Opening night at the 2011 US Open in New York
The bright lights and creaking subways of New York have welcomed the tennis-playing family to their annual party in a great big park in the heart of Queens, and, although Hurricane-turned-Tropical-Storm-Irene rattled a few cages, there weren’t too many hiccups on the opening day. Other than slightly fewer crowds.
Here’s a few highlights from what happened yesterday at Flushing Meadows, and what to look out for today:
The upset
Petra Kvitova may have been the first left-hander to win Wimbledon since Martina Navratilova, but sadly she notched up another ‘first to do’ next to her name yesterday…the first Wimbledon champion to exit the US Open in the first round. The 21 year-old looked like she didn’t know where the court was during her first-round defeat to Alexandra Dulgheru, that powerful forehand that had wreaked such havoc on grass homing in on the backboards and fences rather than the lines.
But she is young, she will learn. Let’s not be too harsh.
Passing through
The first day of a Grand Slam ends with a lot of winners – here are ones to take a note of:
Roger Federer (tying Andre Agassi for the second most singles Grand Slam victories on 224, nine behind Jimmy Connors), Venus Williams (encouraging), Gael Monfils (entertaining), Marin Cilic (is he back?), Tommy Haas, Mardy Fish, Tomas Berdych, Vera Zvonareva, Richard Gasquet (on the new Court 17). And many more.
Long way home for…
Viktor Troicki. The hot-headed Serb, who threw away a dead-cert lead against an ankle-stricken Andy Murray at the French Open in Paris this year, before swearing his way out of Wimbledon, was on the wrong side of a fifth-set scoreline yet again. And it was to none other than Alejandro Falla, the brave Colombian who so nearly sent Roger Federer home in five sets at Wimbledon last year. What goes around and all that.
Close second to the Japanese trio of Kei Nishikori, Ayumi Morita and Misaki Doi, who all retired. Ouch.
Brit-ometer
High. And there are still three British players to compete! Forgive the over-enthusiasm, but yesterday witnessed two very heartening performances from two very different but similar players. Laura Robson, who had overcome her qualifying heebie jeebies in New York at the third time of asking, on the same Court 4 that had been her downfall for two years running, was paired up against Ayumi Morita in her first main draw Grand Slam match outside of Wimbledon.
If you’re getting a sense of pressure that’s because it was a huge event. And, Robson, perhaps owed a little something from the Flushing Meadows gods, was given a free pass. Hanging in there, Morita retired with a sore shoulder. Through to Round 2, Miss Robson.
The other red, white and blue competitor did not end up in Round 2. But she did make what Americans are reporting as a ‘helluva’ debut. Heather Watson, the current British No 3, was competing in the first main draw Grand Slam match she had earned on ranking. Also a pretty big deal. She was playing Maria Sharapova. A bigger deal. And she was playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 22,500 seat goliath that is THE largest venue in tennis. An even bigger deal.
Quaking in her boots? Not so much. Young Hev took it to Sharapova from the very first point, won the opening set, narrowly lost the second, and narrowly lost the third. If this year has been about Heather Watson finding her feet on the WTA, the US Open announced her arrival well and proper.
Andy Murray, Anne Keothavong and Elena Baltacha are still to come…
Soundbite
Serena Williams has never been one to shy away from a press conference controversy. And, given that her last appearance in New York featured some rather demonstrative actions on her part, to her peril, and that of a diminutive lineswoman, it is no surprise really that it was going to come up when she did her pre-tournament presser yesterday.
And this was her response…
“I don’t know. I don’t think about it. Are you still thinking about it? Oh, my God, that was like two years ago. This is like two years later.”
Trivial? Maybe. But then again, she paid her penance. And remember, we’re happy she’s back. No more thoughts of shove-a-ball-down-your-throat-gate. Please. Unless she does it again.
Ones to watch
Enough, you may rightly think of yesterday. Today brings another host of storylines, even if we do have to wait until tomorrow to watch Andy Murray.
Caroline Wozniacki v Nuria Llagostera Vives (second match, Arthur Ashe)
On the back of the New Haven title last week, Caro should be feeling confident. No Rory in her box (he’s playing golf) but still. The pressure is very much on the world No 1.
Novak Djokoic v Conor Niland (third match, Arthur Ashe)
As it is on the other No 1, but in a very different way. There is little doubt in anyone’s mind that we’re going to continue to see some extraordinary things from Novak Djokovic. His first challenger, one of Ireland’s two finest, Conor Niland, who came through his second consecutive Grand Slam qualifying to earn this opportunity.
Rafael Nadal v Andrey Golubev (first night match, Arthur Ashe)
How really is Rafa feeling? Not too good, seems to be the pervading sense. But we won’t really know until we see the defending champion hit a ball in anger. Golubev can give it some welly, so by no means an easy peasy one.
Serena Williams v Bojana Jovanovski (second night match, Arthur Ashe)
She’s baaaack. Let’s see how that run of 12 match wins continues against the talented young Serb.
Elena Baltacha v Jamie Hampton
I’ve never seen anyone quite so moody as young Hampton was against Baltacha in the first round of the Australian Open. She snarled and generally looked like a thunder cloud, but she did push the British No 1, so not an easy one for Bally. But she is in great shape and good form, so think positive.
Also in action
Anne Keothavong, Victoria Azarenka, Li Na, Ana Ivanovic, Sabine Lisicki, Jelena Jankovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Ferrer, David Nalbandian.
The daily click
How to keep up with the US Open from your desk (thanks to Courtney Nguyen of Sports Illustrated’s Beyond the Baseline)
Good luck staying up. And Happy Birthday to Andy Roddick. Only 29.
No comments:
Post a Comment