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WIMBLEDON, DAY 9, Notes on a Draw Sheet
Andre's hip may have slowed him down
Tim-bledon in fine form; Get the Cronin take on the Williams sisters; The Continentals cruise; Rejuvenated Bjorkman gets focused Roddick; FYI on a tearful Sampras
By Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
Susan Mullane/
Camerawork USA, Inc. |
FROM WIMBLEDON – Back in February after he lost in the first round of Scottsdale to Thomas Enqvist, the word on the street was that Andre Agassi had developed a hip injury. The same rumor permeated the grounds of the All England Club on Monday after Andre's five-set loss to Mark Philippoussis. Agassi was limping around the locker room afterwards but didn't mention a thing about the injury. That's a very classy thing to do after a tight loss, but doesn't not mean that the 33-year-old is 100 percent.
We'll see how his hip holds up to the pounding of the US summer hardcourt circuit. His next event is in Washington the last week of July.
Andre's two last best shots at a ninth Slam title will arrive in September at the US Open and in January in Melbourne. Six of his Slam titles have come on hard courts (or sponge courts in the Australian's case). Neither the big servers or lightening quick rabbits have the natural edge over him on concrete like they do on grass or clay, so don't count out Old Man Vegas out yet.
Agassi wouldn't say whether he supports the ATP's potential boycott of the Slams at Wimbledon out of respect for the Championships. As perhaps the most popular man in tennis history, his vote and subsequent public stance will be critical to the ATP. Unlike most of the rest of the players, Andre absence over a two-week tournament could lose an event 100,000 tickets or so, let alone 5 million viewers on TV.
It's been some time since Andre spent a month in a half in Europe, but with a pregnant wife (Steffi Graf) and a 20-month-old baby here with him in Europe, multiple 12-hour flights are out of the question. "It wasn't an option with the little one," Agassi said of his decision to stay put.
Speaking of fathers and sons, returner extraordinary Andre said that when he was kid, his pop, Mike, developed his return by "setting me against the ball machines, firing it as fast as possible. He'd move it as close to the net as possible, stand me as close to baseline as possible. He'd tell me if I don't figure a way to hit it, the ball's going to hit me."
How far can Philippoussis go? "Turn the corner and run the straightaway," Andre said. "He certainly brings a lot to the table."
Tim-bledon in fine form
Tim Henman passed his first big test on Monday against the talented David Nalbandian. The two played a hell of a third set, with the inspired Brit snagging the big points from the feisty, yet shaky Argentine.
"Mentally, it was like water off a duck's back," Henman said of the multiple breaks in the set.
Tim-bledon has either Seb Grosjean or JC Ferrero next. He called Grosjean a world class player and said Ferrero has an Agassi-style all-around game. When asked about Philippoussis' win and whether it's nice to see him back in fine form, Henman laughed, "Do you think so? I want everybody to be in terrible form." The last time they played here, the Aussie triumphed 6-4 in the fifth.
Get the Cronin take on the Williams sisters
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc. |
tennisreporters.net readers who are interested in an extensive breakdown of the Serena-Capriati, Venus-Davenport contests should go to USTA.com, where I have a daily column. A quick hit here: both Lindsay and Jennifer are substantial underdogs and will have to raise their games way up to pull off upsets. Combined, they have lost their last 12 matches to the sisters. They will have to play high-risk tennis and not back off the lines at any moment.
By the way, after Davenport mentioned how much better she and Venus' personal relationship has become over the years, Venus snapped at tr.net when asked to comment on their "friendship." Sounds like Venus isn't as enamored as with the relationship as Lindsay is.
Speaking of relationships, it appears that Davenport and Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King's need some repairing. Davenport is upset because she offered to play Fed Cup next weekend and King wouldn't bend her rules to allow Davenport to arrive Tuesday night, even though the reason for the late arrival is because Lindsay mother, Anne, is having surgery and Lindsay wants to be there. Davenport feels she's been the Cup's biggest supporter over the last decade and that King could have bent the rules under special circumstances. King and Davenport were scheduled to talk on Monday night so we'll see if they repaired the rift.
However, it's important to note that King set down the rules last year and has stuck with them, win or lose. Players are supposed to show up Monday without their coaches and that's final. No exceptions. Serena wanted to play but had two long-standing commitments next week (a charity event and the ESPYs) and knew not even to put her name in the hat, but is okay with King's rules. Venus is a big Billie Jean supporter, too, and even though she not doing jumping jacks at the though of going straight from London to Washington for an entire week, can live with King's rules.
But with the veterans such as Davenport and Chanda Rubin, it's dicier. Apparently, Rubin's coach, Benny Sims, isn't enamored with the team rules, which is why Chanda hasn't played this year. Considering how much support the USTA gave to Chanda as a junior, one would think that Rubin would find a way to work it out.
The Continentals cruise
Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA, Inc. |
Both Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters have been very impressive here, especially Justine, who is wearing a mummy wrap around the sprained fingers on her left hand. Henin-Hardenne has her toughest match coming against the gritty, well-conditioned Svetlana Kuznetsova, who was falling well below the radar before she outthought and outslugged Maria Sharapova yesterday. She's built like a fullback and has an impressive junior resume, plus she's already cracked the top 35 at the tender age of 18.
Clijsters smoked Ai Sugiyama Monday, a small surprise to those folks who saw Ai upset her in the Scottsdale final. Clijsters is striking the ball beautifully and is playing close to the baseline on grass and serving fairly well. Who knows, maybe she'll shock her doubters and find some mental toughness deep in a Slam. But her next foe, Silvia Farina-Elia , can mix it up and is playing very inspired yellowball. It could be an attractive sleeper of a match.
Rejuvenated Bjorkman gets focused Roddick
Speaking of sleeper matches, how about Andy Roddick-Jonas Bjorkman? Almost from out of nowhere, the veteran Swede has rediscovered his fine serve and volleyer game and quick returns. If Andy doesn't serve and return very well himself, this one could go five, or could go to Bjorkman altogether.
However, Roddick has a lot of faith in his game now. In his very impressive win over Paradorn on Monday, he came into the net 29 times and won 24 points. Roddick did so to mix things up, because as he said, even "when I tried to bully him to one of the corners, he still could come up with some big shots of his own."
Andy is the only US guy left in the draw, which he called a "little weird." No doubt, especially on grass. When asked a Henman-type question yesterday ("When you're playing in the US, how difficult it is when everyone says you're the man,') Andy replied, " I've never been the man in the US. There's always been a couple guys named Pete and Andre."
Not for much longer, Andy.
FYI on a tearful Sampras
NBC will run a moderate-sized interview done by Mary Carillo next weekend with the 14-time Grand Slam champ where Pete frequently cries, his wife, Bridgette, cries, and his sister, Stella, cries.
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