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by Christopher Gerby Koulikovskaya/Talaja vs. Cho/Stosur Women's Doubles: First Round Court 15 Evgenia Koulikovskaya is one of the sport's true oddities: an ambidextrous lefty who prefers not to hit backhands. She instead switches the the racket to her right hand, chokes up, and hits forehands off that side. It's bizarre looking to be sure, but it's hard to argue with the four doubles titles the 24-year-old has claimed in her career. She and Croatian veteran Silvija Talja took to the court at 11 AM for a meeting with Yoon Jeong Cho and Samantha Stosur. All four players won their initial service games, with Stosur tacking on a second hold for 3-2. Koulikovskaya did the unthinkable in Game 6, forced by the fast-paced action into hitting a two-handed backhand volley. She made the shot, but a winning volley by Cho later in the game broke Talaja for 4-2. Koulikovskaya's compatriot Elena Dementieva stopped by the court to watch a few points, but wasn't able to send the team any helpful vibes. Evgenia in particular had a rough go of it in Game 8, double faulting, missing a volley, and mis-hitting one ball so badly that it popped straight into the air. Talaja bricked a volley of her own to end the set 6-2. Koulikovskaya and Talaja made a strategy change in the second set, with the Russian now playing the ad side and Silvija taking the deuce court. This put them on their natural forehand wings and is probably the way they should have been lined up all along. Nevertheless, they couldn't reach break point against Cho or the sunglasses-sporting Stosur, who were looking like a fairly well-oiled machine. It was a winning forehand return down the line by Stosur that secured the first break of the second set, good for a 4-2 lead. Koulikovskaya screamed at her racket in frustration after missing a return in Game 7, another hold for Cho. Still looking for answers, the Koulikovskaya/Talaja team went into the I formation for Game 8, with Talaja serving her way to 3-5. But the Korean/Australian combo had gotten this far without facing a break point and they weren't about to start now. Stosur put away an overhead smash on match point to finish a decisive 6-2, 6-3 victory. Anca Barna vs. Maria Kirilenko Women's Singles: Second Round Court 8 After disposing of a surprisingly listless Lina Krasnoroutskaya on Monday, Anca Barna looked to go 2-for-2 against young Russians as she stepped in against 16-year-old phenom Maria Kirilenko. Barna took the opening set 6-3, but Kirilenko (looking old school Soviet in her red hat, red top, red skirt, and red shoes) rallied for a 4-1 lead in the second. Kirilenko was fired up, but some overly aggressive forehand errors caused her to drop serve to 4-2. Barna was a little out of sorts herself, walking towards her chair for a changeover when she was only up 40-15 in Game 7. ("She spaced out," one fan observed.) Barna went to deuce in that game, but Kirilenko pushed a volley wide for 4-3. Barna kept her momentum rolling in Game 8, making two spectacular gets on a break point she ultimately won to even the set at 4-4. Kirilenko's inexperience showed as one unforced error after another flew off her racket. She stopped the bleeding with a love hold to 5-5, however, and two games later was in a life-or-death second set tiebreak...
An easy hold for Barna put the pressure on Kirilenko, serving for a spot in the third round at 5-3. Maria's backhand broke down -- three consecutive errors off that wing keyed a love break for Barna. Following the changeover, Kirilenko tried to slow down the pace of the match, repeatedly making Barna wait to serve. Barna persevered, getting a desperate lob to fall in for a clean winner as she held to 5 games all. The teenager's fans (including one young man who swore he was going to get Kirilenko's phone number after the match) tried desperately to spur her on, but when she was warned for a time violation early in Game 11, the situation looked dire. The eleventh game of the final set was a nail-biting, back-and-forth classic. A lunging, leaning, angled cross-court backhand pass by Barna fell in for a winner to give her a huge break point opportunity. Kirilenko fought it off, drawing an error from Barna at the end of an exhausting rally. Kirilenko earned game point with a leaping smash, only to have the next epic rally go to Barna, bringing up deuce # 3. The kid netted an ugly drop shot to face break point again, but came up with an overpowering backhand for deuce 4. Kirilenko then smacked a forehand winner, inspiring a chant of "Masha! Masha! Masha!" Anca finally succumbed, netting a backhand to trail 6-5. Kirilenko may have been slowing things down in the late stages of this match, but it was Barna who looked particularly tired after that draining game. Back-to-back double faults from the German gave Kirilenko double match point. She made good, striking a short-angled forehand which Barna could only block back into the net. Into the third round of a Grand Slam event at the tender age of 16, Kirilenko sprinted to the net, smiling and pumping her fist. The razor thin 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 margin does justice to an exciting battle which easily could have gone either way. (8) Damm/Suk vs. Landsberg/Tarango Men's Doubles: First Round Court 18 We here at On The Line (OK, maybe just me) have long had a soft spot for authority-challenging, umpire-baiting, fan-enraging provocateur Jeff Tarango, the Ilie Nastase of his generation. The 34-year-old was playing the final tournament of his tempestuous career here and I had to see exactly how he would rage against the dying of the light. Perhaps compelled by the same curiosity was tournament supervisor Alan Mills, Jeff's old adversary from Wimbledon, who settled into a courtside seat as the match got underway. Tarango's partner on this day was Johan Landsberg, a burly Swede with a one-handed backhand. Across the net stood a pair of Czech veterans: the ageless Cyril Suk (with some flecks of gray in his close-cropped hair) and goateed serving specialist Martin Damm. Any questions about whether Tarango has mellowed were answered early on. He argued a fault call in the second game of the match (a service break for the Czechs) and exploded after a late call went against Landsberg in Game 3. "Whoa-ho-ho, you can't call it tomorrow!" he shouted. Certain that Suk had influenced the call by shooting a glance at the lineswoman, Tarango argued, "Once he looks over to her, the point is ours. That's the rule. He can not appeal to her!" The call stood, of course, and Suk put away a smash for a 3-0 lead. The Tarango story wouldn't be complete without his French wife Benedicte, notorious for slapping chair umpire Bruno Rebueh at Wimbledon some eight years ago. So I was rather delighted when none other than Benedicte Tarango took a seat right next to me following the third game. Her presence did nothing to change her husband's fortunes. Tarango was broken for a second time, taking the score to 5-1. Suk laced a swinging forehand volley off Landsberg's racket on set point to give his team a quick 6-1 win of the opening set. Landsberg held serve to open the second set, but when a friend asked Tarango how things were going (during the change of ends), he admitted, "Not too good right now." His fortunes were about to change, though. Landsberg/Tarango got a break chance against Suk in Game 4 and cashed it in, a dipping forehand pass by Tarango handcuffing Damm. Tarango was pumped up now and looking to get his partner psyched as well, even giving him instructions in Swedish. The word he used sounded like "vikta" -- I don't know what it means, but hearing her husband go all bilingual in the heat of battle made Benedicte Tarango laugh. After Landsberg knocked off a powerful smash, the Swedish-American tandem strode to their chairs with a 4-1 second set lead. During the changeover, Benedicte offered Jeff a banana, telling him, "Eat something!" Jeff replied that he already had a couple bananas at his chair, paused for a moment, then quipped, "You can't call me fat all day and then tell me to eat during the match!" Benedicte grinned and quietly assured a friend, "He's officially on a diet." Game 7 saw a vintage Tarango argument. He thought a Cyril Suk return had landed wide and pointed to the corresponding mark. The chair umpire countered that it might not be the right mark and Jeff replied, "Oh yeah, there's another mark impersonating that one. Right before the ball bounced, there was no mark there!" Tarango held serve for a 5-2 lead, but wasn't done pleading his case. "Did you take physics at the university?" he asked the umpire during the changeover, before launching into an explanation of how Suk's return couldn't possibly have hit the line. Two games later, Landsberg closed out a love hold with a service winner to claim the second set 6-3. Damm held serve to open the third set and Landsberg tried to do likewise. The Swede's service game stretched to five deuces and had all the earmarks of a significant turning point. After Johan was called for his second foot fault of the game, Jeff went bonkers, yelling directly at the line judge. "You're joking! Gonna soup up any more foot fault calls?" He then turned his attention to the chair umpire, asking, "You've gotta call it on both sides, right? If that guy (one of the Czechs) isn't foot faulting, I don't know who is!" Tarango reflexed a volley into the net on the very next point, making it 2-0 in favor of Damm/Suk. An easy Suk hold followed for 3-0 in the deciding set. The line judge in question was cycled out of the rotation during the changeover, inspiring another tirade from Tarango. "He doesn't deserve his job if he does it like that. He just happens to be leaving now? Good job!" Landsberg played poorly in the following game, putting the Czechs ahead 4-0. Tarango traced it back to the foot fault incident, asking the umpire, "Do they teach you that at referee school, how to break a guy's confidence? I'm sure they do." Even Benedicte felt her spouse had dragged this out too long, anxiously hissing, "Jeff! Enough!" The set's long fifth game saw Suk argue a fault call on his partner's behalf, prompting Tarango to note that all four players were fed up with the officiating. After six deuces and yet another dispute (in which Tarango asked Suk to check a mark), Cyril zipped a volley between Jeff's legs for a 5-0 lead. There was still plenty of fight left in the Landsberg/Tarango team. Johan held for 1-5 and teamed with Jeff to earn break point chances in a five-deuce Suk service game. It was not to be, however, as Tarango found the net with a forehand on match point. Landsberg furiously launched a ball high into the woods behind Court 18 and the 8th-seeded Czechs quietly celebrated a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 triumph. When it was all said and done, Alan Mills walked across the court and had a long chat with Jeff Tarango, whose hopes for a farewell victory would now lie in mixed doubles. (5) Krasnoroutskaya/Nestor vs. Hantuchova/Ullyett Mixed Doubles: First Round Court 13 It's been a season to forget for Daniela Hantuchova, who just one year ago looked like a self-assured, preternaturally gifted lock for the Top 5. On-court crying jags, whispers about an alleged eating disorder, and a string of inexplicably bad losses haven't kept the leggy Slovakian off a series of American Express billboards around New York City, however. And if she was going to make a run deep into this US Open, it would most likely come in mixed doubles, where she already owns two Grand Slam titles, one with current partner Kevin Ullyett. First things first: a meeting with the 5th-seeded pairing of Daniel Nestor and Lina Krasnoroutskaya. Hantuchova held at love for a 2-1 lead in the opening set, then nailed a winning forehand return to break Krasnoroutskaya for 3-1. Ullyett managed to drop serve in the following game, though, and Nestor served big to even matters at 3-3. Easy holds by the women advanced the score to 4-4. Ullyett got in trouble on his serve again, being pushed to seven deuces in Game 9. It finally ended when a sizzling Nestor return forced an Ullyett volley error. The Canadian southpaw then served it out at love. Hantuchova no longer appears as dangerously skinny as she was at Wimbledon -- in fact, she looked quite snappy in her light blue Nike dress. But she still isn't playing with much joy, even in the traditionally light-hearted venue of mixed doubles. The second set rolled along with a string of fairly easy and uneventful service holds, leaving Krasnoroutskaya/Nestor with a 6-4, 4-5 lead. Ullyett wasn't having a great day, but a spectacular stab volley winner off his racket gave his team a set point in Game 10. Nestor put in a good first serve to fight it off, but Ullyett struck back in the next point with a winning lob. On set point # 2, it was Krasnoroutskaya saving the day, striking a volley Ullyett couldn't handle. Two points later, Krasnoroutskaya got her team to 5-5 by hitting a smash at Ullyett's feet. At 15-30 in the next game, Hantuchova netted a low volley to bring up double break point. Nestor took the initiative, smartly poaching and knifing a backhand volley for 6-5. Ullyett struck a winning return in Game 12, but the end was near. Hantuchova sent a forehand return wide on match point as the Russian-Canadian combo charged into the second round by a count of 6-4, 7-5. (12) Cibulec/Vizner vs. Gimelstob/Zimonjic Men's Doubles: First Round Court 10 With a series of seemingly endless matches pushing back the schedule on Court 11, Justin Gimelstob and doubles partner Nenad Zimonjic were in need of a court change as darkness fell at the National Tennis Center. "Court 10," Gimelstob boldly predicted while camping out on a practice court with Zimonjic. "You don't play the US Open nine times and not know." At that very moment, Gimelstob saw a tournament supervisor coming around the corner and joked, "Uh oh, here comes Alan Mills to fine us." Mills was actually approaching to let them know they would, in fact, be playing on Court 10. Tomas Cibulec and Pavel Vizner may not have gotten the early heads-up about the court change (they arrived a full five minutes after Gimelstob and Zimonjic), but at least they showed up in matching blue/white outfits. Both Czechs are solid doubles specialists who put a lot of returns in play, but that wasn't even an issue in the match's fifth game. Nenad Zimonjic had a complete meltdown, coughing up three consecutive double faults and feigning a racket toss. Vizner gave the break right back, however, and the set lurched inexorably toward a tiebreak...
The Czechs were coming unglued now. In the first game of the final set, Vizner missed a volley and furiously threw his racket behind him, very nearly hitting Cibulec. A couple points later, Zimonjic put a return at Cibulec's feet to break serve. Gimelstob (aka "Gimel" aka "The Kid" aka "Big Show") failed to solidify, having his own serve immediately broken at love. Holds by Vizner and Zimonjic made it 2-2. The # 12 seeds saved a break point in Game 5, but Vizner then sent a forehand volley long to lose the game. Pavel was livid as he approached his chair and began attacking his racket bag, whacking it repeatedly. The frustration built when Gimelstob held for 4-2, but Vizner matched him to 3-4. Game 8 featured the point of the match, a breathtaking four-player rally that ended with Cibulec punishing a lame Zimonjic lob and Nenad slamming his racket down in disgust. Cibulec cracked a winning forehand on break point, inspiring Vizner to hop up and down. For the second time in this set, the Czechs had broken to get back on serve. Holds by Cibulec, Gimelstob, and Vizner followed in short order, putting the pressure squarely on the Serbian shoulders of Nenad Zimonjic. At 5-6, 30-30, Zimonjic netted a low volley, bringing up the night's first match point. It would be the only match point: a Cibulec volley deflected off Zimonjic's racket to give Tomas and Pavel a hard fought 7-6, 2-6, 7-5 win. Local boy Justin Gimelstob threw his racket at the end, but after taking several minutes to cool down, he stuck around to sign plenty of autographs for the die-hard fans. |