CCC: Wednesday

*By TW Contributing Editor, Ed McGrogan

*(11:00 AM Wednesday update - raining again here.)

The last time I saw Donald Young play in person was at the 2006 U.S. Open, when he faced a then unknown Novak Djokovic in the first round. Young won the first set that day, but won just four more games the rest of the match, losing 4-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-1. I was curious to see his progress since then, so I stopped by his first rounder on Tuesday against Gilles Simon.

I entered with Simon leading 4-1.  After watching Young promptly drop the next two games, it was obvious as to what was ailing the youngster.  His ground strokes - which I really like from a technical perspective - are still quite error-prone in practice.  Young has a slight pause before impact on both the forehand and backhand, in order to get all the cogs in his tennis machine operating the way he wants.  But Young's problem is that this requires a lot of setup time - a luxury not often afforded on tour.  The result was plenty of unforced errors, and shots hit at erratic speeds (some explode off his racquet, some look much too casual).  His slice backhand could also use some work.

Not much changed in set two. Simon continued to return well, and largely waited out Young, who would inevitably succumb with an error. He made the 6-1, 6-3 win look even easier than the score indicated. Young's attitude didn't help matters - he often berated himself after minor mishaps, like missing first serves.

During the match, I noticed that Jose Higueras, coach of Robby Ginepri, was sitting in the stands. I asked him on our way out if there was any possible future between him and Young, another American. "No, just stopping by to watch him. I haven't seen him play in a few years." Seems Higueras was curious too.

A grim set of clouds signaled that yet another rain delay was imminent.  So instead of watching a match destined to be interrupted, I opted to test my first serve speed at a promotional booth.  Honestly, I was nervous even in front of a few teenage onlookers - a clear sign that I was never meant to play tennis for a living.  I clocked a 89.5 mph strike, or 144 kph in Canadian.  And I got all of it.

It was still lightly sprinkling when Peter Polansky's match against Jesse Levine resumed. I stopped by to see Polansky, a resident of nearby Thornhill, but Levine impressed me the most, once again. He showed a lot of heart in his qualifier against Benjamin Becker on Monday, and showed more moxie yesterday. Serving for the match at 5-4, Levine gifted Polansky three break points, but then won the next five in a row to advance to the second round. It could have gotten interesting if Polansky broke there, as the Canadian crowd was ready to erupt.

I returned to the Media Centre after catching a glimpse of Andy Roddick/Nicolas Mahut on Centre Court, just upstairs.  Turns out I got back just in time, as an ATP representative informed me that Becker was here for an interview I'd made an earlier request for.  In better spirits than after the loss to Levine (his racquet was smashed to bits), Becker was very accommodating and a pleasure to speak to.  Look for parts of the interview in upcoming issues of TENNIS.

I leave you with this riddle: How can you clear out one side of a media room?

A: Put plates of gourmet cheese and crackers on the other side.

McGrogan's Matches

Jesse Levine vs. Rafael Nadal

Although I've talked up Levine the past two days, I'm certainly not expecting him to upset the world's hottest player.  But this match could reveal something about Nadal's form on hard courts, as Levine should make him hit plenty of shots.

Alexandre Kudryavtsev vs. Richard Gasquet

I've never seen - and only just recently heard of - Kudryavtsev.  He won the Battle of Lengthy Surnames that Begin with "K" after beating Philipp Kohlschreiber; he faces Gasquet next on Grandstand.  Details about this unknown Russian to come tomorrow.