Attn: Due to temporary difficulties, TennisWorld is not available to all viewers; we are working on this problem and will have it corrected as soon as possible. Meanwhile, TW posts will be published on the home page at Tennis.com, with full features (comments, etc.)
Good morning. This is your daily space for discussing all tennis-related matters. There's no live tennis today - Marin Cilic won his first ATP title over Mardy Fish in New Haven yesterday, while Caroline Wozniacki defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the women's final, to take her second career title.
For the next two weeks, starting from tomorrow, daily Your Call posts will be replaced with Crisis Centers for discussing ongoing action at the US Open. I will post Crisis Centers to coincide with the start of the Order of Play each day.
A few days ago the Tribe made some suggestions for pictures from past years at the US Open; I haven't been able to use them all, but today's selections pick up two of those requests: Marat Safin after winning the championship match in 2000, and Serena Williams in the "puma catsuit" she wore during the 2002 US Open.
Safin was the first Russian to win the US Open. His US Open triumph came at the expense of then four-time champion Pete Sampras in the final, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. It was the most one-sided victory over a previous champion for 25 years. Few of his matches on the way to the final looked easy; he survived two five-setters and three four-set matches. In the final itself, the 20-year-old Safin put in a near-flawless performance, refusing to be intimidated when Sampras began the final with an ace, returning powerfully and accurately, and chasing down nearly everything that came at him. Safin himself served 12 aces, and was never close to being broken except in the final game, which he opened with a double fault. Sampras held two break points, but Safin was able to serve out the match.
