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by Christopher Gerby Iroda Tulyaganova (22) vs. Marta Marrero Women's Singles: First Round Court 15 Back-to-back titles in Vienna and Knokke-Heist helped vault 19-year-old Iroda Tulyaganova into the Top 25 this summer. With a serve that has been clocked at 119 miles per hour, "Iri" is a young woman with loads of potential. She sure looked it on Tuesday morning, winning four games over Marta Marrero in about ten minutes. The fifth game went to deuce, but Tulyaganova closed that out with an ace. Marrero is a very capable player in her own right (having reached the French Open quarterfinals last year), but she was getting absolutely blitzed. An exchange of holds closed out a very brisk 6-1 opening set. Marrero was so disoriented, she went out to the wrong side of the court following the break between sets. She quickly dropped serve and bounced her racquet in disgust. But the Spaniard started to find the range on her groundstrokes and managed to make a good run, winning three games in a row for a 3-2 second set lead. Tulyaganova ended her next two service games with aces, tying the set at 4-4. The teen from Uzbekistan then played a brilliant return game, breaking at love with a winning topspin lob. Marrero fought her way to 30-40 in Game 10, but lost the break point with a backhand error. Two points later, Iroda Tulyaganova blasted a forehand winner to secure a berth in the second round. The 6-1, 6-4 victory was a very impressive display of power, finesse, and personality. Tulyaganova is an intense competitor who's also willing to crack a few smiles in the heat of battle. Alicia Molik vs. Bethanie Mattek Women's Singles: First Round Court 7 Perhaps best known as Ashley Harkleroad's semi-regular doubles partner, Bethanie Mattek is a promising young player in her own right. The 16-year-old already has a win over Elena Likhovtseva. Here in her Grand Slam debut, Mattek split sets with big-shouldered Aussie Alicia Molik. Despite one of the fastest serves in women's tennis and a versatile backhand, Molik hasn't put together consistent results in her pro career. The third set would be a trial by fire for both the newcomer and the underachiever, who made for an almost dead even matchup. The opening game of the final set lasted six excruciating deuces and was amazingly followed by three more multi-deuce games. Both players had to be kicking themselves over missed opportunities, but they were still on equal terms at 2-2. A very untimely double fault by Bethanie Mattek decided the first break of the set, giving Molik a 3-2 lead. She overcame a double of her own to hold for 4-2. Molik was starting to make things happen off the ground, but Mattek fought off a break point and celebrated her win of Game 7 with a vigorous shake of her fist. Alicia and Bethanie traded easy holds to give Molik a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve it out. She quickly got to triple match point, but double faulted to 40-15 and netted a forehand to 40-30. Would the much taller, more experienced player wilt under the pressure? The answer was no -- Molik came up with an unreturnable serve on match point # 3 to send Mattek packing 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. A good learning experience for the Floridian and a turning point for the Australian, who went on to score an upset over 15th-seeded Magdalena Maleeva in the second round. Ashley Harkleroad vs. Meilen Tu Women's Singles: First Round Court 11 Ashley Harkleroad's appearance at the Arthur Ashe Kids Day festivities proved her status as a rising star. The photogenic 16-year-old handily won a game of "Survivor Tennis" by drawing huge ovations from the crowd, largely made up of girls who want to be her and boys who want to date her. Some of those young men made their way to Court 11 on Tuesday and filled the first couple rows behind Harkleroad's chair. Needless to say, they were quite pleased when Ashley removed her warmup jacket and unveiled a tiny, body-hugging, midriff-baring, cleavage-exposing outfit. Harkleroad has welcomed comparisons to Anna Kournikova and will do nothing to discourage them by dressing like that. "I think it was a little revealing," she later admitted about her attire. "It was tight and it was short, but I like things like that and (Nike) liked it on me." Harkleroad's tennis looked noteworthy early on, as he started out by holding at love with an ace. However, she was in tough against a tricky customer in Meilen Tu. The 23-year-old (herself a former phenom) has one of the oddest service motions I've ever seen. It is extremely slow and deliberate, with Meilen appearing to either slip into a trance or ponder the mysteries of the universe before finally throwing the ball. The toss itself is quite high and she had to catch it countless times because of the mildly windy conditions. Looking very focused and determined, Tu opened up a 5-2 lead in the first set. Harkleroad stormed back, breaking for 3-5 and launching a service winner to 4-5. However, it was too little too late in the opening frame. Ashley mis-hit a backhand return on set point to lose it 6-4. Harkleroad lost the set, but hadn't lost the crowd. "Come on, gorgeous," one kid yelled after she held for a 1-0 lead in the second set. Harkleroad responded with a couple service breaks and a 98 mile per hour ace, pulling ahead 4-1. Tu was losing her way, spraying errors and getting irritated over line calls. Give all due credit to Harkleroad, though. The native of Flintstone, Georgia already does a lot of little things right. She keeps her feet moving at all times and sets up her shots well. While she doesn't have knock-your-socks-off power, she was able to counterpunch effectively enough to take a 6-2 second set off Meilen Tu. The opening game of the third set was huge. On break point, Tu ripped a forehand into the corner, overpowering Harkleroad and regaining control of the match. Tu broke again for 3-0 and started painting the lines with impeccable groundstrokes, negating the crowd's hopes for a comeback. Harkleroad looked more and more upset, hastily snapping a towel out of a ball boy's hands after falling behind 0-5. Like most teenagers, Ashley has a churlish side -- she bounced her racquet repeatedly during a Monday morning practice session and didn't look any more composed here. She did keep fighting, lacing a cross-court forehand winner to save one match point. Tu earned a second, looking very pumped up after driving home a big swing volley. On match point # 2, Tu ran up to a short ball, put away a winning backhand, and crashed into the net. The touch came after the ball bounced twice, though, so it was a legitimate winner. Meilen applauded the crowd with her racquet...even though most of the fans had been cheering for her opponent. Ashley beat a hasty retreat without signing any autographs, disappointed that her Grand Slam coming out party ended in a 6-4, 2-6, 6-0 defeat. Gianluca Pozzi vs. Jack Brasington Men's Singles: First Round Court 13 One of the great stories of this year's qualifying event was the unlikely run made by an unknown Texan named Jack Brasington. He survived a 16-14 third set tiebreak in the opening round and defeated the tour's oldest player, 36-year-old Ronald Agenor in the final round. The luck of the draw had Brasington making his main draw debut against the ATP's other 36-year-old, Gianluca Pozzi. The Italian stalwart (competing in his 13th US Open) has yet to give any indication of whether he'll be back next year, so fans wanting to check out his old-fashioned slice and spin game would be advised to do so in a hurry. That view was apparently shared by a rather staggering collection of retired tennis champions. Roy Emerson, Stan Smith, and Jose Higueras were seated together in the stands and Tom Gullikson showed up to join them at the same time I arrived. Brasington had taken early control of the match, winning the first two sets 6-3, 6-4. However, he fell behind in the third and lost it 6-2 on two consecutive double faults. Crafty old Pozzi was using his buggy whip forehand, touch around the net, and all-around leftyness to great effect. Pozzi was having some problems with chair umpire Jorge Diaz, but fewer problems than before with Brasington, whose fairly one-dimensional game (lots of forehands from the back court) was falling short. Brasington netted a couple routine groundstrokes in Game 6, surrendering the fourth set's first break. Pozzi served up an ace in holding to 5-2 and whipped an unreturnable forehand pass two games later to close out a 6-3 win of the set. Jack Brasington's Cinderella story went to a fifth set -- the very first of his entire career. Pozzi was getting into a really tough groove on his serve, but Brasington's power was keeping him on pace. At 2-2 in the fifth, Pozzi found the range with two more forehand winners to open up a 0-40 lead on Brasington's serve. Yet the unheralded American stayed remarkably calm, fighting off six break points and a time violation warning before finally holding for 3-2. Soon it was Brasington holding a break point of his own. At 30-40, "Little Jack" hit a backhand which clipped the tape and fell in for a lucky winner and a 4-2 lead. Pozzi ran up and whacked the ball clear out of Court 13, which is more of a feat than you might think. With relatively high walls on three of its four sides, 13 has the most enclosed feel of the US Open's outer courts. That can create some great atmosphere, especially when a story this dramatic is unfolding. The drama took another swing as Pozzi broke right back, scored an easy hold for 4-4, and got two more chances to break Brasington. Jack replied with a timely ace and closed out the game with a couple service winners. Finally allowing himself a show of emotion, Brasington pumped his fist, carrying a 5-4 lead to the changeover. The score quickly went to 6-5 and the mostly pro-Brasington crowd begged their man to end it right here. He got to match point, but the grizzled veteran came up with a brilliant stretch volley for deuce. On match point # 2, Pozzi struck a winning forehand pass. On # 3, it was a backhand winner from the Italian. On # 4, it was a perfectly placed Pozzi forehand down the line. On # 5, it was Brasington finally cracking with a poor backhand return. Brasington errors on the next two points ended the indescribably tense game and took us to a fifth set tiebreak.
Nathalie Dechy vs. Daniela Hantuchova Women's Singles: First Round Court 7 Two of the best players not seeded in the women's draw met on Tuesday evening. Nathalie Dechy (chosen by the New York Post as one of the "hotties" best suited to fill absent Anna Kournikova's shoes) went up a break on reigning Wimbledon mixed doubles champion Daniela Hantuchova. Trying to serve it out at 5-4, Dechy played a miserable game, breaking herself with a forehand into the net. Hantuchova (wearing a slightly more conservative version of Ashley Harkleroad's outfit) cracked some big forehands in holding to 6-5. Game 12 went to deuce and Dechy choked again, double faulting twice in a row to lose the set. Nathalie was coming unglued and, in classic French style, becoming annoyed by things around her. "Can you tell them to shut up their mouth during the points?" she asked the umpire about some fans who were quietly chatting early in Set 2. The set went with serve to 4-4, with Hantuchova becoming impatient with her inability to put away Dechy. It was the young Czech being broken for 5-4 and angrily banging her racquet against the court surface. This time Dechy served it out confidently, driving a backhand down the line at 40-15 and pumping her fist. Dechy followed her 6-4 win of the second set by heading off to a bathroom break. She came back to grab an early advantage in the final set, breaking for 2-1. Hantuchova threw her racquet and left the court for a shirt change break. If that was a bit of gamesmanship, all it did was make an already fired up Nathalie Dechy even more intense. After a backhand winner gave her a 3-1 lead, she looked across the net right at Hantuchova while raising a clenched fist. Hantuchova is a good young player with powerful groundstrokes and legs that go on forever, but her inexperience was showing in the late stages of this match. She fell behind 1-5, making too many unforced errors. Hantuchova held for 2-5, but went down meekly in the following game, netting a backhand on match point. Nathalie Dechy was absolutely overjoyed, beaming with pride after overcoming first set jitters to post a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win. |