I finished with a flourish today. First up, here was the exchange I had with Gustavo Kuerten -- one question which looks like three when you transcribe them...Next up, the two questions I asked Chris Woodruff on his triumphant day...
Q: Have you seen the draw for Cincinnati?
Kuerten: Yes.
Q: Is it Agassi, first round?
Kuerten: Agassi, first round.
Q: Are you excited about that or too tired to care?
Kuerten: It's nice... Agassi always bring a good crowd to watch him, even in the States, he has many fans, so it will be nice to play him. I hope just to keep playing the same as I played here.
Q: It was almost like Davis Cup out there with all the singing and chanting. Did you have any trouble blocking that out?Lastly, I talked to doubles champions Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati. That was certainly the most intimate interview of the week. Only two other reporters showed up (not counting the one who wandered over halfway through), so rather than get the stage and microphone involved, the five of us pulled up chairs together. It's certainly a different kind of press conference when the players are approximately two feet away!
Woodruff: No, because Rod Laver, when people used to cheer against him, he used to turn that around and say to himself "OK, these people are cheering for me." So every time I heard "Guga" or"ole, ole, ole, ole," I would sit there on the changeover and say "OK, now they're pulling for you." I figured if he was such a great player, if it worked for him, it might work for an ordinary guy like myself.
Q: When you were up 5-2 in the 3rd, it looked like you forgot the hat after the changeover. Was that because you were so focused on closing out the match?
Woodruff: No, I was just forgetful. Nothing to do with being focused or anything, just a little absent-minded.
Q: I know they follow your results pretty avidly in India, so how much will this win mean back home?Here are some other highlights from the tournament's final day: quotes from Kuerten, Woodruff, Sebastien Lareau, and Scott Perelman. If you don't recognize that last name, he's the coach of Chris Woodruff. Comparison only Howard Stern fans will get: Perelman looks and sounds just like Melrose Larry Green. Quite a well-spoken guy, actually, and a very good guest to tide over the media before Guga arrived.
Paes (to Bhupati): Do you want to answer a few questions?
Bhupati: No.
Paes: Tennis in India is getting very popular, so I guess every single result like this, when people read about it, when the kids read about it, it motivates them to work harder, to strive, to do well for their country as well as for themselves. So, I mean it's important to us as ambassadors, not only to tennis, but to our country, to try our best wherever we go and wherever we travel. So it's big for India, it's nice.
Q: You had a third set tiebreak against Johnson and Montana; went to 9-7. Did you have to fight off any match points in that one?
Paes: No.
Bhupati: No, we were never down match point.
Paes: We were never down match point, no.
Q: Bud Collins said that the Newport final you (Paes) played against Sargsian was the most exciting match he'd seen in all the years he'd been coming to that tournament. Are you aware that you have an entertaining style that people really enjoy to watch?
Paes: Sure.
Q: Will you (Bhupati) be playing doubles with Rika Hiraki at the US Open, do you know?
Bhupati: I haven't decided that yet. I've played a lot of tournaments and we have Davis Cup coming, so I don't want to burn myself out before the tie. But I'm gonna sit down and talk to her at the Open and we'll see how it goes.
Scott Perleman on Woodruff's near-retirement in February '95: "He gave some serious thought to hanging it up. It was a really critical time for us when we were over in France, playing France II, Satellite II. The satellites last four weeks. The first two weeks, he was in the main draw -- he lost first round and first round. The third week, you get into the main draw based on circuit points. Well, he didn't have enough circuit points to get in, so he had to go qualify. He played in a doubles final and we had to travel through the night and he had to get up at 8 o'clock the next morning and play. On that trip, he said `I've had it, I don't wanna play anymore, I don't know what we're doing over here, let's go home, I've had enough.' At that time, I told him I had never quit on anything in my life and we weren't going to start now."
Perelman on Woodruff's long-term potential: "Top 20, Top 10, maybe even go to the top. I still think he's getting better; that's what's exciting to me as a coach."
Gustavo Kuerten, looking back on his week: "I had a very tough second round against Tebbutt and I could have lost that round and tournament is gone already. So, I did the final here, and I'm a little bit upset now because I just lost the match, but I'm sure that this week was great for me and it gave me many confidence, much confidence to go on the hard court season."
Kuerten, asked if he'd like to meet Agassi's wife: "Ah, he's a lucky guy."
Chris Woodruff on what the title means to him: "The first one's always the toughest for me, or it seems like it's the toughest to get. I've had a couple chances earlier in the year, or last year actually. Hopefully now I can back it up and get a couple more titles to my name."
Woodruff on where he'll keep the trophy: "Yeah, I got a trophy case. It's kinda done in the levels. Like, the bottom level is a couple of satellite trophies that I got, then the challenger level, and then I have the two runner-up trophies on the third shelf. I guess I need to get another shelf."
Sebastien Lareau on the importance playing in Montreal holds for him: "This week was my Wimbledon."
Gunning for his first ATP Tour final, Chris Woodruff wanted the ball -- he won the toss and elected to serve. He found himself fighting both nerves and a very talented opponent, though, and double faulted to complete a match-opening service break. A pair of easy holds then made it 2-1. During the changeover which followed, we were treated to the day's first installment of the Guga song ("o-lay, o-lay, o-lay, o-lah, Gu-ga Gu-ga"). With frequent chanting and several Brazilian flags unfurled the stands, it was obvious who had the crowd support in this one. Kuerten rode that support to a love hold for 3-1, but Woodruff responded with one of his own for 3-2.
Having neutralized big servers Ivanisevic, Philippoussis, and Kafelnikov in the previous rounds, Woodruff went to work on the Kuerten delivery. He got a 15-40 lead, but lost both break points and then dropped the game on a Kuerten ace and service winner. Woodruff was in the groove on his own serve, once again holding at love with a forehand winner down the line and an ace. Woodruff next jumped out to another 15-40 lead against the Kuerten serve, winning it when a Guga forehand went long. Woodruff had recovered from the shaky start to even matters at 4 all. Despite a little trouble in the next game, he won it with a big forehand pass.
Trailing 5-4, Kuerten served to stay alive in the set. Woodruff was absolutely eating up his second serve, using strong returns to set up a forehand volley winner for 0-30 and a forced Kuerten error for 0-40. Guga saved the first set point with an ace, however, and the next two with service winners. Kuerten got himself back in trouble with a forehand error, but fired home two more service winners for deuce and advantage. Kuerten finally finished the game by setting up very quickly for a forehand winner.
Woodruff's roll on serve continued, an ace out wide completing a 15 hold for 6-5. Kuerten continued his trend of getting behind on serve, a running forehand volley by Woodruff making it 0-15 and a missed Kuerten backhand making it 15-40. After failing on six of seven break points earlier in the set, Woodruff made this one pay off -- a Kuerten shot grazed the net cord and Woodruff sent it back with a perfectly timed forehand winner. The 41 minute first set belonged to the unseeded American, 7 games to 5.
Woodruff wasn't thinking about Michael Jordan this time (see 8/2 quotes), but he opened the second set serving big -- two consecutive aces for 40-0, a double fault for 40-15, and another ace to wrap up the game. Kuerten tried to match him by going up 40-0, but he was dragged into another long battle. Woodruff slammed a second serve for a forehand cross-court winner to take the ad, but Kuerten came back with an ace. Woodruff punished another second serve to earn another break point, but Kuerten fought it off as well and went on to hold for 1-1 with an ace. Coming so close to the break may have taken something out of Woodruff -- he lost the next game with a double fault at 30-40.
Kuerten held at love with an ace for 3-1; Woodruff ripped two aces for 3-2. After an hour of play, Woodruff summoned ATP trainer Bill Norris to help with foot callouses. If anything, the players actually got better after the injury timeout. Kuerten held quickly for 4-2 and Woodruff held at love for 4-3, sending another forehand winner down the line. Guga then double faulted for 30-40, but forced Woodruff into a defensive backhand which sailed long. The next point was a thriller, Woodruff ripping a shot right at Kuerten, who stuck his racquet up and came away with a volley winner. The #6 seed would finally win the game on a line-catching forehand.
Woodruff held at love for 5-4, rolling up a nice streak on serve (winning 12 of his last 13 service points). Kuerten was finding the range on his own serve as well, scoring an ace for 15-0 and another for 30-0. Up 40-0, Kuerten sent a forehand winner into the corner to claim the second set 6-4. Woodruff got down 0-30 on a double fault in the next game, but he won the next four points to hold. Woodruff then left for a bathroom break -- curiously, leading 1-0 in the 3rd is when he took the break against Kafelnikov. Might as well stick with a pattern that works, I suppose.
Kuerten and Woodruff each held at 15, bringing the final set to 2-1. At 15-15, a Kuerten backhand into the corner was ruled out. He argued (with support from the partisan crowd), then served up an ace for 30-30. Undeterred, Woodruff ripped a backhand winner down the line to set up break point. A long rally then ensued, Kuerten losing it with a wide backhand. Woodruff thereby took a 3-1 lead. He added a big exclamation to the break by shooting home three aces (of a stunning 18 total) in a love hold for 4-1.
Kuerten held for 4-2, but seemed hopeless against Woodruff's dialed-in service games. Woodruff held for 5-2 on his latest down-the-line winner, this one a backhand. Chris wasn't prepared to allow Gustavo a hold here, going ahead 15-30. However, Kuerten battled back to win the game with a service winner down the middle. Woodruff then went about serving for the match. At 15-15, Kuerten finished a long rally with a forehand winner, drawing the biggest cheers of the day. Woodruff silenced the Kuerten fans with an ace for 30-30, then took a 40-30 lead with a cross-court backhand which looked wide but was called good. On his first match point, Woodruff called on the surprising weapon which had helped him put away Kafelnikov -- an ace. In his first ATP Tour final of the year, Chris Woodruff bumped off a seed for the fifth match in a row and earned a stunning Super Nine championship.
The 109-minute match was followed by a very classy trophy ceremony, in which Woodruff and Kuerten recognized their coaches, the fans, and each other. Kuerten got the bigger cheers, but the crowd was also very appreciative of Woodruff's efforts. Each stayed around to sign an extraordinary number of autographs. It's not often that the best match of a tournament is the final, but Kuerten vs. Woodruff easily ranked among the most entertaining bouts the '97 du Maurier Open had to offer. The sunny Sunday afternoon was a great showcase for two of the sport's most personable rising stars.
After a great singles final, the Montreal fans wanted to complete the day by seeing favorite son Sebastien Lareau win the doubles title. When seeded team after seeded team fell over the course of the week, it looked more and more likely that fate was with Lareau and Alex O'Brien. However, that looked a bit less likely after the first set. I got out of the Woodruff/Kuerten press conferences just in time to see Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes score a clinching mini-break to win a first set tiebreak 7 points to 5 (running their '97 du Maurier tiebreak record to 4-0).
All four players had successful service games to open the second set, Bhupati's going to deuce. Paes went to deuce twice in Game Five, but got the hold going airborne for a winning forehand volley. Easy holds for Lareau and Bhupati followed for 4-3. It was classic doubles on both sides, with lots of bang-bang three point rallies (serve, return, volley winner). Bhupati and Paes came out of the changeover geared up to earn the set's first break. A Bhupati smash made it 15-30, Paes backing him up with an encouraging shout. O'Brien got to 40-30, but netted an easy volley for deuce. A reflex volley right up the middle by Bhupati created the set's first break opportunity. After an O'Brien second serve, Paes cut across the court and knocked off a volley which Lareau could not handle. The crucial break went to the Indians, who led 5-3.
Lareau and O'Brien took the first point of the Paes service game, giving the fans some hope. A Paes ace made it 15-15, though, and a long return by Lareau meant 30-15. Paes was simply not missing anything at this point. He hit a backhand volley winner for 40-15 and charged in again for a volley off the other wing to complete the surprise victory. In a week which saw them twice rally from one set deficits, Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes finished with their third doubles title of the year, upsetting 3rd seeded Lareau and O'Brien 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Paes did the talking in the post-match ceremony, thanking the fans, officials, ballkids, and everyone else involved with the tournament.