseline at 0-40. The players settled into a good groove on their serves after that, barely surrendering any points as they traded holds. Golmard was pushed to deuce in the seventh game, but held on for a 4-3 lead. Labadze walked to his chair, but quickly decided he didn't need a full changeover. He headed right back out to the baseline and waited a good 45 seconds for Golmard. The pair continued throwing aces at each other in largely uncontested service games (and Labadze continued skipping the changeovers). The set would have to be decided in a tiebreak...
By the way, an equally bizarre scene was playing out nearby. Young German qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld had lost the previous match on Court 14, falling to Els Callens in three close sets. As punishment, her coach forced her to jog slow laps around a darkened Court 15. She continued doing this, without a break, during the entire Labadze-Golmard match and was still out there jogging after more than an hour. A little girl who wanted Groenefeld's autograph actually walked out onto the court and bounced a ball while watching Anna-Lena pass by dozens of times. Tatiana Perebiynis vs. Angela Haynes Women's Singles: First Round Court 18 Some of Monday's best atmosphere was saved for the evening, as a heated contest between Tatiana Perebiynis of the Ukraine and American wild card Angela Haynes veered towards its conclusion. Perebiynis took the opening set in a tiebreak, but Haynes came up with some big serves in a 6-1 win of the second. A native of Compton, California who practiced with the Williams sisters as a youngster, Haynes was getting enthusiastic cheers from a largely African American crowd on 18. Perebiynis, for her part, had a few hearty (and just as vocal) supporters of her own. Haynes led 4-2 in the third set, but started spraying errors, allowing Perebiynis to surge ahead 5-4. Tatiana had multiple match points in a wildly dramatic tenth game, but Haynes finally held, then broke for 6-5. Momentum took one more violent swing as Perebiynis broke at love to force a winner-take-all third set tiebreak. The US Open is the only major in which the final set isn't played out past 6-6 and Perebiynis herself didn't realize it was time for a tiebreak until after the first point...
|