12:47 p.m. Fernando Verdasco and David Nalbandian are first on the court. Actually, Verdasco precedes Nalbandian for a couple of minutes before the Argentine arrives?he?s doing something that for all the world resembles rubbing sleep from his eyes, before sitting down and engaging Verdasco in conversation while umpire Steve Ullrich stands disregarded at the net. Once play starts, however, there?s no lack of competition between the two, who play the best set of tennis so far this week. It?s a classic battle of Nalbandian?s smooth, two-handed backhand against Verdasco?s explosive lefty forehand, both things of beauty in their own way. Some points are so good that I want to stand up and cheer, and indeed, if I wasn?t in the press seats, I would probably do just that.
Nalbandian looks like the better tennis player in terms of mastering his craft: he can do so much more with the ball. Verdasco, though, is making the absolute best of what he has, fighting off a number of break points with that explosive forehand and a number of slick forays to the net. Both men are alike in that every point, won or lost, is met with an expression of dissatisfaction, even a distasteful shake of the head, yet it?s Verdasco who is the steadiest at the key moment. Punishing a casual, even lazy, net approach with a powerful passing shot, he forces Nalbandian into a backhand wide to sneak the set, 7-5.
Frustrated as anyone would be after losing by the narrowest of margins, Nalbandian deflates and immediately gives up a break in the second set. The match feels over, and soon enough, it is. Verdasco wins, 7-5 6-1.
2:26 p.m. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga starts off his match against Michael Llodra with an ace, and on a small court, that is something to see. I?m finding it difficult to take my eyes off Tsonga at all, in fact, and not just because I don?t particularly want to look at the newly-shaven head of Llodra (now renamed ?Baldra? by tennis tweeters) down the other end. He isn?t connecting with the ball cleanly that often, but when he does, he?s astonishingly explosive. Tsonga recently decided to go it alone without a coach because he wanted to rediscover some independence and spontaneity, and he?s fantastically expressive to watch; chasing down a drop-shot, he blows an audible raspberry as he flubs it into the net and finally comes to a stop somewhere past the umpire?s chair, grinning all the while. The crowd is just getting into it as the chill in the air fulfills its promise and it starts to rain.
3:31 p.m. Heading back for the resumption of play, I see Tsonga standing outside Court 1, chatting to girls and signing autographs. It strikes me as an unusually casual pose for someone about to resume a match, and sure enough Llodra has retired (?Thai curry,? someone tells me wisely, but we are later informed it was an upper leg problem). Tsonga wins, 4-3, ret. And progresses to face Rafael Nadal.
4:09 p.m. Mohammed Lahyani entertains the crowd while waiting for Juan Martin del Potro and Adrian Mannarino to come on court. Mannarino, who progressed earlier in the day after Gilles Simon was forced to retire, looks like a small and delicate boy across the net from the hulking Argentine, but it?s clear from the very first point?when he delivers a feather-light drop-shot?that the French lefty will be a tricky opponent.
Having watched Mannarino before and seen, to be frank, little to be excited about in his game, I was blindsided by how well he played today. It?s hard to analyze what he did well because his game isn?t composed of obvious strengths?there?s no blatant weapon or kill shot there. Yet when he?s executing well, there?s no immediately obvious way to take his legs out from under him?it?s like trying to kill a mosquito with a machete. What Mannarino did do, from the first point to the last, was seize the initiative. I wrote before that any semblance of passive play on del Potro?s part left him vulnerable on this surface, and Mannarino proved my point?he went for outrageous winners and net plays, keeping the points short and needle-sharp. Del Potro made the fatal mistake of settling back to come up with the big shots in the tie-break; he was never given the chance.
In a match-up with such a disparity of career achievements and proven quality, it seems absurd that simply putting the ball where your opponent isn?t should be a successful tactic. That it worked for Mannarino cannot be divorced from del Potro?s continuing and clear discomfort moving on these grass courts, but what was more remarkable was that all del Potro?s fight and heart didn?t disrupt whatever purple patch Mannarino was going through. An immediate break down in the second set, del Potro broke back, was then broken, and broke back again as Mannarino was serving for it, playing the next game like a dream to gain momentum for the first time in the match. It didn?t make any difference; Mannarino saved break points with two serves bigger than he was to take the match to a tie-break and survived everything del Potro threw at him, including a running forehand pass which would have conclusively broken other men?s spirits. In the end, an unlucky net cord left del Potro stranded at the net on Mannarino?s third match point, but the Frenchman still had to come up with a lob good enough to evade a 6? 6? man for the biggest win of his career. It sums up the match that he executed it flawlessly.
Del Potro still has a lot to learn on grass, and his recent struggles haven?t left him with the confidence to surmount a challenge like that. But Mannarino?s refusal to be hit through or intimidated left del Potro and the rest of us stunned, and the French fans delirious with joy. Mannarino won?t always be having a day when everything he tries, no matter how outlandish, works. But he only had to look across the net at his defeated opponent to see how one good day can transform a career.
7:01 p.m. The final leg of my Court 1 marathon, Marin Cilic v Thomaz Bellucci, started out well and quickly went downhill from there. At 3-3, deuce, Cilic jarred his right ankle and limped to the chair to be bandaged and iced. After a long delay, he came out gingerly?and cracked two clean backhand winners to break. Struggling to move, Cilic was still ripe for the taking, but Bellucci?s killer instinct went missing, allowing the Croat to take the first set. As it got darker and colder, Bellucci finally took advantage of Cilic?s limited mobility to take the second set, 6-0, before giving up an early break in the third?only to call the trainer for an unspecified injury, demanding, ?I can do that, right??
It was a strange way to end the day, with acrimonious words, an icy handshake, and a contest seemingly decided by which of two volatile players could be slightly less self-destructive. On the other hand, after eight hours of tennis, an upset and a retirement, it was interesting to see the game stripped to its barest essentials?a contest of wills.
Source: http://feeds.tennis.com/~r/tenniscom-features/~3/enSmQMdJFEM/
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