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by Christopher Gerby Ashley Harkleroad vs. Vera Douchevina Women's Singles: First Round Grandstand The newly redesigned Grandstand (with shade-covered seats replacing the old Rackets restaurant) was christened on Monday morning by Georgia-born glamour girl Ashley Harkleroad. A right elbow injury had limited Harkleroad's preparation for the Open and it was taped up for this match. Fellow teenager Vera Douchevina, yet another promising Russian, got off to a nervous start, dropping serve with a series of unforced errors. Harkleroad, dressed conservatively in a dark blue Nike dress, carried that advantage to 4-2. Douchevina had settled down by now, however, and she rocketed a winning forehand return down the line to break for 4-4. Douchevina is a big server who appeared to be hitting with more power than Harkleroad in many of the rallies, but scrappy "Pebbles" is the more consistent player at this point in their careers. She reeled off eight points in a row to win the set 6-4. Included in this stretch of dominance was USA Network's "Point of the Day," in which Harkleroad ran down a Douchevina drop shot and answered it with a winning dropper of her own. A double fault by Douchevina gave Harkleroad a double break point chance at 1-1 in the second set. Ashley then caught the baseline with a forehand. Vera raised a finger to indicate the ball landed long, but no call was forthcoming, and Harkleroad now had a 2-1 lead. She played fired-up tennis the rest of the way, spurred on by a partisan crowd yelling the likes of "put her away, Ash!" Douchevina didn't have much left to offer after saving five break points in the set's fifth game. Harkleroad smiled broadly as she jogged to the net after recording her very first US Open singles victory 6-4, 6-2. Barbara Schett vs. Janette Husarova Women's Singles: First Round Court 18 One of the day's more interesting backstories concerned the first round meeting between qualifying week roommates Barbara Schett and Janette Husarova. Both veterans are coached by colorful Raul Ranzinger. (If you read our reports from Montreal last summer, you may recall Ranzinger as the individual who infuriated Kim Clijsters and Jelena Dokic by allegedly coaching Husarova throughout a doubles match.) Rather than choose sides, Razinger found new temporary coaches to work with the players for this one match. He was in attendance, however, nervously puffing away on a cigarette and pacing around the refurbished far end of Court 18. Both players got off to a sloppy start, to say the least. Husarova took a 2-0 lead, then handed the next two games to Schett, with neither woman able to establish much of a rhythm. Four consecutive service breaks followed, marked by unforced errors and some frustrated, racket-bouncing behavior from Schett. A rare exchange of successful service games took the score to 5-5. "Babsi" netted a forehand on break point in Game 11, muttering to herself as she walked to her chair. However, a few points later it was Husarova punching a forehand volley long to drop serve and force a tiebreak...
Maja Matevzic vs. Corina Morariu Women's Singles: First Round Court 9 Leukemia survivor Corina Morariu returned to US Open play among much fanfare last year, facing Serena Williams under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The atmosphere was much more subdued this time around, with a fairly small crowd on Court 9 watching Morariu face Slovenian redhead Maja Matevzic. Even in the pre-match warmup, Morariu looked out of sorts, repeatedly dumping shots in the net. Facing a lefty with an awkward game, Morariu might be in for a long day. It was actually Morariu who earned the match's first break, placing a forehand winner in the corner for a 2-1 lead. At that very moment, all 6 feet 5 inches of Justin Gimelstob came lumbering over and took a seat in the stands next to me. A local fan favorite, Gimelstob happens to be Corina's mixed doubles partner and her current boyfriend. Always a bundle of nervous energy on the court, Justin's not much more calm while watching the action. He muttered an expletive under his breath when a Matevzic backhand dribbled off the net cord to even the score at 2-2. Tom Gullikson, Robert Landsdorp, and Gimelstob's father Barry were also in attendance, but it was Justin making the biggest impression. He continued shouting words of encouragement as the set went on: "Good shot, Corina... Way to work, C... There ya go, C!" Morariu was being outplayed, though, and spraying errors off both wings. Back-to-back errors from the Morariu backhand allowed Matevzic to break for a 5-3 lead. Maja closed the door from there, knocking off a forehand winner to wrap up a 6-3 win of the opening set. Matevzic broke Morariu in the opening game of the second set, but donated back-to-back double faults in Game 4 to help the American get back on serve. Facing a break point in Game 5, Morariu threw in a double fault of her own and unhappily dropped her racket. Matevzic scored an absolutely gorgeous lob winner on her way to holding for 4-2. After matching holds, Morariu was on the brink of elimination at 6-3, 5-3. Gimelstob was now out of his seat and on his feet, looking on from a corner of the court. He watched Morariu play a very solid service game to hold for 4-5. Matevzic had done a nice job of alternating between one-handed slices and two-handed drives with her backhand, but a couple sliced errors did her in as Morariu broke back for 5-5. At 30-30 in the critical eleventh game, Corina pushed a backhand volley long and bent over in agony. She made a wild forehand error on the following point, handing Matevzic a 6-5 lead. Maja capitalized, launching an ace down the T on match point for a nice 6-3, 7-5 win. Matevzic would lose two days later to Meghann Shaughnessy, but she had a better Open than Morariu, who played in all three events without winning a set. Maria Kirilenko vs. Theresa Logar Women's Singles: First Round Court 15 The only player competing in the US Open without a WTA Tour singles ranking was fiery Theresa Logar, who earned a wild card by fighting her way through the USTA's 18-and-under Super Nationals. Awaiting her in the opening round was Maria Kirilenko, last year's champion in the juniors event. Kirilenko still looks very young and frail, but three consecutive wins in qualifying proved that she has what it takes to hang with the big girls. Kirilenko broke to open the match, but Logar immediately broke right back. On serve at 2-2, a let had to be played when a ball fell out of Logar's skirt, prompting a warning from the umpire that he'd "take a point the next time." Logar went right about her business, though, frequently slapping her thigh and holding at love for a 3-2 lead. Two games later, however, Logar coughed up a pair of double faults, mumbling "how can you do that?" as she gave the young Russian a 4-3 advantage. Undeterred, the stocky lefty broke back to 4-4. Kirilenko took command of the baseline exchanges towards the end of the opening set, winning the last two games to take it 6-4. That seemed to take some of the wind out of Logar's sails and give Kirilenko a fresh shot of confidence. "Masha" looked competent beyond her years at the net and was absolutely killing Logar's short second serves. Kirilenko would lose only one point on serve in the entire second set, racking up a service winner on match point to complete a genuinely impressive 6-4, 6-2 rout. Andreas Vinciguerra vs. Robert Kendrick Men's Singles: First Round Court 4 With his matinee idol looks, perpetually seething demeanor, and powerful serve, Robert Kendrick is very reminiscent of Jan-Michael Gambill. He surely wanted to make a good impression in his main draw US Open debut. All that was standing between him and a second round match against Andre Agassi was the less-than-imposing figure of Andreas Vinciguerra. An injury-prone member of the "New Balls Please" brigade, Vinciguerra has always relied on speed and guile to beat bigger, harder-hitting opponents. So far so good for Andreas on Monday evening: he got out to a 7-6, 4-3 lead. Kendrick played an inspired return game at 4-4 in the second, using a stab volley winner and a big forehand to break at love. Kendrick shouted "come on!" as she stalked to his chair, a game away from evening the match. However, Kendrick quickly threw his lead away, netting a forehand at 15-40 in Game 10. Absolutely furious with himself, the young American bounced his racket and whipped his cap against the back fence. He looked utterly discouraged as Vinciguerra held at love for a 6-5 lead. To make matters worse, a quintet of Swedish fans arrived during that changeover to support their man Vinciguerra. Kendrick held at love, though, forcing a tiebreak...
Loud fireworks from the nearby opening night ceremony on Arthur Ashe Stadium temporarily disrupted play in Game 11, which saw Kendrick rally from 0-40 to Deuce. Vinciguerra earned another break point and Kendrick was called for a foot fault. Robert then missed his second serve, surrendering a 6-5 lead to Vinciguerra. Kendrick was still livid about the foot fault, yelling at the line judge and dropping an audible "f bomb" on the way to his chair. The Swedish fans erupted a few points later as Vinciguerra served out the third set 7-5. Determined to change his luck somehow, Kendrick changed his shirt AND his hat following the third set, donning a camouflage cap for his return to battle. The new look seemed to pan out as Kendrick broke for a 3-1 lead in the fourth. Kendrick was serving bombs throughout the set, overwhelming the southpaw Swede with pure pace. Vinciguerra finally got a break point opportunity at 1-5, but Kendrick brushed it aside and boomed in a service winner to close out a quick 6-1 win of the frame. This one was going five. A bad omen for Kendrick at the start of the fifth set: he forgot to bring his hat with him after the changeover. He sent a ballgirl to fetch it, but she retrieved the wrong one. Kendrick made her run back over to pick up the sweat-drenched camo cap, which she gingerly held between two fingers while wincing. There was plenty of crowd support for Kendrick now, but Vinciguerra was suddenly on fire. He held at 15 and broke at love, seemingly every shot off his racket falling in for a clean winner. Kendrick was a tired hombre, no longer executing his shots, and the more experienced Vinciguerra was taking full advantage. Andreas served an ace to hold at love for 4-1 in the fifth. Back-to-back Kendrick double faults ended the following game, putting Vinciguerra within sniffing distance of the second round. Robert mustered up enough energy to throw his hat, while the Swedish fans cleverly sang Vinciguerra's name to the tune of "Guantanamera". A sizzling backhand pass on triple match point secured the 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 win for Andreas Vinciguerra. He thanked the vociferous Swedes before leaving the court. Kendrick stayed behind for a long time, understandably demoralized, with his head buried in a towel. |