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By Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Is it more exciting to watch a millionaire become a multimillionaire or watch one who is an aspiring millionaire first become one?

Are the personal success stories of business gurus like Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs more interesting when told from their humble beginnings on how they got their start than when they moved from a millionaire to billionaire? This could be an argument or perspective that makes the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open a sometimes more compelling pre-cursor to the main show.

The U.S. Open qualifying tournament, like at the other three major championships, features 128 men and women playing in 16 “mini-tournaments” each with players winning three matches getting the elite competitive opportunity to play in the main draw of the U.S. Open. Most of the players are playing in the tennis version of the “minor leagues” so the opportunity to make into “The Show” (stealing vernacular from the movie Bull Durham or making it to the major leagues) is, in itself, a career accomplishment.

On my Delta Flight from West Palm Beach, Florida to New York on Tuesday to take in the first day of U.S. Open qualifying, I was reminded of this “rags to riches” storyline in two of the movies that were offered for passenger’s viewing pleasure on the trip. “The Social Network” movie tells the story of the aforementioned Zuckerberg and the beginnings of the Facebook social media platform. The movie showcases the struggle, the beginnings, the breakthrough and goes from his dorm room beginnings to when he first became a millionaire, ending the story there, because is it really that dramatic to see how he went from rich, to mega rich, to one of the richest people in the history of the world? The other movie was “American Underdog” which told the rags to riches story of National Football League quarterfinal Kurt Warner and he struggled and persisted to finally make it in the NFL and go on to win the Super Bowl.

The U.S. Open already had a Cinderella story not unlike Warner when Emma Raducanu became the first player to ever emerge from the qualifying tournament to win a major singles title at the U.S. Open in 2021. While that may never happen ever again, it is inspirational and showcases the thin margins between the main draw players and the player in the qualifying.

You could almost say that every player in the U.S. Open qualifying is their own “tennis start-up” and they are trying to make it big. Each match they win is almost like receiving another round of financing and making to the main draw means you have a successful business. You have some very early stage start-ups like that of 17-year-old Trevor Zvajda from California, who was getting his first baptism in pro tennis at U.S. Open qualifying, but losing to Australian James Duckworth 7-6 (14-12), 6-2. And you have some already successful “tennis entrepreneurs” who are on to new “start-ups” in terms of second careers or rebounding careers, like former Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Kevin Anderson, who is playing this year after “un-retiring” earlier this summer, or former U.S. Open women’s finalist and world No. 2 Vera Zvonereva, who is still plugging away at age 38.

Life on the “main tour” is cushy with better prize money, more luxurious accommodations and the “sunglasses and autograph” lifestyle with all the perks. The players in the qualifying are fighting to be part of that. They want to join the world of the “haves” and not stay in the world of the “have nots.” It’s a fight for survival in the world of pro tennis, not unlike any other movie that has grabbed your attention that has showcased a battle for survival or relevance or justice. That’s the drama. That’s the fight. That’s the storyline that is on display during U.S. Open qualifying. It’s something true sports fans should pay attention to and witness.

This is going to be a tough tournament for French chair umpire Kader Nouni, who blew an enormous and embarrassing hole in John Isner’s second-round win over David Nalbandian match on Day 4 of the Aussie Open and who is not only getting booed by fans at the tournament but reviled on his own Facebook.

It wouldn’t be surprising if officials and the ATP decided to unseat him for the rest of the fortnight, but we’ll see how that plays out in the hours to come.

Meanwhile, before I get into a recap of how he singlehandedly crushed the life out of a great match with an utterly dumb refusal to allow a challenge, here’s a smattering of Facebook messages sent to his site:

* “I’m not fan of David Nalbandian, but . . . shame on you.”

* “You need to retire.”

* “Worst call ever.”

* “How much money do you get with your stupidity?”

Even his own countrymen got into it. “8/8 en balle de break dans un match de grand chelem. Service overrolle, et on accepte pas le challenge???? Are you serious?” asked Antoine Bronner with a lovely little English touch that put me in mind of John McEnroe.

Fabricio Villanueva simply wrote, “Burro,” which made me LMAO.

And on and on the messages went, with no one defending the 30-something umpire who has been described by others as “the French Barry White” and by himself as wanting to be “worshipped by adoring fans.”

Here’s the blow-by-blow at 8-8 in the fifth set, more than four hours into a tense match which Nalbandian looked close to winning as Isner began to suffer cramps in his right quadriceps muscle.

Big John was facing his third break point when he pounded a first serve down the T into the ad court. You could hear the immediate call of out, and then Nouni overruled and, because Nalbandian didn’t appear to have a play on the ball, awarded the point outright. No replay.

OK, no problem at this point, though Nalbandian looked surprised. And so did Isner, for that matter, which wasn’t surprising because John had a straight-line look at the serve. He could see it was out and several TV replays showed it was, indeed, wide of the center service line. It was, for starters, a bad overrule.

So, Nalby walked over to look for some tell-tale yellow fuzz on the hardcourt and decided that, yes, it was wide. He raised a finger, the sign indicating a challenge, and walked back to the baseline. When he turned around, Nouni announced “deuce,” and both players looked a bit stunned.

Nalbandian walked over to the umpire to make it clear that he was challenging, and that’s when he was told “you can’t challenge because you took too long.”

Too long? Huh? I’m looking at this and thinking, “This can’t be real.” This was not one of those deals where the player goes over to look for a mark on the court, circles around it, puts his fingers to his chin as if to contemplate and then challenges. It was like one-two-three. Walk over to the mark, instantly decide to challenge, raise your hand and bingo.

For the record, there is no hard and fast rule on the number of seconds players have to challenge. It’s purely umpire discretion, and most of these guys are savvy enough to know when a player is gaming the system and when a player is exercising sportsmanship under the rules.

And the umpire absolutely has to factor in some perspective. These men had been out there over four hours and it’s 8-8 in the fifth set. It’s a wonderful match with Isner’s big serve (43 aces) against Nalby’s super ground game (67 winners, 33 unforced errors).

There was no tension between the players whatever. In fact, a couple points earlier, Nalby had held up his racket, as if to say sorry on a cross-court return that luckily clipped the sideline for a point. Everything was beautiful. The weather. The match. The ambiance.

And then Nouni destroyed this match.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com