Above: India's Yuki Bhambri signing autographs after winning his first-round qualifying match at the US Open.
Tuesday August 21, 2012 - Over the past few years I've discovered and followed certain players during the US Open qualifying matches - people like Alejandro Falla, Bjorn Phau, Go Soeda, Tatsuma Ito and Rajeev Ram. This year all five of those men were up in the rankings and so were into the main draw already; congratulations to all of them, but it meant I would be spending this year's tournament mostly checking out players new to me. Yuki Bhambri was the most exciting new discovery for me: he has an powerful serve and, after losing the first set, he buckled down and gave an impressive display of tennis skills in defeating the excellent and exciting Argentine Horacio Zeballos. It was close match, ending with a tie-breaker for the third set. I will definitely want to see Bhambri play again later in the week.
It was a beautiful day at the Open, breezy and with a nice mix of sun and clouds. There was a sizeable crowd and the usual annoyances of small children (parents: little kids get restless and cranky at tennis tournaments so leave 'em with a sitter), cellphones, and people gabbing during play. But for the most part I was able to find quiet spots to watch from, or to move if things got distracting. I was delighted to see the great Billie Jean King walking from court to court early in the day (the whole place is named after her, and deservedly so).
My first match was between two women I didnt know anything about: Dinah Pfizenmaier and Heidi El Tabakh. I initially pegged Pfizenmaier as the likely winner,but on the big points El Tabakh was able to capitalize and she won the match.
Thailand's Danai Udomchoke, who I've seen play many times, put up a valiant fight but was out-gunned by Spain's Adrian Menendez-Maceiras.
Three Asian women - all new to me - scored impressive victories: Ying-Ying Duan (very tall) and SaiSai Zheng (with a tendency to moon-ball) were representing the next generation of Chinese players, while Taipei's Yung-Jan Chan presented her opponent with a double-bagel victory.
After watching Yuki Bhambri's exciting victory, I decided to head home on a high note although there were still matches in progress. There's some construction going on at the Tennis Center and both the noise and the necessary 'detours' are inconveniences.
But I did take a look at the newly-opened Court 17, a smallish arena-style venue with an intimate feeling. I hope to see a match there at some point this week.