September 7, 2001 - The Open Day 11

Not too long after I praise Guga, he comes up with a  klunker. His performance was the kind that if he was on a team sport, he would have been taken out and replaced. What an embarrassment and disappointment. I did not see any injuries, Gustavo just did not show up. The late night McDonalds caught up with him.

Will the women's rating for the finals on traditional network TV be higher than the Agassi-Sampras quarterfinals on cable TV?

The hip and rich crowd at the US Open are tennis's version of supply side economics, take care of the rich and the rich will take care of us. They buy the most expensive tickets, they make it possible for the venue to attract big time advertisers, they come late, and leave early. 

They make quick appearances and then vanish into the rich man's cove. Are they tennis lovers? Of course not, but they made it possible for that big stadium to get built. It does not matter how many $30 seats that the Open sells, it could not support the event with "common folks".

It takes the bigwigs to bring it alive and keep it going, meanwhile the regular Joes and true tennis lovers will gladly come down from the top of the tree to enjoy the view and smell the overpriced burnt burgers.

Get used to it Andy!
The top players will not lay down like Alex Corretja, they will come at you, they will come up with a strategy to play you, they will learn to handle your power, they will learn to put the ball out of your strike zone, they will learn how to make the points last more than 5 shots, and they most definitely will learn how to beat you.

Lleyton Hewitt has made it clear that the future is now, he's given the world a blueprint on how to beat you, and he's done it several times. I suggest that you refrain from slamming your racquet in disgust after the first game of a best of 5 match - and carve the name Greg Rusedski on your bag, he will remind you that the biggest serve on the planet does not make one a champion.

Attention Patrick McEnroe: Andy Roddick will not win the 2001 US Open!

The Finals are set, unfortunately the men will not have two versions like the women, but it will be just as entertaining. The winner of the Pete Sampras-Marat Safin will decide the championship, and yes my man Marat will repeat!

What's your point?

September 6, 2001 - The Open Day 10

When the French did the wave at Roland Garros, John McEnroe said, "Could someone tell them the wave went out years ago", now that the hippest of the hip crowds, New Yorkers, did it, all Mac had to say was, "Great atmosphere". What John does not realize is that three quarters of the US Open crowd are not from NY.

Not so fast folks, the Kuerten- Mirnyi match was better than the Pete-Andre clash, why?
1) It went the distance, A-P only went four
2) There was a comeback, Kuerten was down two sets to none and was always in danger of losing until he somehow squeaked two tiebreak sets to even the match 
3) Max Mirnyi's serve, constant serving and volleying and chipping and charging was a better performance than Pete's
4) Guga was much more flexible than Andre, he tried everything he could to break Max and stay alive, while Andre did the same old thing over and over, willing to go to tiebreaks, where Pete eight times out of ten will have the upper hand. 
5) Guga's game is more versatile, he has more imagination and yes even more shot making ability than Andre, and probably would have found a way to break Pete.

There will not be any doubt in the next match, My man Marat will BREAK and BEAT down Pete AGAIN. He will step in and demolish the greatest server of all time. For the first time, Pete will be facing someone with a serve that's just as big if not bigger than his, Marat will march on.

Kafelnikov might win against Guga, but I hope he does not, he's afraid of Pete, and has too much history of running away and hide whenever Sampras is on the other side of the net. And since Pete will lose to Marat, Yevgeny's mouth would come back to haunt him again, Marat will show him how mature he is.

The women will treat us to not one but two finals this year, Hingis-Serena, & Capriati-Venus, I'm expecting two epic three set battles and an anticlimactic prime time finals. Don't miss the semis.

What's your point?

September 5, 2001 - The Open Day 9 

I would not be surprised if Serena Williams never wins another grand slam tournament, (unlikely prediction), but her mental prowess is lacking enough to CHANGerized her career, or perhaps Gabriela Sabatini would be a better example.

Not enough credit has been given to Lindsay Davenport, for a girl with her size and poor movement, she managed and built a game that protects her lack of mobility, the drop shot and short angle low shots are the obvious point of attack against her, but her game is so powerful that the only thing the other players are worrying about is getting her ball back over the net. She hits harder, flatter and cleaner than any player on the WTA tour.

Up until the Tommy Robredo match , Andy Roddick was always the underdog, the kid with the unlimited power, the heir apparent to the Sampras and Agassi throne, with the brightest but yet unfulfilled potential. This was a mental test and he came up big, he showed that his game (which is not complete and which may or may not improve) is big enough to warrant the complete attention of any player left in the draw. At this stage, I would not count him out as the eventual champion.

It sometimes bothers me that society can place teenagers on a pedestal, simply because they can hit tennis balls better than every human being on the planet. Yes we create our art, and we give it strong value and major importance, even if its perfected by youngsters who's barely past puberty, but What irritates me is when we ask and expect these immature individuals to speak about subjects outside of their perfected craft.

Serena Williams or Martina Hingis, should not be asked about race relations, their theory on creation, or whether the hole in the ozone layer is man made - In fact if they continue to play, they will realize that they did not even know much about the tennis that are playing now. 

Peter Fleming playing tennis at forty something once said, "I wish I knew what I know about tennis now when I was in my prime". Youth is many things, minus depth and experience.

I'd like to see Lleyton Hewitt beat Tommy Haas and face Roddick and repeating their French Open match up.

Hewit is a fighter, Haas is nice player when things are going right, he will easily and shamelessly bow out, shake hands and go home when pressured.

CBS and the tennis world are praying for a Williams vs. Williams prime time finals, but a Clijsters vs. Hingis clash is just as possible and although Hingis vs. Mauresmo is also possible, I'm personally rooting against it.

What's your point?

September 4, 2001 - The Open Day 8

Roger Federer looked like he was dressed to go to the casino or the Copa Cabana and his date stood him up. While playing Agassi he looked deflated even before he got inflated.

Barbara Schett was too happy to lose against Jennifer Capriati.

Marat Safin reminded the world last night of how strong, dominating and destructive his game can be. Thomas Johansson put up a great fight, but Marat's arsenal was too much, - Mariano Zabaleta is next and he too will be destroyed.

All the big name matchups, Federer-Agassi, Sampras-Rafter, Hingis-Dokic, Henin-Serena, Testud-Venus Capriati-Schett, turned out to be very Schetty. But the tournament goes on and the Mirnyi-Kuerten macth is still the best battle of the tournament so far.

Pete Sampras is alive and well, when he's not pushed and challenged!

Patrick gave him the first two sets, can he win a tough 5 setter at this stage in his career? His next match against Andre will determine whether this Open belongs to Pete, if he wins, he will be lifting Grand Slam trophy number 14. 


What's your point?

September 3, 2001 - The Open Day 6, 7

Sampras's head looks like a rat went through it, leaving patches, holes and craters in its path.

The human eye is better than we think, the umpire calls a ball out, Mac Cam confirms that the ball was out by less than an inch, the electronic camera slowed it down to something like 500 frames a second, but the human eye without the use of slow motion technology (or so it seems) was able to make the correct call on a groundstroke moving across a white line at 60 miles per hour.

Babolat has something going with their new racquets, it seems that everyone from Michael Chang to Andy Roddick is playing with it.

Marat - Marat - Marat - Marat - The man is in the 2nd week - Yes! He took out Hicham Harazi in 3 tough straight sets. Harazi is a player that no one likes to play, but he's never managed a big showing at the slams, nice challenger, very colorful, but not a winner.

A couple of years back, tennis fans, the media and even Jennifer Capriati herself had given up on the one time player with the unlimited potential. I would see her at tournaments practicing on back courts and no one was paying attention to her. I could hear people saying "Hey there goes Capriati, look at her, that's too bad" - Well, look at her now, the practice courts are filled with spectators.

Alex Corretja's performance against Andy Roddick is a perfect example of why he's not a champion. He willingly and easily laid down and expired out of the open.

Another "Ova" has made the scene! Deja Bedanova is knocking on the door!

Jelena Dokic's doctor used the utmost precision to plow that mole off her lip, if only she could apply that same precision on court while going for the lines. The problem with her game is that she hits the ball too often and too close to the middle of the court, when she attempts to find the lines,  she misses more frequently than the other top players. More motivation and desire would help also. She has the "I'm young syndrome" thinking that there will always be tomorrow and my game will improve and I will win, - It will not happen without more effort and considerable improvement in her shot selection and control.

Max Mirnyi is a perfect example why tennis is better off without a proliferation of total serve and volleyers. When on their game, they are boring especially if they are 6'5" serving 130+mph serves. Patrick Rafter, Stefan Edberg is fun to watch, they are not winning their points on the serve, but using it as a setup for the volley. Max Mirnyi is coming in - make that boring in with a bear like grunt, to clean up after his massive delivery, which has just drilled a hole on the court and dislodged the shoulder of his opponent.

Fortunately for the tennis world, his service percentage goes haywire and his return is suspect.

Max was clean shaven at the start of the match with Guga by the time the 5th set was done, he looked like a hermit. What a match, what a performance By Gustavo Kuerten. The modern tennis genius.


What's your point?

(c) 1stserve