TENNIS US OPEN: Number five seed could end the US's six-year winless streak in the men's majors, writes Lawrence Doneganat Flushing Meadows
AMERICA EXPECTS and in the New York crowd’s yearning for a home victory in the men’s event the burden has fallen squarely this week on Andy Roddick, the 2003 US Open winner who has enjoyed a resurgent season under the guidance of a new coach, Larry Stefanki.
So far the number five seed, who lost an epic Wimbledon final against Roger Federer earlier in the summer, has not disappointed, winning his first two matches with a brutal efficiency. Yet Roddick, who defeated the French veteran Marc Gicquel in straight sets late on Thursday evening, has not been the only American male to prosper. Four other home players progressed in the top half of the draw, including the veteran James Blake and the number 22 seed, Sam Querrey.
The journeymen were represented by the likes of Jesse Witten, who at the age of 26 is playing only his second grand slam event.
It was not exactly the golden age of Sampras, Courier and Agassi, but it was enough for some to run the Stars and Stripes up the pole.
“I think we’ve got a shot,” said Querrey, when asked if American men’s tennis, which has been in the doldrums since the retirement of those three great players, was on the cusp of a revival. “There’s a big group of us here. Hopefully everyone won’t just do well this week, they will do well for the rest of the year and we can bounce back. I think we can make it like it was back in the 1990s.”
That might be wishful thinking, although such has been the transformation of Roddick’s game since teaming up with Stefanki, Tim Henman’s former coach, that it is not stretching credulity to argue the coming week could see him end the US’s six-year winless streak in the men’s majors.
As for the women, it is difficult to overlook the Williams sisters in the search to identify an eventual winner. As ever, however, there are plenty who are more than willing to give it try, not least because US tennis appears to have a new sweetheart.
Aficionados have long known about the talents of the 17-year-old Melanie Oudin, who beat the former world No1 Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon this year, but casual observers – and there are always plenty of those in the stands at Flushing Meadows – embraced her second-round victory over the number four seed, Elena Dementieva, early on Thursday as the second coming of Billie Jean King. Likewise, the local media heralded Oudin’s progress into the third round, where she will meet Maria Sharapova, as a landmark moment for US women’s tennis.
“Everyone keeps waiting for the American girl. You went through that being a boy,” was the question posed to Roddick after his victory over Gicquel. There is one major flaw with that question and it is that no one is “waiting for the American girl”, at least not if they acknowledge that in Venus and Serena Williams the host country has the two most dominant players in the women’s game.
Indeed, while America’s male players have floundered since Roddick’s victory here in 2003, the Williams sisters have won eight grand slam titles between them. Serena currently holds three of the major trophies. It is hardly Oudin’s fault that in the rush to diminish the Williams sisters her achievement has been elevated beyond its true status, but it doesn’t diminish the ugliness of the sentiment.
Perhaps if the question had been “everyone keeps waiting for the ‘white’ American girl” there would have been no ambiguity.
As it was, Roddick, who is a close friend of Serena Williams, did not let the moment pass without kicking back.
“From what I have been looking at and reading, it doesn’t seem like Venus and Serena are in any hurry to go anywhere,” he said, with noticeable sarcasm. “Everyone is always looking for the next big thing. Well, the present, as far as the women’s game goes, is pretty good. It feels like [people] will only really appreciate that once they are gone.” Don’t count on it.
Guardian Service
Flushing Meadows last night's results
MEN'S SINGLES second round: (7) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Fra) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Fin) 7-5 6-3 6-4, Julien Benneteau (Fra) bt (30) Viktor Troicki (Ser) 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-0, (6) Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt Jurgen Melzer (Aut) 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 6-3, (24) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Spa) bt Philipp Petzschner (Ger) 1-6 3-6 6-4 6-2 6-4, (16) Marin Cilic (Cro) bt Jesse Levine (USA) 4-6 2-6 6-0 6-3 6-0, (17) Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Horacio Zeballos (Arg) 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2, (9) Gilles Simon (Fra) bt Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) 6-3 6-2 6-4, Daniel Koellerer (Aut) bt Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 3-6 6-2 6-1 6-4.
WOMEN'S SINGLES third round: (10) Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt Aleksandra Wozniak (Can) 6-1 6-1, (22) Daniela Hantuchova (Svk) bt Vania King (USA) 6-2 6-2, (2) Serena Williams (USA) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (Spa) 6-3 7-5. (26) Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt (8) Victoria Azarenka (Blr) 4-6 6-2 6-2, (7) Vera Zvonareva (Rus) bt (31) Elena Vesnina (Rus) 6-2 6-4,
