Concrete Elbow by Steve Tignor - You Can't See It All

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You Can't See It All	06/21/2011 - 5:05 PM

LONDON—It was hard to know what was coming next on Tuesday at Wimbledon, from the matches to the skies. One minute you might look up and see black clouds hovering, the next bright sky for miles. It went from chilly to humid and back again over the course of the afternoon. The same was true of the tennis; with rain yesterday and rain likely tomorrow, the tournament tried to jam 90 first-round matches in on its 18 courts. Every time I looked up at a scoreboard or caught a glimpse of a press room TV monitor, I saw another player whom I had no idea was playing today. Tsonga, Dolgopolov, Sharapova, Kvitova, and a dozen others passed under and around my limited radar. But that still left more than enough to satisfy even the most gluttonous visitor. Here's what I saw on my own narrow, two-eyed passage through the grounds.

***

John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, two names that now go together like a harder-to-pronounce, Franco-American Laurel and Hardy, walk out to Court 3 in the late sunlight at 6:15 P.M. Their names are announced, they’re smiling, they look up to the crowd and begin to wave. But there aren’t many waves back. The bleachers, surprisingly, have swathes of empty seats, many more than there were for the previous match, between David Ferrer and Benoit Paire. The grounds are still packed but the ticket-holders for this court have begun to make their exits. And there is a lot to see elsewhere. “If you want to talk about the atmosphere,” Mahut says later, with decided understatement, “it was not as huge as we were waiting for.”

The first point isn’t promising; Isner’s backhand return bounces off the throat of his racquet and flies straight behind him. The first set proceeds in the way we’ve come to expect from these two. Good serves, missed returns, and, after a hiccup or two, regular holds. The first decisive moment comes in the tiebreaker, when Isner wins two points by moving forward and hitting nice short forehand volleys. Mahut gets the score back from 6-1 to 6-4. He has a good look at a backhand pass, but he sends it well long. The majority of the people still in the stands leave.

It’s a little surreal to see this world-famous happening go on in front of so many empty seats, but as Mahut says afterward, “Everything was different today." He says it was hard to think and hear about this match for three days. The Frenchman fights long enough to save a match point in the third set tiebreaker, but again it’s Isner’s baby forehand volley—he can reach very close to the net with his loing arms—that gets him through.

Isner-Mahut I was all about the purity of the Fight. As Isner said today, “In the future, no one is going to remember who won [last year's] match,” they’re just going to remember the two players doing battle.

What did the sequel tell us? That every event is unique; that, as Mahut puts it, “everything is different.”

“We’ve become very close friends,” the Frenchman adds. What did he say to Isner at the net afterward? "I want to see you in the second week this time."

***

Four hours earlier, Anastasia Pavyluchenkova’s forehand lands on the baseline. Or does it? It’s impossible to tell, even for someone standing right along that baseline. The moment—ball sailing over the net, ball falling faster than the eye thinks it should, ball landing and kicking forward—happens too quickly for anyone to process. The linesman squints and signals that it was good. Pavlyuchenkova’s opponent, Lesia Tsurenko, points to where she thinks the ball actually landed. The chair umpire points to another spot, on the line. Tsurenko stares at the line, as if the truth will reveal itself in the grass somehow. But it remains hidden. The lawns can keep a secret.

Pavluchenkova and Tsurenko are on Court 4, a small court with no Hawk-Eye available. The area, which once had a set of old stone bleachers and the famous Crow’s Nest scoreboard towering over it, has been remodeled. But Court 4 itself has been left alone. It still serves as an entranceway from the show courts to the smaller older field courts laid out in a compact grid. Pavlyuchenkova has won the first set, but is struggling in the second. Called out by Martina Navratilova for being overweight at the French Open, she does look thinner. She’s hitting the ball with her usual solid wallop, but she’s also throwing in the regular shanks that usually come with those wallops. A quarterfinalist in Paris and former junior No. 1, it’s hard to tell from day to day what her ceiling as a player is. Today she doesn’t look like a future Top 5; Thursday she might. But despite her frequent errors, she doesn’t melt down or begin berating herself. She comes back to win in straights. Not melting down—that’s as good a start as any.

In the middle of the second set, Pavlyuchenkova questions a close call on the service line after missing a return. A few points later, another serve lands in exactly the same spot. This time she gets the out call. It’s impossible to tell which call was correct, if either. Arguing, it seems, can help.

***

Serena Williams walks back onto Centre Court with a toned-down look, with her hair dark and braided simply. Career No. 4, 5, 6—who knows what number this is for her—has begun. She loses the first two games but comes back to win the first set. At the start of the second, her opponent, Aravane Rezai, smokes an ace down the T. There’s no way Serena, even if she had anticipated the placement, could have reached it. Nevertheless, she stands and looks across the net in anger and disbelief, anger and disbelief that any player could put a ball past her. That disbelief, irrational disbelief, is, more than anything else, what has separated her from everyone else in the past. She should be OK in career 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 20, as long as she keeps sending that look across the net.

***

Russian veteran Nikolay Davydenko is playing on Court 14. He’s not playing well; he had to fly to Moscow before he got here, to renew a visa, and arrived at Wimbledon late. Whatever the reason, he’s a long way from the days, not all that long ago, when he was seen as a near-favorite to win the Australian Open.

At the same time, Davydenko has never looked as smooth, at least to me, in his movement or his strokes. Is it the white clothes of Wimbledon that create this effect? Because they emphasize the player rather than the fashion? Or maybe it’s the Wimbledon grass below him, which makes a lot of shots look more elegant than they would elsewhere. It must, in the end, be the idea of Wimbledon and its tradition, rather than anything intrinsic in the color of the clothes or the texture of the court, that produces this effect. If tennis players had worn, say, all blue since the sport's beginnings, would Davydenko’s strokes look their best when he wears blue?

As smooth as the old guy looks, the real story of this match is Davydenko’s young opponent, Bernard Tomic. From the start, the Aussie problem child appears more focused, serious, and purposeful than I’ve ever seen him look in the past. He doesn’t force the issue in rallies, yet he controls them. Best are his passes and lobs; Tomic has that uncanny ability of the truly talented tennis player, to "hold" the ball on his strings, like someone buttering toast. On match point, Davydenko approaches the net and Tomic sends the most delicate lob imaginable up and over him. The ball lands just beyond the service line and many feet insdie the baseline, but the Russian is still nowhere near it. From the way Tomic hit the shot, you know that’s exactly where he wanted it to land.

Tomic is a tennis natural. Is he a natural athlete? And which is more important these days? We’ll find out.

***

It’s windy on Court 6, down in the side-court garden, where there’s nothing to block the gusts. So windy that Xavier Malisse’s first three shots, which he tries to hit right down the middle, curl wide. Malisse and his opponent change sides. His first two returns swerve wide of the doubles alley again. After the second one, he looks up at the chair umpire and shows him with his arms how the balls keep moving out. The umpire shrugs, as if to say, “What do you want me to do about it?”

***

It’s the fifth set between Fernando Verdasco and Radek Stepanek on Court 2. Their rooting sections are right next to each other, separated by a thin aisle. Each group leans forward, and each player looks to them often, especially after they lose points. Stepanek typically sticks his tongue out sourly, like a child. Verdasco lifts his arms out to his sides in exasperation, like a child. The Spaniard’s team nods and pumps their fists in encouragement. Stepanek’s wife, Nicole Vaidisova, waits until he looks away and then shakes her head as if to say, “What is he doing out there?”

Late in the match, Verdasco reacts angrily to what he thinks is a bad call at the baseline. He challenges, but it turns out he’s wrong, the ball was on the line. After the shot is replayed and Verdasco has been silenced, umpire Pascal Maria looks over and gives the linesperson a wink—"we had it all along."

***

On Court 3, Benoit Paire of France has challenged a call. He stands with his hands on his hips as the replay begins. When it shows that the call was correct and that he lost the point, he slams his racquet to the court. An unusually delayed reaction to a lost point.

Later, Paire yells “M---e!” (French for "s—t!"). The crowd laughs. The chair umpire, our old friend Louise Engzell, hesitates, then finally says, “Audible obscenity, Mr. Paire, warning.” Paire throws his hands up, then turns around and laughs with his team in the stands.

***

The sun is fading by 8:00 and it’s getting chilly. But the garden courts are still filled up with matches and the stands between them are filled up with fans. In the middle of this commotion, two players of the next generation, Ryan Harrison and Grigor Dimitrov, play on adjoining courts. It’s a pleasure to turn from one court to the other after each point. Wimbledon is a sea of green and gold at this hour, and you feel like, if things go right, you might be getting an early look at the next Federer and Roddick.

But even if they don’t go right, it doesn’t matter for this afternoon. A long day at Wimbledon, one of thousands that have transpired on these same grounds over the decades, is winding down with a showcase of two more young tennis players who are trying to work their way up the ladder. They're putting in the hard, late hours on distracting side courts in the same place where hundreds of other future champions have put in their own hard, late hours as teenagers.

At one point, Dimitrov, not unlike a young Federer, hits a towering shank forehand that arcs upward. All of us look up to follow it as it lands in Harrison’s court. Harrison picks it up and calls out, “Grigor.” Dimitrov, leaning down to return serve, looks over and says, in an exaggerated American accent, “Thanks, bro.”

Soon after, the day is over for me. But not for Wimbledon. Walking back to the press room, I hear a roar from a far side court. I have no idea what has happened, but I’d love to be out there to find out. There’s no chance, though. Sometimes you have to face it: You can’t see it all.

***

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29
Comments

Posted by bj	06/21/2011 at 05:43 PM
first

Posted by noleisthebest

06/21/2011 at 05:50 PM

Since you haven't seen Nole's match, I'll fill you up on it: it was nice....
I missed Nole and it was so good to see him again.
I don't know why I always expect him to play differently on grass, because my first memory of him was from a Wimbledon match and ist's so strongly embedded in my mind: he really did play differently then.
Now, he's the same on every surface, it's quite weird, or maybe it only looks odd on grass. Or maybe it was Chardy an his non-existant tennis.

Pure base-line tennis should be banned from grass, but then again so very few players play an all-court game there. Nole does it when he is forced to and then he's at his very , very best and most beautiful to watch.

Needless to say, Wimbledon felt alive to me today, unlilke yesterday: it had the conforting atmosphere of all its iconic images : Serena Williams, Federer, Isner Mahut were going to play and then, of course, there was Nole...and the rain-free day.
Nicest moment by far for me was the crowd giving Nole a huge applause as he was leaving the court, I hope you feel the difference between Paris and London Steve and that you are enjoying it: there's more to happiness than glammy piece of chic.

Posted by tina (napred!)	06/21/2011 at 05:59 PM
I love the total overload during the first few days of grand slams. I was wishing for streams of so many matches not on TV and skipped by ESPN3. Weird matches like Harrison v. Dodig - and Mannarino v. Irish qualifier Niland. I could hear the raucous crowd at that one from whatever court I was streaming.

Posted by ixvnyc	06/21/2011 at 05:59 PM
Die Ishut, die. And kill that stupid gimmicky rule.

Posted by skip1515

06/21/2011 at 06:59 PM

The "notes of the day" style of post is so appropriate to the early days of a big tourney; it most closely approximates what it's like to wander around a multitude of courts, drinking in the essence of many matches, not needing the narrative of the entirety of any match the way one does in the last few rounds and, when you find a battle that catches fire, pitching camp for what you hope is the long haul. Thanks.

Posted by Kristin	06/21/2011 at 07:09 PM
Great comment, skip1515. I particularly like the "battle that catches fire" - that's exactly what it feels like. I second it all.

Posted by CB	06/21/2011 at 07:17 PM
Love the snippets of these smaller events. Gives me a feel for the atmosphere of the tournament as well as a vivid picture of the characters. Thanks Steve!

Posted by wiseowl

06/21/2011 at 07:19 PM

Steve: Three people have emailed me to ask who is that Zelig like man who appears in every top players box at every major tournament. He wears some kind of a rakish hat (not a tennis cap) and is always next to the family or coaches. He is at Wimbledon as well because a daughter called me to ask me if I knew who he was while we were watching the first Nadal match. Clearly he is not an agent or a family member unless he is related to the top ten players which is clearly impossible. Are we the only people who have wondered about this?

Posted by MamaG

06/21/2011 at 09:10 PM

So true and so frustrating. Every year at the USOpen, we print the schedule and mark the matches we want to see. Inevitably, a match we missed turns out to be a close 5 setter or an upset or something else we wish we had a been a part of......but you just can't be everywhere. Still, I would rather be present for the first few days and see a little of everyone than to just go to the final and miss so much.

Posted by Red	06/21/2011 at 09:11 PM
Wiseowl, He is some type of steward in charge of the player box. Not sure of his exact title but he's been a fixture for years.

Posted by Miles

06/21/2011 at 09:59 PM

THIS is David Spearing, who has served in the capacity of honorary steward at Wimbledon for the past 35 years, not missing one Championships in that time.

Starting off with more menial duties as a steward, including assisting with car parking, David was invited, in view of his dedication and long, loyal service, to act as host to the players' families and coaches in the players box on Centre Court.

David has lived in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, for more than 40 years, running a structural engineering consultancy practice bearing his name. He has been an active member of the British Business Group there and is a well-known and respected figure in the community. Now retired, David has continued to reside in Abu Dhabi.

Posted by Michele

06/21/2011 at 11:10 PM

I know you're just one man and can only see so much. But. Sorry but! I was looking for some observations on the form of, say, Federer, Djokovic, Del Potro, Soderling. Guys who could actually win this thing. Not a criticism, per se, but more of a lament. Also, you could tweet more during the day.

Too bad you can't just clone yourself.

This complaining also may be a reaction to the Isner/Mahut hype today. I'm just glad that is over and we can get down to business.

Posted by Joe	06/21/2011 at 11:39 PM
If Fedex or Djoker would have had to play four or five sets then it could be better if they hang the rackets for ever and then to play something else, what a easy draw they have, helloooooo!

Posted by Sherlock	06/22/2011 at 01:21 AM
Wonderful as always, Steve. So many great tidbits here. Pavs, Serena, Dimitrov/Harrison and the whole outer court vibe. Loved the Kolya mention. He's been so solid for so long. I hope he gets a decent slam run before he rides off into the sunset.

Posted by Kevin

06/22/2011 at 04:07 AM

My comments last week:

Posted by Kevin 06/15/2011 at 05:09 AM

My bold prediction is that AT LEAST one American man will make it to the second week. Roddick, Isner, and Fish, depending on draws have a good chance. Also keep an eye on Ryan Harrison. If he gets through the Qualifiers I could see him winning a round maybe even 2 if he doesn't draw a top 5 player like he did in France where he managed to get a set off of Soderling.

After two days I think I may have hit the jackpot with this prediction. Fish, Roddick, and Isner all advanced in straights, as did Ryan Harrison who failed to qualify but for the second major in a row got in as a lucky loser.

Fish is first to take his crack at reaching round 3. He takes on Denis Istomin, whom he has never faced before. Mardy will have to cut some of the errors out that made his 1st round match with Granollers closer than it needed to be. If he serves like he did Monday he should get through in 3 or 4. In the 3rd round he would draw either Verdasco, who is not a great grass court player, or Haase who he just beat at the French earlier this month. If rankings hold up he would draw Berdych in the Round of 16 with a chance to get to the Quarters.

Roddick also plays later today against Victor Hanescu. Of all of the 2nd round draws I like this one the best. Roddick has a 3-0 career record against the Romanian and is by far a more established grass court player. The bulk of Hanescu's good play this year was on clay and he retired at the French less than a month ago. I like Roddick in straights. Feliciano Lopez and Rainer Schuettler will play to determine his 3rd round foe. If you're a Roddick fan you may want to pull for Lopez who is a clay courter by trade. The German Schuettler not only has a 3-1 career mark against Andy (though they last met in 2003), he also has made a run at Wimbledon as recently as 2008 getting to the Semis. I have a feeling his 4th round opponent might would up being Karlovic. I could see his big serve getting him past Monfils and setting up a fireworks display with Andy for a spot in the Quarters.

Isner dispatched of Mahut in a fraction of the time required to complete the deed last year. Next up for Big John is the Spaniard Nicholas Almagro. The two have never met and were this match on clay I'd like Isner's chances a lot less. I think his big serve is going to lead the way in what on paper would be an upset. This would likely set up a 3rd round battle with Youzhny. The 17th ranked Russian has a 2-0 career mark against Isner, but they have never met on grass. This could be a tough match. Waiting for the winner would be none other than the King of grass himself, Roger Federer. Isner would have to beat three seeds in a row including arguably the GOAT just to get to the Quarters. Get your popcorn ready.

My projection for Harrison is already partially complete. He won his first round match over Dodig in straights including a bagel in the second set. I'm impressed with this kid. If he can keep his emotions in check he might be the next American to watch when Fish and Roddick retire in the next few years. The 19-year-old draws the 7 seed David Ferrer in the 2nd round. It would be a rather big upset for him to win this match, but Ferrer is not the same player on grass that he is on clay and anything could happen. If you made me pick the winner I'd lean toward Ferrer in 4. Hopefully the young American can prove me wrong.

That's about all for the American men. I think it's safe to say Ryan Sweeting is going to be sacrificed to Rafa on Center court today. Transplanted Russian/American journeyman Alex Bogomolov Jr. also plays today against Chela. Chela has been playing very well lately and I can't see the upset happening there. It was nice seeing some fight from James Blake again, but ultimately he didn't have enough to complete a comeback from 2 sets down against Baghdatis yesterday. If you like the ladies, Venus Williams will play her 2nd round match early today and the always fashionable Bethanie Mattek-Sands will finally get her first round match in this morning as well. Good luck to all the American hopefuls. We'll be watching and pulling for you!

Posted by cami	06/22/2011 at 04:08 AM
Great article, as always. You make a great reporter, Steve :) I second Michelle's request for more tweets during the day, though :) Have fun!

Posted by jodiecate

06/22/2011 at 06:06 AM

Yes, can't see it all. But it feels like i can see it all - as we're getting far more tennis coverage (here is Aus) than we normally get.

I could see nearly all if i'd sit up all night. But i can't do that.

I thought Aravane Rezai and Andreas Beck both played surprisingly well yesterday, i really enjoyed those two matches. And great also to see the elite "veterans" reveal their superior craft. Would be wonderful to see if Aravane & Andreas can learn to sustain their levels for long enough to take out the top players. Time will tell.

Posted by noleisthebest

06/22/2011 at 06:26 AM

wiseowl,

His name is David Spearing and it is his 34th year of being at the Championships. He lives in Abu Dhabi for the majority of the year before coming over to take up his position in the box. His job is to make sure everybody is in the right place and assists the players’ representatives.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T88dcWANP1Y

Posted by TheGhostofFredPerry	06/22/2011 at 07:24 AM
Between ESPN's endless studio chatter (blah-blah-blah, try showing the matches ESPN) and the complete predictability of tennis these days, this has been the most boring first two days of a slam that I've ever seen. When something as lame as Isner-Mahut is the biggest story, you've got serious problems. Wake me up when they get to the second week.

Posted by Roddick fan from Va	06/22/2011 at 08:43 AM
Thanks Kevin on your insight on Team USA. Roddick's Rangers Forever!!

Posted by Kevin	06/22/2011 at 09:03 AM
You're very welcome. I get frustrated with the coverage of US players here in the States so I decided to research and watch the US player matches myself the entire tournament.

Posted by John

06/22/2011 at 09:50 AM

I don't think the first two days have been riveting but most slams are like this becuase the big players don't meet till later on, and Isner Mahut 2 was never going to be as big a story as the first one.

However, the worst thing so far is the Djokovic fans coming out in force again who keep banging on about this 'conspiracy' theory with the draw. We've seen many bad Fed Nadal fans over the years but these die hard Djokovic fans who are making their voices heard because of Djokovic's impressive season, are awful.

Posted by tina (napred!)

06/22/2011 at 10:29 AM

Dear John,

The only conspiracy theory I've seen is that Djokovic and Federer have "cupcake" draws up to their potential meeting. You are over-stating matters just to get a dig in.

Come on, we Djokovic fans are the worst thing so far in the tournament?

If we can't "make our voices heard" now, when the guy has has one loss since last November, when will we be allowed?

Posted by John

06/22/2011 at 11:19 AM

@Tina

Theres nothing wrong with Djokovic fans celebrating their mans fantastic season, but this whole, how does Fed keep ending up in Djoko's half is getting tedious. You should all take off your rose-tinted glasses.

And if you think I'm overstating things, then why don't you look at Bodo's recent article where he mentions the conspiracy.

http://blogs.tennis.com/tennisworld/2011/06/72-70-anyone.html

I'm not going out of my way to have a dig at anyone, I'm just mentioning something that is plaguing these boards and other tennis forums, since the draw was made.

But of course you won't agree because you are one of these well known rose-tinted fans of Djokovic, so I'm not even going to try and keep convincing you until you remove those.

Posted by Kevin

06/22/2011 at 12:48 PM

For those asking the question of why Fed ends up in Djokovic's half it's quite simple and not a conspiracy at all. The #2 and #3 seeds, which Federer and Nole have been for quite some time, are always in the same half, while the #4 seed ends up in the half with Nadal. Had Nole beaten Roger at the French he would likely have Murray in his half (that is not guaranteed, however, as Wimbledon adjusts seeds on past successes).

Posted by Mike V	06/22/2011 at 09:50 PM
Isner-Mahut was a dud last year and worse this year...both are mediocre and boring to watch.

Posted by Pacorro	06/23/2011 at 11:32 AM
I think Screech has got the nuts to win this tournament. Wait and see

Posted by Tennis Fanatic

06/25/2011 at 07:18 PM

Dud....

It was riveting tennis you
stupid idiot moron...

I am taking out my yacht and tuning
you out....

Posted by Tennis Fanatic

06/25/2011 at 07:20 PM

Watching FED cry is riveting tennis.....

Watching all of Fed's fans make excuses is the funnest....

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