Hi Steve,
Yes, tennis is bigger in Montreal than in Toronto, but I have to say the grounds were packed yesterday and all the upper-stands tickets were sold out before 12:30. Maybe it's because Monday was a holiday, or maybe this tennis thing is catching on.
It's funny that you say Bester could be a Federer clone, because last night it was James Blake saying he thought his own game was a bit like Federer's. "Obviously a little less effective," he added with a grin. (I have to say I can't see the link between Roddick and Monfils at all.)
It looked like Bester took a couple of games to get used to the stadium and to facing Blake. He said afterwards that he's played on the court before as a Davis Cup practice partner, but it feels different when it's filled with people. And Blake's game is at a higher level these days than Bester would usually see against his hitting partners and normal opponents.
What's encouraging is that he was able to hold serve for the rest of the first set, because one of the benchmarks for a junior making the transition to the main tour is whether he can reasonably expect to take care of his service games against the pros.
It would have been really encouraging if the second set had also been close, but it looked like he got a bit worn down from the pressure Blake was putting on his shots. In sum: as you say, he's got a pretty big forehand, variety on the backhand, comes in a lot compared to his peers, and has that little spark which suggests the talent to improve further.
All in all, he did look like he had at least top-50 potential. (Of course, I also thought that about Dancevic, and he hasn't made it yet. But Bester has the makings of a bigger game.) The rest is in the head and heart, and we weren't really given much feel for that last night.
Blake had this assessment: "He would have beat the tar out of a 17-year-old James Blake, I know that. He definitely has some work to do to get to tour level... He knows when to come in. He plays smart. His serve has to get a little bigger."
While discussing his Federer-esque game, Blake categorized the players on tour into three types: the guys who stay back and grind it out, the guys who "try to rip from one side or the other at the baseline", and the "dying breed" of serve-volleyers.
Still, at least there was no shortage of net-rushing in the matches I saw yesterday.
The most-requested match in the comments section was Fabrice Santoro vs. Richard Gasquet, though the organizers obviously didn't feel the same way. They shunted the match off to Court 2, which is right in the corner of the grounds and has very little viewing room. The small crowd that did manage to squeeze in was unusually static: the outside courts normally have plenty of comings and goings, but here people arrived early and stayed put.
As expected, the tennis was a treat. Most players find their games hampered on breezy days, but Santoro's quivering spins and slices take on an even more diabolical quality in the wind. The soundtrack said it all: oohs after chasing down a seemingly-irretrievable ball, ahhs after a daring dropshot, chuckles after an unexpected lob left his opponent looking foolish at the net.
Of course, Gasquet doesn't lack for style either, particularly on the backhand side. He also happens to be 13 1/2 years younger. His greater ability to deliver the first-strike became increasingly apparent as the match wore on and won him the inter-generational battle 6-4, 6-3. Both players frequently came to net to finish points off, and also had little compunction about drawing the other in with dropshots and angled volleys.
On an adjacent court, Tim Henman and Jonas Bjorkman were charging the net at almost every opportunity, with Henman showing some vintage play in a 6-2, 6-3 win.
It was a little bit of psychological revenge for Henman as well, because his perennial Wimbledon semifinalist spot was occupied by Bjorkman this year. Bjorkman's unexpected run there was my favourite story of the fortnight, which unfortunately got obscured by his merciless 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 destruction at the hands of Federer. The tragedy of results like that, a tennis writer once said, is people forget exactly what it took for the loser to get that far.
Next was a match of contrasts: Thomas Johansson has sore eyesight while Feliciano Lopez is a sight for sore eyes. Johansson's night vision has been suspect since a ball hit hit left eye during a practice session in Rotterdam, but in yesterday's sunshine he outlasted Lopez 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. It's only his second win since the incident, and the first was at Rome against an Italian qualifier ranked 294.
Johansson wasn't adverse to the occasional serve-and-volley attempt at important stages in the match, while Lopez is a complete departure from the usual stereotype of a Spanish player: a fairly big server who often finishes points by following his big forehand into the net. Over the last three years, he's also acquired a topspin backhand to complement his one-handed slice. Little wonder that his best Grand Slams results have been at Wimbledon. Holding him back is a tendency to get frustrated, as well as compulsively uncork the forehand when a point gets complicated.
If Lopez could keep his cool and find the right balance between aggression and defence, he'd play -- well, he'd play more like Federer.
In fact, maybe that's the solution to everyone's problems: just play more like Federer.
I can't believe I didn't think of this before.
Kamakshi