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US Open 2010, Flushing Meadows, NY, USA
September 7, 2010
Editorial by Jane Voigt.
Jane Voigt |
A Precious Win
September 7, 2010 -- Sam Querrey and Stanislaus Wawrinka wanted the match badly. Win and they'd be in their first major quarterfinal. Fail and they'd be booking a flight home.
The stakes were high for both men, but more for Sam Querrey -- the lone American left in his country's biggest tennis tournament... the United States Open.
Querrey's buddy Andy Roddick had lost unexpectedly in the second round to Janko Tipsarevic. Mardy Fish, another friend, lost yesterday to Novak Djokovic. Fish ran out of steam. He couldn't play his serve-and-volley game, and got pinned to the baseline by an efficient and deadly Djokovic.
So here was 23-year-old Sam Querrey with the weight of the country on his shoulders and racquet. Win and he'd be an American hero.
On the other side of the net stood Wawrinka, Stan to friends and fans, who hailed from Switzerland. He has played second fiddle to his tiny country's preeminent tennis star, Roger Federer, his entire career. This was Stan's chance to shine, to pull away at least a little, and create an identity of his own.
Wawrinka and Querrey had played once, at the 2008 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California -- Sam's home state. Querrey had the match, we could speculate. Wawrinka set up a break point, took it, and Querrey went down. The American was fragile mentally. He got annoyed and perturbed. His emotions bubbled to the surface, as he crashed and burned in three.
Indian Wells isn't New York City. Best-of-five sets, which are played at all majors, alter your mindset. There's plenty of time for peaks and valleys, if one player doesn't dominate. If one player doesn't break serve. That's what happened at Wimbledon this year when John Isner and Nicolas Mahut went on and on for three days, until Isner -- now called The Marathon Man -- won the fifth at 70/68. Neither man could break serve.
That's what happened today, for the first two sets.
Both served well and kept unforced errors to a minimum, but neither could break. At 6-games all, the first set tiebreak began. Querrey went up a quick 3/0 and looked poised. But you never know in a tiebreak, especially with two guys that serve as big as Sam and Stan.
It was the longest tiebreak, so far for the Open. Wawrinka edged the American at 11-9 and had one under his belt.
But what about Sam? The unease from fans was palpable. Could Sam come back and win three sets? The wind blew the tense sense of anticipation around the cavernous stadium. Carlos Bernardes called 'Let' as a hot dog wrapper took flight and distracted the players.
Right off the bat in set two, Querrey grabbed and ran with a good ole American initiative, breaking in game three. He played outside his nine dots of big serve and big forehand, which is a fabulous strategy unless it's not getting the job done.
Querrey showed variety and a capacity to change. But, Wawrinka broke right back and the two fought on until, and once again, they played a tiebreak at 6-games all.
Unease resurfaced, most especially on the court.
The wind swirled and gusted up to 20-plus MPH. The guys had to hit big, or the ball would go every which way.
In a direct reverse of the first-set tiebreak, Wawrinka went up three points. Win the second set and he'd need one more for the 'W.'
But, Sam revved up his monster serve and forehand -- his go-to weapons -- and cracked off the next five points of the tiebreak. His confidence soared. He smacked an ace to level the match at one-set all.
Here was the tipping point -- set three. Whoever pocketed this one would be worlds ahead, especially mentally.
Before either man stepped on court today, they solidified their belief of winning. They cast an expectation as far out as they dared, without falling into delusion and hubris.
"Expectations of a good performance followed by a good performance make you tougher," Djokovic told the press yesterday after defeating Fish.
That's all and good if you've had the grand slam experience of Djokovic. He's won the Australian Open. He's been to the final of the U. S. Open and to two semifinals. But toughness needs experience, which neither Querrey or Wawrinka had beyond this round.
At 5/6 on Querrey's serve, Wawrinka chipped and charged the first return. Querrey sent a ball up, too high over the net. Stan volleyed it away. He was up two sets to one.
Sam did the reverse in the fourth, but it took him seven attempts to close it out at 6/4.
Even as even could be after four sets, in three-and-a-half hours.
Wawrinka's right quadriceps had been wrapped the entire match. He'd injured it in the Murray match. Querrey had to be conscious of movement, and tried like heck to move the Swiss and worsen the strain. Nothing fazed him. His face was stoic. He walked from point to point with no expression. He yelled, 'allez,' when critical points were his.
Querrey went for more, right as the fifth began. He wanted to avoid a tiebreak. They both did. But Wawrinka was first to break and hold the advantage. The faced off at 5/4 Stan.
Sam tried. But, it wasn't to be.
Wawrinka won 76(9) 67(5) 75 46 64. He moved on to his quarterfinal berth at the 2010 U. S. Open a bit injured, but happy. He will play the #12 seed Mikhail Youzhny, who advanced to only his second quarterfinal at a major earlier in the day, after defeating Tommy Robredo.
Venus Williams walked on court a couple minutes after Sam and Stan ducked in the tunnel. It was now up to Venus to carry the flag. She had to get by the French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who had never beaten Venus in seven meetings. But, speculation makes not a champion. Hard work does.
[25] Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d [20] Sam Querrey (USA) {white cap} 76(9) 67(5) 75 46 64
[3] Venus Williams (USA) {pink dress} d [6] Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 76(5) 64
Earlier Coverage from this Event:
September 6, 2010 US Open: The Important Stuff - Novak Djokovic, Mardy Fish, Robin Soderling, Albert Montanes
September 5, 2010 US Open: Seeing The Light - Rafael Nadal, Gilles Simone, Fernando Verdasco, David Nalbandian, Francesca Schiavone, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
September 4, 2010 US Open: Favorites - Mardy Fish, Arnaud Clement, Maria Sharapova, Beatrice Capra, Jurgen Melzer, Juan Carlos Ferrero
September 3, 2010 US Open: The Virtual U.S. Open - Ryan Harrison, Sergiy Stakhovsky, John Isner, Marco Chiudinelli
September 2, 2010 US Open: Way Below The Radar - Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, Kai-Chen Chang, Andreas Beck, Robin Soderling, Taylor Dent
September 1, 2010 US Open: The Word - Andy Murray, Lukas Lacko, Venus Williams, Rebecca Marino, Gael Monfils, Igor Andreev
August 31, 2010 US Open: What's Age Got To Do With It? Arnaud Clement, Marcos Baghdatis, Novak Djokovic, Mardy Fish, Jan Hajek, Viktor Troicki
August 30, 2010 US Open: And Away We Go - Melanie Oudin, Kim Clijsters, Andy Roddick, Olga Savchuk, Greta Arn, Stephane Robert
August 29, 2010 US Open: Who's In, Who's Out
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