<% ns_puts [mkm_getnavbar] %>
US Open Journal
Day 3
A.J. Chabria
I just started the day watching five great sets between Paul-Henri Mathieu and Fernando Gonzalez. Lots of momentum changes and lots of Vamos, Allez, Come OnNNN, and the like. Gonzalez showed why we should believe the hype, especially in the fifth, as he took it 6-4. The great Boris Becker always said that the fifth set is very little about tennis. Fifth sets are won in the heart.
|
|
Fernando Gonzales…the current incarnation of Boris Becker? The guy can break serve with four of five swings. He has one of the most wicked sounding second serves in the game (right behind Moya, Roddick and Pete). Just when his opponents get him into a rally, he unleashes a backhand down the line or goes for broke on a forehand. Like many kids who grew up on clay, he’s got pretty sweet touch around the net.
If this young Chilean can get the ol’ head together and manage to go
for his shots at the right times he will be a force in the Slams soon.
Then again, I thought that about Philippoussis in the late-nineties.
Sadly, the Flipper has more in common with fellow Aussie, Pat Cash than
Boris Becker (read: injuries). Next up for Fernando, Kenneth Carlsen of
Denmark, then possibly Gaston Etlis of Argentina or Spain's Juan Carlos
Ferrero.
Serena nearly matched her sister’s winning score from yesterday. During a
love and one drubbing of the improving Dinara Safina, all the ushers could
talk about was her outfit.
“There’s only one woman around that could pull that one off.”
“A woman that special don’t need to show out like that.” I think this guy was jealous.
And my favorite, “I’m gonna start playing tennis, now.”
|
|
Now, personally, I don’t see what the big deal is. My 1-month old son has a closet full of those in white, green and every shade of blue.
On to the dubs…
With matching buzzcuts, Cyril Suk and Martin Damm went down in straight
sets to Jeff Morrison and Mardy Fish. Okay kids, who can compose a
sentence using all four of those names?
The Czech brothers used the ‘I’ and the Australian formations for much of
the match, especially in the ad court, but they just weren’t wild and
crazy enough to overcome the power and the return games of the young
Yanks. Morrison and Fish were elated after the match and the crowd loved
it As they swarmed the young Yanks for autographs, Damm walked off
peacefully alongside his wife, who looks like a model even with a diaper
bag over one shoulder and an infant on the other. Martin dutifully pushed
the stroller with racquet bag in tow.
On practice court #1 this afternoon, coach Craig Tiley (South African
Davis Cup captain and men’s coach at Ilinois) joined Peter Lundgren
(former tour player from Sweden and a shoo-in if Hollywood ever gets it
together and does a sequel to “The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams”).
Tiley coaches George Bastl, the qualifier who took out Sampras at
Wimbledon this year. Lundgren coaches Roger Federer, who beat Pete at
Wimbledon last year. Their drills were geared toward singles as well as
doubles. They ended with a set of singles, where they serve and volley on
both serves.
Bastl seems like a real workhorse; Federer, a thoroughbred. Later, they
had a doubles match against another American pair, Vince Spadea and Jack
Brasington. Doubtless, Tiley and Bastl knew all about Brasington’s game
from his days as a Longhorn, while Bastl played for USC. Lundgren had a
few words for Bastl and Federer about Spadea . You know the guy returns
great, but hit everything at his feet, especially after his serve. He
moves really, very slow at the net and his serve is only a slice. Sure
enough, Vince was the first one broken in the first set and the first to
face a break point in the second.
You got the feeling the Swiss boys are friends, and that Bastl was there
to learn. Federer was the shining star on the court: singles, doubles or 3
on 1, there’s nothing he couldn’t pull off with the ball. For the
Americans, nothing worked, even 2 back. The only success they had was on
Jack’s serve, to get Federer off the court somehow, praying he wouldn’t
lace one through them or in the alley as Bastl would loyally cover the
middle. Then Vince would burn Bastl down the alley. Even that didn’t last,
though. Brasington finally was broken late in the second. On the whole,
the Americans lost to a tough team. No shame in that.
|
|
Just before that match, Guga Kuerten and his coach of over 13 years,
Larri Passos showed up to practice 15 minutes early. I observed the
hour-long session next to his press secretary, Diana. He hired her
immediately after he won the ’97 French Open. She answers questions and
takes care of things so he can be himself. He had just gotten a tattoo 3
weeks ago. It’s a rendition of the sun on the back of his hand. Diana
said, “he love the sun.” The sun is the reason he chose the color orange
for his new apparel -- as he recently decided against renewing his
clothing contract with Diadora. Instead he signed with a company that
manufactures and sells exclusively in his native Brazil. That’s the kind
of guy he is. Diana filtered through a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish
for me as Chilean pro Guillermo Coria confessed to Guga that he had
recently chickened out of a tattoo himself.
Pretty basic stuff in the practice: half court, full court, cross-courts,
volleys, passing shots and overheads. They ended it with a serve and
return segment. Larri gives him a surprisingly good workout. In contrast
to Guga, he is a fire hydrant of a man with short, thick, muscled limbs.
More contrasts: his strokes are stiff and compact, and he uses eastern
grips. His grunts are explosive and short, even on the feeds.
Guga’s grunts are as long and rhythmic as his strokes. A woman next to me
held her 20 month old son, who has an affinity for the Brazilian. She says
her son responds to Guga, “maybe it’s his voice, ooom-weahh, every shot he
hits”, she says in a Japanese accent. A hip little 10 year old junior
player pointed to Guga and said to his Mom, “That’s my next haircut,”
referring to Kuerten’s sun-orange brushcut.
People in general smile when they see Guga play. Larri’s enthusiasm is
infectious, too. He’s such a character. It took him as long to sign
autographs as it did Guga, partially because he’s one of the few coaches
who gets hounded for autographs, and partially because he signs his name
very deliberately. Larri complained about his arm hurting in a big way
after banging with his charge. So, don’t get me wrong, the practices are
intense too, with lots of big hitting going on.
Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you
think about AJ Chabria's article by emailing
us here at TennisONE.
To contact us, please email to: webmaster@tennisone.com
TennisONE is a registered trademark of TennisONE and SportsWeb ONE; Copyright 1995. All rights reserved.