US Open Day 13 Impressions

by Savannah


When they dragged out the Jimmy Connors vs Aaron Krickstein match you know the jig was up. There would be no women's semi final aired on the Eye this afternoon.

Just before this "Classic" was aired for the gazillioneth time reports surfaced on Twitter that said the TD of the US Open, Michael Curley, and the executive director of the USTA Gordon Smith were holding a press conference. Do I have to say what Topic A was? Some of the more amazing statements that were tweeted include the following:

• Why should they spend $100m for a roof that will only be used once or twice a year?

• Rain is more of a problem in London than in New York.

I guess there's a reason so many are excluded from the ranks of the press at the US Open because my first question after the cost thing would have been "How much did it cost the AELTC? The FFT? Is the USTA content to put on the only Slam that has nothing to protect the players, and the tournament, from the elements?" As for the "Rain is more of a problem in London" quip I would've simply asked if they'd taken a look outside lately. Last year was a hurricane. Today it was a persistant drizzle.

That fecal matter apparently didn't stick to the wall so the message became that they are just beginning to contemplate a roof for Ashe. I talked about this earlier this year if you recall. They said that they wouldn't do it. Now with the second embarrassing weather related situation in as many years they're saying "maybe". Some fans are saying they will have to build a new stadium. Let's wait and see if the subject even comes up again in what passes for tennis media once the tournament is completed.

As I've said this system was known to be on it's way. Why is the USTA always caught flat footed when weather intervenes in their glorious plans? Is their first thought the players or one player? All major sports events have the best weather intelligence available. Only one player got protected during this interval. The fact that a couple of others got to come along for the ride doesn't make it any different than it was last year.

And while I'm on the subject once again I question having Mary Joe Fernandez anywhere near the Monogram with a microphone. I thought she and her husband's client were going to start dishing about where to eat dinner during her "interview". I swear I could count every one of her teeth she was smiling so broadly. Pammy may be a loose cannon, PMac wouldn't be able to get up off his knees, and Cahill would have the sense to recuse himself from that farce today. I'd rather Pammy ask to see the Monogram's Speedo than have that conflict of interest thrown in my face as "journalism". There was no way they were going to let the experienced sports journalist Mike Tirico near him was there? Oh, my bad, he works for ESPN. When the Monogram came out with he was home taking care of the twins I lost it.

The Women's Semi Finals

So why, when there was a short window, didn't the geniuses start either the men's doubles final or the first women's semi final? Only certain players get to play stop/start tennis? Did Dinara's little tantrum traumatize them that much? Did Serena's representatives go "Nuh-uh?" Seriously no way Serena and Saint Kim play on Armstrong so the only choice was to move the men's doubles or the teens. Guess who loses in that scenario?

Miscellany

Some were concerned about my proposal that both men's quarterfinals could have been played on Thursday. They seemed concerned that ticket holders would somehow be jobbed. I will say it again. This is the age of the computer. You can make the computer do whatever you want it to do with a few keystrokes. Take a look at the message now posted on the official web site, USOpen.Org. No more silly concerns okay people?

The Junior Tournament

Heather Watson
The junior tournament was moved indoors so there was no live scoring available. Once again Colette Lewis came through and tweeted results all through the day. There were some really surprising results to say the least.

Young Heather Watson of Great Britain defeated Noppawan Lertcheewakarn to making it to the final after beating Ms Gavrilova.

Laura Robson lost to Ms Buchina 7-5 in the third set.

Chase Buchanan who like Melanie Oudin is somewhat of an outsider defeated top ranked Yuki Bhambri in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(4). He then went on to defeat Gianni Mina of France making it to the final.

Enfant terrible Bernard Tomic got through to the final by winning his second match in straight sets.

As a side note this is Colette's latest Tweet.

Back at the Media Center--lots of frustration here. At least the juniors got to play some tennis today!

End Note

The BBC posted an article about today's presser. Most of it is just blather from TPTB but the article ends with this little gem.

The 'Super Saturday' format of playing both men's singles semi-finals and the women's final on the same day, before the men return 24 hours later for their final, has also come in for criticism.
"We have a particular finals scenario that we've had in place for several decades, and we're comfortable that it is, in fact, fair," said tournament director Jim Curley.
"If you were to ask a player, would they say it's ideal? No, they would not say it's ideal. A player would like to get a day in between the semis and the finals. We all know that.
"It's important from our USTA perspective to promote and develop the growth of the game.
"It gets to a much larger audience, and that's one of the reasons why we do it."

Translation: Mo' money, mo' money. It's absurd to continue the format when it can be so easily manipulated. But I've said that already.

Right now play is suspended. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware that any play was taking place.