G'morning, blokes and sheilas. The first Slam of the season off with a bang. The weather was mild, the tennis superb, the drama off the charts.
I was surprised by how many bagels were boiled, how many breadsticks were baked on the first day of play. I'm sure Bud Collins has the answer, but in the era of high-tech racquets, 12 bagels (men: 5, women; 7) and 15 breadsticks (men 12; women 3) on the first day of a Slam has got to a record.
Head Scratcher of the Day
And speaking of bagels... Amelie Mauresmo dropped the first set against Tatiana Poutchek and promptly served up a double bagel to advance to the second round. Wish I could've seen that one.
American Success?
Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Jill Craybas, Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, journeyman qualifier Sam Warburg, and upstart wildcard Jessie Levine all moved safely into the second round. Of course, just as many lost, including Donald Young who had a great opportunity to win another Slam match and face Andy in the second round. He served for the first set against Micheal Berrer, but fell apart. He was also up a break in the fourth set to take the match to five, but lost that lead as well. You gotta believe, Donald, you gotta believe.
Will Mardy be able to exact revenge on Tommy Robredo for that US Open debacle in the next round? Stay tuned.
Upset Specials
I hinted at Elena Vesnina over Julia Vakulenko in my women's preview and Jelena Jankovic narrowly escaped hers against Tamira Paszek. In my men's preview, I didn't see Guillermo Garcia-Lopez over Juan Ignacio Chela, or Stefan Koubek over Carlos Moya (boo hiss), though I pegged it as a first-round match of note. But the upset of the day (which I didn't want to jinx by writing it out) clearly goes to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who fought off cramps to dismiss the superhyped No. 9 seed Andy Murray in four sets. I wonder what the British press will write about this loss after all that gushy over-the-top praise in their previews? Wait. I don't have to wonder. Check this out. And then there's this, which begins:
There will be days in the future when Andy Murray entrances us with his brilliance and there will be others when he infuriates us with his obstinacy. This was neither. Day one of an Australian Open that had promised so much for him was simply left flat by a performance that for the most part was inexplicable in its negligence and a reaction that, by the normally feisty Scot's standards, was anodyne and almost blithe.
Is this a tennis critique or a reviw of a theatrical performance? Murray, using much less flourish,
blames himself. Seems Tsonga had a lot to do with it, no? It will be interesting to see what all the experts who proclaim Murray a future No. 1 have to say.
It's my opinion that Murray's game, anchored by his serve despite all the talk of his variety, doesn't work that well on outdoor hardcourts. Sure he just won his first outdoor title in Doha, but indoors is where he plays his best tennis. And even there, he has yet to make noise in Madrid or Bercy. He doesn't handle the outdoor conditions well. His serve is negatively affected by the sun and and swirling wind wrecks havoc with his forehand.
But enough about him. Tsonga's game is always lethal and his fitness has improved. The cramps that he battled in the third and fourth sets appeared to have come from nerves as he got closer to taking out a Top 10 player in a Slam. On a mild summer day in Melbourne, I find it hard to believe he was physically worn out after a mere two sets. But he prevailed and created a huge opportunity for himself. Let's see if he can capitalize.
Daily Discoveries
Slovakian-born
Jarmila Gajdosova played her first match for Australia on Rod Laver arena against the defending champion. And she came to
play. I don't think I've ever seen a woman hit the ball as hard. Huge serve, huge groundies, and no fear. She had Serena on her back foot for a set and a half before Serena made a few adjustments to give her more time to absorb those flat cannonballs that threatened to knock the racquet out of her hand. If the soon-to-be Aussie drops a few kilos and improves her mobility, she could become a player to watch.
The Aussies also have to be optimistic about
Nick Lindahl, a transplant from Sweden with an Indonesian mother. Even though
Richard Gasquet pummeled him in the first two sets, Nick relaxed, opened up his shoulders and was able to take the fourth set. There are no real weaknesses in his game. He's an athletic all-court player with speed and great court sense.
Serbia might have another player to get noisy about. Qualifier
Viktor Troicki gave
Rafael Nadal all he could handle for two sets before running out of gas. He even had set points on Rafa's serve, but a few braindead dropshots cost him the set. He has a win over
Novak Djokovic, and it's not hard to see why. His serve is better, his backhand is better, his forehand is about as inconsistent, but when he flattens it out down the linie, it's impossible to chase down, and for 6' 4", he covers the court very well. Here's hoping he has some integrity to go with his game.
Match of the Day
As expected Jankovic vs. Paszek was a humdinger. It was like watching mirror images play tennis. Despite their physical differences (ahem) this battle royale featured two players with bullet backhands, great retrieval skills, and no serves. It was the third of these that caused the match to completely disintegrate into a never-ending farce. Where is the third set tiebreak when you need it? The decisive set featured 15 breaks of serve (21 for the match) and became painful to watch.
Tamira had Jelena dead to rights. Three match points. That will be the 17-year-old Austrians nightmare. Three match points. On the first, she yanked Jankovic coast to coast, but hit a few too many tenative shots that Jelena slipped and slided to get back (so much for that back injury...) until the Serb hit a crosscourt backhand winner that hit both lines in the corner. On the third Tamira missed a sitter backhand by inches. After another rally of relentless hitting, she had Jelena off the court already resigned to defeat. But Tamira swung too wildly at her signature shot and hit it long. It can be courageous to go for the lines, as both players did throughout the match, slapping winners left and right. It can also be stupid. Youth, nerves. As fans, we can forgive her. But this is the kind of loss that can leave a deep footprint on her head and haunt her for quite some time.
For my money, Jelena will never win a Slam. But Tamira could become a future champion if, and only if, she buys a serve, gains more confidence in her forehand, which is actually a great shot when she's not under pressure, and develops a proficient swinging volley on both wings. She let far too many floaters bounce, ran around far too many midcourt forehands. It put far too much pressure on her signature backhand. Which is precisely why she missed that sitter on match point.
Lika a magician, Jelena escaped but she's nothing short of beaten to a pulp. Her draw should allow her to win one more match on fumes, but I can't see her getting past the winner of
Flavia Pennetta vs.
Virginie Razzano in the third round.
Fashion Disasta
Maria Sharapova opted for a Nike nightgown with a strip of pads down the front and the back that conjured sanitary napkins. You'll see above that Gajdosova wore the same dress in muted puke.
And speaking of puke. What was Nike thinking with this men's design that both Carlos and Stefan wore in their first round match? (Rafa's wearing a red version seen below.) It looks like someone stood in front of a fan, tossed their cookies, and the shirt took all the splatter on the left side. And what's with the grey sickle on the back?
More fashion from Savannah.
What Did You Say? In the overnight live coverage in the US,
Mary Jo Fernandez told the pressing
Chris Fowler that the Stepanek/Vaidisova marriage license application was a prank for mutual friends, though they are dating. In the tape-delayed afternoon re-airing, ESPN edited out her remarks. Hmmm...
The Last Picture Show
(All Photos: AFP/Getty Images)
Amazingly, Federer and Djokovic have met during the last weekend of the US Open for the last 5 years and Federer is 3-1 so far (including one final, in 2007). In fact, the Swiss great leads their career head-to-head 14-9, but has lost three times to Djokovic on hard courts this year (including the 2011 Australian Open semifinal where Federer was defending champion). In New York, Federer has actually had the toughest draw of the Top 4 players, facing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (11) and Marin Cilic (27). Djokovic has had a much easier time with two retirements in his first 5 rounds and a double-bagel match. Djokovic's competition has been Nikolay Davydenko, Aleksandr Dolgopolov and an inspired Janko Tipsarevic. Interestingly, his matches have gotten tighter (in the score) as the tournament progresses, while Federer has basically played at the level he needs to win, relative to whoever is on the other side of the net. As most readers know, I am a decided Federer fan and when I started this write-up I intended to make a clear call for The Greatest Of All Time. I'm convinced he can win this match, but I am unsure as to whether he will. Doing the research for this piece has shown me that Djokovic is more likely to win this match, and the title. However, if Federer comes out early playing the kind of tennis he played against Tsonga and Juan Monaco I believe he can win in straight sets. Regardless, I doubt it will match last year's semifinal's shot-making and drama. MadProfessah's pick: Federer in 3 sets OR Djokovic in 4 or 5.
However, I think what matters most is the match-up today and how they have been playing to date in New York. Nadal has had to get through Andy Roddick (21), David Nalbandian and Gilles Muller. Murray has had to get past John Isner (28), Donald Young and Feliciano Lopez (25). Really both players have had a relatively easy path to the semifinals, although Murray had to survive a 5-set scare against talented Robin Haase in the second round. The Brit is clearly starting to cement his "Fab 4" status, by making the semifinals or better of every major played in 2011(something Djokovic has also managed for the first time this year while Nadal has only done it once, in 2008 and Federer did for five consecutive years in a row from 2005 and 2009). He is showing his consistency and letting his innate talent shine through. Murray also has confidence, being one of two players to have defeated Djokovic in 2011, something Nadal hasn't done. I believe Murray is going to do something he hasn't done before (and which a lot of people don't expect him to do), and beat Nadal in a major semifinal. MadProfessah's pick: Murray in 3 or 4 sets OR Nadal in 5.
