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US Open
Preview (report #2 of 7)
by Pierre
Cantin
Hello and
welcome back to this report, thanks for stoping by again!:) So it is now 1:00AM,
I am quite tired but I'll try to write down as much as possible while I do
remember it and then go to bed get some sleep before day #2:) For some reason
the gates opened a bit late today, like 10:15, which was annoying because it was
already hot and humid and waiting all packed together for 15 minutes only got
things worse.
Once we did
finally get in, it was raining a little, so I headed to see some practice courts
(the only time I went today), rain was getting a little heavier so most players
headed out.. probably the only one I really checked out was Martina Sucha, she
looked pretty good, it was pretty relax since she was to play in hours but still
interesting.
Once play
started, I went to see the match between Karolina Sprem and Jelena Kostanic..
Karolina had lots of cream on a part of her lip, not sure if it was to protect
her from the sun or what but yeah, looked strange a little, it disapeared
gradually as the match went on. So I watched the first two games which looked
pretty normal to me, and then left for a few minutes, just so I could check out
quickly matches I wanted to see. So I went to see a little of Dulko-Tanasugarn,
it seemed as though Tammy was not playing well at all.. Then I saw a bit of
Koukalova vs Schiavone... well oh well, it seemed as though Koukalova had
absolutly no clue what to do against Francesca, not the first time I see a more
inexperience player have such problems and not the last unfortunately.. so I
expected her to go out actually... and she did.
All this
happened fairy quickly and I returned to court #7 where Karolina was now down by
one break..what? What happened!? Well, it was an interesting match, I stayed for
the rest of the match (apart from the first 2-3 games of set #3). I think
Karolina did not play THAT badly.. I mean, it was a high quality match (highest
I saw among first rounds in WTA matches). Basicaly, it seemed like Karolina had
no match plan though. For most of the match, she would either hit very hard on
every shot, trying to hit winners... or then go to a different strategy, which
was to get every ball back. But Kostanic is a pretty good player and just
getting the ball back, especially when you consider K-Lina's strenghts and
weaknesses, just wasn't working. I was really trying to look for some type of
effort to biuld points, to set up her big shots, but I saw none of it. Both were
fighting pretty hard and I guess it could have been anyone's match but I don't
saying K-Lina had a "off" day would be right. She could have had some better
shots, maybe some free points on first serves would have been nice, but mostly I
would say it was the tactical point that was missing, Kostanic on the other hand
was very patient but she was able to take the offence on short balls. At some
point in the second set, at 1-1 I think, it seemed as though Karolina started
doing everything right, I was pretty excited at that point, thinking, oh ok,
that was just a slow start. But afterwards, I thought about it a little more and
I think Karolina simply got on a tear and those tough shots started going in for
a few points, but that was a risk Jelena was willing to take, the risk of
Karolina being red-hot all match long..which just didn't happen. I think nerves
played a part in the last few points, Kostanic was very calm and finished things
on a good note despite needing a few more opportunities than she ideally would
have liked.
After, I went
to see a bit of Jennifer Hopkins' match, a player I absolutly loved to watch not
too long ago, but things have changed, she's out of the top 50-60 for a good
reason, intensity does not seem to be there as much, or maybe I should say
desire...so anyway, I did not stay long but I had unfortunately seen right, she
lost her opening match... Then, I went to see 1 game of Sucha-Beltrame... wow, I
was wrong here, I watched that one game and didn't know much about Beltrame so I
guess I judged her way too fast, she seemed a bit slow and I really didn't think
she would pull this match off and stayed only a few minutes because of that,
turns out I was wrong:(
Then
I went to see Vera, the future tournament winner right? :) (see my preview).
Well, Vera will stay Vera won't she...she wins in minutes, loses a couple of
games and still seems upset about her game, wants to throw her racquet, etc,
etc... She is certainly fun to watch but I mean, I was under the impression she
was improving in that matter, turns out maybe she wasn't:( But anyway, she was
playing solid, just way too good for Nagyova and it was a very easy match... I
went back to court #7 to watch Tatiana Golovin, she was in complete control of
the match looked like a joke.. Funny how I have been cheering against Barna so
many times in the past 2-3 years, not that I don't like her or anything
(although I don't), but she's always against some of my favs:) So anyway, first
set was very easy, the second a little more complicated mostly because Barna was
able to move Tatiana around a little more and take control of the points while
remaning consistent..
I also saw
Flavia Pennetta against Maggie Maleeva.. Flavia was playing very solid tennis
(showing what we have mostly seen on paper only, a huge improvement in 2004),
she was leading, her serve is now a pretty big weapon, and honestly, she was all
over Maleeva in set #1...She then fell down a break in set #2, but she was
fighting hard to stay back.. For some reason, I though it wasn't such a good
idea, and it wasn't... she got her expectations so high on that set and was
trying so much that when she did not succeed, she got really down on herself,
and never returned to the same match plan:(
After
that match, I headed to court #18 where I went to see Iveta Benesova, I have
been following her since discovering her in qualifying of Tier IV (or V..can't
remember) in Budapest. She has been improving very fast ever since and it was
nice to see her back on the court, she was facing Bethanie Mattek, who honestly
was wearing a very ugly outfit, green, I'll have to post a pic eventually!
Anyway, apart from a bit of impatience in the second set, not too many problems
for her, she was solid and continues her run towards round #2:)
Following
that, was a very exciting match between Daniela Hantuchova and Camille Pin, it
was a very interesting match to watch. I had never seen Pin play before that
match and her very defensive style certainly proved to be a challenge for
Daniela. To give you an idea, Pin is a small player, she hits her first serve
usually at around 65 m/h (100 km/h) and on her return game, she stood about 2
metres behind the baseline while for second serves and other rallies, she was
about 1 metre behind. The match plan had to be simply, for Daniela to hit with
power and angles, work the points and finish them. But it proved much more
complicated. Camille Pin was much more consistent than I would have guessed, she
was pretty much getting everything back, except for one problem, every shot she
hit running was shorter and shorter thus helping Daniela move towards the net..
but in the first set especially, she would always miss on of those shots leading
her to the net... She knew what she needed to do but was unable to execute the
shots. But honestly, I've never seen Daniela have such a desire to win, to show
externally how much she wants to move on. Well it was very apparent today and it
certainly got the crowd on her side.. To my and probably everyone's dismay, even
while running for 2 hours, from one side to the other all the time, Pin kept
trying and trying...They had an amazingly excitant ending as Hantuchova won the
third set tie-break 11-9!! Well done Daniela:)
Now
for the last match (by the way, tomorrow should be more detailed but I am so
tired...). Jelena was playing against Dechy.. well, to sum up things, I'm pretty
upset. In my mind, Jelena played so much better than Dechy, her shots were very
good, her serving was great (her 2nd serves went for a lot so I did not mind
some double faults for once, especially since they were not at crucial moments).
But seriously, after taking the first set 6-3, Jelena was playing awesome
tennis, dominating rallies, serving big, etc... and she still was at 0-3 down,
she was down a break but come on big deal... A break is something that is easy
to recover from, ok maybe not easy but possible right? Well apparently not,
either on purpose or not, Jelena simply stopped trying for a while, hitting lots
more double faults, not running down all balls, etc... it was like that for a
few games so in a matter of minutes the 6-3, 0-3, was now 6-3, 0-6, 0-1.. but
then Dechy did what she shouldn't have done, she did not even return 3 straight
serves, and that got Jelena going again, it was awesome right? One great set,
one poor one and the third would be great right? Well, in part yes. She was
playing solid but for some reason she was getting on herself way too much... I
mean getting upset at herself so much for missing a break point when in fact it
was deuce and time to fight. Some players such as Myskina do stuff like this but
then refocus instantly so it doesn't affect the next point, but Jelena was
sending some shots way out, I personally think because of such things. Still,
she was serving well and staying in the match. Now a little thing.. I was seated
next to Dechy's entourage and at 4-4 in the third, her coach and friend
(boyfriend maybe), took a bet. Her coach thought she would break Jelena, he
didn't think so, they bet 10$, at a 2-1 ratio (useful I speak French isn't
it!)...and she didn't break, so the coach gave the 10$... but I don't know if
Nathalie saw what had happened but she asked him moments later, screaming in his
direction, to leave the court, which he did! Pretty strange isn't it...! So
anyway, back to tennis, Jelena was able to break and serve for the match at 5-4,
I was pretty excited, she seemed a bit nervous and unfortunately, after losing a
few points was just so upset:( So anyway, she didn't succeed and at 5-6, 30-40
(match point), Nathalie hit a shot that hit the net, and just barely jumped over
the net...ending the match, in a matter Jelena obviously didn't appreciate, she
smashed her racquet and left with one more loss to add to 2004... it was sad
really, because how can you lose when you outplay your opponent like that...
mental errors... :( Hopefully she'll learn fast...
So that's it
for now, I'm going to bed now, tomorrow's analysis should be a bit longer:)
