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by Christopher Gerby Nitty Singh became something of a cult heroine in the 1980's and early 1990's as tournament director of the OTB International Open. Held in a public park in the upstate New York city of Schenectady, the co-ed tournament offered free admission, with draws featuring Grand Slam champions of the future (Andre Agassi and Lindsay Davenport received wild cards as teenagers); past (Ivan Lendl and Mats Wilander played Schenectady in the twilight of their careers); and even present (Michael Stich and Sergi Bruguera appeared shortly after winning the '91 Wimbledon and '94 French Open titles, respectively). The popular US Open warmup tournament folded ten years ago, when it was replaced by Schenectady's franchise in World Team Tennis. A decade later, Schenectady once again hosts a professional tennis tournament. This time it's a $50,000 USTA women's challenger event, moved on relatively short notice after its sponsorship fell through in Oyster Bay. Featuring no players ranked in the world's top 100, the challenger is minor league tennis, so to speak. And thus far it's getting minor league treatment, with virtually no advertising and very questionable preparation. Play on Monday, the second day of qualifying, was delayed -- by upwards of an hour -- because umpire chairs had not yet arrived on the courts. Most ridiculous was the mishap # 3 qualifying seed Antonia Matic watched play out while she was waiting to get underway against Cindy Watson. The match was scheduled on Court 4, delayed until the chair arrived, and delayed again when officials found water seeping up through the court surface. A decision was made to move the match to Court 7...a practice court with a large crack in it. The next option, Court 2, was also deemed unplayable. 90 minutes after it was scheduled to get underway, the match got going on Court 4. Astonishingly, none of the challenger action has been allowed to play out in MVP Stadium, which hosts the WTT matches and is actually closer to the player facilities than the dodgy public courts they are using. Things that make you go hmm. The conditions may be less than ideal, but the cordial, informal atmosphere around the grounds on Monday was quite nice. While Tanner Cochran was right in the middle of a practice session with Casey Dellacqua, she was approached by Lauren Barnikow (an unranked player who'd advanced to the second round of qualies). "Do you know anything about the girl I'm playing, Breadmore?" she asked. Cochran didn't seem to have much wisdom to impart on the matter, but the exchange was a friendly one. Without any worries about being mobbed by adoring fans, many of the players were congregating around the courts, trading anecdotes, flipping through magazines, and watching each other's matches. Several were sporting their official pink "I'm In Touch" t-shirts, a nod to the WTA's "Get In Touch With Your Feminine Side" promotional campaign. Some veterans, some just starting out, many hailing from far corners of the globe, they all share success on that Tour as a common goal. Dreams may be fulfilled on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon or in the spacious confines of Arthur Ashe Stadium, but they often begin in glamour-challenged locales like Schenectady, New York. Shikha Uberoi vs. Svetlana Krivencheva Women's Qualifying Singles: Second Round Court 3 By virtue of being scheduled on the first court to secure the use of an umpire's chair, Uberoi vs. Krivencheva opened Monday's play. The lookalike older sister of fellow Princeton standout Neha Uberoi (scheduled to play the next match up on the very same court), Shikha was flashing a demeanor as aggressive as her game. Going for winners and frequently rushing the net, Uberoi urged herself on with third person references like "let's go, Shikha!" and "come on, Shikha!" Krivencheva was no less animated, often screaming at herself and whacking balls around in anger. Uberoi earned the first service break of the day, good for a 4-2 lead, but handed it right back with some sloppy play. Game 9 was long and tense, including one point in which Krivencheva had total control, only to be outdone by some great Uberoi scrambling. Finally losing the point by netting a forehand, Krivencheva dropped her racket and let out an absolutely blood-curdling scream. Watching the display from next door at Court 4, Antonia Matic grinned and quipped, "Don't cry for me, Argentina." Krivencheva ultimately pulled out the game, though, breaking for 5-4 on an Uberoi backhand error. At that point, a trainer was called to the court. The timeout was most likely taken by Krivencheva, judging by some gossip I overheard from other players who were noting the Bulgarian's penchant for requesting injury and bathroom breaks at inopportune times. If it was a tactic, it may have worked, as Krivencheva served out the first set and bulit a lead in the second. The Indian American hung in there, however, and the match dragged into marathon territory. The parts I witnessed for plenty heated, with Krivencheva aruging calls and Uberoi accusing her opponent of trying to influence the linespeople. Uberoi finally came through by a count of 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. Clearly a very upsetting loss for Krivencheva, who hurled her racket at the fence immediately following match point. She even continued arguing with the umpire and was still seated at her chair when Shikha's sister arrived on court for the next match. (2) Emily Webley-Smith vs. Daniela Kix Women's Qualifying Singles: Second Round Court 6 A battle of the blondes was on offer at Court 6. Fresh off a fine second round showing at Wimbledon (where she very nearly knocked off American veteran Amy Frazier), Emily Webley-Smith had to be playing with some confidence. Though relatively short and stocky, the Brit has plenty of talent, including a wicked serve. She fell into an early 3-0 hole here, but got on a roll thereafter. Webley-Smith was getting plenty of help from across the net, as Daniela Kix was a picture of flustered frustration. Kix's friend, Turkish player Ipek Senoglu, tried to calm her down from the sidelines, chiming in with helpful comments like "relax, relax" and "don't rush." It was no use. Missing one routine shot after another, Kix lost nine games on the trot to fall behind 6-3, 3-0. Taking that 3-0 lead by closing out a love hold with an ace, Webley-Smith had reason to figure she was destined for the final round of qualies. But the serve which had been such a weapon for her in that nine-game run suddenly abandoned her. Groaning over her multiple double faults, Webley-Smith had to come up with a lovely lob winner on the run to pull out a hold for 4-1. By now, Kix was focused and really in a groove on her forehand. She held at 15, broke at 15, and held at love to even the second set at 4 games apiece. The rest of the set went with serve as the lanky Austrian forced a tiebreak... Webley-Smith regained the momentum by breaking for a 2-1 lead in the final set, but her serve was still wildly inconsistent. Two double faults in Game 4 allowed Kix to break right back. A second consecutive break took the Austrian to 4-2 in the third. Webley-Smith had chances in Game 7, but after a couple deuces, she netted a forehand and let out a disgusted groan, now on the verge of elimination at 2-5. Webley-Smith cranked up a few nice serves to hold for 3-5, but soon enough, Kix had a match point on her own serve. A great rally ensued, ending when the Brit put a running forehand into the net. Daniela Kix advanced 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in a match Emily Webley-Smith really should have put away. Emily was consoled after the loss by compatriot Elena Baltacha. (1) Seiko Okamoto vs. Tanner Cochran Women's Qualifying Singles: Second Round Court 4 Georgia peach Tanner Cochran certainly won the fashion statement battle in this one. She turned up wearing a skintight, sky blue crop top and shorts, with a matching sky blue visor. Top seed Seiko Okamoto was more conservatively attired and playing the more consistent tennis. On serve at 2-3 in the opening set, Cochran fell apart, coughing up back to back double faults in a fruitless service game. Okamoto extended the lead to 5-2, but there was some fight left in the American, who was firing herself up with little thigh slaps. She held at love and played some creative, net-charging tennis in Game 9. Okamoto needed to fend off a break point with a service winner before wrapping up a 6-3 win of the first set. Cochran got to 2-2 in the second set before playing another sloppy game. "What IS that?!?" she cried out after one particularly weak forehand error. Sending a backhand wide on break point, Cochran hit her would-be second serve ball away in anger and appeared to lose confidence. Okamato wasn't doing anything especially spectacular, but she has an efficient baseline game and seems equally adept from both wings. The lady from Japan broke again for 5-2 and battled through one last competitive game on her own serve, completing a 6-3, 6-2 victory when Cochran misplayed a backhand return on match point. (6) Ipek Senoglu vs. Neha Uberoi Women's Qualifying Singles: Second Round Court 3 Okamoto's next opponent would come from the match taking place a mere hop and skip away on Court 3. 18-year-old Neha Uberoi was not matching sister Shikha's success from earlier in the day. In fact, she looked all at sea, trailing Ipek Senoglu of Turkey 6-2, 2-2. Back to back double faults nearly doomed Uberoi in the following game, but she eked out a hold for 3-2. She wouldn't be as fortunate the next time around, striking a defensive backhand wide on break point as Senoglu pulled ahead 4-3. Ipek wasn't looking much happier about her own game, bellowing "where else would she go?!?" after Neha slid a passing shot down the line early in Game 8. Uberoi just couldn't keep her backhand from flying, though, and she screamed "noooo!" after her latest unforced error made it 5-3 in the second. Uberoi had her head in her hands between points in Game 9, unable to believe how many mistakes she was making. Senoglu capitalized, finishing up a 6-2, 6-3 victory as one last Uberoi backhand sailed long. After the match, I asked Senoglu about her performance. "I'm happy with the way I stayed cool and mature through the match, 'cause she's a young player and obviously she's ambitious and she's playing very well," said the Turk in amazingly fluent English. "If I tried to prove to her that I was better, I guess it could be a lot tougher. I just tried to focus on my game and it went well." Senoglu recently endured a nightmare of an experience in China, playing a series of challenger events in which she says non-Chinese players were threatened, spat at, incessantly jobbed on line calls, and forced to make do with subhuman bathroom facilities. The situation in Schenectady is, needless to say, more to Ipek's liking. "I think obviously the conditions are better, because I don't think there is anything against the foreign players here, because I don't feel like Americans are treated differently. But in China, all of the foreign players have felt that we were not being treated fairly." Not that everything has been perfect in the Electric City. "I would also expect that a place like New York, which is the home of tennis, would have a better organization. But I guess the tournament is new here, so I just think that is just gonna get better." Ironically, the last player standing between Senoglu and a berth in the main draw is Seiko Okamoto, who beat her in Beijing at one of the unfortunate challenger tourneys mentioned earlier. "I lost to her in China and it was 7-6, 6-2 or 6-3, I believe," says Ipek, remembering the 7-6, 6-1 result being a tad closer than it was. "But it was after a 4 hour and 15 minutes match, so I guess conditions are different now. I look forward to it." (4) Casey Dellacqua vs. Francesca Lubiani Women's Qualifying Singles: Second Round Court 6 The last singles match of the day was an epic tussle. Francesca Lubiani is a 27-year-old journeywoman who actually appears to be in much better physical condition now than when she reached # 59 in the WTA rankings some seven years ago. Casey Dell'acqua, on the other hand, is a 19-year-old newcomer who would do herself a real favor by losing a few pounds. Despite their differences, the Italian and Aussie proved very evenly matched. Lubiani took the first set 6-4, lost the second by an identical score, and faced elimination as Dellacqua served for the match at 5-4 in the third. Casey tossed in a double fault on break point, however, and the lefties ended up deciding this one in a tiebreak... Francesca Lubiani's 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 triumph was emblematic of the day as a whole. The quality of the tennis was spotty, with flashes of real talent sprinkled among gaggles of unforced errors. The drama was undeniable, though, as Lubiani staved off three match points in advancing to a final round showdown with 8th seeded Varvara Lepchenko. Tuesday will see these qualifying hopefuls attempt to clear the last hurdle, along with the start of main draw action. |