Russians, Czechs and Saturday Night Tennis

LONDON--By the end, it was so dark, they had to bring out new balls for the players to see.

That's how desperate Wimbledon organizers were Saturday night to make sure the match between Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek was completed.

After all, the winner was to play Rafael Nadal on Monday.

The scene was noisy, maybe a little ugly and nearly surreal. After four hours, Youzhny and Stepanek, two of the tour's more entertaining players, were deadlocked at two sets apiece.

It was like a Davis Cup match had broken out. Russians chanting on one side of the legendary "Graveyard of Champions," Court No. 2, and Czechs chanting on the other.

Both players emoting, chirping at their supporters, mugging for the fans and kissing the net cord when it worked in their favour.

The clock ticked on. The light faded.

At 9:24, with Youzhny ahead 5-3 in the fifth set and serving for the match at deuce, Stepanek fell, apparently injuring his right hand.

At 9:26, he called for a medical timeout. Camera flashbulbs seemed like lighthouse beacons in the near darkness.

At 9:29, they resumed play. Two points later, Youzhny won the match. As Stepanek walked to his chair, he smashed a racquet, then another.

Russian fans booed.

Then Youzhny stood at mid-court, placing his racquet on his head while saluting, military style, to the various corners of the court.

Czech fans booed.

It was a wild night at the All-England Club. Not stuffy at all.

Comments

[Lanka]

Damien,

You are truly one of the great tennis fans in Toronto. I miss you on the Fan590 because you were one of the true tennis fans on the station. I got a few questions for you.

1) What do you make of all this talk about the lawns at Wimbledon slowing down over the past several years. I know some have suggested the folks at the All-England club are using a different type of grass (rye I believe) and that possibly the balls have changed as well to slow down the surface. It definitely would explain some of the longer rallies we've seen at Wimbledon recently and how so many players seem to just have the mindset of playing from the baseline. Also it would explain Rafa Nadal's amazing learning curve on grass. People were surprised in 06 when he got to the finals for the first time, but maybe the slower surface helped him with the learning curve. It would also explain Andy Roddick's recent troubles at SW19, losing to Gasquet last year and being bounced by Tipsaravic this year (though Tipsaravic seems to be a decent player, he did give Fed a run for the money down in Australia)
I recall P-Mac suggesting last year that the courts at Flushing Meadows actually seem to be the fastest courts in the world now and I would tend to agree.

2) Regarding the GOAT debate. Do you think Fed needs to win a French Open to be considered the GOAT? Personally, Id put him ahead of Pete even if Fed retired today. Pete had the better serve and was probably a little more comftorble up at net, (but he had to be cause he didnt have Fed's groundstrokes). But FEd has better groundstrokes, he moves better, hes a superior defensive player to Pete and he's a superior clay court player. Fed doesnt have the French Open on his resume but its not like he's a bad clay court player. He's the 2nd best clay courter of his time, and its taking the possibly the best clay courter ever in Rafa to deny him the French Title. For me to put Fed ahead of Laver though I think Fed needs to win at least one french and surpass Pete's 14 majors. What do you think Fed's window is in terms of winning the French? He seemed to regress this year in paris despite playing reasonably well against Rafa in some of the tune up tournaments. The French to me seems to be more of a young mans major, its rare to see guys over 27 winning that major, its just so demanding physically and mentally. Agassi won it at 29 but he was a fitness freak.