forest hills

FRENCH OPEN MAY HAVE TO LEAVE PARIS AND “WATCH TRADITION GROW”

June 1, 2010 by WTM

By Randy Walker

In my days at the U.S. Tennis Association, I remember reading articles about the U.S. Open’s move from the historic West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills to the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. and how people were lamenting about the “loss to tradition.”

W.E. “Slew” Hester, the President of the U.S. Tennis Association who spearheaded the move from Forest Hills to Flushing, said in response, “You want tradition, we’ll plant some ivy.”

The French Open is finding itself in a very similar situation as the French Tennis Federation negotiates and considers moving out of its current Roland Garros site and building a larger, more comfortable site outside of the Paris city limits. The dilemma is simple – do you sacrifice tradition and history for more comfort and additional revenue? Roger Federer, commentating on the situation prior to the start of this year’s tournament, asked “What about the soul of Roland Garros? This is what we might miss after.”

The U.S. Open’s USTA National Tennis Center – now called the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center – is filled with new traditions and memories. During the first year the US Open was played in Flushing Meadows in 1978, Hester had a sprig of potted ivy at the facility’s entrance with a handwritten sign underneath it proclaiming “Watch Tradition Grow!” To boot, the U.S. Open now produces the largest economic impact than any annual international sporting event in the world.

Jean Gachassin, the President of the French Tennis Federation, could learn a lot from Hester and the USTA when they were forced to make the monumental decision of leaving the historic and traditional West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills and move to a new, anesthetic USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, a site that used to be a marshy trash dump.

Roland Garros is currently played on a site which less than half the size of the All England Club at Wimbledon and Melbourne Park in Australia (approximately 50 acres each.) The Billie Jean King USTA National Tennis Center sits on 34.5 acres. Players and fans have long complained at the lack of space at Roland Garros, which sits on 19.8 acres. Federer, also the ATP World Tour Player Council President, recently delivered the French Tennis Federation with a long list of players’ complaints about the overcrowding. The world’s No. 1 doubles team of Mike and Bob Bryan recently cited the “meat market” on their Twitter page about the lack of space in the player’s lounge.

The French Tennis Federation’s first choice is to stay within Roland Garros, but build two new stadiums costing around €200 million. The other options would be the town of Marne-le-Vallée, the site of the Euro Disney resort, a 148-acre site in Versailles, or a 74-acre site in Ysern. The new French Open site would feature 55 clay courts, including two big outdoor courts with retractable roofs holding 18,000 and 12,000 spectators. Moving the tournament to Versailles, in a way, might bring in some new found tradition and history as the famed palace of King Louis and Marie Antoinette would become a scenic neighbor. The palace also is the site of perhaps the most important event to ever happen on a tennis court – the famous “Tennis Court Oath” where the meeting of infant French National Assembly pledged on June 17, 1789, to “never to cry to the King, and to meet quietly when the circumstances demand, until the constitution of France is happily singing.” It was a hallmark event in the creation of democracy around the world.

“Moving is an option we cannot rule out,” said Gachassin. “Of course we are very attached to the (current) stadium. Some of the greatest pages of our sport’s history have been written on these courts. This stadium has a past, a soul. But as this is an extremely complex project; it is our duty to consider another direction, which would be the relocation of the Roland Garros stadium.”

The French Open has been played at the current site since 1928. Again, a repeating theme here, but demand necessitated the creation of the current Roland Garros venue as the French Tennis Federation had to build a stadium suitable to fulfill the demand for tickets for the French Davis Cup team – comprising of the famed four Musketeers of Rene Lacoste, Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon – and their Challenge Round match against Bill Tilden and the U.S. Davis Cup team.

The stadium was named “Roland Garros” – to honor the memory of the famous French aviator and fighter pilot who was killed in World War I. The French have, in essence, rebranded the name “Roland Garros” from the name of the facility to the name of the event. That begs the question that if “Roland Garros” left “Roland Garros” would it still be “Roland Garros?” The U.S. Open had a similar issue as the tournament became simply known as “Forest Hills” rather than the U.S. Nationals or the U.S. Open. It took some time before people stopped calling the event Forest Hills and it became known simply as “the Open.”

Many people forget, or don’t know, that Wimbledon faced the same dilemma starting in 1919 with the emergence of an immensely popular champion, ironically being Suzanne Lenglen, the woman whose name graces the second-biggest stadium at the Roland Garros grounds. Back in those days, Wimbledon was played on the grass courts at Worple Road in Wimbledon Village since the tournament’s inception in 1877. However, more and more fans came to watch The Championships – and in particular Lenglen – so the tournament had to be moved to a different location just down the road and the current Wimbledon site debuted in 1922

Of course, the story of Tennis Australia moving from the private, cramped Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club to the ultra-modern Flinders Park (now Melbourne Park) in 1988 is well-documented and fresh in people’s minds. The first site of the U.S. Championships – the Newport Casino in Newport, R.I. – now the site of the International Tennis Hall of Fame – also became too small and cramped for the U.S. Championships and the event moved to New York in 1915.

Said French Open tournament director Gilbert Ysern: “Roland Garros cannot stay the way it is. We have two options, make it bigger or move out. Over the last 10 years, the three other grand slam tournaments have progressed, notably in terms of infrastructure, but we haven’t.”

Stay tuned to see if tradition will continue or whether we will watch it grow.

Randy Walker is a communications and marketing specialist, writer, tennis historian and the managing partner of New Chapter Media – www.NewChapterMedia.com. He was a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Tennis Association’s marketing and communications division where he was worked as the press officer for 22 U.S. Davis Cup ties, three Olympic tennis teams and was an integral part of USTA media services team for 14 US Opens. He is the author of the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY.

ROD LAVER: WHEN YOU PLAY ON CLAY, BRING YOUR LUNCH

May 25, 2010 by WTM

Rod Laver won the French Championships on two occasions in 1962 as an amateur and again in 1969 as a pro – both titles being the second leg of one of his Grand Slam sweeps of all four major titles. In this excerpt from his newly re-released memoir THE EDUCATION OF A TENNIS PLAYER ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com), Laver discussed how players, like the pros playing at the French Open at Roland Garros the next two weeks, need to play on clay.

Patience and legs. You’ll go a long way with those assets on clay. The stronger the longer. This was always impressed on me when I played in Europe, especially Paris, where the slow clay courts dictate an entirely different game from the grass of Australia, Wimbledon and Forest Hills, or the pavement of other areas.

If there is a universal surface it is clay, found almost everywhere, and won on by those players who can control the ball and their impulses to overhit. The defensive player has an edge because of the slower, higher bounce of the ball, giving him more time and a better chance to reach a forcing shot and make a good return. Clay blunts the force of a powerful serve and favors those who can play steadily and accurately from the backcourt.

In their perceptive analysis of singles, Bill Talbert and Bruce Old discovered in charting matches between two big hitters, Lew Hoad and Pancho Gonzalez, that Lew and Pancho won 75 percent of their points at the net on grass and 40 percent at the net on clay. Yes, they are different games.

Ability to keep the ball in play, move it around with changes of speed and spin, will pay dividends on clay. This doesn’t mean that you should forget about attacking. Far from it. Against a persistent and sure baseliner whom you can’t out-rally you have to get up to the net and break up his pattern with angled volleys. But you can’t be impatient in going up there; your way must be well paved with a strong deep approach shot.

Most baseliners like it back there, and you’ve got to draw them up with soft shots and angles, make them play a few shots near the net where they’re uncomfortable. Since the huskiest serve in the business isn’t going to be overly oppressive on clay, you’d better forget about blasting your serve and concentrate on placing the ball and getting the first one in. Naturally you’ll let fly with a hard one just to keep the foe honest if he creeps closer on you.

Doubles on clay is about the same as doubles anywhere else—an attacking game. There will be more retrieving, longer points, but you have to get up to the net fast. But in singles you may as well face the fact that you have to be fit and favorably inclined toward running. You’re going to be on the court a while, most likely.

Bring your lunch.

REMEMBERING PANCHO GONZALEZ

May 9, 2010 by WTM

Richard “Pancho” Gonzalez would have been 82 years old on Sunday, May 9, if he was still with us. Here’s his biography as it appears in my book THE BUD COLLINS HISTORY OF TENNIS ($35.95, New Chapter Press, www.NewChapterMedia.com)

Very much his own man, a loner and an acerbic competitor, Richard “Pancho” Alonzo Gonzalez was probably as good as anyone who ever played the game, if not better. Most of his great tennis was played beyond wide public attention, on the nearly secret pro tour amid a small band of gypsies of whom he was the ticket-selling mainstay.

His rages against opponents, officials, photographers, newsmen and even spectators were frequently spectacular—but they only served to intensify his own play, and didn’t disturb his concentration, as fits of temper do most others. Pancho got mad and played better. “We hoped he wouldn’t get upset; it just made him tougher,” said Rod Laver. “Later when he got older, he would get into arguments to stall for time and rest, and we had to be careful that it didn’t put us off our games.”

Gonzalez, a right-hander, born May 9, 1928, in Los Angeles, was always out of the tennis mainstream, a fact that seemed to goad him to play harder. Because he came from a Chicano family, he was never acceptable in the supposedly proper upper circles of his city’s tennis establishment. And because he was a truant, he wasn’t permitted to play in Southern California junior tournaments. Once he got out of the Navy in 1946 there was no preventing him from mixing in the game, and beating everyone. He had a marvelously pure and effortless serving action that delivered thunderbolts, and he grew up as an attacker on fast West Coast concrete.

Although not regarded as anything more than promising on his second trip East in 1948, he was at age 20 ready to win the big one, the U.S. Championship at Forest Hills. Ranked 17th nationally at the time, and seeded No. 8, he served and volleyed his way to the final, where he beat South African Eric Sturgess with ease, 6-2, 6-3, 14-12. The following year, Gonzalez met the favorite, a Southern California antagonist, top-seeded Ted Schroeder. It was one of the most gripping finals. Schroeder won the first two sets as expected, but they were demanding and exhausting, 18-16, 6-2, and after that Gonzalez rolled up the next three, 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, for the title. In 1949, Pancho also helped the U.S. hold the Davis Cup against Australia, then went for the money, turning pro to tour against the monarch, Jack Kramer. Gonzalez was too green for Kramer, losing, 96-27, and he faded from view for several agonizing years.

When Kramer retired, Gonzalez won a tour over Don Budge, Pancho Segura and Frank Sedgman in 1954 to determine Jack’s successor. He stood forth himself as Emperor Pancho, proud and imperious, for a long while, through the challenges of Tony Trabert, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, Ashley Cooper, Mal Anderson, Alex Olmedo and Segura. For a decade, Gonzalez and pro tennis were synonymous. A promoter couldn’t hope to attract crowds unless Pancho was on the bill. During his reign Pancho won the U.S. Pro singles a record eight times of 11 finals between 1951 and 1964, and Wembley in London, considered the world pro championship, four times of five finals between 1950 and 1956.

By the time Rosewall and Laver were reaching their zeniths during the mid-and-late-1960s, the aging Gonzalez hung on as a dangerous foe, still capable of defeating all. In 1964, his last serious bid for his ninth U.S. Pro title, he lost the final to Laver in four hard sets on grass in a rainstorm. Yet there was still much more glory ahead. In 1968, at 40, he beat the defending champion, 31-year-old Roy Emerson, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, to attain the semis of the first major Open, the French, to be beaten by Laver. Three months later, at the initial U.S. Open, he toppled No. 2 seed Tony Roche (the 23-year-old Wimbledon finalist) to make the quarters, where he was defeated by Tom Okker,14-16, 6-3, 10-8, 6-3. A year later, this grandfather (literally) electrified Wimbledon by overcoming Charlie Pasarell in the tournament’s longest match, 112 games, a first-rounder that consumed five hours, 12 minutes, a major tourney record that stood for 20 years until 1989 , eclipsed by 16 minutes at Wimbledon as Greg Holmes beat Todd Witsken in 5:28.

The marathon with Pasarell began one afternoon and concluded on the next after darkness intervened. In winning, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9, Gonzalez served out of seven match points in the fifth set.

Later that year, he beat John Newcombe, Rosewall, Stan Smith and Arthur Ashe in succession to win $12,500, the second-highest prize of the year, and the title in a rich tournament at Las Vegas. Early in 1970, in the opener of a series of $10,000 winner-take-all challenge matches leading to a grand final, he toppled Laver. The Aussie, just off his second Grand Slam year (and the eventual winner of this tournament), was clearly No. 1 in the world, but Pancho warmed a crowd of 14,761 at New York’s Madison Square Garden with a 7-5, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Three months before his 44th birthday, in 1972, he was the oldest to record a tournament title in the Open era, winning Des Moines (Iowa) over 24-year-old French Davis Cupper Georges Goven, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. That year, he was No. 9 in the U.S., the oldest to rank so high, and equaled Vic Seixas’ Top 10 longevity span of 24 years. As for the world’s Top 10, he is alone in that he was a member in 1948-49 and again in 1968-69, ranking No. 1 in 1949 and No. 6 in 1969.

In 1968, though still active, he was named to the Hall of Fame, and he was a consistent winner on the Grand Masters tour for over-45 champs beginning in 1973. Although his high-speed serve, so effortlessly delivered, was a trademark, Gonzalez, a 6-foot-2, 180-pounder, was a splendid athlete and tactician who excelled at defense, too. “My legs, retrieving, lobs and change-of-pace service returns meant as much or more to me than my power,” he said. “But people overlooked that because of the reputation of my serve.” He won $911,078 between 1950 and 1972, and crossed the million mark as a Grand Master. Altogether as an amateur and a pro, he won 74 singles titles. He was married six times, the last to a good player, Rita Agassi, sister of another all-timer, Andre Agassi, by whom he had a son. Not a bad tennis bloodline for the young man, Skylar Gonzalez. Gonzalez died on July 3, 1995, of cancer in Las Vegas, where he had been a teaching pro for some time.

MAJOR TITLES (4)—U.S. singles, 1948-49; French doubles,1949; Wimbledon doubles, 1949. OTHER U.S.TITLES (17)—Indoor singles, 1949; Clay Court singles, 1948-1949; Indoor mixed, 1949, with Gussy Moran; Pro singles. 1953, 1954 1955, 1956 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961; Pro doubles, 1953, with Don Budge; 1954, 1958, with Pancho Segura; 1957, with Ken Rosewall; 1969, with Rod Laver. DAVIS CUP—1949, 2-0 singles. SINGLES RECORD IN THE MAJORS—Australian (2-1), French (9-2), Wimbledon (10-5), U.S. (23-7).

PRO TENNIS AT FOREST HILLS, PART II

May 8, 2010 by WTM

The historic West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills, N.Y. was the traditional site of the U.S. Open from 1915 to 1977 before moving to the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadow. When the Open moved to the other side of Queens, N.Y., the club brought in the WCT Tournament of Champions so the club could still have a presence in professional tennis. The tournament was annually played this week and three significant matches in the tournament’s short history was played on May 8, as documented below from this book excerpt from ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com).

1989 – Ivan Lendl defeats Jaime Yzaga of Peru 6-2, 6-1 in a rain-delayed Monday final at the Eagle WCT Tournament of Champions at a cold and windy West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. The final is watched by only 1,500 fans, who huddle under blankets or wear winter coats in the 40-degree temperatures that keeps the No. 1-ranked Lendl in his sweat pants during the entire duration of the match. The 1989 tournament marks the final year that the West Side Tennis Club, the former long-time home of the U.S. Open, hosts an official sanctioned event. The new ATP Tour schedule starting in 1990 does not include an event at Forest Hills.

1988 – Andre Agassi defeats Slobodan Zivojinovic 7-5, 7-6 (2), 7-5 to win the WCT Tournament of Champions in front of 12, 898 fans at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y. The title is the most significant to date for the 18-year-old Agassi, who moves to an ATP ranking of No. 15 following the victory. Says Zivojinovic of Agassi, “It’s very difficult to say he’s good. He looks like he’s having a lot of fun, and he’s winning. I don’t know how long it’s [his outlook] going to stay – maybe a year, maybe forever. He doesn’t worry about the ball going in or out, winning or losing. He was a hell of a good player today, and with this tournament and maybe one more, he’ll be in the top 10.”

1983 – John McEnroe wins his most significant tournament on clay, defeating fellow New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis 6-3, 7-5 to win the WCT Tournament of Champions at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y.

MEADOWS OF BLUE PAVEMENT WERE STAGES FOR NEW CHAMPS, AND ENOUGH U.S. OPEN DRAMA TO THRILL THE FANS

September 21, 2009 by WTM

Rushing from Flushing, 15 days at the Billie were quite enough. But there were plenty of indelible memories of a very good Open…

Amazing how the USTA stretches a tournament that used to take 10 days in a time before floodlights and tie-breakers. Obviously more days mean more money, but slimmer second week programs. Yet Wimbledon gets it all done in 13 days, without lights and with the middle Sunday off. Moreover the men are properly given a day off between semifinal and final – as at the other three majors. Will the U.S. ever get that right?

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OH, SISTER, THAT NAUGHTY LEFT FOOT

Too bad that Serena was too bad. I was saddened to see such a great player disgrace herself. It was definitely a foot fault – her left foot touching the baseline — regardless of the critical situation. The same rules apply in the last game as anywhere else in a match. Good officials in any sport pay no attention to the score. Imagine how that poor line judge, a tiny Japanese lady, Shino Tsurubuchi, felt after making a routine call, only to be threatened verbally (profanely) and menacingly with upraised racket by enflamed Serena? She must have gulped, “Why did I ever get assigned to this match?” [She was because of her international stature as a match official.]

Even the greatest do dumb things. Had Serena forgotten the warning received when she fractured her racket after losing the first set to Mighty Mama, Kim Clijsters? The second infraction, drawing a point penalty, happened to be match point. Th-th-th-that’s all, folks.

Had she not tiraded, Serena might have retained her title. Protesting the foot fault was silly. How would she know? You don’t look at your feet when you serve. Then the semi got ugly, and a bewildered Clijsters didn’t have to take another swing. She may have thought it was Christmas. Nobody in the women’s game has earned a defeat so flagrantly.

Still, I wonder if the tirade had occurred earlier and the penalty point not costly, would the umpire and referee have had the nerve to rule Serena off with a default? We’ll never know.

The $ 10,500 fine is a pittance to a millionaire. A meaningful suspension is more in order, and may yet be given. I was surprised that Serena was permitted to play the doubles final (won by her and Venus) the following day. In 1995 Jeff Tarango’s acting up at Wimbledon resulted in his being barred the following year from the Big W. Might that happen to Serena in 2010 at Flushing? Unlikely that the USTA would value sportsmanship that highly – and, of course, Tarango was expendable with no marquee value.

Now here’s the kicker: Serena’s just-out memoir is called ”On the Line.”

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DELPO – NEW PARAGON OF THE PAMPAS

Anyway the fallen (at least for a day) nonpareil, Roger Federer, also didn’t keep his lip buttoned. Hardly noticed was his $ 1500 fine for rotten language during the loss of his championship to the new Paragon of the Pampas, Juan Martin Del Potro.

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THE OLD PARAGON VILAS CELEBRATES

The old Paragon, Guillermo Vilas, 57, was on hand to celebrate, recalling his 1977 upset of defender Jimmy Connors, the last championship match in the Forest Hills Stadium before the move to the Meadow. It was wild. Jubilant Latinos invaded the court to carry Guillermo about the arena like a triumphant matador while Jimmy sulked, running into the night and avoiding the presentation ceremony.

Even though Juan Martin was woozily nervous in the first set – it took him 11 minutes to blow the second game, 4 deuces, of the match, clunking 10 first serves – he overcame the jitters and remembered Paris. There he nearly beat Federer in the semis (6-4 in the 5^th), and the memory warmed him, blocking out his 0-6 record against Roger. Although the substantial number of Latinos in the full-house of 24,821 didn’t rush the court as in Vilas’s day, their singing of soccer fight songs, and loud urging encouraged him. He fed off them, and by the 4^th set the big Argentine with a big, big forehand was feeling bigger than his 6-feet-7 inches while the champ was feeling the heat, and wilting. The outcome: 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in 4:06.

Federer entered in his championship black outfit, which made him seem Death-on-the-hoof to the last roundup victims of 2004-05-06-07-08. However, so did Del Potro, the first of them to look down on favored Roger.

“Delpo,” as his amigos call him, is the third of his land to conquer the U.S. We must not – how could we? – forget the Divine Argentine, Gabriela Sabatini, who lifted the title from Steffi Graf in 1990.

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FOR BUENO A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

From neighboring Brazil, slim, effortless Maria Bueno, the Sao Paulo Swallow, was saluted on the 50^th anniversary of her U.S. championship. You don’t see her like in this era of baseline-bang-bang-bangers. Maria seemed to float across the court, but delivered winning serve-and-volley punch.

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BIG BILL TILDEN’S GHOST GLOATS

Was Big Bill Tilden smiling in his Philadelphia grave or wherever his ghost hangs out? Maybe the ghost muttered, “Muy bien jugado, gracias!” in Del Potro’s direction. Delpo had protected Tilden’s 84-year-old record: 6 straight U.S. championships (1920 – 25) as well as 42 consecutive match wins up to a quarter-final loss in 1926 to Frenchman Henri Cochet. Roger came close to catching up, folding by a set, settling for 5 straight, which seems almost ghostly in itself. Like Tilden, Roger has all the shots – and the shorts, surely more comfortable than Big Bill’s white flannel trousers of that day.

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HIGH FIVES FOR DENT IN TERRIFIC WIN

Probably the most entertaining match of the tournament was qualifier Taylor Dent’s second round victory by a whisker over Spaniard Ivan Navarro, 6-4, 5-7, 6-7 (1-7), 7-5, 7-6 (11-9). Lucky were the folks in the Grandstand who witnessed a shotmaking smorgasbord. How sweet it was for Californian Dent, who hadn’t played the Open for 5 years. Beset by injuries, 2 back surgeries, he was told he was through. Nevertheless, he was back with his daring serve-and-volley style. Since Navarro had the same ideas, they were constantly at each other’s jugular’s, ever attacking, a singular gambling style seldom seen that worked for both.

Taylor, ducking a couple of match points in the hairy concluding tie-breaker, finished it with a brilliant winner, a backhand return down the line. He was so excited that he grabbed the umpire’s microphone to thank the onlookers, then made 2 victory laps, high-fiving just about everybody. Hadn’t seen anything that feel-good since Vilas’s 1977 coronation.

CAN I PICK ‘EM OR WHAT?

So much for prognostication. My picks, Andy Murray and Elena Dementieva, were gone not long after they arrived. Andy was a bust, seemingly wandering in a trance, so bad that he even startled foe Marin Cilic. Maybe last year’s finalist succumbed after all to the pressure of the United Kingdom on his shoulders. But he has time.

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ELENA: FALLS IN OUDIN’S RUSSIAN WAR

Elena was a victim of the war on Russia waged by Melanie the Menacing Maid of Marietta (Georgia). She was the first week’s pheenom heroine, 17-year-old Melanie Oudin. A mere teeny of 5-feet-5 and ranked No. 70, she brought down four higher-ranked Russians – Nos. 26-4-29-13 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Dementieva, Maria Sharapova, Nadia Petrova – wowing the fans by rebounding from a set behind in the last three. There she was in the quarters, which lacked an American man for the first time in tourney history, and pushing Sharapova to a female tournament record. It was one you wouldn’t want: 21 double faults.

Eventually the aged (19) Caroline Wozniacki sent Oudin back to Georgia, and became a tough final round adversary for Mighty Mom, 7-5, 6-3, who trailed 2-4 and 5-4 in the first set, but broke to 5-5, held through 2 break points to 6-5, and broke again to keep a lead never relinquished.

What’s going on? Kim, away from the game for over 2 years, producing an heir, plays a couple of tournaments – then beats both Sisters and claims a second title four years after her first, on the loss of 2 sets! How do you figure that? Sneaking in the back door as a wild card, unranked, the lone unseeded

woman to wear the U.S. crown, she was only sensational. Is she a miracle worker or has the female opposition declined?

I go for the former. It was as though Kim had never left the office. Her Meadows winning streak is 14. A wrist injury prevented her from defending in 2006, whereupon love and marriage took over. Thus charming little Jada’s old lady, 26, became the 7^th mother to win a major singles after childbirth.

Most recent had been Aussie Evonne Goolagong, Wimbledon, 1980. The list: Englishwoman Dolly Chambers, 7 time Wimbledon champ between 1903 and 1914; American Hazel Wightman, U.S., 1919; American Sarah Palfrey Cooke, U.S., 1945; American Margaret duPont, U.S., 1950; Aussie Margaret Court, U.S., 1973.

Nice to have Mighty Mom back.

Wozniacki has become a genuine contender, the only Dane to go so far in the U.S. since Jan Leschly lost a men’s semi to Clark Graener in 1967. (Incidentally, Graebner, losing a 1966 quarter-final, saved American men from being shut out of the last 8 for the first time, a fate avoided until this year’s embarrassing Zero).

Does any gal hit balls harder than the other Belgian in the semis, 19-year-old 6-footer Yanina Wickmayer? She was another surprise, ranked No. 50. A bit of a screamer, too, but it’s soft and amusing, coming out “Whoopee!”

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A ROOF, A ROOF, MY KINGDOM…

Naturally there was much talk about a roof after the second Friday’s rainout, and a wet 8 ½ hour delay on Saturday. Unfortunately the USTA bigshots apparently slept through their visit to Melbourne in 1988, the year the Australian Open grew up, debuting a principal stadium with retractable roof and 15,000 seats, ideal for viewing. Instead of copying the plans, the USTA-ers built that monstrosity, Ashe Stadium. It is too big to add an affordable roof.

What to do? Do as the Romans did when they built the Colosseum a few centuries ago. They beat the rain with a canvas lid that opened and closed with a system of ropes and pulleys. (Slaves, perhaps difficult to find these days, pulled the ropes.)

Forget Wimbledon and Australia. Look to Rome for an inexpensive solution, and here’s hoping that the 2010 Open will be as eventful as this one.

It’s Del Potro In An Upset

September 15, 2009 by WTM

NEW YORK – The reign is over. Long live the king.

Juan Martin del Potro, appearing in his first Grand Slam tournament final, overpowered five-time defending champion Roger Federer to capture the US Open on Monday 3-6 7-6 (5) 4-6 7-6 (4) 6-2.

Riding a fearsome forehand that rocketed winners from way behind the baseline, del Potro became the second Argentine to win America’s premier tennis tournament. Guillermo Vilas won in 1977 when the US Open was played on clay at Forest Hills. Now, it’s on hard court, del Potro’s favorite surface, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

“When I would have a dream, it was to win the US Open, and the other one is to be like Roger,” del Potro said during the on-court ceremony where he collected a check for USD $1.85 million. “One is done.”

Then, addressing Federer directly, del Potro said: “I need to improve a lot to be like you. I’d like to congratulate you for fighting ‘til the last point.”

Federer was seeking his record-tying sixth straight US Open championship and his third consecutive Grand Slam tournament title this year, having captured his first French Open and his sixth Wimbledon earlier this summer. But del Potro had other ideas.

“A dream came true,” del Potro said. “I don’t have words to explain how I feel.”

Words weren’t needed. The tears of joy streaming down his face spoke volumes.

Del Potro, who turns 21 next week, snapped Federer’s 41-match unbeaten streak at Flushing Meadows as he completely dominated his Swiss opponent who has been called the greatest tennis player of all time.

“It’s difficult to explain this moment,” said del Potro. “You know, since young I dream of this and now I take the trophy with me. I did my dream, and it’s unbelievable moment. It’s amazing match, amazing people. Everything is perfect.”

Federer admitted del Potro was the better player on the final day of this rain-delayed tournament. But he felt it was still a great year despite the loss.

“Five was great, four was great, too,” said Federer, who came into the US Open having won a men’s record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. “Six would have been a dream, too. Can’t have them all. I’ve had an amazing summer and a great run.

“I’m not too disappointed just because I thought I played another wonderful tournament. Had chances today to win, but couldn’t take them. It was unfortunate.

It wasn’t a typical Federer match. A lot of that was because of the play of del Potro, who controlled their baseline rallies with his monster forehand, which he ripped deep into the far reaches of the court or down the line, shots that Federer for the most part only could wave at or watch the ball clip off his racquet.

The Swiss superstar came within two points of taking a two-set lead. But del Potro recovered, then won the tiebreak to level the match. Federer won the third set and was up 5-4 in the fourth, again two points from winning the title while leading 15-30 on del Potro’s serve. It was the last time Federer came close as del Potro held, then went on to win yet another tiebreak.

It was only the third time since he began his championship run that Federer has had to play a fifth set at the US Open. It was the first time he has lost.

“Got to give him all the credit because it’s not an easy thing to do, especially coming out against someone like me with so much experience,” Federer said. “Towards the end, of course, up 5 2 in the fifth. That was easy. But he had to live through some really tough moments earlier on in both breakers throughout those sets to come back. So his effort was fantastic.”

In the end, it was del Potro who dominated, the Argentine who rose to the occasion and won.

The reign is over. Long live the king.

Two days after she left the court amid a chorus of boos, Serena Williams returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium and with her sister Venus won the US Open women’s doubles title for the first time since 1999. It was the sister’s 10^th Grand Slam tournament women’s doubles title, half as many as the record held by Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver.

The Williams sisters downed the top-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber 6-3 6-2.

At Least The US Open Final Won’t Be Delayed Another Seven Days

September 12, 2009 by WTM

It’s official. The US Open will finish on a Monday – at the earliest. For the second year in a row, rain has played havoc to the final weekend of the US Open and has pushed the tournament into a third week. Last year’s men’s final between Roger Federer and Andy Murray, which started at 5 pm on the third Monday of the event, was the first Monday final since 1987, when Ivan Lendl defeated Mats Wilander to win his third straight U.S. title. However, as excerpted from my book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com), the two most delayed U.S. finals were as follows…

From September 17, 1960 – In the most delayed conclusion to a major tournament in the sport’s history, Neale Fraser of Australia and Darlene Hard of the United States win the singles titles at the U.S. Championships – one week after winning semifinal matches to advance into the championship match. The U.S. Championships at Forest Hills are delayed a full seven days as Hurricane Donna slams New York and soggies up the grass courts at the West Side Tennis Club. Fraser finally defends his 1959 title, defeating fellow Aussie Rod Laver 6-4, 6-4, 10-8, becoming the first repeat men’s winner at Forest Hills since fellow Aussie Frank Sedgman in 1951 and 1952. Hard finally breaks through and wins her first U.S. singles title, upsetting defending champion Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-3, 10-8, 6-4. Fraser and Hard both win semifinal matches on September 10 – Fraser beating Dennis Ralston and Hard beating Donna Floyd – before the rains come. The Fraser-Laver final is a rubber match for the two Aussies, who split their two previous meetings in major finals on the year – Laver winning the Australian title in January for his first major singles title and Fraser turning the tide on “The Rocket” at Wimbledon. Fraser also ends Laver’s 29-match winning streak securing on the Eastern grass court circuit following his loss to Fraser at Wimbledon. Hard finally breaks through and wins her first U.S. title after five previous attempts to win the title. Says Hard, “I never thought I would do it, “ says Hard. “That girl (Bueno) never gives up. She hits winners when she least expects it. It’s been a long time coming. It’s great.”

From September 23, 1938 – After a delay of six days due to a hurricane hitting the New York area, play is resumed at the U.S. Championships at the West Side Tennis Club at Forest Hills as Don Budge keeps his dream of being the first player to win a Grand Slam alive by beating 1931 Wimbledon champion Sidney Wood 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s semifinals. Advancing to play Budge in the final is his unseeded doubles partner, Gene Mako, who defeats Australia’s John Bromwich 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the other men’s semifinal. In women’s singles semifinals, Alice Marble beats Sarah Palfrey Fabyan 5-7, 7-5, 7-5, saving two match points at 2-5, 15-40 in the second set, while Nancye Wynne defeats Dorothy Bundy 5-7, 6-4, 8-6.