Seeds, Newcomers, and Controversy on Crowded Day One
by Christopher Gerby
Anke Huber vs. Silvia Talaja
Women's Singles: First Round
Court 11
These days she may be better known for as the girlfriend
of French Open finalist Andrei Medvedev, but Anke Huber
is a former Grand Slam finalist herself. Once ranked as
high as #4 in the world, Huber has struggled ever since
undergoing foot surgery last year. She was unseeded
coming into this bout against Silvia Talaja, a promising
young player from Croatia. Talaja's powerful two-handed
backhand has carried her to #34 in the world and gave
her a legitimate shot to upset the better-known Huber.
If Huber and Talaja wanted to shake off any rust early on,
they certainly had ample opportunity to do so in the
opening game. The windy conditions were clearly bothering
Talaja, who double faulted twice in a remarkable five-deuce
game which lasted 11 minutes. The game finally ended on a
backhand error from Huber. Perhaps still reeling from all
the chances she blew in that game, Anke dropped two more
games for a 0-3 deficit. She was already looking
frustrated, shaking her head and throwing her towel at
her chair. Huber was broken easily for 0-4, but finally
got on the board with a break and a hold of her own.
Talaja was still able to control many of the rallies,
though, and her first serves (the few that were good)
regularly clocked in at over 100 MPH. She held at love
for 5-2 and broke Huber yet again to clinch a 6-2 win of
the first set.
When Talaja won two more consecutive games to open the
second set, it looked as if she might run away with a
fairly easy win. Not so fast -- Huber reeled off five
games in a row to take command of the set. She dropped
only one point in the following game, serving out a 6-2
win in the set. After 69 minutes of play, Huber and
Talaja were all square at one set apiece. Talaja double
faulted to lose the first game of the final set at love.
She was completely out of sorts by now, whereas Huber
was in top form, confidently clobbering every short ball
she got from Talaja. She won the second game with an ace
and ended the third by killing a backhand winner down the
line. Huber made a nifty ballerina-esque move on a
backhand volley midway through the next game, which she
won for a commanding 4-0 lead.
It was vintage Huber by now, hitting her groundstrokes
with authority and coming to the net to put away easy
winners. She broke at love for a 5-0 advantage, running
her streak to 11 straight games. Talaja looked like she
might salvage some dignity with a late service break,
taking a 30-40 lead in the set's sixth game. However, an
unwavering Huber claimed the next three points, winning
the match with one of the many successful drop shots she
tried in the final set. It had been a shaky start for
Huber, but she finished very strong in her 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
dismissal of a hard-hitting, inconsistent challenger.
Next up for Huber is a 2nd Round meeting with gritty
Anne Kremer of Luxembourg.
Dominique van Roost vs. Maureen Drake
Women's Singles: First Round
Court 6
With her skinny frame and a desire to hit all her
groundstrokes with as much power as possible, Dominique
van Roost is forever courting injury trouble. She's had
various aches and pains throughout her career, but comes
into the '99 US Open healthy and seeded 13th. Her first
hurdle would be Maureen Drake, who was sporting
one of the most amazing tennis outfits I've ever seen.
Her shirt appeared to be made from the same material as
football jerseys and it had literally sparkling red and
blue stripes on the sleeves. She also wore a sparkling
red skirt which looked like something you might find in
Las Vegas, rather than Drake's native Toronto.
Wearing comparatively simple attire (a flattering Nike
getup with three shades of blue), Van Roost let her
tennis do the sparkling early in the match. She ripped a
forehand down the line to finish an opening break of
Drake's serve, held for 2-0, and broke again for 3-0. The
fourth game was a long struggle, with Drake berating
herself for the opportunities she was missing against
Van Roost's dodgy serve. Despite three double faults,
the Belgian ultimately pulled out the game for a 4-0 lead.
Van Roost continued to dictate play with her penetrating
groundstrokes and even caressed a winning drop shot on
her way to a break for 5-0. Drake finally squeaked out a
break for 1-5, but played an ugly seventh game to
surrender the set, 6 games to 1.
It had been a baseline war thus far, which was bad news
for Maureen Drake. During her surprise run to the fourth
round of this year's Australian Open, Drake made
numerous forays to the net. Not so on Monday, as Van
Roost kept Drake pinned to the baseline with deep,
accurate forehands and backhands. Van Roost held, broke,
and held again for a 3-0 lead in the second set. She was
constructing points impeccably, pushing Drake all over
the court. Drake had a 40-30 lead in the fourth game,
but netted a backhand on break point to trail 0-4. Van
Roost notched an easy service hold for 5-0 and stormed
out to a 0-40 lead against Drake's serve. Maureen saved
the first two match points, but erred on the third,
driving a forehand into the net to complete the 6-1, 6-0
rout.
Dominique van Roost graciously signed many autographs
after the match. That lasted nearly as long as the match
itself! An exaggeration, maybe, but the decisive win was
the kind of start Dominique had to be hoping for as she
gears up for a potential fourth round meeting with Venus
Williams. Let's not get ahead of oursevles, though --
Van Roost will next have to get past Rita Grande, who can
be a pretty dangerous player on this surface.
Barbara Schett vs. Tracy Singian
Women's Singles: First Round
Court 10
19-year-old qualifier Tracy Singian was the sentimental
crowd favorite in her first round match, but she was a clear
underdog against #12 seed Barbara Schett. Schett's been in
terrific form over the past 12 months or so. Nerves
sometimes get the best of her against Top 10 opponents,
but the Austrian generally has an easy time with
relative no-names like Singian. It looked like that would
be the case here, as Schett rolled through the first four
games in pretty dominant fashion. Singian appeared to be
quite nervous and Schett gave her plenty of reason to be,
smacking impressive winners all over the court. Schett
held at love in the fifth game and earned a set point in
the sixth. Singian fought it off with a winning forehand
volley, but couldn't repeat the trick when Schett got to
set point again. Singian pushed a backhand approach shot
into the net, handing Schett a 6-0 "bagel" after just 21
minutes of play.
Schett really was on fire, taking the ball early and
pummeling it. She scored another break and another hold,
winning the set's second game with a lovely touch backhand
volley of a tricky high ball. Schett's usually pretty
intense on the court, but even she cracked a smile after
that winner. Singian laced a backhand winner down the
line for 30-30 in the next game and announced, "At least I
hit one good shot today." Schett won the game on an ace,
however, and broke Singian's serve yet again to jump ahead
4-0.
The young Floridian's Grand Slam dreams were crashing
down all around her. She hit a running forehand pass just
long to lose the set's fifth game and stared down a 30-40
deficit in the sixth. Schett would not dine on a rare
double bagel, however. Singian fought off a pair of match
points, finally winning the game on a Schett error. She
got a huge ovation from the crowd and responded with a
big smile and a few waves. It was a great moral victory
for Singian, but it was little more than a minor
inconvenience for Schett. Barbara reasserted her
dominance, serving out a 6-0, 6-1 victory at love. Her
opposition may have been a bit lacking on Monday, but
take nothing away from Schett. She could go deep in this
draw if she can maintain the devastating level of play
she exhibited against Singian.
Sarah Pitkowski vs. Jenny Hopkins
Women's Singles: First Round
Court 17
The U.S. Open was a popular place to be on Monday
afternoon. A record crowd of 27,809 was creating some
serious gridlock on the outer courts, where even
players who are far from household names were drawing
capacity crowds. John van Lottum vs. Takao Suzuki, for
instance, filled every seat on one of the bigger field
courts. I thought my next stop would be Andrei
Medvedev's match, but even the generously sized Court 4
bleachers were jam-packed for his match. After stopping at
a few other mega-crowded courts, I arrived at #17, where
scrappy Sarah Pitkowski was to about to take on a young
wild card entrant, Jenny Hopkins.
Pitkowski's not big (officially 5 foot 2 1/2 inches tall),
nor does she possess "knock your socks off" power. She
wins with guile and guts, keeping the ball in play and
running after everything. She clearly wasn't going to
outslug Hopkins, a kid from Kansas with a strong serve
and a big forehand. After they traded breaks to open the
match, Hopkins powered home an ace and a service winner
to gain an early 2-1 lead. Whereas Tracy Singian looked
overwhelmed out on Court 10, Hopkins looked right at home
on 17. If nothing else, she seemed more comfortable than
the ball boys. When the umbrella used to shade Hopkins
from the sun was turned inside out by the wind, the ball
boys struggled mightily to repair it.
Pitkwoski fell behind 0-40 in the next game and slapped
her thigh a few times, rather like a jockey trying to get
his race horse in gear. It had that kind of effect -- the
Frenchwoman rallied to hold for 2-2. They traded holds
for 3-3 and Pitkowski took to punching her thigh! Even
after victorious points, Sarah had a perturbed grimace
on her face. However, she had to perk up a bit after
breaking Jenny's serve on her way to a 5-3 lead.
Hopkins' play was becoming erratic, but she pulled
herself together in the ninth game, holding at love for
4-5. She survived one set point in the following game,
hauling off on a big forehand winner. On set point #2,
Pitkowski jammed Hopkins with a body serve. The American's
backhand return floated wide, putting a 6-4 set in
Pitkowski's bank.
I didn't get the impression that Hopkins was rushing
things, but she was making plenty of errors. Pitkowski
just kept pushing the ball back, breaking and holding
for a 2-0 lead in the second set. Hopkins served big in a
hold for 1-2 and forced three deuces in Game 4, but
Pitkowski came out ahead at 3-1. A pair of easy holds
brought the score to 4-2. Pitkowski opened the eighth
game by missing a backhand and chiding herself in French,
but Hopkins ultimately lost the game with an unforced
error of her own. Hopkins was flashing plenty of potential,
but the extended rallies were not going her way. Sarah
Pitkowski is a feisty little competitor and she wasted no
time closing out a 6-4, 6-2 win. The redhead's reward is a
second round meeting with the #1 player in the world,
Martina Hingis. Next up for Jenny Hopkins is a trip home,
I suppose, but hers is a name to remember for the future.
Meghann Shaughnessy vs. Tina Krizan
Women's Singles: First Round
Court 6
Thin, leggy Meghann Shaughnessy became part of On The
Line's extended family this year, keeping an online
journal for us is January. In the interim, she has
become a bit of a doubles specialist, reaching two finals
in that discipline while seeing her singles ranking fall
to a discouraging #101. Shaughnessy spent much of Monday
on the practice courts, toiling out there in two
separate sessions. Considering all the time she'd put in
trying to fine-tune her strokes, it was amazing to me
how flat she looked in the early stages of her match
against qualifier Tina Krizan. Shaughnesssy was not
moving her feet at all, nor was she doing anything with
her service returns. Before long, Krizan was sitting on a
4-0 lead.
The fifth game was competitively poised at 30-30, but
the 25-year-old smacked two aces in a row to lead 5-0.
Shaughnessy finally put her own powerful serve to use in
the sixth game, holding at love. She then played her first
truly spirited return game, blasting a forehand winner
down the line on break point. Shaughnessy's clenched
fist indicated that she hadn't given up on this set,
despite still being in a 2-5 hole. She held at love again
for 3-5, but Krizan finally halted her momentum,
completing the 6-3 set with a forehand winner. Tina had
made a good run through the qualifying -- taking out
former Top 30 player Florencia Labat in the final round
-- and she was looking pretty solid here in the main
draw.
Shaughnessy was still serving well -- she rolled through
two more love holds, bringing that streak to four in a
row. Krizan was taking care of her own serve, though, and
stayed on pace at 2-2. With doubles partner Katarina
Srebotnik looking on from the stands, Krizan ripped a
cross-court forehand winner to grab a crucial service
break and a 3-2 edge. An exchange of holds brought the
second set to 4-3. A Shaughnessy comeback was still
conceivable at this juncture, but Krizan won the eighth game
and earned double match point in the ninth. Meghann
drilled a forehand long of the baseline, bringing the
Slovenian's 6-3, 6-3 victory to a close in just under an
hour. It was a pretty dodgy effort from Shaughnessy, who
has the tools to be a top player but seemingly can't put
it all together in a Grand Slam match.
Jonas Bjorkman vs. Jeff Tarango
Men's Singles: First Round
Grandstand
Men's tennis is being increasingly dominated by powerful
serving, but don't tell that to Jonas Bjorkman and Jeff
Tarango. They're among the best returners in the
game and have used that skill to particularly good
effect in doubles, where they've each won multiple titles
in '99. Tarango's also one of the oldest players on the
tour, but he hasn't mellowed, nor is he going downhill.
The fiery Californian won the singles title at a
challenger event in July and followed that up by
reaching the singles final at the ATP Tour stop in Umag,
Croatia. His loss there to Magnus Norman was understandable,
as Norman's been among the hottest players on the tour
this summer.
Norman's fellow Swede, Jonas Bjorkman, hasn't been nearly
as hot. He's been struggling with his confidence of late
and has drifted to #41 in the rankings. If he was looking
to find the form that previously made him a Top 5 player,
the Open was a good place to look. After all, he reached
the semifinals here in '97 and the quarterfinals last
year. Playing a night match on the Grandstand had to
bring back memories for Tarango, though. Three years ago,
on this same court, he eliminated Marcelo Rios in four
sets.
Tarango won the toss, elected to serve, and won
the opening game with an ace. The holds continued to 4-4,
both players looking very sharp. Tarango had been
absolutely killing forehands in his pre-match practice
session with Richey Reneberg and he was doing it here as
well. Bjorkman, meanwhile, was venturing to the net often
and making athletic volley winners once there.
Tarango faced a break point for the first time in Game 9
and responded poorly, sending a forehand long to give
Bjorkman a 5-4 lead.
There were several shouts of "Come on, Jeff!" as the players
took the court following the changeover, but Bjorkman silenced
them with a love hold. After exactly 30 minutes of action,
Jonas had a 6-4 set in his pocket. A pair of holds to open
the second made it 1-1. Tarango hit a backhand long at
30-30 in the third game, but thought umpire Mike Morrissey
had overruled the out call. "Did you correct that? I
thought I heard, `Correction, ball was good.'" A long
discussion ensued, with Morrissey suggesting that maybe
someone in the crowd had said that. Personally, I never heard
any "correction" call -- maybe Jeff has voices in his head.
Whatever the case may be, Tarango lost that point and
lost the next, surrending the service break with a
lunging backhand volley into the net.
Tarango battled right back, getting a break point and
hitting a great return to set up a forehand pass for 2-2.
He held for 3-2, but Bjorkman held at love for 3-3,
Tarango losing the last point on a Morrissey overrule.
He let the umpire know he was not pleased. "Now you
decide who's missing calls? You need to go on a diet
anyway." That was a cheap shot, but Morrissey has
probably heard worse. His unflappably calm demeanor has
earned him numerous assignments of "Tarango duty". It
looked like tonight might be a doozy, though. When the
very next call -- a close one -- went against Tarango,
he exploded. "Now you're only going to overrule clear
mistakes?!? That's three calls now...What the hell is
that? It's a joke."
Such outbursts would turn most crowds against Tarango,
but New Yorkers like their tennis with an attitude.
When Jeff finally got back to playing and won that
seventh game, the fans gave him a rousing hand. Bjorkman
didn't let any this get to him, though. He held for 4-4
and broke for 5-4. Just as in the first set, Tarango had
gotten burned by playing poorly in the ninth game. This
time around, Tarango rallied to earn a break point, but
Bjorkman survived with a backhand drop volley winner. It
was a great, clutch shot -- Jonas celebrated it with a
double fist pump and Jeff applauded with his racquet.
Bjorkman then thumped an ace and won the set when a
Tarango forehand landed just wide. Two sets down and one
to go for Bjorkman, leading 6-4, 6-4.
At this point, many players might become discouraged and
throw in the towel. Tarango, on the other hand, played
some of his most inspired tennis of the night, grabbing a
4-0 lead in the third set. He was handcuffing Bjorkman
with blistering returns and passing him with hard, flat
forehands. Bjorkman was still going for his shots, but his
accuracy level had come way down. He netted a forehand
to end the fifth game, but benefitted from another
overrule in his favor in the sixth game. That one went
to deuce, but Bjorkman won it with back-to-back aces.
The Swede then fought off a pair of set points in
Tarango's service game, but the third was the charm --
Bjorkman buried a forehand return in the net to drop the
third stanza by a 6-1 mark.
The next three games went with serve, but Tarango played
miserably in the fourth, ending it with a double fault
and two wild errors. Game 5 was a long, back-and-forth
struggle, but Bjorkman finally won it with his latest
ace. Tarango was trailing 1-4 when he came out on the
losing end of another overrule from the chair. Jeff
pointed to his opponent and raised five fingers, then
pointed to himself and made a zero, indicating the
number of overrules granted to each player. He then
marched up to Morrissey and said, "I would like the press
to look into how many times you've been in the chair for
my 1st Round match." He walked back to the baseline, but
started up again, ranting about "95% to 85% of my matches"
and Morrissey finally hit him with a code violation
warning for "unsportsmanlike conduct."
When Bjorkman took a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, you had
to figure it was all over but the shouting. And there
would be shouting, alright, now that Tarango was in one
of his particularly belligerent moods. The American broke
for 2-5, but trailed 15-30 in the eighth game when a
Bjorkman groundstroke appeared to land just long of the
baseline. There was no call by the linesman, nor an
overrule from Morrissey. Tarango furiously slammed his
racquet and laid into the umpire again. "That's
embarrassing. That's bad for tennis. You're bad for
tennis." A backhand error from Tarango on the next
point ended the tumultuous 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 affair
after 2 hours and 20 minutes. Tarango engaged Bjorkman in
a very cordial handshake but, of course, snubbed
Morrissey. While Jonas signed autographs, Jeff left the
court to a surprisingly positive crowd response and
acknowledged the fans with a few waves of his hand. It
was another early loss for Jeff Tarango in a Grand Slam,
but one people are likely to remember.
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Last updated 26 September 2015
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