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PLAYERS WILTING IN THE HEAT
Tuesday, 31 August 2010 19:54
_SAM0347Tuesday was a scorcher at Flushing Meadows. The second day of the 2010 US Open saw temperatures rise to over 100 degrees today and the affect on play was evident.

Third-seed Novak Djokovic had a bit of a scare from fellow Serbian Viktor Troicki. Two players that know each other very well played a stellar match that went the distance with Djokovic moving into the second round, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3. In the fourth set it seemed that the heat was going to do in the favorite, but Troicki let him off the hook.

In the fifth set Troicki got a quick break, but melted away quickly from the severe heat. At that point Djokovic, who was just making sure he limited his mistakes, watched his opponent make unforced error after error from exhaustion.

American Robby Ginepri will also have the next two weeks to himself after losing to the unknown Eduardo Schwank of Argentina. How unknown is he? When he went to have his post-match interview it was in the hallway outside Interview Room 3. I hope they can find him.

A Fish called Mardy played a very odd five-set match today against Jan Hajek. In a 2.5 hour match on the Grandstand, _SAM9752the 19-seeded Fish gave up only one game in the three sets that he won. The odd part was that Hajek did win two sets. Fish moves on to play Pablo Cuevas after a 6-0, 3-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1 win.

A shocking departure was the surging Ernests Gulbis, the No. 24 seed. He took a dive in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4, to Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.

On the women’s side the shockers were even bigger, and some of the women earned their money in today’s conditions. Na Li of China went down in three to Kateryna Bondarenko, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. The eighth seed seemed to just fade away after the first set.

As usual Jelena Jankovic was under the impression she was being paid by the hour and pushed her match three sets until coming through victorious. After 2 hours and 20 minutes Jankovic outlasted Simona Halep 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

by Todd Goldman
 

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