Feeling the Heat On Day Four
by Christopher Gerby
Arthurs/Zimonjic vs. Braasch/Burgsmuller
Men's Doubles: First Round
Court 9
Two days after his headline-making upset victory over Gustavo
Kuerten, Wayne Arthurs returned to action in doubles. If you wanted
to see big serves, Court 9 was the place to be on Thursday morning.
You probably know by now that Arthurs has a very nasty lefty serve,
but his partner Nenad Zimonjic can bring just as much heat from the
right side. Faced with the unenviable task of returning these
serves: German qualifiers Karsten Braasch and Lars Burgsmuller.
Braasch is one of the oldest players on the Tour and possibly the
most unique. His beard, glasses, deep voice, fondess for cigarettes,
bizarre service motion, and unofficial singles wins over the Williams
sisters make "Danger Man" stand out. It's also worth noting that
Burgsmuller pulled off the feat of qualifying in both singles and
doubles last week.
Arthurs opened the match with a service winner and held at love -- a
sign of things to come. Braasch quickly found himself down double
break point in Game 2 and netted a low forehand volley, swearing under
his breath as the Australian/Yugoslavian team took a 2-0 lead.
Zimonjic blasted an ace in a love hold for 3-0. Burgsmuller got
his team on the scoreboard, holding for 1-3, but Arthurs immediately
held at love for 4-1. As if the Germans weren't having enough
problems, Braasch faced another break point and Arthurs won it with
a winning lob return. Arthurs raised his racquet apologetically,
admitting it was a lucky shot. Braasch put away a forehand volley
to open Game 7, but Zimonjic answered with two aces and a service
winner to close out the 6-1 set. Arthurs/Zimonjic had played seven
games in 20 minutes, losing a total of just one point on serve!
Braasch/Burgsmuller finally got into a better rhythm in the second
set. Winning some return points and doing a better job protecting
their own serves, they hung in to 3-3. Braasch then showed how
dangerous his serve can still be, lauching two aces and a third
unreturnable serve in a love hold for 4-3. Undaunted, the 29-year-old
Aussie stepped up and answered with an ace of his own, holding at love
for 4-4. Burgsmuller got to 40-30 in Game 9, but his opponents battled
their way to break point and Zimonjic converted it, deftly putting
away a high backhand volley. The match was only about 50 minutes old,
but was surely just about over. Zimonjic made it official, jumping out
to 40-0 and smacking a service winner on match point. Recording three
aces a piece and looking virtually unbreakable, Wayne Arthurs and
Nenad Zimonjic advanced to the second round by a 6-1, 6-4 count.
Odds and Ends: I caught the end of a wild match on Court 7
between Elena Dementieva and Sylvia Plischke. The promising young
Russian led 6-3, 5-4 and earned double match point against Plischke's
serve. The very fit Austrian came up big when the chips were down,
though. She fought back to hold for 5-5 and then ran out a love
break for 6-5. The momentum swung again as Dementieva broke serve to
force a second set tiebreak. Some untimely errors from Dementieva
gave Plischke triple set point at 6-3 in the 'breaker. A third set
was certain to follow, right? Wrong. Hard-hitting Dementieva
tenaciously won five points in a row to take the tiebreak 8-6 and
the match 6-3, 7-6. A great effort from both players, who were
completely drenched with sweat by the end. Plischke probably needed
someone to pry her incredibly sticky clothes off her when she got back
to the locker room!
Over by Court 18, Debbie Graham was chatting with her mother and
some friends after a first round doubles win. Playing in the final
tournament of her career, Graham got a wild card with Katarina
Srebotnik. A massive pulmonary thromboembolism (blood clot of the lungs) nearly ended Debbie's life,
not to mention her career, five years ago. She bravely returned to
the circuit, but a reoccurrence of the problem earlier this season
has convinced her to retire. Debbie appeared to be wearing glitter on
her arms Thursday afternoon, but explained it was "the new Lucy.com
sunscreen." Meanwhile, I have to wonder what SPF level Amy Frazier
needs. After seeing her hanging around the grounds in street clothes
and sunglasses, I have but one question. How can a woman who spends
every day of her life hitting balls out in the sun have such pale
skin?
Dominique van Roost vs. Lilia Osterloh
Women's Singles: Second Round
Grandstand
Although clouds would occasionally drift overhead and offer temporary
relief, the sun was really beating down by the time Dominique van
Roost and Lilia Osterloh took to the Grandstand court for their
second round match. It was a groundstroke battle right from the
start, with each player pushing the other from side to side across
the baseline. The first break point yielded the first break, as a
running Van Roost lofted a beautiful backhand lob for a 3-1 lead. Van
Roost followed with an impressive love hold for 4-1. She really seems
to be stepping into her serve better these days -- not getting a
better percentage of them in, but adding a bit to her velocity.
However, it was Osterloh tallying a pair of aces in a hold for 2-4
and then breaking for 3-4. A product of the Stanford tennis factory
(she won the NCAA singles title there in her freshman year), Osterloh
was admirably holding her own in the hard-hitting rallies with the
12th seed.
Osterloh saved a break point in Game 8 with a backhand winner down
the line. Van Roost fought right back, thought, getting the ad with a
backhand winner and breaking for 5-3 by whipping a forehand winner on
the dead run. The Belgian's attempt to then serve out the set was a
struggle. She twice fought off break point, but eventually sent a
forehand wide for 5-4. A displeased Van Roost purposefully walked up
to the chair and asked the umpire to admonish a couple courtside
photographers for shooting between her first and second serves.
Between the humidity, those clicking cameras, and Osterloh's very solid
return game, nothing was easy for Dominique van Roost on Thursday
afternoon. An exchange of holds got her to 6-5 and she had a clear
edge in the stats (7 more winners and 1 fewer error than Osterloh).
However, Lilia held at love to force a tense first set tiebreak...
- Winning DvR smash -- 1-0 VAN ROOST
- DvR clocks a winning forehand return -- 2-0 VAN ROOST
- LO service winner -- 2-1 VAN ROOST
- DvR double fault -- 2-2
- DvR service winner -- 3-2 VAN ROOST
- A lunging DvR sends a forehand wide -- 3-3
- LO double falt -- 4-3 VAN ROOST
- DvR nets a forehand -- 4-4
- LO is long with a backhand return -- 5-4 VAN ROOST
- A low ball from DvR draws an error from LO -- 6-4 VAN ROOST
- DvR drives a backhand long on set point -- 6-5 VAN ROOST
- Tremendous rally ends with DvR barely missing a backhand pass -- 6-6
- DvR makes a forehand error and swipes at the court with her racquet -- 7-6 OSTERLOH
- LO nets a backhand -- 7-7
- DvR sends a lunging forehand wide -- 8-7 OSTERLOH
- LO confidently smacks a winning forehand -- 9-7 OSTERLOH
Both players were obviously desperate to avoid losing that grueling
57-minute set. Van Roost looked quite deflated as the second set got
underway and Osterloh took a 2-0 lead. Van Roost got her flat
groundies going again in Game 3, though, and broke back. A running
backhand winner down the line closed out Dominique's love hold for
2-2. An exchange of holds took the set to 3-3, both players giving
their all. Van Roost played scintillating tennis in Game 7, ripping a
backhand pass for 30-40 and a down-the-line forheand laser to break
for 4-3. After looking like she might fade away early in the set,
Van Roost was making things very interesting. Her husband/coach Bart
even decided to get closer to the action, moving down from the third
row of the players box to the front row. His wife held for 5-3 and
hit a two clean return winners in a row to force Deuce in Game 9.
Lilia still had a good percentage of the crowd urging her on, though,
and she held for 4-5. The set's tenth game was a war. Osterloh
valiantly saved three set points, the third by catching the baseline
with a return. Van Roost got set point # 4 with a service winner,
though, and Osterloh finally hit a forehand wide to end it. Second
set to the 14th seed, 6 games to 4.
After 94 minutes of pitched battle in the blazing afternoon heat,
Dominique van Roost left the court. I assumed it was a bathroom or
shirt change break, but the chair umpire finally announced that Van
Roost had called for the trainer and was having an off-court
evaluation. "They're treating her inside now," she told a confused
Osterloh. The Ohio native waited restlessly. She did some stretching and
slowly walked over to her coach, who just shrugged his shoulders. After
six minutes had elapsed, the umpire announced that a doctor had been
called. Shortly after that, another announcement followed: "Due to
illness, Miss Van Roost can not continue. Game, set, match Osterloh."
In a real tennis rarity, a heat-striken Dominique won the final point
but lost the match, deciding she could not last through a third set.
Osterloh looked genuinely disappointed when she got the news -- this
was not the way she wanted to end one of the biggest wins of her
career. However, a round of applause and some kind words from
autograph-seekers cheered her up. One boy asked if he could have one
of Lilia's racquets, to which she smiled and said, "I need those."
She'll try to put them to good use in the third round, where she'll
be favored over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe.
Carlsson/Jeyaseelan vs. Maleeva/Nagyova
Women's Doubles: First Round
Court 17
After refilling my water bottle (gotta stay hydrated on a day like
this) and checking out the practice court scene (a heavily perspiring
Sabine Appelmans was hitting with doubles partner Linda Wild), I made
my way to Court 17. Qualifiers Magdalena Maleeva and Henrieta
Nagyova -- better known for their singles prowess -- had a 5-4 lead
over the entertaining tandem of Asa Carlsson and Sonya Jeyaseelan.
All four players were gone from singles competition, but at least
they'd been felled by the best. Maleeva lost a couple hours earlier
to Mary Pierce. Nagyova was ousted by Jennifer Capriati on Wednesday.
Carlsson went down to Chanda Rubin on Day One. Jeyaseelan was
defeated by Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario in the second round.
When Jeyaseelan hit a two-handed forehand over the baseline for 30-40,
the qualifiers had a set point. However, scrappy Sonya answered with a
big forehand winner down the middle for deuce. A few points later,
Maleeva netted a swing volley to finish Jeyaseelan's hold for 5-5.
Nagyova double faulted in Game 11, which Jeyaseelan eventually won with
an enthusiastically-struck backhand volley. Not long after her team
was staring down a set point, Carlsson had a chance to serve it out.
At 30-30, she thumped an ace, which prompted Jeyaseelan to shout,
"Yes!" On set point, Maleeva pushed a backhand volley over the
baseline. First set to the Swedish-Canadian pairing, 7-5.
Maleeva and Jeyaseelan held to open the second set. Facing a break
point at 1-1, Nagyova committed an unforced forehand error. The
Slovakian slouched down in her chair on the changeover, looking
quite dispirited. Maleeva wasn't much happier -- she let out a
piercing shriek after netting a backhand in Game 4. Also in that
game, Jeyaseelan somehow hit a winning overhead off the frame of her
racquet. Sonya covered her mouth with her hand, looking
embarr-amused (to coin a phrase). A Nagyova backhand -- ruled out on a
late call -- then took the score to 7-5, 3-1. Maleeva saved a break
point with an ace in Game 5, but missed a backhand to surrender
another break. She and Nagyova didn't appear to be playing with much
purpose or strategy now.
Jeyaseelan held for 5-1. Intense as ever, the Canadian screamed after
netting a volley in Nagyova's love hold for 2-5. Once again, it was
Carlsson's job to serve out the set. She opened Game 8 with a very
questionable ace. Henrieta dropped her racquet and held her hands
about five inches apart, indicating how much she thought the serve
had missed by. At 30-0, Jeyaseelan made a pair of leaping gets off
overhead smashes, but Maleeva finally put one away for 30-15.
Carlsson blasted another ace for 40-15, setting up double match point.
"Great serve!", Jeyaseelan enthused. Nagyova then went out meekly,
sending a forehand return well long to close it out 7-5, 6-2.
Justine Henin vs. Alicia Molik
Women's Singles: Second Round
Court 13
Mega-talented (if not mega-sized) Justine Henin was crusing in her
second round match. I arrived to find her leading 6-2, 4-1. Not
having a good time at all was Alicia Molik, who spent the entire
changeover badgering the chair umpire about some line calls. Molik
is a big, leggy blonde with a powerful serve and a slice backhand.
The fact that such a challenging player is ranked outside the Top 100
is either a testament to the increasing depth of the women's tour or a
sign that Molik is seriously underachieving. Either way, it wasn't
terribly surprising to see Henin with such a big lead. The young
Belgian is powerful from both sides (her one-handed backhand may be
second to only Amelie Mauresmo in the WTA ranks), is comfortable at
the net, and plays with an abundance of competitive fire.
Still taking this match very seriously, Henin screamed at herself
following an error in Game 6. It was a good two-deuce contest, but
Henin finally drilled a forehand pass to hold for 5-1. Showcasing
her own skills, Molik scored two aces on her way to 2-5. The big
serve which ended Game 7 looked like a fault to Henin. "Open your
eyes," she hissed at the umpire before taking a seat. Aussie
photographers snapped away at Molik throughout the ensuing changeover,
perhaps realizing she wasn't going to be on court much longer.
Justine saw to that -- she closed out a love hold with a service
winner and an ace. 18-year-old Justine Henin looked up to the
stands and pumped her fist, having impressively finished up a 6-2,
6-2 rout. It's been an easy tournament thus far for Anna Kournikova,
but she may need her A game to handle Henin on Saturday.
Sugiyama/Bhupathi vs. Habsudova/Rikl
Mixed Doubles: First Round
Court 18
1999 U.S. Open mixed doubles champions Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama
weren't exactly starting their title defense in grand style.
Relegated to the most remote of the National Tennis Center's
outer courts, they dropped a 6-3 opening set to Czech lefty David Rikl
and Slovakian slugger Karina Habsudova. (Yes, another
Czech-Slovak combination, following in the footsteps of Wednesday
evening's entertaining Novak/Husarova performance.) Bhupathi held to
open the second set, but Habsudova played very well in Rikl's hold
to 1-1 and hammered home an overhead to finish a break of Sugiyama
for 2-1. Rikl knocked off a winning backhand volley to end
Habsudova's hold for 3-1. The upset bid then really picked up
momentum at 30-40 in Game 5, as Bhupathi double faulted to give
away a second break. The Asian combination just looked flat right
now, while a very cheerful Habsudova and Rikl were bounding around
the court and firing on all cylinders.
Sugiyama and Bhupathi weren't even communicating well -- they went
after the same ball at 40-15 in Game 6, losing the point when their
racquets collided. At 15-15 in the following game, Bhupathi hit a
smash at Habsudova, who showed incredible reflexes in blocking back
a volley winner. Karina raised her arms and flashed a smile as
bright as the mid-afternoon sun. Two points later, Ai Sugiyama double
faulted, bringing the 6-3, 6-1 contest to an abrupt conclusion.
Bhupathi and Sugiyama lingered in their chairs for quite a while
afterward, maybe trying to figure out what on earth had just happened
to them. Karina Habsudova and David Rikl left quickly, happily
heading to the second round of the mixed doubles event, where
Sandrine Testud and Diego Nargiso await.
Schett/Eagle vs. Raymond/Paes
Mixed Doubles: First Round
Court 6
After taking in the end of Arnaud Clement's win over Andre Agassi on
the very cool new jumbo screen atop Louis Armstrong Stadium, I
headed to Court 6 to see the other half of the Indian Express. A
year ago at this time, Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes was the # 1 doubles
team on the planet. Unfortunately, a personality conflict between
their respective entourages broke up the partnership. Having found
very limited success apart, Bhupathi and Paes are (temporarily?) back
together, preparing to represent their country in the Sydney Olympics.
However, they didn't exactly pick up right where they left off.
Jaime Oncins and Daniel Orsanic rudely escorted the Indians out of the
men's doubles event, beating them in three sets earlier in the day.
With Bhupathi then losing badly in mixed doubles, the pair's last
hope was the mixed partnership between Paes and Lisa Raymond.
Paes and Raymond won Wimbledon together last year and Lisa recently
became the # 1 women's doubles player in the world. Alas, Leander's
faltering doubles results have taken him out of the men's Top 50, so
this talented team wasn't even seeded. Rather, Barbara Schett and
Joshua Eagle were the 6th-seeded favorites (at least on paper) in
this first round match. Eagle -- a hefty, jovial bloke from Down
Under -- held serve to open the match. Paes, who recently shaved his
head, notched an ace in holding for 1-1. The games continued with
serve to 4-4. High points along the way included Leander nearly
succeeding on a flashy "Sabatweenie" attempt and Barbara serving an
ace past him. An ace from Eagle completed a love hold for 5-4. That
was well received by the Aussie-Austrian combo's little cheering
section, who referred to them as "Superman" and "Babsi."
Schett scored a winning backhand volley to earn double set point
against the Paes serve. However, Leander saved them both, catching
the baseline with a forehand and recording a service winner.
Raymond knocked off a backhand volley to win the game and even the
set at 5 games apiece. Schett held for 6-5 and Raymond overcame a
double fault to do likewise for 6-6. You guessed it -- time for a
point-by-point synopsis of the first set tiebreak...
- JE ace -- 1-0 SCHETT/EAGLE
- LP double fault -- 2-0 SCHETT/EAGLE
- LR nets an overhead smash -- 3-0 SCHETT/EAGLE
- BS double fault -- 3-1 SCHETT/EAGLE
- LR badly shanks a high backhand volley -- 4-1 SCHETT/EAGLE
- LR nets an off-balance forehand volley -- 5-1 SCHETT/EAGLE
- Overhead smash put away by LR -- 5-2 SCHETT/EAGLE
- LP buries a low forehand volley in the net -- 6-2 SCHETT/EAGLE
- JE drives a backhand winner down the line -- 7-2 SCHETT/EAGLE
"The Big Mo" (momentum) was now squarely in the Schett/Eagle camp.
They were playing the more solid doubles, while Raymond was making
an uncharacteristic number of miscues and Paes was too often going for
unreasonably spectacular shots. Barbara and Josh took a 3-1 lead in
the second set. Meanwhile, a little girl and her mother took seats
in the front row. "Which team has Eagle?", the kid excitedly asked a
nearby spectator. Maybe she was trying to get autographs from
all players with last names that are also nouns -- she was gleefully
carrying around a ball signed by obscure doubles specialist Mariano
Hood. After Paes held for 2-3, the little girl ran up behind Eagle's
chair and asked for his autograph. This is simply not done in the
middle of a match, of course, and Josh ignored her. It didn't take
long to figure out where the girl got her abysmal manners -- her mother
chattered away on a cell phone at two different junctures in the
second set.
Paes/Raymond were finally getting on track. They earned a break
point against Eagle and converted it when he missed a backhand volley.
Schett/Eagle struck right back, though, and put Lisa Raymond through
her paces in a 14-point seventh game. Lisa, who recently lost her
appeal to be added to the U.S. Olympic team, finally netted a low
backhand volley to surrender the break for 3-4. Game 8 was also
close (and featured lovely touch from Paes on a sharply angled backhand
winner), but Schett held for 5-3. Paes held at love for 4-5, but his
team was still down a break. Keeping up his high first serve
percentage, Eagle took a 40-0 lead, good for triple match point.
Paes lined up what looked certain to be a winning, match-extending
overhead, but it landed just wide. An 0-for-3 day for the Indian
Express ended with this 7-6, 6-4 loss. As they met at the net, the
women got kisses on the cheek from the men...and yes, the little girl
did get her Joshua Eagle autograph. Schett and Eagle move on to
meet Janette Husarova and Jiri Novak in the second round.
If you ever get a chance, go watch a mixed doubles match in person.
They're usually played in a nice spirit of fun and feature some great
rallies. Schett/Eagle vs. Paes/Raymond was an entertaining way to
finish my four days at the 2000 US Open and Husarova/Novak vs.
McNeil/Blake was probably my favorite match of the week. Other
memories: seeing youngsters Justine Henin and Meghann Shaughnessy
really come into their own... witnessing a breakthrough win for the
contagiously enthusiastic Bryan twins...getting my first looks at
Daja Bedanova, Petra Mandula, and a very impressive Hyung-Taik Lee...
taking in the high quality and high drama of Osterloh-Van Roost from a
front row seat on the Grandstand... and bidding likely farewells to
Sabine Appelmans and Goran Ivanisevic.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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