I was really looking forward to my final day at the '97 US Open. The schedule from packed from start to finish with matches I was very interested in checking out. I was all psyched to get in as much tennis viewing as I could before having to leave at 6:30 to catch the train home. Therefore, you can imagine how frustrated I was during the seemingly endless rain delay. I arrived at the tournament around 10:30 in the morning and saw no actual tennis until 5:22 pm, just an hour before my departure.
You might think the only ones venturing outdoors in the morning and afternoon were fans who had nowhere else to go, but there were some players out and about during the occasional breaks in the weather. The outer courts were a virtual ghost town until Ann Grossman and Karina Habsudova came out around 11 o'clock. They went out to rain-soaked Court 18 to warm up -- ran a few laps around the court, stretched for a while, and hit some balls despite the puddles. They seemed to be in good spirits, Karina taking a picture of Ann with a little camera and making fun of Ann's baggy sweatpants.
Eventually several of the other players scheduled for early matches went out to get in some pratice. Florencia Labat was hitting on Court 10, Olga Barabanschikova was doing likewise on 12, and Elena Likhovtseva went for a jog around the grounds. If you happened to be in the right place at the right time, you could also spot Magdalena Maleeva trying on skirts at the Yonex booth. Yes, trying on skirts and eventually taking some away with her. Maggie is a true original.
Unfortunately, the rain started again and everyone headed back to the players lounge. Everyone, that is, except Barabanschikova. Olga moved over to Court 11 (where her match was scheduled) and continued to hit through the sprinkles, wearing far more conservative practice court attire than usual because of the weather. She wasn't able to stay for very long, though, as the rain quickly became far more persistent. Barabanschikova nonetheless stuck around to sign a few autographs for kids, making time for them even though she was getting soaked.
Moderately heavy rains continued until around 1:30. I saw some non-playing notables strolling around then, including Nick Bollettieri and Bruno Rebeuh. I think the first players out to try practicing this time were Amy Frazier and Rika Hiraki, who warmed up together on Court 12. Lindsay Davenport also put in a brief appearance, but had to literally sprint back indoors when the showers resumed. Lindsay may not always move very well on the court, but she was really motoring today.
The rain finally let up for good later in the afternoon. It was taking a long time to get the outer courts ready for play, though. Since I still had quite a few exposures left on my roll of film, I decided to hang out by spot where the players walk out on their way to matches and practice sessions. A handful of fans were also there, hoping for pictures and/or autographs. It was kind of like a big roulette wheel, waiting to see who would come out next. Those who did while I was over there: Davenport again; Gustavo Kuerten (smiling as usual); Brad Gilbert (talking to a member of Sargis Sargsian's family before ducking into the media building); Alexandra Fusai; Anna Kournikova (silently running away from a couple kids who asked for her autograph); Louise Pleming; Francesca Lubiani (speaking with Labat's boyfriend); Gigi Fernandez; Carlos Moya (who ended up talking to Gilbert, who re-emerged from the media area); Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs.
Play finally got underway on the side courts around 5 pm on Thursday -- six hours later than scheduled, due to the numbing rash of intermittent showers. A very intriguing handful of matches opened the day-turned-evening session. Elena Likhovtseva battled her way to a win on Court 14, the entertaining doubles team of Ann Grossman and Karina Habsudova had a rough go of it on 16, #1 women's doubles seeds Gigi Fernandez and Natasha Zvereva drew a big crowd on Court 18, and Olga Barabanschikova scored an upset win over Brenda Schultz-McCarthy on Court 4, a practice court which hosted the Thursday matches which had been scheduled for Court 11.
As it turned out, those matches were all in their late stages as I was leaving the grounds at 6:30 pm to catch my train home. The one match which did end in time for me was the one I chose to attend -- Argentina's #1 player, Florencia Labat, squaring off against fellow lefty Francesca Lubiani. Labat came out in a surprising black shirt; odd because her wardbrobe almost always consists of whites mixed in with light blue, pink, or green pastels. I suppose this choice did match the weather on a very dark day at the US Open.
It was a particularly dark day for Lubiani. According to the official WTA Tour media guide, her favorite surface is hard court, but you wouldn't know it from watching the first five games of this match. Labat dropped only one point in each of the first two games. Lubiani battled back to a 15-40 edge in Game 3, but missed both break opportunities with unforced errors. A third miss ended Labat's hold for 3-0. The fourth game also ended on consecutive errant shots from Lubiani, who hits with two hands from both sides but was finding little success with either one on this day. Labat then held at love, taking a 5-0 lead with an ace. After just 19 minutes, she was one game away from capturing the first set.
A seemingly disoriented Lubiani made a truly ridiculous forehand error to open the sixth game, but she won the next four points to get on the board at 5-1. Lubiani even had another look at a possible service break up 30-40, but Labat dismissed that with a service winner and closed out the set 6 games to 1. It was a display of great defensive tennis from Labat, getting back all of Lubiani's accurate shots to keep points alive long enough for the 20-year-old Italian to lose them on errors. More of the same followed early in the second, Labat breaking and holding for a 2-0 lead.
Just winning a game was a challenge for Lubiani, who needed three game points to finally hold for 2-1. Labat followed with an easy service game for 3-1. Lubiani trailed 0-40 in the fifth game, battled back with a nice string of three straight winners, then made two more errors to be broken for 4-1. Three Lubiani errors in a row ended the sixth game. Trailing 5-1 and 15-40, Lubiani finally escaped her nightmare by serving a double fault. You'd almost swear these two knew I had a train to catch. Labat's 6-1, 6-1 win ended in just 54 minutes, allowing me to see a full match with about ten minutes to spare. It wasn't a spectacular way to end my last day at the '97 US Open, but Tuesday and Wednesday went well enough that I can't complain much.