Mark Lyons
Querrey flashed top-10 stuff. There are pieces that you want to write and those you don’t, and
walking into Anna-Lena Groenefeld’s press conference today after
her admirable victory over Daniela Hantuchova, I wasn’t sure whether
wanted to revisit the sordid Rafael Font de Mora split at length, so I
didn’t, but did take quicker toll road through the conversation.
Obviously, life is better for the former top-15 German, or she wouldn’t
have fought through qualifying at the US Open and then knocked off a struggling
but capable player in Hantuchova 6-4, 6-2.
But back to that later, as there are three other folks, among a couple
dozen more, who scored notable victories on Tuesday, when Ana Ivanovic,
Sam Querrey and Mardy Fish all came through. Those are the stories that
give a spark to life, while the other tales, even if they are of the standard
inspirational comeback from hell stories, can leave a sour taste in your
copy.
The tournament doesn’t need Ivanovic to win it, but the tour needs
her to get back to competing at a high level again and she’s not
there yet. The No.1 scraped out a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Vera Dushevina
and did not look like she’s owning her fierce forehand again. She
says that her sore and problematic thumb injury has all but gone away
(along with associated back and neck pain) , but she’s only been
on the practice court for a week and looked super-rusty. Now the question
for the super-fit Serbian is whether she has to matured to the point where
she can play her way into the tournament despite having stuck only a few
balls since Wimbledon. She says that she can and believes that experience
is on her side now, but many of her best results have come after weeks
of hardcore play and practice and she hasn’t had that yet. But Ivanovic’s
bright eyes are shining and she’s hungry to play, so unless she
goes into a weird funk, she leapt her first major huddle and should be
the around to meet Nadia Petrova in round four, which will be a significant
test.
Querrey just had to upset No. 22 Tomas Berdych, or it would have
been a disappointing US Open. The Czech was ripe for the picking, as whatever
fire he once had has died down to a few snaps, crackles and pops. But
a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 blowout for the Southern Californian was not expected.
In fact, it was arguabley the best match he’s played on a big stage
– big serves, returns and forehands. He was composed, swung loosely
and her performance supported the contention that he might just have top-20
stuff. The US men could sure use another big time player.
“Just played really well, really smart and really well,” Querrey
said. “Tennis is a lot about momentum. I just kept it going. It's
a big one. Last three or four tournaments I've gone out pretty early with
tough players, so it's nice, especially at the Grand Slam in your own
country, to get off to a good start. It's kind of tough, because 1970
to 2005, America pretty much had a No. 1 ranked player. Someone who was
always running to win a Slam. We haven't had that the last couple years.
Andy and James and Mardy and I, John Isner, we're all working hard, and
hopefully we can get to the point where it could be like it was 10 years
ago and we could have three guys in the top 10."
Fish, who upset Roger Federer and reached the Indian Wells final, has
gone though another desultory stretch, but he picked up a little momentum
reaching the final of New Haven. Now here he is again: a fine , attacking
player who can knock off anyone outside of the top 5 on a great day, and
ready to play the very capable Paul Henri Mathieu in the next round after
beating Robert Smeets 7 6, 6 7, 6 3, 6 4.
It’s a must win for Fish, who will marry Stacy Gardner on Sept.
28. Maybe she’ll be his good luck charm. Deal, or no deal?
“ I'd like to make third round,” said Fish, who gagged against
Tommy Robredo last year. “ I think I've lost second round '02 through
'08. [I’ve been] consistently bad. Yeah, I've had some good opportunities
and some tough draws. It's the last tournament of the of a really long
summer for me, a jam packed summer: Newport, training week in Austin,
Toronto, Cincinnati, L.A., D.C. and New Haven, and US Open. It's a pretty
long summer. I'm going to leave everything I got out on the court for
sure, because I've got quite a significant amount of time off after this.
Only going to play three in the fall, starting with Madrid, because of
the marriage thing.”
As far as we know, Groenefeld doesn’t have those kind of plans.
For the hard-hitting German, life is all about re-establishing her career,
one that went array last year when she spit with her coach, Font De Mora,
got into a legal battle with him over an alleged breach of contract and
suffered badly emotionally, as he continued to go to her matches, cheer
for opponents and give advice to them. She gained weight and lost all
confidence and form. Here’s the link
to a piece I did at 2007 Wimbledon about the situation.
ALG came into the tournament ranked No. 141, but in the past three months,
has won four circuit events and reached another final.
“I stopped playing last August and kept practicing, but not 100
percent because I wasn’t there mentally,” she said. “I
started again in February and played Budesliga in Germany and then in
June in tournaments and I’ve been playing well. I believed my confidence
would come back. I’ve won a lot matches the last couple months.
It was hard when my ranking dropped and everything that was going outside
the tennis lines and it was hard to focus, but I knew I had to play Challengers
but I didn’t care because I just wanted to play.”
Groenefeld said that she hasn’t mentally put aside the Font de Mora
fiasco until May, but was able to soldier on. On Tuesday, she wasn’t
weeping in remorse like she was last July. She spoke with a lot more conviction,
just like she’s playing now.
“Over the last year it was always getting back to me but the final
cut was just a couple months ago,” she said. “I already starred
playing when the final cut wasn’t done yet , but I felt I was away
from it and I could play. I think I’m more relaxed and happier outside
the court. It’s not like I’m not running like around like
a robot. I really want to make my own decisions now.”
Quote of the day goes to Querrey on his Olympic experience and the favorite
athlete he met there:
“I didn't meet him, but he was probably the funniest thing I saw.
There was this guy, I think he's from Great Britain, playing badminton.
Stocky guy. We were watching him on TV and he won, and I was with James
and Robby. We were eating lunch and he walked into with a sleeveless shirt
like he was the man of the Olympics. Like 20 minutes later like this power
walk badminton guy. So kind of funny.
The other thing I thought was weird too is the gymnasts are so much smaller
than you actually think. On TV they're small, but when they walk in packs,
looks like a group of second graders. They look about 14 and they're about
4'8".
