Tennis Masters Toronto, July 28, 2002
by Ed Toombs
A violent rainstorm greeted early-arriving fans, with high winds sending wooden signs flying around the York University Campus and knocking tables askew. The conditions may have disturbed the Pope?s mass down the road, but not the tennis, as the skies cleared in time to permit qualifying to be completed. By afternoon it was very hot and humid under the sun, and the players were feeling the effects of the sticky weather.
It looks as though a heat wave has begun in southern Ontario, with temperatures forecast in the low 30s at least until Thursday. And with thundershowers expected as well, it was probably a good thing to get an early re-introduction to the roaring sound of the hot air blowers that dry the courts.
Pete speaks Pete Sampras, seeded 13th here, is in town, and met with the media this afternoon. It?s been a rough couple of years for the great American champion: he has not won a title in over 24 months, and was shockingly ousted from Wimbledon last month by the unheralded George Bastl. Yes, this is the same George Bastl who lost his qualifying match here to Alex Kim just before Pete?s press conference began.
Sampras is playing his initial tournament with a new-old coach. Paul Annacone had been Pete?s longtime mentor before the two parted ways late last year. Recently Sampras announced that he has ended his brief association with Jose Higueras, and is returning to Annacone. The seven-time Wimbledon champion, who is looking for his first Canadian title this week in his seventh try, is also seeing his first action since the recent announcement that his wife Brigitte is expecting a child, due to enter the world near the end of the year.
- On his current state of mind and goals for the rest of his career: ?I feel like I?m playing fine. I?ve been practicing hard in L.A. and hitting the ball fine. Obviously I?m lacking in a little confidence, but hopefully I can get a few wins under my belt here?. Right now I?m just trying to get some confidence again, and win a major tournament in the next year or so.?
- Sampras says he initiated the split with his ex-coach Higueras, who was unable to travel to all tournaments with his pupil, causing ?some instability.? ?At Wimbledon I asked Jose to work full-time, and he couldn?t do that.?
- Sampras feels recently-rehired coach Annacone is a great motivator who will put him back in touch with the basics of his game. ?Paul knows how I tick. He wants me to be aggressive, be offensive. He told me, ?You have an opportunity to do something bigger than the 13 majors: coming back from your lowest period in tennis.? That really motivated me.?
- On the state of men?s tennis: "The competition is fierce. It?s not just the top 5 guys, it?s the top 20 guys. As far as dominating, the only guy I can see is Lleyton Hewitt.?
- While not exactly bubbling with joy, Sampras seems pleased at the prospect of becoming a father. ?Yeah, we?re both pretty excited. It?s put things into perspective.? With a chuckle, Sampras added drily, ?I did something right this year, I guess!?
Sampras has quite a first round challenge: to defeat one of his historically more difficult opponents, South African veteran Wayne Ferreira.
Qualifying action Without further ado, here are your happy qualifiers.
Paradorn Srichaphan (1) def. Noam Behr (14), 7-5 6-3 (will play Michel Kratochvil)
Srichaphan, still trying to make the jump into the top 50 that his talent suggests he should, was an fairly routine winner over Israeli Noam Behr today.
Vincent Spadea (3) def. Noam Okun (12), 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 (will play will play 6th seed Albert Costa)
At the same time as Noam Behr was having his problems with Srichaphan in the Stadium, another Israeli Noam was in action on Court One. We had our eagle eyes on today?s qualifying encounter between Spadea and Okun.
Spadea (pictured at right) is a former top 20 player out of Florida who set a record for consecutive losses (21) in 2000, sending his ranking plunging into the 200s. Vince is slowly getting his game back together and has climbed back to 74 in the Entry System rankings. Okun caught our attention last week by upsetting Wimbledon quarterfinalist Sjeng Schalken in Los Angeles. The Israeli is a powerfully-built (6?1?, 180, or 1.85 m, 81 kg) 24-year-old, who rips his baseline shots (including a dynamic one-handed backhand) with abandon and serves with considerable strength. On the basis of this match, his weaknesses would seem to be streaks of wildness and lack of foot speed.
Okun?s baseline drives were far too inaccurate in the opening set, as the steadier Spadea kept the ball in play and kept the somewhat heavy-footed Okun on the run. The American, who also impressed with a number of blazing forehand returns, was looking comfortable with a 6-4, 3-1 lead in the second set. But Okun began to find the range, and also started to bring Spadea to the net with drop shots and passing him with splendid backhands. Spadea has never been comfortable at the net, so this latter tactic was working like a charm. This allowed the Israeli to pull level at 3-3. Okun picked up a key break in a four-deuce game to go ahead 5-4. He served out the set despite a few nervous wobbles, converting his third set point with a service winner to level the match.
The final set was an anti-climax. Early in the set it became clear that Okun was fighting cramps. After Spadea broke Okun on a tired forehand error by the Israeli to take a 3-1, Noam had little left to give, and the outcome was a formality. While Spadea signed autographs after the match, the dizzy and cramping Israeli was scarcely able to get out of his chair after the match, and veteran trainer Bill Norris attended to his aching legs.
While one would not think that the heat would bother an Israeli to that extent, I hear that in the Middle East it?s a dry heat?. Spadea may have a decent shot at upsetting French Open champion Albert Costa on Tuesday. The Spaniard is make a rapid turnaround from clay (he played a quarterfinal on Friday in Kitzbuhel). Costa is already in Toronto and working hard: we saw the Spaniard practicing vigorously with Nicolás Lapentti.
Hyung-Taik Lee (6) def. Harel Levy, 7-5, 6-1 (will play Arnaud Clément)
It wasn?t Israel?s day, as a third player from that nation fell at the last qualifying hurdle.
Just two years ago, Harel Levy captivated the Toronto crowd with his unexpected run to the Toronto final. Since then, sadly, a promising career has disintegrated. With a 328 ranking, Levy was the final player allowed into the qualifying draw. Last year, the Israeli underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair torn hip cartilage. It was the same surgery (performed, in fact, by the same Nashville surgeon) that Gustavo Kuerten underwent this year. However, the damage had been much more severe in Levy?s case. Last month when we saw him in Nottingham, Levy cut a sad figure as he hobbled badly and finally gave up in the third set against Jan Vacek.
Levy?s woes continued today, as he was swept aside by the energetic and affable Hyung-Taik Lee. Lee had some vocal support from a handful of members of Toronto?s large Korean community, and we would be surprised if the Korean fan club does not grow larger for his first round match against diminutive Frenchman Arnaud Clément tomorrow.
Cyril Saulnier (12) def. Radek Stepanek (4), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) (will play 15th seed David Nalbandián)
Radek Stepanek enters the draw as a lucky loser, replacing Alex Corretja (will play qualifier Alex Kim)Saulnier is a veteran journeyman with the sunny accent of the south of France. Both he and Stepanek may have dreams of a first round win dancing in their heads. David Nalbandián has been unconvincing since his astonishing run to the Wimbledon final, while lucky loser Stepanek drew the modest qualifier Alex Kim.
Alex Kim (10) def. George Bastl (8), 6-2, 6-4 (will play lucky loser Radek Stepanek)
I suppose that the speedy American Kim might feel the same as Stepanek about their impending first round showdown!
Wayne Black def. Kristan Pless (5), 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) (will play Sjeng Schalken)
Black is the only unseeded member of the qualifying field to make the main draw, and his win over former junior number one Pless was the surprise of the day. ?Shuma? (?lion?), as Wayne is known in his native Zimbabwe, frustrated the Dane with his strong returns and tireless retrieving. It appeared Pless might turn the match around in the second set, when he broke serve to take a 6-5 lead. Serving for the set, however, Pless double-faulted at 30-40 to allow Black into a tie-break that was one-sided in favour of the Zimbabwean. When it was all over, the fair-complexioned Pless, his face flushed by the heat and his frustration, smashed his racquet furiously to the court.
Kenneth Carlsen (7) def. Gastón Etlis, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8) (will play Marcelo Ríos)
Better news for Denmark here! Hard-serving Dane Kenneth Carlsen had some difficulty putting away the dogged Argentine Etlis, who was scrambling so far behind the baseline that on one occasion his racquet clipped the bill of a linesman?s cap during his follow-through. Carlsen appeared to get rather tense near the end, shanking two routine backhands on match points, but finally put away the persistent Etlis on match point number five.
Carlsen may fancy his chances against Ríos in the first round. ?El Chino? is coming back from tendonitis in his right knee, and has looked anything but convincing. Ríos has lost to the likes of Alejandro Hernández, Victor Hanescu and Jean-René Lisnard -- hardly the tennis equivalent of "Murderers' Row" -- in recent weeks.
Taylor Dent (2) def. Cecil Mamiit (9), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) (will play Magnus Norman)
Hard-serving American Dent has seen his stock rise in recent weeks, particularly thanks to his first ATP title in Newport two weeks ago. Dent was not overwhelmingly impressive today, but his blazing serve was the difference in a narrow win over his countryman Mamiit.
One might be tempted to rate Dent as favourite for his first-rounder tomorrow. Norman, struggling to recover his form since having the same operation that Levy and Kuerten underwent, has only 5 wins in 14 matches this year.
Main draw action begins tomorrow. Please join us all week for daily reports from Toronto.