US Open leftovers

Here are some final thoughts from the 2009 US Open.

1) One of India's greatest sportsmen added to his collection of trophies at the US Open, while missing out on the the mixed double's crown where his team was the #1 seed.

Check out the following link for the brief video of the Leander Paes-Lukas Dlouhy win over the Mahesh Bhupathi-Mark Knowles combination.

2) If your name (Roger) sounds like Rajah, is it surprising that when you visit NY for the US Open you live in digs fit for a king?

3) The best thing that has happened for tennis in the last few years has been the emergence of Rafael Nadal as a challenger to Roger's era of domination. A case could even be easily made that Nadal is the superior player among the two of them, lacking just a few Grand Slams on hard courts to enter the GOAT equation. Greg Garber of ESPN expands on this theme alluding obliquely to the predator-prey aspect of the relationship shared by these two rivals who, surprisingly, are good friends off the court.

4) Finally, I end with the shot that Roger Federer himself acknowledged as the greatest shot he has ever hit. Too bad that was the high point of the weekend for him, though in all fairness Juan Martin Del Potro won the Open, taking it away from Federer with a coming-out party for the ages.

Damage control

Last year Novak Djokovic's image at the US Open took a beating with Andy Roddick, in particular, getting on his case. The fans got into it, too, during the tournament and a visibly annoyed Novak lost his cool. Since then he has been trying to make amends.

On Monday night, after easily beating Radek Stepanek, he went some ways towards building bridges by doing impersonations. Unlike last time when he picked on his contemporaries much to their dislike, this time he chose to imitate John McEnroe. What followed did more for his cause than anything else he could have done. Well watch and find out what hapened:

Musings from the Open

I wrote a long diary that detailed my trip to NY/NJ for the US Open tennis tournament. But reading it was boring - there's only so many names I could drop and matches I could mention before it became repetitive, even to myself. So I am changing the format and putting down some random thoughts that flitted through my (over-crowded) cranium while I was at the Billie Jean King United States Tennis Association National Tennis Center (honestly, yes, that's its full name).

1) I think it was the late David Foster Wallace who once likened watching Roger Federer play to a "religious experience". For three years I planned my schedule such that I would watch Roger play, but was flummoxed every time. This time, due to a very generous gift, I had tickets to every session from Friday through Monday night. I got to watch Federer play twice, once against Hewitt and then against Robredo. I did not find religion, but I was definitely in awe. People talk about his court acumen and flair, but an underrated part of his game is his speed and stamina. He was not required to display the latter but the speed was there for all to see. He is deceptively quick around the court and dictated the pace of most of the points he played. I anticipate that he will win it all this year.

2) I watched Federer, Nadal, Murray, Roddick, Venus, Safina, Dementieva, Oudin, Sharapova, Paes, Bhupathi, and a whole slew (yikes, there I go name-dropping again) of players in all sorts of courts big and small, but came away with one overall impression. Very little separates the good from the great. The cream of the cream play in the majors and almost everyone is capable of hitting winners from all over the court. The very top players (top 5 on both sides) have a couple of extra gears that they can seemingly transition to when in trouble but it is just a small difference. The BIG difference is that the top players, especially the really elite ones, are able to maintain this high level for extended periods of time. In the case of folks like Nadal and Federer, the later it is in the match, the more pronounced this difference becomes as the opponents begin to make mistakes while these guys sustain their high level.

3) Many trees have been killed to write about Melanie Oudin and her feats as she sliced through the Russians one after the other. Except for Sharapova, all the other Russians that she faced imploded under pressure. This applies to Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva, too, who lost to other players. All these women have big games based on hard-hit groundstrokes, powerful first serves, and immensely impressive court coverage. But in return for that they have the worst mental attitude of all. As soon as things start going against them, they start doubting themselves. Melanie played well, no doubt about that, but she was helped by the rapidly disintegrating opponents too. If I was their coach, I'd tell them that they had to go through an entire match without throwing a tantrum when they missed a shot. It takes most of the fun away from a closely-fought game to see a player give up halfway through the deciding set.

4) Rafael Nadal uses every inch of the space available behind him on the court. Not that he will have to worry about it any more for the rest of his career, but I do not think he would be able to play his normal game at some of the other courts because there simply isn't enough room for him to stay back and return the ball. The accompanying photo is of the Grandstand, the third biggest court at the complex and it would not be enough to contain Nadal, such is his range.

5) I watched a lot of Leander Paes (from close quarters in the Grandstand) and saw him interact closely with Lukas Dlouhy and Kara Black. As I write this, he has made it to the finals in both the men's doubles and the mixed doubles. Impressive for a guy who is 36 and has always relied more on his reflexes than anything else. He looks just as quick as always and proved that one great player on a doubles team can be enough to carry a decent player in his wake. It used to be said that in the 1980's the best doubles team in the world was John McEnroe and his partner or Martina Navratilova and her partner. I can see how that can be true! Paes is the livewire of the teams and the audience is there for him, and not just traveling Indians. I sat in a section with folks from all over the world and all of them had Paes in their sights the whole time. Not bad at all.

6) (Storm in a teacup alert). The ballkids at these tournaments are now also required to fetch towels for the players in between every point. It is a little annoying, really, to see that. When things are not going well, the players tend to be very rude, throwing the towel to the court or behind them, expecting these kids to clean up after them. Andy Roddick was positively rude to the ballkids during the first couple of sets of his match with John Isner. Later on he got better but it irked me to see that. And Roddick is one of the nice guys on the tour (as far as I have seen on television and other times that I have "interacted" with him in person). I hope the kids are rewarded in some way for putting up with this treatment.

7) I have said this in the past, but it bears repeating - the US Open is the most fan-friendly sporting event that I have been to. There is a great deal of commericalism and intense price-gouging (a bottle of water costs $4, for instance) but that is the case everywhere. Getting to the facility is very easily done (subway or LIRR) and, once there, the visitor has first-come-first-serve access to all the courts, except for the big one (Arthur Ashe). And if you cannot make it to Arthur Ashe, there are numerous big screens around the complex where you can follow the action. Players sign autographs and pose for pictures, if asked, and celebrity-sighting is a common experience.

8) I have long been a regular reader of L. Jon Wertheim, who writes for Sports Illustrated. After the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon epic of 2008, Wertheim used that as a backdrop to write a book about the rivalry and the two players. Even reading about that match was too much for me so I resisted all impulses to buy it. After Federer's resurgence and subsequent overhauling of Pete Sampras' career mark, the pain had eased enough for me to contemplate buying it, but I hadn't yet. On Sunday, Wertheim was at the complex signing autographs and promoting his book. I caved in and bought the book (review to follow in a few days...but short note - it is really worth reading). When I walked up to him I asked him if he would write a personal note for me inside the book. He responded that he would, but it would depend upon what I wanted him to write. I told him what I wanted; he laughed at it and agreed to do so. So, I now have in my collection Strokes of Genius, by L. Jon Wertheim, with the words: Manish, Ivan Lendl was indeed the truth!

9) Growing up in the 1980's I was mesmerized not by the splendid artistry of McEnroe or the blazing aggression of Becker but by two contrasting characters - Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl (but not in that order). Lendl was, to me, the hard-working, under-appreciated toiler. A man who worked his way to the top and worked really hard to stay there. Tennis did not seem to come easily to him, especially the grasscourt kind, but he stayed at it till he became one of the best grasscourt players in the world (two Wimbledon finals do not come by accident in a time when McEnroe, Becker, and Edberg are at or near their peak). When Pat Cash came out of nowhere to upend him in the 1987 final, I cried for hours at the unfairness of it all. (After all these years, I still cannot think of Cash and not imagine cement-mixers and broken bones. Grrr).

After his tennis career wound down, Lendl disappeared from the public eye. He did a couple of stints of guest commentary on television but seemed more interested in his golf game. On Sunday, years after he had steadily wandered away from my tennis consciousness, I heard he was signing autographs at the Open! Tingling with anticipation, I stood in line and got to meet him, 20 years later than I wanted to but it was just as moving for me now as it would have been then. He has changed a lot (appearance-wise) but who cares. I got to shake Ivan Lendl's hand and get his autograph!!

Once I figured out that I could get autographs from the players, I decided that every year I would sacrifice a hat for players "special" to me. Last year it was Leander Paes. This year I went in deciding that only Federer, Nadal, or Agassi could grace my hat. But once I saw Lendl, it was a no contest. This would be the year of Ivan the Terrible!

10) Ivan Lendl is indeed the truth! Actually, what I really wanted to say was that I think it is cool that they play John Williams' Imperial March whenever Darth Federer comes on court for a night match wearing an all-black outfit.

Labor pleasure

Coming soon to this blog: How I spent the holiday weekend. Here's a sneak preview...

Beyond flash

Even as memories of his exploits on the field begin to diminish (in some sports fans minds), Andre Agassi's aura continues to increase due to all the charity work he does. It is no surprise that he will be honored at the opening ceremony of this year's US Open.

I like reading any news about a select few persons, and Agassi is high on that list. One of my life's biggest regrets is that he played his last match one round earlier than I had anticipated so I never got to see him play in person.

Walk in the crowds

First the bare facts: Every year I undertake a trip to Flushing Meadows during the Labor Day weekend to watch some tennis at the US Open. I have previously blogged about my experiences here and here.

This year, I decided to catch more than just the solitary night session at Arthur Ashe. A day pass to the premises let me wander around the outer courts, sample the Grandstand, and sneak into Louis Armstrong. All it took was some patience and the ability to figure out which matches were going to be the longer ones.

On one of the outer courts I went to watch Leander Paes in the men's doubles. I have heard John McEnroe rave about the guy's quickness at the net, and watching him live was something else altogether. On the court Paes was the biggest draw (the other three players were his partner - Dlouhy, De Voest and Fisher) and he did not disappoint. (By the way, in the picture below I am not zooming in - I did have great seats for the match!)

After the match was done he spent a good half hour mingling with his fans. He signed every autograph and posed for every photo request. He responded to fans when they spoke to him, answered questions in a soft voice, and did not leave till everyone had a chance to spend some time with him, including yours truly.


After the Paes experience, everything else was just icing on the cake. These are some of the players I watched live on various courts: Djokovic, Davydenko, Robredo, Muller, Tsonga, Safina, Dementieva, Blake, Ferrer, Fish, Del Potro, and Cilic. I also got to see Federer practice, and McEnroe hit some balls with a 12 year-old kid named Christian Harrison (remember that name for the future).
Next year, I shall spend less time on Arthur Ashe and more on the outer courts. My favorite is the Grandstand which is big enough to feature some big names but small enough to where you feel you are at your neighborhood club.

If you get a chance to see attend one sporting event, I recommend the US Open. It's worth it.

Graceless under pressure

Justin Henin defeated Serena Williams at the US Open. But judging from Serena's response, it would appear that Henin did not have to do anything special to defeat her. For a woman, who appears to depend so much on being in the limelight, she definitely has very poor manners. This is not an aberration. This is a common sight at press conferences after losses. I hope her sponsors pull out of their deals with her. Maybe then she would learn to acknowledge that the opponent across the net may have had something to do with it.

Specifically, this is what she had to say about Justine Henin's performance: "I just think she made a lot of lucky shots."

Contrast her responses with how Novak Djokovic talked about Roger Federer after the men's final, specifically in response to a loaded question where he was asked:

Q. You're talking about you being unlucky. Yesterday Davydenko said of Roger when asked, what's the one thing Roger does best, he said, Lucky. There were a couple of set points of his that the ball literally landed on the line. Were you feeling, Wow, this guy really is lucky?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: As I was saying before, next to all those elements, all the positive strengths you have in your game, in your mind, you need a bit of luck. I cannot say that he is No. 1 player of the world because he's lucky (laughter). You know, that's a bit strange to say. You know, he's a big worker, very talented, a great player. That's why he deserves to be there where he is. But, of course, he is lucky and he gets these lines and lucky shots, I can say, because he's going for them. He's not trying to play safe. He's really being aggressive.

Djokovic is just 20 years old and had just lost in his first Grand Slam final after holding numerous opportunities in a match that he dominated for extended periods of time. Yet, not an ounce of bitterness exuded from him. You can read the entire transcript of his interview here.

Serena should be made to read that interview. Maybe she will learn something from it.

So long, farewell...

At the US Open, minutes after losing the final professional tennis match of his career, Andre Agassi spoke to the crowd. For a man who never completed high school, the guy is pretty articulate. Journalists around the world came to appreciate him because he responded with more than just the generic soundbyte when he was asked a question. In the wake of his retirement, many people wrote articles of the times when they crossed paths with Double A, one of the best ones I read was written by his former roommate.

Here is the full text of his final speech, which brought a lump to my throat, and a tear (or two) to my eye when I heard it during a highlights show.

The scoreboard said I lost today, but what the scoreboard doesn't say is what it is I have found. And over the last 21 years, I have found loyalty.

You have pulled for me on the court and also in life. I've found inspiration. You have willed me to succeed sometimes even in my lowest moments. And I've found generosity.

You have given me your shoulders to stand on to reach for my dreams, dreams I could have never reached without you. Over the last 21 years, I have found you. And I will take you and the memory of you with me for the rest of my life.
Thank you.

A night to remember

On Monday, the 4th of September, I took the subway (#7) to Flushing Meadows. The subway was on a local schedule, meaning it stopped at every station, and it kept getting fuller at each stop. People of all ages and sizes - some in tennis gear, some just carrying tennis paraphernalia, others carrying just cameras (like me) - rubbed shoulders with baseball fans (the NY Mets were also playing a night game at Shea Stadium which is located by the same station as the USTA National Tennis Center…I mean …the newly re-named United States Tennis Association Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (try saying that rapidly three times in a row!)).

The excitement in the air was palpable and as my friends and I got off the train station onto an elevated walkway we could clearly see in the distance the entire tennis facility. As we approached the center the crowd seemed to be in no particular hurry to get anywhere.

The reason is that while about 20-odd thousand get to see the games inside Arthur Ashe Stadium (the biggest tennis arena in the world) the rest of the folks just hand around the sprawling complex taking in the sights, having an extended picnic and catching all the show-court games on big screens located at strategic points. We did not get a chance to see the famous globe, up close and personal, but we did get a good look at it while taking the escalator to the upper-deck. (Those of you that watched "Men In Black" will remember these structures from the fight sequence at the end of the movie).

Having paid big bucks for our tickets we ventured into the arena and climbed all the way to the top – our seats were in Row Z in the upper-most tier of the stadium! The view from there was quite awe-inspiring.

While you can easily follow the progress of the ball and the players themselves can be seen clearly, you cannot discern their faces all too well. Not to worry, two giant screens located at opposite ends let you follow the action as it unfolds, and also shows replays of the exciting points.

The first match, at 7pm, was between Serena Williams and Amelie Mauresmo. With fake French accents, my friends and I lustily cheered on Amelie as she shrugged off a 6-0 shellacking in the second set to prevail over the visibly out-of-breath younger Williams sister. Around this point in time the stadium was filled to the brim and sometimes the view could get obstructed (but with so many lovely ladies to look at instead, it did not matter one bit!).

The second match of the day featured Lleyton Hewitt and Richard Gasquet, the 19 year-old Frenchman (Frenchboy does not roll off the tongue as easily). For the first two sets Hewitt’s quickness was just too much for Gasquet and he easily won 6-4, 6-4. Anticipating a quick finish, many members of the crowd began to leave and something magical happened. The noise level increased as the audience that was left behind was interested in watching more tennis.

Gasquet looked a different man with the crowd thoroughly behind him and began to display some of the magic that have people talking about him as the next big thing to hit tennis. The USTA prides itself on being “fan-friendly”, a phrase that gets thrown around a lot, but I think in this case they actually mean it. As the crowd dwindled with each passing set, the officials started letting people in the upper reaches of the stadium move down and occupy the lower levels (more likely to ensure that the television coverage did not show too many empty seats in the crowd). So we bid adieu to our lofty perch, and moved down to the second tier of seats and got more engrossed in the match.

Gasquet continued his resurgence and forced a fifth-set. More people left probably as it was approaching midnight, and they had to go to work the next day. We moved further down and sat really close to the action. The intensity in the player’s faces was clear and sitting this close to the action one thing stood out more than anything else – the speed. I have watched tennis on TV for years, played off and on for decades, but none of that prepared me for the pace at which the ball goes back and forth and the speed with which the players cover the court.

Hewitt glides across the court, retrieving balls that would have been winners with most other players. I have read reports that talk about his counterpunching prowess, alluding to a lack of attacking ability. Those reports do not do justice to the guy. He hits winners just as frequently as the other players. It is just that in his case he has to play a long point to set it up, as he does not have the variety some of the other players do. When he sees an opening he is quick to pounce on it and pound a winner.

But this day Hewitt had his hands full. If Gasquet can have a long career he will definitely win majors, and if he has an upper-echelon career graph, his backhand will be admired for decades. His backhand, for want of a better word is exquisite. He has three variations – the traditional slice when the ball keeps low, a top-spin thrust when the ball bounces above the waist and a flat slap-like hit when the ball is at waist-height, reminiscent of the fierce square-cuts that Sehwag likes to hit. At one point I was involuntarily yelled, “C’est magnifique” after a stunning on-the-run top spin backhand winner from off the court. The Aussie fans in the row ahead of me turned around and agreed, saying, “Oui”!

In the end, as would be expected, the superior conditioning of Hewitt won over. Gasquet started cramping and his mobility was severely hampered. He gamely fought on but the writing was on the wall. He still found the reserves to pull off some desperate winners but in the end Hewitt prevailed, closing out the match after losing some match points.

It was close to 1am in the morning when we trudged out of the stadium, but on our way out we stopped to soak in the sights, taking pictures of past champions, paying tribute to the Center. By the time I reached my friend’s house the sun was beginning to rise but it was worth the lack of sleep.

I shall return to the US Open next year and spend at least a whole day at the complex, not just a few hours. I look forward to that experience.

The long goodbye

At Wimbledon this year Andre Agassi announced that he would retire from professional tennis at the US Open. Soon after I heard this I booked tickets to watch the US Open on September 4th, the second Monday of the tournament. If Agassi survived 3 rounds he would be playing a fourth-round match that day. Agassi survived just two but gave enough glimpses of his skills to keep his admirers happy and hopeful. In then end, his back could not hold up much longer and he lost to an unranked German named B Becker. It was an oddly fitting way for him to go.

I missed seeing him in person by a day, but that did not stop me from paying tribute when I came across a life-size photo of his!

So long and thank you

There are just a few weeks left in the professional tennis career of Andre Agassi. To honour the man and what he has meant to the sport, especially in the recent past, the official website of the ATP Tour pays a very generous tribute to him.

While on this, most news stations are reporting that Andre is retiring from tennis, which is an absurd statement to make. In reality he is retiring from his life as a professional tennis player. I sincerely doubt that he will never pick up a racquet again, as the reported term implies.

And yes, I have already purchased tickets to watch tennis at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday, September 4th. I trust that Agassi survives the first week of the US Open. For if he does he is definitely going be the featured singles match that night and I hope to be able to tell my grandchildren about the experience some day.