Every Slam has its ebbs and flows. If you had a ticket for last Thursday night, you saw Agassi-Baghdatis. If you bought one for the following evening, when Ernesto was making his presence felt, you turned around and got back on the 7 train. After a 14-hour flow on Sunday, the Open ebbed yesterday, so badly that I spent the latter part of the afternoon wandering the back courts searching for worthy junior matches to watch and still came up empty. There was nothing left to do but head home and wait for Serena and Amelie on the tube.
Undaunted, though, I bring you the findings from Flushing, such as they were.
Jankovic-Kuznetsova
Why must the USTA schedule the most compelling matches at 11:00 A.M.? Don't they know I live in Brooklyn? The subway runs in NYC only grudgingly on the weekends. You can forget about getting an express; in the morning, you're lucky to flag down a local. Of course, it also didn’t help that I sat in my rocking chair drinking coffee and watching an episode of “Rome” on DVD before trying to head up there. Hey, this was Labor Day. I have a right to watch a period drama if I like.
Haas-Ginepri
I did manage to see a little of this. To do so, I had to sneak inside the iron gates that now keep people out of Armstrong arena much of the time. This supposed “people’s” stadium fills up all too quickly because (1) there are so many ticket-holders who, not surprisingly, don’t want to sit in Ashe, and (2) the Open is selling more grounds passes than ever. The result is a near-constant plea from the loudspeakers: “Seating is extremely limited in Armstrong Stadium. We invite you to watch the matches around the grounds. Enjoy your stay at the U.S. Open.” To my ears, the second sentence means “Go watch some doubles.” The third: “Beat it.”
Roddick-Becker
When I walked into Ashe and saw the now-familiar backwards hat, I thought, “Oh God, not this guy again.” Benjamin Becker, conqueror of Andre Agassi the previous day, was back. His match with Roddick was predictably disagreeable. It was slam-bang stuff, with no rhythm, few angles, little craft. Becker was an NCAA champion—he’s German, so it makes perfect sense—and this match reminded me of college tennis, where big, hard-court hitting is the rule. A typical point ended with either a Becker shank long or a bad Roddick miss when he was on the run. Changed tactics or not, the guy still tries for too much when he’s moving. But credit Roddick for using his serve well and drawing errors with his backhand slice.
Mauresmo-Williams
I made it back to Brooklyn in time to see Serena and Amelie play a pretty entertaining match. Serena brings a welcome edge to the proceedings in Ashe, that’s for sure—how about her screaming, swing-volley peg of Amelie? But it was Mauresmo, who had a terrible record against Williams (1-9?), who came out loose and attacked early. She went up 0-40 on Serena’s serve with a terrific combination at the net that ended with a very self-assured overhead. For her part, Serena looked a step slower than she once did, and not quite as adept at fighting her way out of losing situations during points.
That didn’t mean Serena had lost any of her competitive skills. Those are what her comeback rides on. She began the second set by immediately moving forward, and it worked. Mauresmo simply went away for six games. In the third set, Williams threatened Mauresmo’s serve early but couldn’t convert. The match turned after that, with Mauresmo quickly finding her confidence again and forcing Serena to move. The world No. 1 ended it the way only she can, slicing a perfect crosscourt drop volley in midair that Williams couldn’t track down.
Mauresmo proved she can stand up to Serena, which is something she needed to do against her former tormentor. But the Frenchwoman’s wild swings in confidence are still reason for worry. Shouldn’t the top-ranked player, who’s going for her third Slam of the year, be a little steadier mentally? As for Serena, she should be relatively pleased. The world No. 91 hung with the world No. 1, and while she wasn’t sharp enough to keep it together for three whole sets, she seemed just a few big matches shy of getting there. The problem is, there aren't any more big matches this year.
Hewitt-Gasquet
Well, the Open got its flow back for the night session. Hewitt and Gasquet played yet another five-setter to finish it, and a surprisingly large crowd stuck around until almost 1:00 A.M. on a school night to see these two furriners. It wasn’t the perfect match, but each guy showed his best at points. Hewitt was again impenetrable through the first two sets. Gasquet had said before the match that he couldn’t “cut corners” against Hewitt, and it turned out to be an understatement. The Frenchman pretty much had to play a perfect point to win. But he threw caution to the wind in the third set and finally forced Hewitt out of his comfort zone. The fifth set was a mini-replay of Agassi-Baghdatis, with Gasquet cramping and firing off spectacular winners—his backhand has a sort of slingshot effect—that had the crowd on its feet. But the veteran Hewitt held his ground, as he usually does, and played the percentages to finish. He plays Roddick next, and you have to like his chances.
USA Network
Finally, this was the first time I’d watched any of USA’s coverage with the sound on. One of the between-match pundits this year is another colleague of mine, Jon Wertheim. My favorite moment of his segment came in his review of Jelena Jankovic’s win, in which I thought I heard Jon say the word “fungible.” They don’t call him the Jonathan Franzen of tennis for nothing.
Who you got in Blake-Berdych and Haas-Safin Tuesday? I'll take JB and Marat. How about Federer-Gicquel in the evening session? At least the workers at Ashe will have an early night for once.