Why is it that just when we hope, or even figure it will be an early night at the tennis, after a long day, that the exact opposite happens? Some people consider the US Open to be a four week event, just like the...
Why is it that just when we hope, or even figure it will be an early night at the tennis, after a long day, that the exact opposite happens? Some people consider the US Open to be a four week event, just like the Australian Open because its two weeks of day matches and two weeks of night matches.
Here we are on the second day of the US Open after two full on days and you’re keeping your fingers crossed that Rafa Nadal will clean up Andrey Golubev of Kazhakistan. Sure Golubev is a very good player, great shot making skills but he can be a bit of a flake, not unlike Ernests Gulbis (even their names are not that dissimilar).
So you’re thinking, Arthur Ashe Stadium and it will be done and dusted. The stage is too big for him to handle and he will be a nervous wreck. Probably even the match schedulers thought that and it will be over soon, the final match, which also looks one sided, will go on and it will be a quick one.
Uh uh. Nope. Nada. Nyet. Curse Andy Warhol for suggesting everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, or whatever he said that was similar. Golubev decided that he was going to make Nadal work for the result and he got the attention. He had the defending champion in all sorts of trouble and could have in fact been leading Rafa two sets to one. In the second set Nadal faced like a gazillion set points and then he gets to a tiebreak and romps through it 7-1. Hello … why didn’t you do that before mate? In the second set Golubev was up breaks.
Nadal won it eventually but it went too long, it was two hours 49 minutes and there was still another match to go. Nobody told the two of them the script said night matches should be quick matches, especially in the first few rounds.
Then to keep the thing going organisers have a child singing the national anthem as that other match keeps waiting.
That other match was Serena Williams playing here for the first time in two years and she was playing a Serb, Bojana Jovanovski. You could rely on Serena to do the deed. She kept it quick but the fact is that she was kept waiting for her match to start. She didn’t go on till close to 10.45pm.
Please, please Roland Garros skip on the night matches when the expansions are completed in four or so years time. Even Wimbledon has been sneaking the odd late sessions now that they have a roof over Centre Court.
Who likes the night sessions at the US Open? Have you to been to one? Not that we can do anything about it, but would you like them to stay?
I think next year I am going to rent space in the corner near my desk and just set up an accommodation module. Never leave the tennis venue. After all I am certainly not being able to enjoy my suite at the Waldorf-Astoria so why have it?
