I’ll always have Paris
Not many men from the United States can say that about the French Open. If I were to have predicted that U.S. Men, would be a combined 0-14 thus far (as of 6 pm, Thursday May 31), NO ONE would have believed me. But after Roddick, Blake, Ginepri, Querrey, Spadea, Delic, Gimelstob, Russell, and Kendrick lost in the first round of singles, it was then followed by Butorac, Querrey/Russell, Gimelstob/Kendrick, Delic/Parrott, and Ginepri/Lipsky all falling in the first round of doubles. If you think it sounds bleak, think again…because the good ole US of A is guarenteed to advance at least one man to the second round of something. Luckily, the Bryan bros play Vince Spadea and his partner, Kristian Pless of Denmark tomorrow, meaning that even if the Bryans get upset, at least Spadea will be in the second round. The only other hopeful is Jim Thomas, who is paired the Swiss star Yves Allegro.
I was fortunate enough to sit through two of the more painful losses today. First up was the pairing of Michael Russell and Sam Querrey. It was fun watching them play, Querrey the tall powerful one, and Russell more of a grinder. I didn’t expect much from them at the start, as they were taking on the 16th seeded and far more experienced doubles tandem of Sebastien Prieto and Martin Garcia. But the Americans came out on fire, playing some inspired tennis, and took the first 6-4. From there, the Argentines took control and won out 6-3, 6-3. It was pretty good tennis all around, and unfortunately the match really hinged on an untimely double fault late in the third set from Russell, giving up a break at 3 all. However, two talented American doubles players were taking the court next, and I had the highest of hopes for a victory.
To be truthful, Gimelstob and Kendrick played pretty poorly, as their only weapon was their serve, and were not consistent enough to take advantage of their break opportunities. Throughout the match, they were 1 for 10 on break chances. Their opponents, Brazilians Andre Sa and Marcello Mello didn’t get as many break points, but had a much better conversion rate, going 4 for 7. I rooted hard for the Americans, as I have always admired what Gimelstob has done with his career, given the plethora of injuries he has had to endure. Although his attitude once again let him down a bit, as in the third set he was concentrating more on yelling at the umpire because the serves were taking funny bounces. It almost seemed as if he wanted to miss returns, so he could justify his complaints. But I digress, the bottom line is they lost in a tightly contested three setter, that I think on most other days, they would have pulled through.
After I walked off the court, I was greeted by the scoreboard, which seemed like a magnet as immediately I was greeted by the loss of Ginepri and Lipski. After that I went down to the players lounge to have some lunch, where I saw a somewhat sullen Michael Russell. Given that my brother played him a few times in the juniors, I normally would have felt somewhat comfortable greeting him with “tough match” or something along those lines, but it just didn’t feel right at the time.
Tomorrow I’m taking the day off from tennis and walking the streets of Paris, but before I sign off I want to mention real quick a young Argentine named Juan Monaco, who defeated Jurgen Meltzer yesterday 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Now 27th seeded Meltzer didn’t play his best, but Juan Monaco may be the best player I have ever seen, and may never lose again.