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THE
SCOOP: U.S. OPEN, DAY 8
Notes
on a draw sheet:
Guga
gets over the hump, Clijsters faces Venus
By
Matthew Cronin
tennisreporters.net
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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FLUSHING
MEADOWS, N.Y., SEPT. 4 – Was
Guga Kuerten's marathon five-set victory over Max Mirnyi on Sunday
night going to be looked back upon as the victory that keyed his
run to the U.S. Open title?
Miryni
is no Mike Russell in style or stature, but in many ways, Guga's
great escape over Mad Max had it similarities to Kuerten's Houdini-like
comeback over Russell at Roland Garros this year.
Both
times, Guga was down 0-2 in sets and both times he was forced
deep into the third set before he found his magic.
Against
Russell, Guga fought off a match point. Against Mirnyi, he didn't
have to, but he was just a handful of points from defeat. Consider
the fact
that the Brazilian is much more comfortable on Court Centrale
than he is at
Ashe Stadium and add the fact that his game is much better suited
to rounding
into form on a sunny day in Paris than it is reviving on a cool
night in
night in N.Y. and you can see why Guga now has a terrific chance
to triumph
here.
There
was little question in Paris that once Guga won the third set
over
Russell that he would run the table on him, but even after Guga
eked out the
third set at the Open over Mirnyi, his chances of coming through
as the
victor were very debatable. Mirnyi was serving the lights out
and with his
condor-like wingspan, was nearly impossible to pass. Russell was
a qualifier
who was bound to fizzle. The Belarussian won 114 of 187 net rushes
going into
the fifth set, before Guga broke him for the first time.
Guga
told the Brazilian press that he doesn't like the Russell comparison,
because at Roland Garros he wasn't playing well and against Mirnyi
he was
playing just fine. "I never made so few errors in a match,"
Guga said. "That
was one of the best wins of my life. I started out with a lot
of anxiety and
finished very happy. … I thought that finally someone had found
perfect way
to beat me – not
to let me touch the ball."
Kuerten
served out of his mind, nailing 33 aces and stood strong even
when it
seemed like the Twin Towers would come crashing down on him every
time he had
break points chances (he was 2 of 12 on break point attempts).
He is
sporting a big-time hard court game now and if he doesn't launch
a tidal wave
on Al Costa on Tuesday, tennisreporters.net
will
be stunned.
WE
GIVE CLIJSTER SLIM ODDS
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Susan
Mullane
Camerawork USA, Inc.
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Does
Kim Clijsters have a chance against Venus Williams?
Maybe
about a 30 percent shot. Kim says that she has to hope Venus has
a bit of an off day and make sure to "Hit winners past her
ears." She also says she has to attack Venus' second serves
and serve with a high percentage herself. Kim has the speed and
guns to hang in there, but she's not very convincing when she
talks about her chances. Maybe her beau Lleyton will fire her
up … Kim says that she's been lucky because she inherited the
powerful legs of her soccer star dad and the flexibility of her
mother, a former gymnast.
Venus
said she got rid of the beads in her hair because, ""That
was the last millennium. Update. Don't be late. That's what I've
done. I had to. I've had no other choice or else I would have
been a fashion misfit."
AND,
NOW, AGASSI WITH THE COMMENTARY
When
asked to preview the John McEnroe-Boris Becker exo that will be
held here on Saturday night, Andre Agassi said, "I can only
assess it from the standpoint if they both played their best tennis.
Neither one is going to
play their best tennis."
TIME
TO MATURE
Both
Justine Henin and Jelena Dokic need to grow up a little faster
if they
are to be consistently elite players at the Slams. Both talented
teens lost
tough first sets in their losses to Serena Williams and Martina
Hingis and
then were bageled in the second sets. Both women said that they
grew
discouraged after losing first set leads and couldn't pick up
their levels
again. Since when is a match the best out of two, girls? How about
digging in
and trying to force a third set?
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