Day 4: Taking the Double-A Train

You sort of figured that was going to happen, didn’t you?

You take a rising 21-year-old and a Cortisoned-up 36-year-old, back the old guy with 23,000 people, and you’ve got the makings for an entertaining match. And it seemed that all of New York came out to see it. I was leaving the grounds as the crowds were filing—no, swarming—into the National Tennis Center. “All gates are open” the man on the loudspeaker said, and a mass of blazers, heels, button-downs, loafers, sweaters tied over shoulders, and cups of wine forged, politely, ahead. Out on the boardwalk they kept coming, young couple after young couple after young couple. It’s that way every evening at the Open: The out-of-town families in shorts and sneakers and baseball hats and Tivas head for their buses, and the Manhattan office people invade. Police are in place to keep them carefully separated, because each group thoroughly appalls and confuses the other. Last night, the “City-ots” (as the Manhattan office people are not-very-fondly called upstate) packed every 7 train in sight, because this could have been the last time they’d get to see Andre Agassi, a New York favorite since the days when those same trains rattled around covered in graffiti.

Me, I wasn’t sure I could find a seat in the house—shows you how much juice I have, doesn’t it?—so I went the other way, back through Manhattan to a bar in Brooklyn to watch it with a friend. Yes, bartenders will turn the Open on in New York without having to be bribed, and they’ll occasionally even ask you what’s going on. (“I’ve seen this Greek kid. He’s good. Andre might be have his hands full.”) It helps when there are 12 TVs tuned to either the Yankees or the Mets, and four other people in the bar, one of whom is an older woman drinking scotch from a straw and watching reruns of the day’s horse races. Here’s what I recall thinking, and perhaps saying, during that long evening.

• Andre came out firing in the first game or two, just as he had against Pavel, where he basically went for broke on every ball. It looked like we would get more of the same last night; Andre was in such a good mood to start the match, I think he believed he could throw caution to the wind and still win. He seemed to be right, as he was painting the lines again. But three or four games in, he turned his tactics around and began playing safely down the middle. I thought he might be hurt, but he had just decided that over three sets he would have to pick his spots to go for winners. For the first two sets, it worked, as Baghdatis, who hurt his left wrist, couldn’t find the range on his backhand and was unable to sustain a rally.

• My friend said that Baghdatis looked “fat,” but I would say that he’s solid all around, physically and stroke-wise. He’s another example of the European soccer-player build that’s become more prevalent in tennis in the last 10 years. If he has a weakness, it’s his second serve, which he rushes and often floats. Agassi knew that, and he was up on the baseline to punish it.

• As a competitor, Agassi has never been a comeback artist, but there’s hardly ever been a better front-runner or finisher—once he knows it’s his night, you can pretty much bank on him closing the deal. That’s what made last night’s turnaround at 0-4 in the fourth such a shock. But as Agassi said afterward, it just takes a few bad shots to change the momentum, particularly against a guy as streaky and dangerous as Baghdatis. Agassi briefly lost his concentration up 4-0 and two breaks. He went down 0-40 (I think), then got it back to 30-40. Baghdatis hit a ball that landed on the outside edge of the sideline; Agassi mistimed it and his shot hit the tape and landed out. If Baghdatis’ shot had been out (which I thought it was when it landed), we all could have saved ourselves about two hours.

• “So this guy is good,” my friend noted after Baghdatis hit what seemed to be his 200th monstrous winner late in the match. “Um hmmm,” I answered. The Bag man was indeed impressive through the last three sets, blitzing serves and ground strokes past Agassi from all angles. He’s the definition of a streaky player, a guy with no real plan B or flexibility in his game. If he’s losing, he generally won’t start floating the ball back or slicing it or serving and volleying. He’s either going to make his compact, line-drive strokes, or he’s not. Part of this is his attitude. Earlier in the day, Baghdatis had said, “there are worse things than losing a tennis match.” He goes out, hits his shots, and hopes they work.

• As well as Baghdatis played, it was always an uphill climb against the audience, the energy, the moment. When he won the third set, he looked to his coach and punched his heart. I was struck by how absolutely alone he seemed, in a huge crowd that wanted him basically to go away as quietly and quickly as possible. That has to be tough, and you have to credit Baghdatis for even bothering to fight against that tide. At least when a baseball team is playing an away game, they have 25 guys with you. In tennis, you’re alone, with no one to play with. More important, you have no one to play FOR. It’s just your own personal desire that you’re trying to satisfy, so you better have a lot of it. I think that, as casual as Baghdatis can look, we now know he’s a pretty self-motivated guy. Hey, he basically danced his way through cramps at the end of the match. Ever cramped on court? You know what that must have felt like.

• Three nice moments from Baghdatis, the guy who lost but still stole the show in his own way: (1) Smiling and making the sign of the cross after missing a putaway overhead; (2) pursing his lips and nodding, impressed by the fans doing the Wave; (3) wishing Andre “good luck, not just for the tournament, but for his life” afterward.

• One question: I know he has more gravitas that Michael Barkann, but is Johnny Mac really the best guy to have out interviewing Andre after these things? Um, the “McEnroe” show, anyone? I guess no one at USA watched it.

Finally, how far can Andre go? You have to think he's going to get by Becker (no, not Boris), then face Roddick. I'm guessing that match will be during the day on Monday. If that's the case, I think Roddick wins; if, for some reason, it's at night, I'm back on the Double-A train (I think he's unbeatable at night right now, even if he were up against Federer). Either way, a Roddick/Connors/Agassi show is what the forces of tennis history demand.