Tuesday August 28, 2007 - Final trek to the Open for me this year; I thought about getting a ticket for Thursday but the crowds have been unbearable and it seems to me that the Open has become so thoroughly commercialized with the emphasis being on the 'event' rather than on serious tennis-watching. I do love watching tennis 'live' as opposed to on the telly and to be able to see some of the players I like whose matches don't usually get on-air exposure.
Today I was counting on seeing the Bjorn Phau/Carlos Moya match but it was not on the schedule. I decided that, in the absence of my favorite player Paradorn Srichaphan, I would head directly to Court 6 to watch his compatriot Danai Udomchoke. I'd seen Danai play a couple of years ago and was interested to see how his game is progressing.
It was a long five-set match with the dynamic shifting between Danai {photo, left} and his opponent, Wayne Odesnik. Odesnik is the type of tennis player I really dislike; whatever his assets as an athlete - and he has quite a few - they are undone by his poor sportsmanship and unpleasant personality. He threw temper tantrums when line calls went against him. I was sitting on the service line and he got the benefit of several of his long serves not being called out; but when things did not go his way there were pouting blow-ups from the crybaby, muttering nasty things at the chair umpire under his breath. He once even accused the innocent Danai of laughing at him; Danai wears a genial smile throughout his matches, except for those moments of self-deprecation when he misses an easy shot. Odesnik needed the trainer - twice - but got an attitude when Danai asked for treatment. Then there was the slamming of the racquet to the ground with prima donna flourish. At the end, when he finally won, Odesnik suddenly tried to be Mr. Nice Guy, throwing his arm around Danai as they walked to shake hands with the umpire. I hate to think how he would have behaved if he had lost. Danai is a delight to watch and I wish him well in his continuing career. I will avoid Mr. Odesnik's matches in future until he grows up.
Then over to watch Shuai Peng vs Flavia Pennetta; Peng totally dominated the first set. Pennetta could not seem to get anything going. Early in the second set, Peng was treated for an ankle problem. The combination of a slightly slowed-down Peng and a geared-up Pennetta changed the tone of the match. Pennetta began to show off her impressive arsenal of shots while Peng seemed tired and preoccupied. Pennetta {photo, left} won he match and earned the audience's approval; an attractive and very trim lady, she might have become a ballerina at La Scala had she not decided to play tennis instead.
Jose Acasuso {photo, left}, who gave Paradorn a tough match last summer, was playing and I watched that match for a while and then took a trip to Louis Armstrong where Francesca Schiavone was dismantling Natalie Dechy. What's happened to Dechy? She looked so out-of-sorts. Doubling back, I watched the last few games of David Ferrer's match against Florian Meyer. I had never seen Ferrer play before; what a nice, animated player he is - his energies always focussed on the matter at hand. In a strong three-set win, he had the crowd behind him without deterring from Meyer's efforts.
Here are three post-match photos of Ferrer. The fans love him. Evening was just starting to fall as Ferrer signed autographs. I made another quick tour of the courts to decide on a last match to watch before heading home.
I made a lucky choice, having the really pleasant experience of watching two good, well-contrasted players in a 3-set match which could have gone either way. What made the twilight match so nice - aside from the cool breeze stirring - was the crowd: no bratty kids, no cellphone queens; just an enthusiastic bunch of fans divided into two camps but willing to applaud the good shots of the opposing player. The South Korean Yoon Jeong Cho played a very fine first set, thwarting the efforts of Lourdes Dominguez Lino. I'd seen Lino play before and I knew she was a pretty tough customer, so I expected her to keep at it til she got things on track. When Cho needed treatment on her lower back, Lino took the opportunity to rest under a towel and regroup. Cho continued to play quite well but Lino held steady with her no-nonsense style and pulled off the win. Cho might want to think about taking the big points in a match a bit more seriously; sometimes she displayed a girlish lack of concern when she got sloppy. Lino, the more seasoned and serious player, knew what she needed to do. And she did it. She was one weary lady at the end, but she deserved the victory.
I made a last walkabout of the Center; most of the courts were abandoned though Jose Acasuso was still plugging along. On the #7 train coming home I realized that - despite the massive crowds, the expensive food, the horrible behavior of the little kids (it's the parents who are at fault, actually) and the bizarre inattention of people who have paid to watch tennis and then find all sorts of ways to distract themselves - I really love watching live tennis. The Lino/Cho match was the clincher for me and made me realize that, for all the negatives, I would surely go back next summer.
Comments