Tennis is the Winner

I just love watching night matches on TV. There's an element of theater to watching a match played under the spotlights, and the crowd applauds excellent performances regardless of who is the favorite.

What do you do when both players are the crowd favorite, and both are playing gutsy, visceral tennis? You have an atmosphere that is positively electric and a match that has you on the edge of your seat until the last point of the final set tiebreaker. Then you have to give both players a standing ovation.

I think the quarterfinal match Andre Agassi and James Blake played exemplifies these qualities. Obviously, since both were American, the US Open crowd were that much more excited about the match. Agassi's long-standing acquaintance with New York during Open season tipped the scales in his favor, but if you didn't have a favorite going into the match, seeing Blake dominate those first two sets would have made him the favorite in your mind.

And then, the fire sparked in Agassi's eyes during the third set, and you could feel the momentum shifting to him. Blake just kept fighting, running after every single ball off Agassi's racquet. While Agassi won the next two sets, Blake stayed right there with him. His hard work seemed to pay off as he earned a chance to serve out the match in the fifth. Then Agassi's expertise and experience shone through as he broke back to even the match at 5-all. It was all Blake could do to bring the match into a fifth-set tiebreaker.

The US Open is the only major that has instituted a final-set tiebreaker instead of having the players play regular games until one of them wins by a margin of two games. In tiebreakers, anything can happen. I almost thought Blake would win it after going up 3-0 by breaking Agassi on the first point of the breaker and holding on his two serves. Both players really raised their games and it would have been a great match regardless of who won, but that clean forehand winner by Agassi at match point was simply the best way it had to end. Agassi 3-6,3-6,6-3,6-3,7-6.

The fact that the match ended at roughly 1:30AM New York time didn't seem to bother the crowd. If anything, they simply got louder and more enthusiastic as the match went on, and both players fed on that energy. Andre said it best: "I wasn't the winner; tennis was."

***

Heard on the radio today: "I've always been in love with Roger Federer, but his girlfriend's got him signed, sealed, delivered."

Federer made an express delivery last night, eliminating former nemesis David Nalbandian in straight sets at their quarterfinal match. It was kind of anticlimactic, after having such epic quarterfinal matches otherwise; aside from Agassi vs. Blake, Robby Ginepri vs. Guillermo Coria and Lleyton Hewitt vs. Jarkko Nieminen also went to five sets.

***

The women's semifinals are coming up today. With Elena Dementieva scoring an upset over Lindsay Davenport (via final-set tiebreaker) and Mary Pierce breezing through her match against Amelie Mauresmo, their semifinal match could be something to watch; both weren't considered serious threats until lately. Come Saturday, though, either of them could be facing the winner of the Sharapova-Clijsters semifinal, and both Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters are favorites to win the Open.

It's too bad both my favorites (Maria and Kim) are playing in the same semifinal. I would have liked to see them duel it out in the final, but what can you do? That's the luck of the draw.

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 12:57 PM