NO KIDDING: Mary Carillo said that when Justine Henin left the game in ‘08, “she took much of the sport’s art with her.”
A TALE OF TWO MATCHES: Two incredibly competitive late-night matches, Henin vs. Dementieva and Del Potro vs. Blake were on at the same time. And the women’s match came on at midnight (PST). ESPN went back and forth between the two compelling contests, so it was a bit challenging to sink into either one. Ultimately, the cable network provided far more coverage of the men’s match than the women’s, which ended at 3 a.m.
ANNA’S MOM BOOKED FOR CHILD NEGLECT: Anna Kournikova‘s mother, Alla, was booked into a Palm Beach County jail on Tuesday on charges of child neglect after she left her five-year-old son, Allan, alone in her $2.2 million mansion. According to police, the boy later jumped from a second-story balcony window, landing on the ground 15 feet below. Anna’s half-brother was treated by Palm Beach Fire Rescue and taken to a local hospital. His condition was unknown, although he was reportedly seen walking around in front of the residence when police arrived. Kournikova, 46, told police that she left the boy at home while she ran errands.
NEWS LEAK: A ballboy couldn’t hold it in during the Donald Young vs. Christophe Rochus match, urinating on the court and causing a 30-minute delay. “I looked back and it was dripping on the court,” said Young, a 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 winner.
SAY IT AIN’T SO: Brazil’s Marcos Daniel is in hot water after he allegedly scuffled with a female fan following his first-round loss to Colombia’s Alejandro Falla…We were so inspired by the glee and passion Melanie Oudin so generously displayed at the U.S. Open. Too bad the slumping tennis sweetheart just couldn’t replicate it at the Aussie Open.
WATCH THE LANGUAGE: Andy Roddick squawked at the chair ump on match point in his victory over Thomaz Bellucci. Courtside microphones picked up A-Rod swearing (twice) while arguing a call, for which he later apologized via Twitter: “Apologies for the language today folks hopefully most kids were asleep by the time i went off…my bad.” (Fed was fined for swearing during the USO final. Will Roddick have to pay up, too?) In his post-match press conference, the usually feisty Texan was reflective, saying, “It was a lot closer than I thought as far as when the call came. I guess their whole argument was whether the call came after I had already let the ball pass. It’s hazy as far as either way. I thought I was going to be a hundred percent right. It’s definitely closer than I felt it was while I was on court.” Was he chastened in any way by the PR disaster Serena suffered after not copping to her misdeeds in New York?
THAT MISSING FEELING: After watching Justine Henin, Pam Shriver confided, “Over the last 20 months, I felt there was something missing from women’s tennis. In the last one hour, 53 minutes, I remember what it was.”
BRAIN CRAMP CITY: Down 6-5 in the fourth against a drained and exhausted John Isner, Irishman Louk Sorensen had to hold serve to stay in the match. But he suffered a modest cut and called for a seemingly unnecessary medical timeout, giving the American a chance to re-coup and subsequently break serve. (Moral of the story: Never ice yourself.)
JUST WONDERING: Was Ireland’s hobbit-like Louk Sorensen recruited from the central casting of Lord of the Rings or Finnegans Wake? (And by the way, the Irish lad is a bit neck impaired.)
AO STORYLINES:
Day 1: It’s all “Ova” Sharapova
Day 2: Andreev scares Fed
Day 3: The greatest seconnd round match in the History of Humanity (and another gallant Blake flameout).
WALKING THE WALK/TALKING THE TALK: Justine Henin told us that she would be coming to the net a lot when she returned. (The kid’s got Wimby on her mind). And against Dementieva, she had 35 winners off of her 43 approaches to the net.
SERVING NOTICE: After reflecting on the curious history of two Moscow tennis centers telling Elena Dementieva that she had no future in tennis, Pam Shriver said, “For two clubs to have taken a pass on Dementieva, they must have only looked at her serve.”
DOES TENNIS NEED TO GET MORE DEFENSIVE?: Dick Enberg noted that, “It’s hard to find numbers that appreciate defense in tennis, unlike other sports.”
LITTLE BIG WOMAN: Mary Carillo claimed, “Pound for pound, inch for inch, Justine Henin has the best small woman’s serve ever.” She then added, “Henin hits bigger than she is and Dementieva runs smaller than she is.”
IT WOULD BE LIKE MARK SANCHEZ OUT-PASSING PEYTON MANNING: Henin’s wretched serve was far worse than that of Dementieva, the player who traditionally has had the most problematic serve in tennis.
GO FIGURE: There are four women who could leave Melbourne as No. 1.
HAPPY COMMENTARY: Pam Shriver said that Kim Clijsters is “the happy mom at the happy Slam.”
NATIONS: The AO men’s draw featured an Irishman, a Turk, an Uzbek, a Latvian and two players from Kazakhstan.
THE BEST EVER?: Tennis observers are quick to recall the 2008 Australian Open second-round match against Sharapova and Davenport. Still, the much-hyped Dementieva vs. Henin showdown of 2010 lived up to its billing and may just be the best second-round match ever.
BTW: If you haven’t heard, the USO lineswoman that Serena Williams chewed out back in September (and whose name had been a closely-guarded secret) is Shino Tsurubuchi.
QUOTEBOOK
“On a tour covering roughly 364 days of the year (sometimes it seems that way), there is beauty in the comeback, the revitalization, a break from the grind. It just might be the key to survival.” — Bruce Jenkins
“The second game of a match usually is not a turning point in the game.” — Mary Carillo said on Henin/Dementieva’s pivotal 22-minute game
“He’s going to come back at 78 percent.” – Brad Gilbert on an exhausted John Isner’s conditioning when he returns to play Frenchman Gael Monfils on Friday
HEADLINES
Australian Open Ballboy Makes A Splash In First Round
Player Fights With Fan, Ballboy Wets His Pants
Russian Ruffles Federer
