Many of you know Ed McGrogan from over at Tennisworld. Ed also works with us at Tennis Magazine and is in Toronto this week. He sent me a few of his impressions of the event so far.
Hey Steve,
I thought I’d wait until the quarterfinals to drop you a line. This may sound odd, but although there’s been four days of tennis, I still don’t feel like there’s a great bulk of work to discuss. Maybe it’s because I’m used to covering the U.S. Open, where just getting to the second week of the tournament is an accomplishment. But I think another reason is that the top eight seeds – who are the subject of most discussion – get byes here. Reaching the quarterfinals of a Masters Series event seems impressive at face value, but consider what a seed like James Blake had to do to get there. He beat Bjorkman, Tursunov, and . . . that’s it. Sure, they weren’t slouches, but I think it’s too cushy for the top guys. Do you think players should get byes in an event of this caliber?
Speaking of the U.S. Open, this tournament has that sort of feel when walking around, though I don't doubt most tournaments do these days. Centre Court is its massive arena, though at half the size of Arthur Ashe Stadium, it’s not unbearable if you’re in the cheap seats. There are fewer side courts, but they have a cookie-cutter design that reminds me of the grounds at Flushing Meadows. Of course, the walkways abound with retail shops. To me, Toronto is a U.S. Open warm-up for both fans and players. You’ve been to Montreal for this tournament before. Is it any different there? Is the style more old-fashioned, or, “European?” I’ll probably be heading there next year, so I’m curious. (Also, it’s where the women play this coming week.)
When I’m not in the Media Centre, I usually head to the side courts to watch matches. I’m to the point now where unless the stadium match has exceptional value, I’ll watch it on TV for a better view, or see something else up close. Tennis is one of the only sports where being there in person actually gives you closer access, so I say, take advantage of it. The Soderling/Verdasco match on Court 2 is one example; another was a qualifier between Jesse Levine and Benjamin Becker. Have you ever seen a great qualifying match before? Since those players aren’t necessarily flush with cash and don’t compete in ATP-level matches each week, they can be quite intense.
All right, onto the tennis. This event has been dominated by the kids. Each of the quarterfinalists on the right side of the draw was in that “young guns” category of a few years back: Nadal, Djokovic, Gasquet, Murray. Then you have Simon and Cilic coming through on the left instead of Roddick and Federer. Even a guy like Wawrinka, who lost in the third round, impressed me. He seems like he's doing his best to maintain his foothold in the Top 10
When I look at Andy and Roger’s recent struggles, I go back to this quote from Janko Tipsarevic at Wimbledon:
“Maybe I'm being a little bit too honest with the press now, but definitely the reason is when I play against big guys, Top 10 players, world No. 1's, ex world No. 1's, in my head there's this thought knowing that if I don't play good I'm going to get killed on the court.
That leaves me with no option and I rise to the occasion, which when I play with other guys, sometimes for no reason I think that I don't have to play as good to beat them. Then at the end, that costs me the victory.”
Reading this, I wonder if their quarterfinal at last year’s U.S. Open (a tight 7-6, 7-6, 6-2 match) is one of the last great encounters we’ll see between Federer and Roddick at a Slam. Not only do they have to navigate past the higher-ranked opponents, but past the many minnows who have added motivation and less trepidation. Just look at Simon this week, who as I type this, is now a semifinalist. What do you think? It seems like their glory days are quickly passing us.
Ed