In San Jose, the Andy’s (Roddick and Murray) battled each other in a close semifinal, of which Murray eventually won 7-6, 6-4. On the other side of the bracket, we saw the first signs of Ivo Karlovic’s breakout season. The towering Croat won on hard, grass, and clay courts in 2007, and although he didn’t win the SAP Open, his run to the finals was a sign of things to come.
A week later in Memphis, Roddick got his revenge against his nemesis Murray, as they met once again in the semifinals. It wasn’t as close as their San Jose clash (that’s for all you Major League Soccer history buffs out there), but after two tightly played sets, the American emerged this time around. But being an American didn’t help in this particular event, as the eventual champion, Tommy Haas, made a living out of eliminating the crowd favorites. Haas defeated Americans Vince Spadea, Amer Delic, Sam Querrey, Mardy Fish, and finally Roddick to win his eleventh career title. And he did so with ease, never facing a break point in the entire tournament.
Unfortunately, not every tournament in these four weeks produced moments as memorable as these. If you look back at these four weeks as a sandwich, the meat in the middle – San Jose and Memphis – was a well-aged and cured prosciutto. But the bread on the outside – Delray Beach and Las Vegas – was stale and moldy, due to some infamous happenings.
If I could pick three words to describe what happened at these two tournaments last year, it would be rain, wind and controversy. Not exactly Earth, Wind & Fire, but the name of this R&B group’s most famous album does apply to Delray and Vegas ‘07: That’s the Way of the World. Some things just don’t go your way, and in the case of these two tournaments, things went wrong as the worst possible time.
Let’s start in Las Vegas. The Tennis Channel Open was plagued by extremely high winds and low temperatures, forcing players to wear long-sleeved apparel (read the last paragraph here for more details), and leading to sparse crowds, from what I saw on television. But none of that compared to the embarrassment that would ensue from the debacle that was the round robin format.
Used for the first time last year, the round robin structure drew the ire of many tennis purists, including myself. Las Vegas proved our worst fears. The condensed version is this: After Juan Martin del Potro retired in a round robin match against James Blake, tournament officials said that Blake would advance to the quarterfinals with a 1-1 record, instead of Evgeny Korolev, who was also 1-1, but had beaten Blake earlier in the week. It was an odd decision on the surface, and was in fact later reversed based on an incorrect interpretation of the rules (a match won by a withdrawal didn’t officially count in the standings). Shortly after this event, the entire round robin experiment was scrapped. The only good thing to come out of this was that blueprints such as this one were eliminated for good.
Delray Beach was also a round robin tournament; thankfully, a similar predicament did not arise. But another problem occurred, and while it was out of anyone’s control, it still proved to be detrimental.
Tournaments always hope for a final featuring two of their biggest draws. It will undoubtedly lead to bigger crowds at the event, and more viewers watching on television. I was one of the viewers hoping to see a quality match played between the top seed, James Blake, and the third seed, Xavier Malisse. For a while, an entertaining match was taking place – Blake won the first set 7-5, and the second set was just as tight, level at three games a piece. But then rain came, and it didn’t go away. The final had to be postponed until Monday, sapping the momentum from the players and the excitement from the fans. I went from watching the final with great focus on Sunday to simply clicking on what the end result turned out to be at work on Monday. I was disappointed, but I felt terrible for those in attendance that Sunday.
Delray Beach ’08 is well underway, with some tantalizing matches on slate for today. Robby Ginepri, whose fall from grace meant that he needed a wild card to enter the event, has played well to advance to the quarterfinals, where he'll take on Mardy Fish. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were debating who the second-best American was, and the players in this discussion included not only James Blake, but Ginepri, Fish, and Taylor Dent. How quickly times have changed. Ginepri could do wonders for his confidence by upsetting Fish; Blake would likely be next in his path.
In the bottom half of the draw, another All-American quarterfinal will take place: Vince Spadea vs. Sam Querrey. Last year at this time, everyone was expecting a breakout year from Querrey, but it never materialized in the way many had envisioned. On the other hand, Vince Spadea has been making the most out of his time on the court. So far in 2008, the rapper in shorts has composed more than just rhymes – he’s composed a game plan that has taken him to the quarterfinals of Adelaide, the third round of the Australian Open, and to the finals of a Challenger tournament in Waikoloa (Hawaii). Despite Vince being the lower seed, I think he’s the favorite in this match.
It’s a shame that neither of these two matches will be televised (coverage starts with the semifinals on Saturday), but hopefully the weekend brings more tennis riches. That is, if it doesn’t rain. It already has so far this week, with scattered showers predicted for Saturday.
In my last Monday Net Post, I talked about the long-term vitality of smaller tournaments without the presence of many of the biggest stars in the game. Ironically, Roger Federer decided that he would play in Stockholm Open (a.k.a. the if… Open) for the first time in eight years. I don’t expect Roger to be making an appearance in Delray Beach or Memphis any time soon, but I do expect some enjoyable tennis to be played nonetheless.
Last year, the “Masters Series Series” had some highs and some lows. This Watercooler post serves as my little prayer for those who are watching, or are in attendance, at these tournaments in the next few weeks – let’s see more good than bad this year. I’ve been looking forward to watching tennis at a normal hour here in the U.S., and hopefully, I won’t be seeing any rain, gale force winds, or scandal.
I’ll be back on Monday with the MNP, where I’ll have a contest where you can win the video game Top Spin 2 for the Xbox 360. Seriously. Come back then to find out more.
