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by Christopher Gerby Cibulec/Friedl vs. Dent/Goldstein Men's Doubles: First Round Court 18 Playing together for the first time, big-serving Taylor Dent and counterpunching Paul Goldstein got a wild card into the Open. Unfortunately for the young Americans, they drew an established Czech team as their first round opponents. Leos Friedl recently won the mixed doubles crown at Wimbledon and has also achieved some success with weekly compadre Thomas Cibulec. Watching them play, it wasn't hard to see why. Cibulec and Friedl communicate well, hit very good returns, and demonstrate quick reflexes at the net. The Americans, by comparison, just seemed to be making things up as they went along. A break of Goldstein's serve in Game 5 gave the Czechs a winning lead which they carried through the rest of the set. Friedl closed it out 6-4 with a service winner. Cibulec and Friedl closed in on victory, taking a 5-3 lead in the second set. Some absolutely massive serving by Taylor Dent earned a love hold for 4-5. Then things got really interesting when an excellent return by Goldstein brought up a break point. Dent converted it, ripping a backhand pass at Friedl, whose reflex volley landed wide. Taylor shouted "come on!" as his team was back even at 5-5. A quick break of Goldstein made it 6-5, but he and Dent broke right back when Cibulec was too cute with an angled volley, dumping it in the net. This set would be decided in a tiebreak.
Justin Gimelstob vs. Michal Tabara Men's Singles: First Round Grandstand Despite a big local following, New Jersey's own Justin Gimelstob was denied a wild card this year and had to struggle through three rounds of qualifying. It's been an injury-plagued nightmare of a season for the big guy, who was on the verge of back surgery when a yoga routine (suggested by doubles partner Alex O'Brien) solved his woes. Finally able to move freely, Gimelstob began playing with renewed confidence and took a 6-4, 6-3 lead here against Michal Tabara. Frequently muttering to himself, Tabara got down an early break in the third set and looked good as gone. But trailing 0-2, he cracked three consecutive winners, broke Gimelstob, and made a match of this. With both players routinely hitting 120 MPH on the radar gun, the set went with serve to 3-3. Tabara hit some sizzling passes in a break for 4-3, threw the break away to 4-4, broke at love for 5-4, and closed out a weird 6-4 set with a forehand winner. If Gimelstob was going to earn his first main draw hard court win of the season, he'd have to stay out there a while. Really cracking the ball off the ground, Tabara sprinted out to a 3-1 lead in the fourth set. Gimelstob held to 2-3, but called on ATP trainer Doug Spreen to massage a strained hamstring during the ensuing changeover. At 3-4, Gimelstob argued a service line call and got the same excuse he'd heard already from chair umpire Dennis Overberg, namely that the "cyclops" machine was in charge of that line. "Big Brother is watching," Gimelstob sardonically replied. The set continued with serve to 5-4 and Spreen (who'd been watching from the courtside tunnel) was once again summoned by Gimelstob, this time to work on a pair of bruised toes. Gimelstob's second injury time-out of the set infuriated Tabara, who asked the umpire if Justin could do this ten times. "If there are ten different injuries, then yes," Overberg said. "I have to go with what Doug tells me." After the three minutes were up, Justin went out and took a 15-40 lead on Tabara's serve and cupped his ear, asking for some supportive crowd noise. He got it, but Tabara fought off both break points, with Gimelstob turning an ankle in the corner on the second chance. It was a rather nasty looking fall and Gimelstob spent the rest of the game limping on the tender ankle. A backhand winner down the line gave Tabara another 6-4 set and, after 2 hours and 52 minutes of play, forced a fifth set. Tabara broke to open the fifth set and appeared to have all the momentum. However, a loose service game from the Czech made it 1-1 and a lunging drop volley winner gave Gimelstob a 2-1 lead. Playing on emotion, Justin actually made a full-out dive through the air in Game 4, causing a slow trickle of blood to roll down his right leg after he landed on the unforgiving hard court. He broke for 3-1 and waved his arms around, again asking the crowd for some inspiration. Gimelstob held for 4-1 and Tabara, running out of energy, angrily slammed his racquet upon reaching his chair. Michal managed a love hold for 2-4, but that was his last stand. Gimelstob took a 5-2 lead, reached 0-40 on his opponent's serve, and knocked off a winning backhand volley to complete an emotional 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-2 triumph. Gimelstob tossed his racquet aside, pumped his fists, and screamed as the Grandstand crowd howled in approval. Most of us were so busy watching the celebration, we missed Michal Tabara spitting in Justin Gimelstob's direction before their handshake. Gimelstob found out in the post-match press conference and vowed "he better not be in the locker room when I get back." Fortunately for all involved, Gimelstob and Tabara never did cross paths. Despite the ugly ending, it was a satisfying, career-resucitating win for the 24-year-old. He thanked coach Scott McCain and yoga instructor Jennifer Greenhut for giving him "the opportunity to have some Czech guy spit at me." Carlsson/Maleeva vs. Mandula/Wartusch Women's Doubles: First Round Court 14 Petra Mandula and Patricia Wartusch looked the part of a serious doubles team on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in matching outfits (red shirts and navy blue skirts). They looked sharp breaking Asa Carlsson's serve to open the match, but then Wartusch was broken at love. Breaks of Mandula and Magdalena Maleeva took the score to 2-2. Four consecutive breaks to open a doubles match is something I can't recall ever seeing before and it was unusual enough that Mandula and Maleeva shared a laugh over it. Even funnier were the four consecutive love holds which followed! This totally schizophrenic match took another turn when Carlsson netted a backhand to drop serve for 4-5. Wartusch's attempt to serve it out was a roller-coaster affair worthy of some documentation...
Loit/Sidot (14) vs. Dementieva/Husarova Women's Doubles: First Round Court 9 After regular doubles partner Tathiana Garbin pulled out of the Open with an injury, Janette Husarova had to pick up a replacement on short notice. She did quite well for herself, finding lanky hard-hitter Elena Dementieva available. French lefties Emelie Loit and Anne-Gaelle Sidot were the favorites on paper (seeded 14th), but Dementieva and Husarova looked impressive from the very first game, in which Elena cracked two aces. The Russian hit a backhand winner while running forward to close out a break of Loit for a 4-2 lead. Husarova held for 5-2 and her team played with full confidence in the next game. Dementieva blasted a winning backhand retun for 0-30, Husarova ripped a forehand winner for 0-40, and Dementieva clocked a winning return from her strong forehand wing to break Sidot at love and bank an easy 6-2 first set. Loit and Sidot broke Dementieva's serve to open the second set, but the lead didn't hold up for very long. Anne-Gaelle Sidot is a very talented player, but her focus seems to come and go. She missed three overheads in Game 4, basically breaking Loit's serve all by herself. Dementieva/Husarova took a 4-3 lead and pushed Loit again in a long, closely contested eighth game. Elena won it in grand style, lofting two winning lobs in a row. Whatever fight was left in the French women evaporated at that point. Facing triple match point, Emelie Loit simply blocked a Dementieva serve straight down into the box. So ended a very solid 6-2, 6-3 win for the Russian/Slovakian combination...but that was the last point they would play together in this tournament. Dementieva and Husarova were defaulted on Friday after showing up 17 minutes late to their second round match! Hiraki/Jidkova vs. Dominikovic/Irvin Women's Doubles: First Round Court 6 The waifish pairing of Japan's Rika Hiraki and Russia's Alina Jidkova looked physically overmatched as they took the court to face powerfully built qualifiers Evie Dominikovic and Marissa Irvin. Indeed, it was Jidkova surrendering the match's first service break, falling behind 2-3 when Dominikovic tucked away a winning volley. The Aussie-American combo nearly added a second break, but Hiraki fought off a pair of break points to 3-4. As soon as that game was over, Alina Jidkova jogged off the court to take a bathroom break. Marissa Irvin was livid. "Does she have to do this every match I play against her? Literally every time," she complained to chair umpire Anne Lassere-Ullrich. "Either she has the world's smallest bladder, or... It's so irritating! She has her period every friggin' week." (Note: the last time Jidkova and Irvin met was at the Los Gatos challenger in July. Irvin won that singles semifinal in straight sets.) Irvin looked unnerved and she played like it in the next game, badly whiffing on a routine forehand. Dominikovic couldn't help but smile as Irvin helplessly stared at her racquet. Marissa dropped serve, tying the set at 4 games apiece. Jidkova held for 5-4 and a winning return by Hiraki brought up set point. Irvin then sent a backhand volley long and shook her head, looking genuinely distraught as she walked back to her chair. The young Californian let her emotions get the best of her in a 6-4 loss of the opening set. Some big serving by Evie Dominikovic got the qualifiers back on track. They took a 4-1 lead in the second set as Jidkova began chiding herself in a foreign tongue. Little Rika Hiraki was the most emotionally stable player on the court and was also playing the most consistent tennis. She struck a winning volley to get one of the breaks back for 2-4. Jidkova held at love for 3-4 and it looked as if her team might pull off another come-from-behind escape in a set. Irvin twice faced break point (after a double fault and a netted volley) in Game 8, but clawed her way out of trouble. An exquisite drop volley by Dominikovic gave her and Irvin a 5-3 lead. Two games later, the Aussie blasted a service winner to wrap up a 6-4 win of the set. The possible gamesmanship went to another level before the third set. Hiraki and Jidkova both sprinted off the court for a bathroom break while Dominikovic called out the trainer. "Evie D" had her right leg examined and treated, but there was never so much as any tape on it and she appeared to be moving just fine. She and Irvin finally got back out on the court and took a 4-0 lead in the final set. They were still making some errors, but their aggressive play was paying off. Hiraki and Jidkova battled back to 2-4, but had a bit of a mishap on an important point in Game 7. Up 40-30, Jidkova called Hiraki off a ball which was clearly closer to Rika. Alina ripped a backhand long and immediately said, "sorry sorry." With Irvin continuing her trend of smacking volleys right at Jidkova (coincidence?), the qualifiers broke serve for a 5-2 lead. Dominikovic took care of business from there, driving home a deep service winner on match point. "That was in?!?" pleaded Alina Jidkova, to no avail. Chalk up a wild 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win for Evie Dominikovic and Marissa Irvin. |