US Open Journal

Day 2

A.J. Chabria

Last night I mentioned the rash of men’s matches that ended with injury (retirements). The rash has turned epidemic, in fact it is a record seven. The previous record at a Slam? Seven in two weeks, right here in NY. In addition to the injuries flaring during matches, there’s still more cramping going on, notably in two 5th set tie-breaks today. Tommy Robredo edged a cramping Mariano Zabaleta in a match that went the distance just before Safin and Keifer concluded a borderline morbid 5th set breaker. Safin looked like he genuinely felt for Keifer the whole way.

Even Marat Safin felt for Nicolas Kiefer (above) who cramped up badly in his five set loss to the big Russian.

Sjeng Schalken of Holland had this to say, “I think the summer circuit is very tough. It’s with the humidity and heat. It’s not now, but we had that in Washington and we had it in Indianapolis and Cincinnati. Maybe it’s the result here, that everybody’s getting fatigue.” In Sjeng’s opponent’s case, it was a fall, but he makes a great point about the schedule and the hard courts.

Marat Safin weighed in wistfully, “It’s very sad. There is nothing we can do.”

I personally used to think they ought to just play a little less: cut out the exhibitions and schedule everything to peak for Slams, Masters Series events and Davis Cup. Take a break every now and then. Recover. Unfortunately, the reality is that the players feel that time off puts them at a disadvantage compared to everyone else raising their standard.

Hingis noticed more and more players in the workout room this summer, before and after matches. She felt that the standard of tennis went up a level in just a month. You can’t blame a sport for getting too competitive, right? I think we all learned in economics 101, competition drives quality up and prices down. Well, in tennis’ case, prize money up.

Well, enough of that, let’s get back to the tennis here. Many of you are watching the televised action from the show courts, so I thought I ought to give you a few jottings from the outside courts.

The US Open is where a lot of clothing and shoe lines make their debuts, on the stars especially. Out on the field courts, however there are countless players whose rankings aren’t high enough (or publicists and agents aggressive enough) to entitle them to sufficient footwear quantities. I saw two such competitors on adjacent courts today. Their well-worn shoes were blushing with embarrassment – OR – I suppose it could have been the red clay from their summer in Europe. Scramblers like Chang and Hewitt are known to slide on any surface, but these two were doing it out of sheer habit like they flew here Monday afternoon.

Mariano Zabaleta, a force on the practice court but, something about 3 out of 5 sets.

Speaking of clay-courters, I sat with Marcelo Filippini today for a couple of hours during the Robredo/Zabaleta marathon. Mariano Zabaleta is one of the army of Argentines in the top 100 and longtime pro, Filippini coaches him. Mariano has not quite lived up to his “NEW BALLS PLEASE” hype, but it’s tough to say why. I watched him drop a long 5 setter to Alex Corretja in the 2001 French Open. Alex got to the final that year, but on that first day, Zabaleta had him beaten in every department except for the ol’ loss of condition. It was a quick fifth set on a 100 degree day.

Today, his loss to Robredo was much closer, but not that different. He had problems with his left hamstring and his right forearm as early as the third set. Is it tension in the body overall? It certainly isn’t just physical and/or mental fitness, the guy is a force on the practice court and is known as one of the best fighters on the tour. Something about the 3 out of 5 set format, perhaps.

Like Steffi Graf, who had an amazing drive backhand in practice but didn’t use it much in matches, Zabaleta needs to call upon his finishing skills more often. The difference is, Steffi rarely needed anything more than a slice backhand. According to one of Filippini’s hitting partners, Zabaleta will need to get better at finishing all the great stuff he sets up.

Yesterday, at a practice session, he and his coach did three serve and volley drills: wide and wide, deep half-volley and angled volley and deep behind the returner. Then they did some rally and sneak in drills. Mariano fought admirably, but unfortunately, not enough of that type of tennis came out against the talented Mr. Robredo, who is looking more and more like Ferrero every month. Minus the dye job, of course.


Fans outside the player and media areas were treated to an uninterrupted hour and a half as first Tommy Hass and then Justine Henin wowed them on the practice courts

The fans outside the player and media areas were treated to an uninterrupted hour and a half of practice court #1 absolutely dripping with talent. The crowd only got bigger as Tommy Haas, then Justine Henin worked out in succession. It’s as though they were born, not just raised to play this game.

Justine cranked groundstrokes with her coach Patrice, as her fiancé Pierre looked on. Haas worked out with Michael Kohlman, also of Germany as Tommy’s coach Red Ayme orchestrated the drills. During one up – one back rallies, their racquets were so quick and so much a part of their hands that they looked like yellow and black blurs. (I’m sure the cosmetic designers at Dunlop and Volkl would be thrilled with that assessment).

The lack of doubles coverage is sad, the lack of interest even sadder. The debate rages. See Richard Evans’ insightful piece in the current issue of Tennis Week (with Taylor Dent on the cover) on that subject. But this week, I’d like to write about at least a little doubles, mostly because I enjoy watching it. I figure if I’m having fun, you’re having fun, right?

The lack of doubles coverage is sad, the lack of interest even sadder.

What a treat it was to watch Jared Palmer and Don Johnson, two dyed in the wool, veteran doubles specialists share a practice court with Jeff Coetzee and Chris Haggard, both of South Africa. They rallied, volleyed and did serves and returns on their own before the four of them got together for some 2 up, 2 back drills. They played points out, going for every ball. Lots of finesse, angles, power and crossing – everything was on display especially lightning reflexes. The boys lost count of the score three or four times on the way to eleven. Looked like they got a lot out of it, all four shirts were drenched to the waist. Palmer and Johnson are seeded 2 here. The unseeded South Africans play the ninth seeds, Kafelnikov and Haarhuis, who won Roland Garros this year.

Like South Africans, Americans and Aussies, Czechs have a rich tennis tradition, and so many of them have a feel for dubs. Briefly today, I sat with Jidka Vatlova, former Czech player during the early days of the WTA. She and her family were among the 10,000 Czechs who emigrated to the States in 1968. As a player, then coach, she taught, hosted and housed a lot of young Czech players including the great Martina Navratilova and briefly dated the great Ilie Nastase. Her friend and fellow player Vera Sukova died tragically early and Jidka became like a second mother to Helena Sukova and Cyril Suk. Helena’s been to the singles final here and Cyril is seeded seventh along with partner Martin Damm. Jidka, Cyril and some of their friends are raising awareness about the floods back in Prague. They had photos of two clubs they all were raised at, Stvanice and Sparta, along the Vltava River immersed in floodwaters. Wish them well, and if there is a Czech Center near you, give them a hand.

We sat and watched Jiri Novak (one of the guys seeded in both draws) and his partner Radek Stepanek defeat Ashley Fisher of Australia and Mark Merklien of the Bahamas 7-6, 6-1. I've had a soft spot for them since I played there in the late eighties.

Later, another Czech duo, Frantisek Cermak and Ota Fukarek dismantled a hopeful, but disorganized American team – the Amritraj cousins. Vijay Amritraj’s son Prakash was a standout at USC and his partner Stephen (Anand Amritraj’s son) is a strong junior player. The boys looked like they learned a lot today and could be the next Bryan brothers. Until then, it can be said that they definitely accessorize well. Prakash sported the bright white sunblock -- Bucky Dent style and went with the upside down visor. Both wore one green and one orange knee high soccer sock, a nod to India, the nation their dads represented so ably in Davis Cup in the seventies and eighties.

Back tomorrow, I’ll see you then.

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