Similar to my ubitennis compatriot’s piece, the Day Three Grounds Pass Diary by Matthew Marolf, what follows are not match reports so much as observations from Tuesday and Wednesday at the Open. Tuesday was rained out, officially, and I saw only a set and a half of Francesca Schiavone versus Kaia Kanepi (previewed in my list of intriguing matches). Though I did not attend the night matches, Wednesday was a full day.
As I head out to Flushing from Manhattan, I reflect that this is the first time I can remember going to the US Open wearing trousers. It’s a bit chilly, and decidedly damp. The weather forecast is for rain late in the afternoon. Normally it’s hot, very hot, and instead of bringing a waterproof one has to consider what level of sunscreen lotion to carry. I leave for the tennis, hoping the forecasters are right.
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Getting to the United States Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (a mouthful if ever there was one), I immediately go to Court 15 to see Schiavone/Kanepi. As a fan of the Italian’s I’m not disappointed; she’s up 3/0, and then 4/0. For the most part the points are entertaining; Kanepi, much bigger than I thought, cracks the ball, every ball, all at the same speed, while Schiavone has a zillion different ways to drive a ball over the net. That’s not to say she pushes the ball, far from it, but we’re treated to heavy topspin, sidespin, hard driven slice, floating slice, volleys, and moonballs. It’s a fascinating contrast, made more intense by Schiavone’s mobility.
If memory serves, the 37 year old Schiavone, the winner at Roland Garros in 2009, has said this is her last full year on tour. She’s had little of the success of her heyday, though she did take the title at Bogota, over Lara Arruabarrena, the Italian’s first title since 2013. She’s been fading away in 3 set matches more and more frequently. No one escapes Father (or Mother) Time.
During the match we’re quietly treated to a couple of wonderful Schiavone mannerisms: she taps her sneakers with her racquet, as if she’s on clay (old habits die hard), and when the umpire, the well-known Pascal Maria, asks her opinion about whether the court has become too slick to play in the light rain that starts to fall, she swipes her foot across one of the painted lines, looks at him, imploringly smooshes her face, raises her shoulders and put two fingers so close together you almost cannot see any space between them. Had she brought a plate of pasta out of her tennis bag it would not have been more Italian.
Play is halted, twice, and then like all the matches on Tuesday play is called off officially. Kanepi had begun asserting herself in the second set; when the match is called she’s ahead 4/2, though she lost the first 0/6. Even with a night’s rest Schiavone can’t overcome Kanepi’s greater firepower when they resume on Wednesday. It was evident that her serve has suffered, no longer piercing and now more attack-able, and she goes out in the first round. Well done to Kaia Kanepi, but when her last match is over the tennis world will be a little poorer without Francesca Schiavone.
Kanepi defeats Schiavone 0/6 6/4 6/2
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Wednesday turns out to be a thoroughly beautiful day; the temperature never gets above 79º (26º C), and there’s an occasional light breeze.
Upon arrival I make my way to Court 10, where Richard Gasquet is battling Leonardo Mayer, hero of Argentina’s 2016 Davis Cup semifinal against Great Britain, when he stepped in to replace Juan Martin del Potro in the reverse singles and sealed the tie with a win over Dan Evans.
This is another match that was halted by Tuesday’s rain, with Gasquet having taken the first set and, I believe, their being in the middle of the second.
Mayer, who I’ve never seen live before, is an all-or-nothing guy. He misses a few second serves by 5’ or more. Holding back is not his thing. While it seems Gasquet’s game plan is to be firm but not too, too aggressive, to force play while still giving Mayer enough rope to hang himself, I’ve seen Gasquet play more assertively.
There’s been talk of the courts being slower this year than last, and slow in general. Does this hamper Gasquet? I check his career hard court results; his flamboyant game translates on clay, but oddly (given his florid strokes) even more so on grass. Statistically his hard court game is his weakest, though not by a lot. Evidently hard courts are not slow enough for him to play the clay-zy game, or fast enough for him to finish points quickly as on grass.
In the fourth set a Gasquet groundstroke hits the net in a long rally and dribbles over for a winner. Gasquet raises his hand in apology and, with Mayer not having seen it, makes sure he does it again as he gets ready to serve so the Argentinean takes note of it. Tradition dies hard (not a bad thing).
Mr. All-Or-Nothing brings it, often enough, and takes the match from Mr. Not-So-Intense. Argentinean supporters cheer the win, breaking out in their chant of “ole ole, ole ole,” feared by all of Argentina’s Davis Cup opponents.
Leonardo Mayer defeats Gasquet 3/6 6/2 6/4 6/2
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As I walk around I notice, from the back, a fellow with a shaved head and an earring. I’m reminded of Ted Tinling. Later in the day I see Ion Tiriac walking about. Anyone who thinks tennis was a lily-white sport in the 70s needs to read up. (When I comment that you’d think being worth billions, like Tiriac, would mean one could dress better, Andrew says, “Hmm, maybe he’s depressed…..”)
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In the past I’ve commented on fashion trends at the Open; neon was big two years ago, it continued last year with the addition of sheer fabrics. This year? I can detect no overriding themes. It’s a fallow year in tennis fashion. Adidas’ color block kits are attractive, rather Mondrian-like, but other than that the outfits are rather “eh”.
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Another first round match I took note of is the 2006 Australian Open finalist, veteran Marcos Baghdatis, against the young American Taylor Fritz, for many of the same reasons I mentioned other matches: a recurring theme of youth versus age. I made my way to their court, wanting to see the Californian whose game has been compared to Pete Sampras’.
Whatever else about Fritz’s game might be like Pistol Pete’s, the one thing that’s really reminiscent of the all-time great Sampras is Fritz’s serve; it’s not that it’s big, which it is, but to use a popular phrase in tennis today, the kid’s got easy power, as in super easy power. If there was a competition between Sampras and Fritz as to who looks like they’re working less hard in hitting huge serves I’d give the nod to Sampras, but man does Fritz hit the cover off the ball without appearing to strain at all. This is especially true when you watch Baghdatis, who’s always been (rightly) considered a smooth player. All of his talent for timing aside, and it’s considerable, the Cypriot’s service motion is all exertion compared to Fritz’s, which is relaxed, much, much faster, and heavy. Baghdatis moves better than Fritz, much better, but the American bangs the cover off the ball when he serves, and looks like he ain’t working at all when he does it.
A final note of comparison with Sampras’ serve: Taylor Fritz is still a young gun, not yet 20 years old, so this could change, but while he’s got that easy power he doesn’t have Sampras’ serving accuracy. Years ago I wrote that Sampras could hit a dime with his serve and leave 9¢ change behind. This is not a knock, because most every tennis pro comes up short in the regard, but Fritz has a ways to go before mimicking that part of Sampras’ game.
I stay through the end of the second set. Baghdatis still has plenty of game, but not enough to overcome his younger and more powerful opponent. A bit like Gasquet, his intensity wavers. Twice I watch Baghdatis break serve only to follow it up with lackadaisical service games of his own, played without much intensity, giving up the break advantage each time. The onslaught of time, again?
Fritz defeats Baghdatis 6/4 6/4 6/3
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A brief stay at the practice courts follows. I see Martina Hingis playing a practice set of doubles. “There are all these people here watching the tennis, who play themselves,” I think, “and hardly any of them find it worthwhile to watch the one player who can probably teach them more about how to improve their own games than any of the young, big-hitting phenoms.”
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Want to know how the players get to take a bathroom break so quickly on the outside courts? Private bathrooms. Just not like what you think of when one says, “private”.
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The New Grandstand is a good court for spectators. But it’s not the Old Grandstand. The New holds more seats, and the late day shade doesn’t cut across the court like it did at the Old, making play tough for the pros and harder to watch for the punters, but jeez, the Old Grandstand had an atmosphere, and a sound when the ball was struck, that were really special.
Oh well, youth v age, yet again.
Svetlana Kuznetsova is playing Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic as I go to see my first-ever match on the New Grandstand. The Russian has lost the first set, 4/6, and though as I mentioned the weather isn’t super hot, she’s walking around as if her dog’s just died and she’s had three heart attacks while on court. She’s looking beat. And her tennis looks it, too. She’s got zero rhythm and is really struggling against the 67th ranked WTA player.
When I was waiting in the entry tunnel to get a seat, I can see Vondrousova for a few points. She’s not having to move out of the center of the court too much. Was Kuznetsova trying to work her way back into the match, focusing on keeping the ball in play and not much else? It appears that way. Slowly she ekes out enough points to grab the second set, and the third goes in much the same fashion: neither player holds serve often, and when they do it’s not easily, but between Kuznetsova’s insistence that she not give up and Vondrousova’s unforced errors they find their way to the business end of the third set; the quality of play had picked up some at about 4/4, but it goes up another notch now, and eventually the Russian serves at 5/6 to save.
At this point Kuznetsova serves 10 first serves in in a row; 6 in this game which she wins, bringing them to the tiebreaker, and then 4 more in the ‘breaker. As tired as Kuznetsova had looked, the Czech starts looking even more bedraggled. Kuznetsova gets the win. Not every victory is beautiful to watch. Some are only wonderful to achieve.
Kuznetsova defeats Vondrousova 4/6 6/4 7/6 (2)
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And lastly, Sasha Zverev saving the life of a ladybug on the practice courts.