You ever find yourself watching a tennis match late at night and suddenly having that “Eureka!” moment when you ask yourself, “What the hail am I watching this for?”
That happened to me yesterday, at about the time qualifier Marco Chiudinelli served yet another interminable game that kept going deuce-ad. His opponent was world No. 9 and Japan Open third seed Janko Tipsarevic. It was clear from the start that this was a match Chiudinelli had no real hope of winning, but also one he was hellbent on not giving up.
That can be tedious, although there’s a chance that my attention span was a little compromised after the warm-up event, a fascinating U.S. Presidential debate. After that spectacle with all its attendant hype, it didn’t help that Chiudinelli tugged at this match like a small dog trying to take a bone from a big one before a vast green sea of spectacularly empty seats.
The up-side of that, though, was that a viewer sure got a good look at the formidable, squeaky-clean Ariake Colosseum—one of the first stadiums in the world to feature a retractable roof. It was open yesterday, which is why so many in the sparse crowd were cloaked, head to toe, in garments intended to offer protection from the fierce sun.
Ariake is part of massive 48-court complex (couldn’t they make it an even 50, just to really blow our minds?). Should the shaky but real Japanese tennis revival currently underway produce a new wave of aspiring and talented youngsters, the Japan Tennis Association certainly will have plenty of habitat to accommodate them.
The top Japanese man is world No. 17 Kei Nishikori; his countryman Go Soeda is next at No. 55. Ayumi Morita, the WTA No. 79, is the top female player, but let’s not forget that 42-year-old national treasure, Kimiko Date-Krumm (No. 104). Morita is just 22, so she has plenty of time to improve on that ranking.
Give the Japanese credit for having created such an impressive infra-structure for the game, and also for sustaining interest in tennis through some very lean years for the home players. The aggressive beachhead the ATP and WTA claimed in China just three or four years ago probably left many tennis followers with the impression that Asia was new and undiscovered territory. That’s not true—not by a long shot.
The godfather of Japanese tennis in the Open era was Eiichi Kawatei, who almost single-handedly introduced the pro game to an Asian audience. In 1972, just four years into the Open era, he conceived the “Japan Invitational,” an exhibition whose first champion was local talent Toshiro Sakai (he defeated Jon Kuki in final). But within a year, and partly owing to Kawatei’s continuing emergence as a mover and shaker in the ITF, the tournament officially became the “Japan Open,” which is what it still is today. Kawatei won the blessing of the aborning tennis establishment, which made the Japan Open part of the original Grand Prix Circuit, the precursor to the ATP tour.
Fittingly, the first final of the new era was contested in 1973 between two Aussie legends, Ken Rosewall and John Newcombe. Rosewall won the first tournament, but Newcombe turned the tables on him and won the rematch in 1974. The Japan Open was off and running, and it was just the tip of the spear.
Newcombe, Kawatei and a number of allies among sporting impresarios went about building the original Asian circuit. The centerpiece, as far as the Anglo world of tennis went, was the Australian Indoors—once one of the premier indoor tournaments of the year. But the promoters were also able to produce viable tournaments in Bangkok, India, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
The Japan Open has been the hub of this constantly evolving Asian circuit, even if it’s pre-eminent pace has been usurped by Shanghai—the Johnny-come-lately Masters 1000 event that begins next week—and perhaps also by Beijing, a.k.a. the China Open. But the roll of champions attests to the level of play that has been sustained over the years in Tokyo. Winners include Ivan Lendl, Stefan Edberg (three consecutive years, starting in 1989), Pete Sampras (three times), Jim Courier, Lleyton Hewitt, and Roger Federer.
In the past four years, starting in 2008, the Japan Open champions were Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Rafael Nadal, and Andy Murray. That isn’t great news for a guy like Tipsarevic, never mind Chiudinelli, who’s one of the hard-luck stories on the ATP tour. Now 31, he was out for eight months at the peak of his career (starting in November of 2007) following knee surgery.
It seemed pre-ordained that Tipsarevic would win this one, and he did, by a comfortable score of 6-4, 6-2. He helped his own cause by saving all six break points he faced, and he finished with 10 aces. In the quarters, Tipsarevic will meet Milos Raonic. Local favorite Nishikori has a tough assignment in the quarters against the No. 2 seed Tomas Berdych, while top-seeded (and defending champion) Andy Murray will play Stanislas Wawrinka. The guy to watch is Marcos Baghdatis, who will play the equally unpredictable Dmitry Tursunov.
It isn’t like the Japan Open hasn’t produced surprising champions, though. That list includes Wesley Moodie (2005), Rainer Schuttler (2003), and Sjeng Schalken (2000), all of whom were champions at a time when but this dowager Queen of the Asian circuit either failed to attract the premium names, or was plagued by upsets. But since late in the last decade, the champion’s roll has been populated by familiar and often towering names.
History suggests that you can expect one of them to be the last man standing this year as well.