First of all, I have to amend one of my 8/26 "Impressions". While I didn't see Sergei Federov at Anna Kournikova's Tuesday practice session, he apparently was there at one point. I know because one of the New York papers ran a picture of him out on the court with her. I also have to somewhat amend my praise for the new seating. The bit about not being shut out of popular matches isn't holding up -- the USTA sells so many grounds passes that even these bigger stands fill up for popular matches. Smarter scheduling might help; I couldn't believe Brenda Schultz-McCarthy and Chanda Rubin were stuck on Court 14, where seating is still pretty limited.
Fans aren't the only ones still getting used to the new surroundings -- early this afternoon I saw Yayuk Basuki and Caroline Vis asking each other how to find Practice Court 6. I'm happy to report that they got to the right destination, as I saw them hitting out there a little while later, flanked by Gala Leon Garcia and someone I didn't recognize.
I witnessed what was probably the last game of Tami Whitlinger-Jones's professional career. As you may have heard, Tami is fifteen weeks pregnant and just wanted to get in one last US Open before leaving the tour. She and partner Danielle Jones (no relation) were 6-1, 6-4 losers to Rika Hiraki and Anne-Gaelle Sidot in the first match of the day on Court 18. Whitlinger-Jones missed a volley on match point and looked quite disgruntled about going out on such an ignominious note.
Faring better in her swan song was Zina Garrison Jackson. Despite a pretty long absence from competitive tennis, Zina teamed with fellow 30something Lori McNeil to win a set against #3 seeds Lindsay Davenport and Jana Novotna.
Spotted around the grounds: Rennae Stubbs and Lisa Raymond having an animated discussion; Mirjana Lucic purposefully walking somewhere with an official by her side; Linda Wild writing on some kind of calculator-looking device, with Rita Grande looking on intently; Asa Carlsson, sitting down outside Court 7 with her coach and a couple friends after a tough doubles loss; Gustavo Kuerten and his older brother heading out to the Fernando Meligeni-Jimy Szymanski match -- Guga was besieged with autograph and photo requests, handling them all with his good natured aplomb even though it kept him from watching the match.
Angela Lettiere and Meilen Tu have been two of the more highly touted young American players to come along in the '90s, but their pro careers have been disappointing to date. Lettiere has become a more or less full-time doubles specialist now and hooked up with Tu to face Florencia Labat and Mercedes Paz. Does anyone know where Lettiere went to college? That would help me decipher the cheer somebody yelled out to her at the start of this 11 am doubles match. I think what he screamed was, "Hey Angela! Gooooo Dogs! Sick 'em! Hoo hoo!" The Argentines also had a small cheering section in the fourth and fifth rows, including Labat's boyfriend.
The match got off to a weird start -- an overrule on the very first point. It didn't matter much, as Tu was quickly broken at 15. Labat held for 2-0 and Lettiere was broken at 30 on a Paz backhand volley winner. Paz got down 30-40 on her own serve, but rallied to hold for a commanding 4-0 lead. Tu then suffered another 15 break, serving her second double fault along the way. The Americans didn't find their rhythm at all until game #6, a break of Labat which ended on a high backhand volley winner by Lettiere. It looked like they'd finally have a successful service game up 30-0, but the veterans battled back to 30-30 and Lettiere lost the set on a volley error and double fault. After just over 25 minutes of very one-sided play, it was 6-1 in favor of Labat/Paz.
Florencia and Mercedes hadn't yet played a poor game, but that changed when Paz was broken at love to open the second set. Lettiere returned the favor, smiling wryly after committing three unforced errors in a row to be broken for 1-1. A rather casual looking Labat error got her down 15-40 in the next game, but she would eventually hold after four deuces, winning the game with a devilish drop volley. Tu got down break point on another double fault in game 4, but came back to score the team's first service hold. That was quickly answered by a Paz ace for 40-15 and a Labat smash for 3-2.
A quick break of Lettiere and a relatively easy Paz hold brought the second set score to 5-2. The trailing team didn't seem too upset, Lettiere giggling on her way back out following the changeover. The mood was further lightened when Tu mis-hit one of the worst serves I've ever seen, double faulting with a ball that barely reached the service box and then bounced over the net. Tu laughed it off and held for 5-3. Paz smacked an ace for 30-0, but up 40-15 double faulted away the first two match points. When Paz put a shoestring volley into the net, it looked like Lettiere/Tu might be getting back into the match. Tu saved a pair of overheads on the next point, but her third return went just long. Labat and Paz took over from there, each hitting a winning smash to finish off an impressive 6-1, 6-3 victory. Two of Labat's friends walked down to greet her and convinced her to give them each a bottle of water from the players' on-court cooler.
It's deja vu all over again. Natasha Zvereva was facing a Japanese opponent in the second round of the US Open for the third time in a row. She won a tight three-set war over Mana Endo at this stage in '95 and had an easier win over an injury-hampered Ai Sugiyama in '96. Naoko Sawamatsu appeared to be taking her place in the victim role, dropping a long first set 6-4. She had a 3-2 lead on serve when I arrived. A pair of easy holds made it 6-4, 3-4. Zvereva was once again sporting the "Alfalfa hairdo", introduced by Goran Ivanisevic in late '96 and since emulated (on at least one occasion) by Patrick Rafter and Mark Philippoussis.
A long rally at 30-30 in the eighth game ended with a missed backhand by Zvereva. She missed another on the next point, losing serve and now trailing 5-3. Facing double set point at 40-15, Natasha tried a drop shot. Naoko got to it, but "the Z Woman'" replied with a lovely one-handed backhand winner down the line. Zvereva took a big swing on a forehand winner for deue, but a couple of unforced errors finally did her in. Second set to Sawamatsu, 6-3. The rather elaborately roped off section of Court 11 reserved for members of the media was actually getting some use on this afternoon, with several Japanese photographers on hand to get shots of the Kobe native.
Zvereva came dangerously close to wilting as the third set began, but fought off a break point and held with an ace. She hit a couple great forehands in the second game, but Sawamatsu held for 1-1. Another deuce game followed, Zvereva once again bailing herself out with big serves, regularly surpassing the 100 miles per hour mark. Sawamatsu fought off a break point at 15-40 with a great forehand right into the corner, but Zvereva won the following point with a spectacular running backhand down the line. "Yeeeeeesss!!!!", the Belarussian wailed as the ball landed and secured the first break of the set for a 3-1 lead.
Sawamatsu broke right back for 3-2 an went up 40-30 on a serve Zvereva thought was long. "Come ON!", she screamed, "You've gotta be kidding me." Sawamatsu double faulted on the next point, Zvereva suspiciously smacking it all the way out of the court (no code violation, though). Sawamatsu went on to lose the game on a wide backhand. However, yet another break followed, Sawamatsu getting back to 4-3 despite a pair of Zvereva aces. Naoko thought the second was wide and got into her own dispute with the chair. Zvereva quickly broke back for 5-3, forcing Sawamatsu into errors.
Now with an opportunity to serve for the match, Natasha was none too pleased when one of her forehands was called long. She started arguing so furiously ("how can you do this to me?"), that I wasn't sure she'd heard the umpire make an overrule and order the point to be replayed. THAT decision angered Sawamatsu, so the umpire was now hearing complaints from both sides. When play resumed, Naoko made a pair of forehand errors for 30-15 and Natasha made a pair for 30-40. A delicate volley winner got Zvereva back to deuce. Forehand winners fought off two more break points. At the third deuce, Zvereva unleashed a 106 mph ace. Sawamatsu was incredulous over the non-call, exclaiming "this is nuts!" The call stood, however, and Zvereva followed it up with a 103 mph service winner for the victory. The #1 doubles player raised a clenched fist, having won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes. By the way, she improved to a perfect 8-0 in matches played with yours truly in attendance.
What's in a name? While some outer courts at the new USTA Tennis Center feature all-electronic scoreboards, there are still a few where printed name cards have to be placed on the board for each match. The ball kids on Court 14 weren't able to find a Tanasugarn card, so the first few games of this match were played as Barclay/Wood vs. Park. Sung-Hee might have wished that was the case after the first game, Tamarine Tanasugarn double faulting to end a love break. At the least, she may have been hoping the name Wang would magically appear in the empty scoreboard space. Shi-Ting Wang is Park's usual partner, but she chose to skip this year's US Open.
Clare Wood was quickly broken for 1-1 and an easy Park hold made it 2 games to 1. Wood was putting on a virtual clinic in how to net volleys in these early games, her errors forcing Catherine Barclay to fight off three break points before holding for 2-2. Tanasugarn got an easy hold for 3-2 and her name finally arrived during the subsequent changeover.
British veteran Wood continued to play atrocious tennis in game 6, her double faults and unforced errors eventually giving away a service break for 4-2. Wood redeemed herself with a big forehand return winner which won the fourth break point in the seventh game. The third multi-deuce game in a row followed, Tanasugarn and Park volley errors accounting for the last two points in a tough Barclay hold. The games finally started going quickly after that -- Tanasugarn, Wood, and Park holding at 15 to give the Korean/Thai team a 6-5 advantage. Barclay argued a couple calls in that game, including one on a ball which was called long even though Park appeared to hit it before it touched the ground.
Down 15-30, Australia's Catherine Barclay brought out the biggest serves of the set -- service winners for 30-30 and 40-30, following by an ace to win the game and force the tiebreak. Barclay netted a forehand in the opening point, dropping to her knees and banging her racquet on the court surface. Wood came up with a service winner and a double fault to make it 2-1. A series of errors (by Tanasugarn, Wood, Tanasugarn, Park, Wood, and Barclay) brought the score to 5-4 in favor of Park/Tanasugarn. Wood missed a lunging backhand volley to get behind 6-4, but hit a decisive one from the forehand wing to save a set point for 6-5.
Sung-Hee Park drilled a big forehand on the 12th point of the tiebreak, setting up an easy smash. After an hour of play, Park and Tanasugarn finally had the first set in hand. Wood banged her racquet on the net as she walked back to her chair. She and Barclay would score an early break in the third, but squandered that lead. Park and Tanasugarn went ahead to record a 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 win.
It didn't look like there would be much more of this match for me to see when I arrived at Court 10. After losing the first set 7-5, Habsudova had won the second 6-3 and sprinted to a 4-0 lead in the 3rd. Things got even bleaker for Sugiyama when she lost a 40-15 lead, Habsudova's laser-like groundstrokes creating a THREE break advantage at 5-0. So this thing was over, right? Before you answer, consider two facts. One: Ai Sugiyama is one of the most determined fighters on the WTA Tour, armed with a never say die attitude. Two: Karina Habsudova is the sport's version of retired basketball star Vinnie "The Microwave" Johnson. When Habsudova is hot, she fires winners all over the court. When she's cold, you'd swear she couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.
Sugiyama was covering herself with a towel during the changeover and almost seemed to be shivering. I thought her body was about to go into complete shutdown. However, it was Habsudova who locked up, inexplicably falling into one of her slumps just as she was set to serve out a big win. Sugiyama broke at love and held at 15, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Habsudova got a second chance to serve for a spot in the third round, but erred her way to a 15 break for 5-3. Karina finally got a match point opportunity, though, when a lunging Sugiyama backhand went wide for 30-40. A Habsudova backhand on the next point was ruled long, but the chair umpire ordered the point to be replayed! The Slovakian lost the point anyway on a forehand into the net. Three more Habsudova unforced errors cost her the game. She stomped her foot in frustration, unable to stop the deluge of u.e.'s.
Sugiyama now trailed just 5 games to 4 and the crowd was buzzing over her big comeback. Habsudova still had another chance to serve it out, though, and her vocal supporters urged her on with cries like "C'mon Karina, you can do it!" Maybe she finally could -- a lucky net cord got her to 30-30 and a netted Sugiyama forehand brought up match point #2. Ai refused to go down, though, forcing a rally which culminated in a Habsudova backhand error. Sugiyama blew a smash two points later, setting the stage for match point #3. Habsudova hit two straight forehands over the baseline, though. Karina got back to deuce with a smash, then missed the mark on two more groundstrokes. Ai Sugiyama had broken serve yet again, evening the match at 5-5 in the 3rd.
Finally without a lead to protect, Habsudova got back on track. In the 11th game, her shots stayed in the court and forced Sugiyama into errors. When Sugiyama missed a lob at deuce, Habsudova had a break point. She lost that break chance, but capitalized on the next one two points later -- a well disguised lob giving Habsudova her first game in seemingly ages and a 6-5 lead. The players received a big ovation before the 12th game of the set, each doing deep knee bends at the baseline to make sure their legs had enough left for another game.
Sugiyama could no longer count on gift-wrapped errors from Habsudova and, as in the previous game, was losing the extended rallies. A pair of Sugiyama miscues made it 40-15, giving Habsudova a fourth match point. She would not let this one fall by the wayside -- Habsudova drilled a backhand winner to finally complete a wild match. After 2 hours and 29 minutes, she could breathe a deep sigh of relief over a 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 win. Standing by her chair with a big smile on her face, Habsudova received a hug and kiss from her boyfriend and talked at length with some fans. The enigmatic slugger was clearly relieved to have won a match in which she committed -- be sure you're sitting down for this statistic -- 103 unforced errors.
Does Jeff Tarango try to make himself look handsome by teaming up with some of the weirdest looking doubles partners imaginable? In recent months he has shared the court with bizarre Germans Karsten Braasch and Jens Knippschild. Now here he was on Court 6 with the bespectacled Guillaume Raoux, whose appearance is more mad scientist than professional athlete. Raoux's got a killer game, though, as he proved by bouncing Carlos Moya from the singles competition on Tuesday. Raoux and Tarango will square off in the second round of singles. For now, they had to work together and were apparently doing so to good effect -- they won the first set in a tiebreak and were up a break at 3-2 in the second when I arrived.
Christian Brandi and Fillippo Messori are unheralded to be sure, but they've been playing together for a while and at least have their wardrobe coordinated. They sported matching shirts on Wednesday -- blue with horizontal and vertical white stripes. Unable to find a clever segue from that fact into the actual match action, I can simply tell you that Raoux missed a backhand volley to go down 15-40, picking up the ball and slamming it back into the net. Two points later, the Frenchman missed a forehand volley, angrily preforming the ball abuse ritual twice this time. That's because it was doubly important, I guess, getting the set back on serve at 3-3.
Raoux found the range on a backhand return winner to lead 0-30 -- Tarango congratulated him with a "great shot" comment. Brandi buried a backhand volley in the net to complete a love break for 4-3. Messori got lucky up 0-30 in the eighth game, blocking back a Tarango serve and coming up with a winner when his dying quail of a return caught the baseline. Tarango delivered some big serves to save all three break points, though, and he fought off a fourth before holding for a 5-3 advantage. Serving to stay alive, Brandi held at love for 5-4. Tarango did some actual strategizing during the next changeover, telling Raoux something about "wide, wide, wide" -- I guess he'd figured out that the Italians were never serving down the T.
That information about Brandi/Messori service patterns (if that's what "wide, wide, wide" was about) wouldn't matter if Raoux could hold serve. He got off to a solid 30-0 start, but Tarango missed a volley for 30-15. Jeff promptly kicked the ball, then walked up and very forcefully whacked it into the net twice. I honestly could not tell if he was seriously melting down or just joking around. There wouldn't be any more hints of anger or humor the rest of the way -- just a pair of good doubles points, Tarango and Raoux winning the match on the former's swinging forehand volley winner. Unlike Tuesday, Jeff was more than willing to sign a few autographs after this 7-6, 6-4 win.
I was quite looking forward to finishing my US Open day with this late mixed doubles match. Scheduled last on Court 7, it didn't get underway until around 7 pm. Anke Huber was apparently trying to take advantage of her newly improved fitness by trying her hand in all three draws, making this rare mixed doubles appearance. Cyril Suk and Helena Sukova were the prohibitive favorites, coming off their second straight Wimbledon mixed doubles title, but the match at least figured to be fun. Mixed doubs often makes for the most lighthearted play in professional tennis. Huber and Joshua Eagle really seemed to be enjoying each other's company and Sukova got to laugh heartily when the chair umpire mispronounced her brother's last name.
The umpire may have been on to something -- Suk played a lousy game to open the match, losing it on a routine volley error. Suk frowned and tossed his racquet to his chair. Eagle and Huber weren't frowning at all, smiling broadly after the changeover. Suk/Sukova got the last laugh in the second game, Eagle misjudging a Sukova reflex volley at 30-40. It hit the baseline and evened the match at 1 game apiece. Helena, who is a few inches taller than Cyril, racked up an ace on her way to winning a tight service game for a 2-1 lead. Huber fought off break points in game 4 with a service winner and a sharp-angled backhand volley, but a lob volley by Suk finally closed out a break for 3-1.
Suk faced a break point down 30-40 in the fifth game, but rallied with three straight service winners to hold for a 4-1 lead. As the changeover began, Eagle walked up to the umpire and announced that he was injured and would be unable to continue. Before many fans even knew what was going on, Huber and Eagle had packed up and left. I'm still not sure what ailment forced the Australian to forfeit this match after just 5 games, but I did feel a little ripped off. Another good day at the Open -- with great weather and exciting tennis -- ended with a whimper.