Almagro is volcanic: massive, and given to brief, violent eruptions. By contrast, Chardy is a hurricane. He's got long, black, curly hair, kept out of his eyes as he flies around the court with a white headband tied in the back (where the knot and tail sit on the collar of his shirt, looking a little too much like a bow). H flies around the court with gale-force, using a powerful forehand that's more of a Steffi Graf-like scoop than the rising, waist-level smack preferred by most players.
Chardy also has an effective serve, despite the annoying hitch with which he starts his motion (it's Hewitt like, in that he stretches out his arms, but in Chardy's case he thrusts them straight forward, rather than down). I admire Chardy's backhand. He hits two-handed, and often releases his off-hand as he follows through. There's something appealingly devil-may-care about that habit, and it enhances - perhaps artificially - the feeling that he's thrown all of his weight and power into the stroke. But trust me, it isn't power that this kid lacks.
Of course, the crowd loves Chardy. He has the trademark Gallic "flair", and so what if the French players pay a price for it? You watch some of their pros and find yourself jumping up to join in the Wave. In fact, on two occasions yesterday the crowd ignored the umpire and kept the Wave going as the two players stood, soaking in the moment. Somewhere, Guillermo Coria was throwing a remote at the screen.
So here's how it went; the important bits, anyway. The players came out firing on all cylinders, presenting a nice contrast. Almagro was in a semi-tropical, casual lime green kit featuring a collarless shirt and boxing shorts with green strips down each leg, Chardy, by contrast, wore tennis whites inspired by Mondrian (the shirt had a subtle grid pattern). But there was nothing severe or measured in his game: he went right after Almagro, who set his heels and refused to backpedal. The result was clay-court tennis at its best - no probing, no formalistic testing of each other's patience, no Beckett-esque waiting and waiting for Godot knows what. Both youths hit hard, hit deep, and seemed to be looking for the knockout.
In the 12th game of the first set, Chardy had a set point and Almagro presented him with a second serve. Chardy took the backhand impetuously, on the run, trying to go cross court, and you could just feel that the ball was heading for the net before it actually got there. Almagro went on to win that game, and they ended up resolving the set in a tiebreaker. Which was when Chardy's simmering youth finally boiled. He started with a double fault and it only got worse from there. A flurry of ill-advised drop shots and a few wild forehands later, Almagro won the tiebreaker, 7-0.
In the second set, Chardy had a break point in the fifth game. Almagro shrewdly went to the backhand again, but this time Chardy moved laterally and smacked a monstrous winner down the line. My notes say "is this kid a quick study?" The crowed rewarded Chardy with the Wave on the changeover, but after Chardy consolidated his lead by holding for 4-2, the skies began to leak and the players left the court.
When the match resumed, about an hour later, Almagro quickly held. Chardy, who has been suffering from an injured hip (that's different from a hip injury, which is sustained when you fall off a table you're dancing on at 4 AM), immediately fell behind love-40. You could almost hear Almagro's coach, Antonio Gonzalez, saying something like this during the rain delay: Now come out and try to hold quick and jump all over this kid; he'll be a little stiff, a little relaxed, not entirely ready to bang away - and remember, he's got a bad hip so he's definitely going to be a little stiff. . .
However, Chardy rallied from the brink, playing bold, risky tennis to level the game. But it was a different story on his three subsequent hold points. He was outfoxed on a cute exchange of drop shots in one, he botched a gimme forehand into the open court, and he made another forehand error. He gave the break back with another critical double fault.
Over the next few games, Chardy made a number of spectacular shots, but he was being jerked around. Almagro was pursuing a version of rope-a-dope - laying back against the baseline, waiting for the hurricane to blow itself out. Pass the pina coladas. He hit precise groundies and passing shots; he closed two consecutive games with aces. He got to the tiebreaker, crisply and efficiently.
This time, Chardy reined in his more ebullient impulses and built a 5-2 lead, with Almagro to serve. Almagro won the next points a little too quickly and easily, and although Chardy got to 6-4 - set point - on a backhand error, he flubbed his first set point thanks to an ill-advised drop shot. He made a distracted service return error on the next point, allowing Almagro to pull even, but he had one more chance, leading 7-6. Chardy hit a good serve and got caught admiring it; the unexpected return put him off balance and Almagro ended the point with an overhead.
Having blown three set points probably played a part in Chardy's serving up the double-fault that gave Almagro his first set point. Almagro served, and his next shot following the return smacked the let cord. Chardy sprinted for it, but it was hopeless. As he got there, late, he hurled his racquet at the ground; it rebounded and sailed, grip over strings, 30 feet through the air. Jeremy's spoken. The match was, in effect, over.
I went to check out the interview with Chardy afterwards. The kid has a wolfish look, but a great smile that he isn't afraid to flash at his interrogators. Sure he'd played a bone-headed match, blowing set points in each of the first two sets. He knew it and said so in so many words. But the press conference wasn't about tactics, strategy, or the pitfalls of being 21 and playing tennis like it. Rather, it was a celebration of Chardy's first big statement as a pro (going into the tournament, he's main tour record was a un-Federererian 2-5).
As you might expect, he found the crowd "awesome." I liked it when, asked if his loss was due to inexperience and injury, he replied: "No, he played very well. So even if I had been 100 per cent fit it would have been a very difficult match and it was not because I was tired I lost. He is a beautiful player. I did everything I could, but he was stronger than me."
I liked it even more when Chardy, whose game seems tailor-made for hard courts, was asked if he was surprised by how well he had done this week on clay. He answered:
"No, I don't mind clay. I know that I can play well on clay. And then about surfaces, I don't want to ask myself the question, which one do you prefer? I always thought I liked them all, so that's a positive way to start to start on any surface."
It was a far too sensible a thing to say for someone 21 and not to be confused with a ripe old 22.
