Maybe the Open should be played every other day; there wouldn’t be a wasted moment. Yesterday was another example—a rainout Saturday was followed by a long tennis exhibition, with stars bumping up against each other all over the grounds. You know a tournament is in good shape when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both sent to the secondary stadium and basically ignored. I spent the afternoon crisscrossing Flushing Meadows—running, at times—to get a look at all the fifth sets that were going on at once. Here’s what I ran down, from noon to 10:00 P.M.
Ryan Sweeting vs. Olivier Rochus
I started by getting a glimpse of the young American bad boy, Sweeting, a college player who was recently involved in a DUI incident. Sweeting looks like the prototypical U.S. player: tall and thin, with a backwards hat, a gun for a serve, and a two-handed backhand that limits his range. I was most impressed with his forehand, which he hits with more control and topspin than most other young players. He can create severe angles with it both crosscourt and inside-out. He won two sets from the always-solid Rochus yesterday before getting hurt in the fifth. Verdict: A pleasant surprise.
Tatiana Golovin vs. Nadia Petrova
Petrova is bigger than she appears to be on TV, and she hits a heavier ball than you might think. But she was erratic all day, particularly on the backhand side. Golovin has a stronger serve than I remember, and while this was not a pretty match—neither player seemed to be able to go two points without making an error—Golovin changed speeds just enough to keep Petrova off balance.
Marat Safin vs. David Nalbandian
Once again, Safin did it the hard way, winning the first two sets but then waiting until a fifth-set tiebreaker (has anyone ever played more of them?) to finish it—8-6, naturally, after being up 5-1. Safin isn’t as dangerous on the run as he used to be, which is perhaps the first sign of age in a player. Nalbandian exploited that by using the whole court, and he was doing it again on the final match point, when he missed a drop shot that was sure to be a winner. Sidenotes: (1) Safin may win the award for the tournament’s worst challenger—he was wrong, badly, twice yesterday. (2) When the scoreboard showed that Andre Agassi had lost in Ashe Stadium, the crowd in Armstrong stood for a long ovation, forcing Safin and Nalbandian to stop play for a man who wasn’t even in the same arena.
Lleyton Hewitt vs. Novak Djokovic
I had thought this would be a good example of how to play clean tennis, but Djokovic, for whatever reason, didn’t show up. I don’t know if he was hurt, frustrated by Hewitt’s seemingly impenetrable defense, or if he’s just prone to tanking now and then, but it was over fast. The only entertainment came from Hewitt’s yellow-shirted patch of Aussie fans. When Hewitt went up a break in the first, they sang, in perfect unison, “That’s the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it.” James Blake’s undisciplined J-block could never pull that off.
Andre Agassi vs. Benjamin Becker
What was amazing was how far Agassi went in this match while barely being able to walk. It’s a testament to his uncanny hand-eye coordination and ball-striking skills. The last game went so quickly and quietly that you couldn’t quite believe that THIS WAS IT. Then Andre broke down and you knew it was real. Yes, this was a moment for a U.S. player in front of U.S. fans, but I was struck by the reactions of two non-Americans. First, Benjamin Becker—the now-immortal Benjamin Becker—a German, said that Andre was his idol, that he’d followed his whole career, and that it was an honor to play him. Then, as Andre walked off for the final time, I caught a glimpse of his coach, Darren Cahill, an Aussie, in the stands. Cahill is typically a Buddha-like figure, impassive and stone-faced behind his sunglasses even when his pupil wins a match. But as Agassi walked by this time, Cahill was up out of his seat, both arms over his head, roaring in full tribute with the rest of the audience.
Richard Gasquet vs. Marco Chiudinelli
I don’t know if it’s the hat or what, but Gasquet always looks exactly the same. More so than most people, at least to my mind. He also is going to be good. He made one stab return of serve yesterday that could have only been hit by one other person: Roger Federer.
Dmitry Tursunov vs. Tomas Berdych
If you were like most Open-goers, a casual fan who didn’t follow the game too closely, this match might have come across as something from a traveling freak show. Here were two huge blond Euros just hauling off and blasting a little yellow ball at each other as hard as two humans can. The speed and power of their shots—the sound, too—was shocking. At the same time, I can’t imagine it would be all that entertaining for the casual fan. Neither guy has any on-court charisma or showed more than a whiff of positive emotion over five sets. Tursunov slumped his shoulders when he hit a winner, and Berdych, who eventually won, maintained a coldly daunting aura.
Andy Murray vs. Fernando Gonzalez
You have to feel for Gonzo. He won this match once, but when it’s three out of five, you have to do it twice. Through three sets, the normal length of a tennis match, the new, smarter Gonzo model was on display. He sliced his backhand, sliced it, and sliced it some more, daring Murray to come after his forehand. When he did, Gonzalez pounced, and as the fourth set started he had complete control of the rallies. But credit Murray for competing well and changing tactics in midstream. While he began by going strong to Gonzo’s forehand, he turned things around by picking on his backhand and moving forward. I watched a little of the match with Tom Gullikson, who said that Murray actually reminded him a lot of his coach, Brad Gilbert: “He’ll rope-a-dope you and give you nothing, then all of a sudden he’s at the net putting the ball away, and you don’t know how it happened.”
Andy Roddick vs. Fernando Verdasco
As the fifth set started, my TENNIS Magazine colleague Chris Chung made the observation that Roddick didn’t have much behind his forehands. It was true. Roddick was swinging hard, but he was swinging over the top of the ball and it was sitting up for Verdasco. After a day of supersonic forehands from Berdych, Tursunov, and Gonzalez, these clearly weren’t timed as well and didn’t have the same juice. Is this a new development for Roddick, was he tired, or has this always been the case?
Li Na vs. Mary Pierce
She’ll probably lose to Maria Sharapova, but it should be noted for future reference that China’s Li Na can play. She’s strong, with thick legs, but more important she’s also pretty smooth on both wings and can hit winners from each. Over the last two sets, she made Pierce look like an amateur.
Roger Federer vs. Vince Spadea
I stayed late to see some of Superman in the marketplace—otherwise known as Armstrong arena. It was end-of-day chaos there as a few ushers tried, half-heartedly, to get the day-session ticket-holders to leave and make room for the night-session fans. The problem was, some of the day-sessioners also had tickets for the night session. They were being asked to leave and get in line to come back in. The most rebellious of these people voiced their opinions in a stirring chant: “Makes no sense! Makes no sense!” Soon the whole arena was saying these immortal words. Finally, the ushers gave up, the fans started doing the Wave, and Federer himself walked out to a huge standing ovation. He gave us a tiny wave and shy smile, and then got down to the business of removing Vince Spadea from the tournament. Like Agassi, Spadea is an over-30 American; unlike him, though, he has actually become less mature over the years. As far as I could tell, no tears were shed when he left the court.