Mr. Ed is...The Line Judge (September 15, 2001)
by Ed Zafian



It is hard to believe that only a week ago most of us were watching U.S. Open. With the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington DC, in many ways it seems as if the world has changed since then. This week's "Line Judge" takes a look at how the tennis community is reacting to the shocking events of September 11, 2001. The Manhattan skyline that the players have come to know over the years will be missing two of its greatest structures upon their next visit to Flushing Meadows.

Tennis Pauses

With most professional sporting events postponed in the States through this weekend, the WTA's debut tournament in Hawaii, the Big Island Championships, canceled matches on Tuesday, the day of the attack. All matches were rescheduled for Wednesday and the tournament has continued on schedule. On Friday, there was a noon day ceremony with Hawaiian chants of blessings and remembrance for those affected by what is being called a 21st century "Pearl Harbor." "Remembrance Leis" were placed above Stadium Court for the remainder of the day and then cast into the Pacific Ocean at sunset.

Observing a national day of mourning for the victims of the terrorist attack, tournament officials at the ATP's Gelsor Open in Romania canceled all matches on Friday. The tournament doubled up quarterfinal and semifinals on Saturday. Germany's Tomas Behrend, who upset the #1 seed Andrei Pavel, reflected on the week's events: "Just two weeks ago I was playing in the U.S. Open and I visited the World Trade Center."

On Friday, the US vs. India Davis Cup match scheduled to be played in Winston-Salem, NC next weekend was postponed for three weeks. The reason behind the cancellation was mostly due to logistics. Dr. Vece Paes, father of Leander and the India team doctor, said the players would have needed to arrive at the site this weekend in order to have enough time to practice for the tie. Leander Paes, scheduled to play both singles along with doubles with Mahesh Bhupati, had returned to India following the US Open. Bhupathi is currently in New York, while team captain Ramesh Krishnan was grounded in Washington DC. The All India Tennis Association stated: "We realized the situation did not warrant playing this Davis Cup match as scheduled and agreed to seek postponement until mid-October." Upon ITF approval, the tie will be contested October 12-14, with the winner remaining in the World Group for 2002.


Travel Delays & Fears

Upon the attack, all domestic air travel was suspended for several days. Tim Henman found himself diverted to Bermuda while on a British Airways flight from London to Miami where he hoped to practice for an upcoming Davis Cup match versus Ecuador. His agent said "he is currently stuck in Bermuda, trying to find a way of getting out and proceeding either to his training camp or to Guayaquil (Ecuador)."

On the eve of his break from his tennis career, the terrorist attacks might in fact send Patrick Rafter into permanent retirement. Currently back home in Australia, Rafter stated if the crisis worsens "I am staying home." Rafter, who would not have to travel by air to the season ending Masters Cup in Sydney, hopes to get in more matches before the end of the year but said he would not even head to Europe "if anything is going on."

Some Perspective

Gustavo Kuerten has been on the skids when it comes to his tennis of late. The #1 ranked player was soundly bounced from the US Open by Yevgeny Kafelnikov and followed that up this past week with a first round loss to his relatively unknown countryman Flavio Saretta at the inaugural Brasil Open. However, his post-match press conference Kuerten expressed his feelings about the day: "It is something that affects the whole world?It is only when things like these happen that we take notice that a bad loss or a big win mean nothing compared to what we are seeing."

No other player perhaps could have been more affected by the terrorist attacks on New York City than Lleyton Hewitt. Only two days prior to the attack, the young Australian won his first Grand Slam title and subsequently became the toast of the city. Hewitt spent much of Monday touring the city and appearing on New York-based television shows. He left on Monday evening and returned to Australia on what would be one of the last flights to leave the United States. Besides expressing his shock, Hewitt said: "All day yesterday I was travelling around in a car holding the US Open trophy around those streets?it sort of throws everything in perspective a little bit more. It's great that I won a few tennis matches but there is a lot more larger than tennis matches, that's for sure."


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