Sorensen forced to retire on a crazy day

TENNIS US OPEN:THE LUCK of the Irish in New York and all that. In quite a remarkable turn of events in the Big Apple, Ireland's Louk Sorensen followed Conor Niland out of the US Open in Flushing Meadows yesterday afternoon after retiring injured at the beginning of the fourth set.

In a crazy few hours around the Grandstand Court, Sorensen was scheduled to face the world number six Robin Soderling in his debut US Open match but instead found himself across the net from Brazilian Rogerio Da Silva after the Swede defaulted due to illness.

Because Soderling didn’t begin the match and because it was still the first round, lucky loser Da Silva stepped in as next alternate.

Sorensen was in his fourth match after the three played in the qualification tournament but began to break down physically in the third set. Unable to move properly because of cramping in his left calf muscle and showing obvious pain when hitting off his forehand side, he was forced to bring the match to a close 1-0 down in the fourth to lose 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, 1-0.

Sorensen said afterwards: “I hit a forehand and suddenly my thumb was cramping, then my legs started to cramp and my left arm, and I had no answer to that. I don’t know if it was the tension.”

It was perhaps even more disappointing than Niland’s food poisoning episode that forced the Limerick man to retire against world number one Novak Djokovic on Tuesday because when Sorensen got his game together after a nervous start, losing the first set 6-0, he had the beating of Da Silva.

Although the Sao Paulo player was ranked 114 to Sorensen’s 618, the Irishman had beaten him in a tour event as recently as March of this year, when the two met in Costa Rica, Sorensen winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

Sorensen had also reappeared after announcing his retirement from tour tennis a few months ago only to pop up under the radar in New York and negotiate his way through the qualifying tournament along with Niland.

The first set lasted barely 27 minutes as Da Silva raced through it, Sorensen making it look like a lost Irish cause as he fell 6-0. But he regained his composure and began to hit more freely in the second set, one break on the Brazilian serve giving him the set 6-3.

In the third set Sorensen missed a golden chance to break service again with the two players poised at 3-3 on Da Silva’s serve. But Sorensen passed up three break-point opportunities before his body started to protest.

He called the trainer at the change over and the medic went to work on his right forearm. But as the set progressed it was obvious the Irishman was in deep distress. After hitting a wide forehand, the 27-year-old right-hander dropped his racquet and winced in obvious pain but continued to play.

After a similar shot, again from the forehand side just a minute later, the same thing happened as he clutched his right thumb.

Sorensen then started to cramp as he raced up to the net to fetch a feathered ball from Da Silva. Between his leg and his arm, there was little hope, a Da Silva lob claiming the third set.

It seemed hopeless to continue at that stage although Sorensen stepped out for the fourth set. However, one game was as much as he could bear before reluctantly following in Niland’s disappointing footsteps up to the net to shake hands and depart.

It brought to an end Ireland’s biggest Grand Slam involvement in the Open era and perhaps too Ireland’s greatest disappointments on a world stage, illness and injury winning out in New York.

Sorensen added: “That’s pretty bad but everybody is proud of us in Ireland and we just keep playing and fighting and try to fly the flag.”

Britain’s Andy Murray recovered from a poor start to defeat Somdev Devvarman 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 6-3 in his first-round match.

The world number four dropped his opening service game and then trailed early in the first-set tie-break but he pulled through and from then on there was only one winner.

In round two Murray will face big-hitting Dutchman Robin Haase, who has won their only previous meeting and could prove to be a tricky opponent.

Two-time women’s champion Venus Williams withdrew due to illness prior to her second-round match against number 22 seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany. The withdrawal of Williams, the 2000 and 2001 winner, was confirmed by US Tennis Association officials, who didn’t have any details about the illness or her condition.