Even though I'm very much a novice in the world of tennis, I have picked up a few trends after months of sifting through footage and learning some of the ins & outs of how the sport has unfolded. Here's a pattern I think I'm picking up on: if you have to pick one of the four majors that's most likely to be chock full of whiz-bang, don't-change-that-channel thrillers, pick the Australian Open.
Two years ago was The Longest Day, when Roger Federer played a five-set match that went two hours overdue, delaying the start of a Venus Williams match that still took over two hours to play even though it was a straight sets win, and finally there was the Hewitt-Baghdatis match that stretched on until 4:34 AM local time (the rematch last night that I hyped so "brilliantly" fizzled by the way, as Baghdatis was forced into retirement by a shoulder injury while in the middle of getting his lunch handed to him). Last year in the tournament's final 48 hours Rafael Nadal spent almost 10 of them on court, outlasting Fernando Verdasco in a five-hour, five-set semi and then returning Sunday night to beat Federer in a 4.5 hour, five-set final. These are just two recent examples, and 2010 has seen the trend continue unabated.
Day Three gave us a five-setter between Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina (again, the man's full and proper name) and James Blake that saw them play until 10-8 in the fifth set. On Day 4 Baghdatis & Tommy Haas each needed five sets to advance, and on Day 5 Roddick & Nadal both were in danger of being pushed to five before winning in the fourth set; Fernando Gonzalez of Chile mounted a comeback against Evgeny Korolev to win in five also. Day 6, more of the same as Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Haas played four agonizing sets, and keep in mind I'm only concentrating on the men's half of the draw, where admittedly the potential for drama is higher as the match has the possibility of dragging on "as-long-as-it-freakin'-takes" with no final set tiebreaks and the inherent anxiety that builds in a decisive fifth set.
Which bring us to Day 7 here at the Open, and probably the best double-decker of men's matches a tennis fan could ask for. At this point I wouldn't be ready to declare myself a tennis fan, because despite being more conscious of it than I ever was before I began to cover it for a living, I can't truly claim to know and appreciate the game like many of my colleagues do. This is not to say I dislike it all - quite the opposite, as the more I'm around it the more I appreciate it, but I still am only at the stage where I really grasp who the good players are (perhaps more significantly, what makes them good. Like the other great country club sport of golf, tennis has a "I can't define good, but I know it when I see it" flavor). One of the things I definitely enjoy are the distinct personalities - because it's such an intensely personal sport, a player has to drive his/her self out there on the court at all times. No team dynamic, no "chemistry" to perfect, no "role players". It is always mano y mano in the asphalt jungles of tennis (clay & grass jungles during the summertime, naturally.)
As I was saying though, today's action brought two absolute barn-burners, curiously enough involving both of my favorite personalities from South America - Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, and "El Bombardero de la Reina", Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. Since it is now impossible for these two men to meet in the next round and elevate the Argentina-Chile rivalry to a whole new level, we must settle for the terrific and passionate show they put on in defeat. JMDP of Argentina was the first to bow out, losing a marathon to up-and-coming Croatian Marin Cilic, who's making a habit of pushing himself to the brink with two five-setters in his first four matches. Can't Croatians do anything the easy way? (You know I'm kidding, Mom)
Then in primetime for us in Australia, early Sunday morning back home, was the pride of America Andy Roddick up against the pride of Chile in Gonzalez. First Roddick was in control, then Gonzalez seized momentum, then Roddick was hurt, then he was motivated, then a super-close replay at the close of the fourth set completely swung the match and took all the wind out of the fiery Chilean. A shame, too, because there were plenty of his native fans inside Rod Laver Arena no doubt ready to set off a flare (or two dozen). The official breaking point came when El Bombardero gave away his first serve game in the final set with a double fault and promptly karate-chopped his racket. To say it was a "smashed" or "broken" racquet is to do the incident grave disservice - this thing shattered on impact, and the whole time you were left thinking "If only he were still smacking forehands like that in the match..." For good measure he tossed the poor, abused racket up into the crowd before retrieving a new one.
Gear aside though, The Man from La Reina fell in five dramatic sets to Roddick, who thankfully won't be facing a well-rested opponent as he and Cilic will both be forced to recover from a grueling day on the courts. The saving grace for everybody - us, the fans, and especially the players - has been the extraordinarily manageable Australian weather, never getting much about 80 or below 70 during the first week; the only blips on the radar at all were some rain clouds on the first two days. The Round of 16 continues tomorrow with headliners like Roger Federer vs. Lleyton Hewitt; click on the tube early to see if the marathon match fun continues.
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