Closing the book on the Open
My 50 random musings on the final major championship of the year
Posted: Monday September 13, 2004 3:02PM; Updated: Monday September 13, 2004 3:58PM
So the last major of 2004 is in the books. Herewith 50 random ruminations on the U.S. Open that was. ...
1. Imagine how good Roger Federer will be once he learns to move around the court a little. Much as we all would like to have seen a more competitive final, it‘s nice that 23,000 fans in Queens (and sports fans flipping between NFL games) got to see that display Sunday. Statistics don‘t do Federer‘s game justice, but we‘ll爋ffer one anyway.燗gainst Lleyton燞ewitt, arguably the best passer in the game, Federer won 31 of 35 approaches to the net.
2. Svetlana Kuznetsova may be the most surprising women‘s winner in the Open era. But we‘re guessing that distinction doesn‘t hold. It‘s been obvious for years that she has considerable game and on power alone, it‘s easy to see爃er as a top five player for years to come. That said, at the beginning of the year whodda thunk the Williams sisters, the Belgians, Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay燚avenport and Jennifer Capriati would combine to win one Slam?
3. We all had a good laugh at the expense of Elena Dementieva‘s dying seagull of a serve. But once she is in the rally, she can hang with anyone. And, yes, she lost another Grand Slam final. But if there has been a more poignant and thoughtful consolation speech, we haven‘t heard it.
4. Hewitt turned in a Grand Slam of sorts, losing to the eventual champion at each of the four majors.
5. If you don‘t feel for Davenport, consult your cardiologist immediately. In what is likely her爁inal Open, Davenport carved up Kuznetsova for a set, suddenly pulled up lame, and lost in three sets.
6. Remember when the men‘s game was mired in parity and players unknown to the casual fan crashed Grand Slams, while one dominant force patrolled the women‘s game?
7. Credit Anand Ramaswamy of Brooklyn with this line: “The ‘Russian Revolution‘ has evolved into more of a ‘Russian Occupation.‘“
8. If Andy Roddick loses to a heavy-hitting kid who‘s nailing the lines, that‘s fine. But his jousting with the chair at 4-4 in the fifth set was inexplicable.
9. A few riffs on Serenagate. Next time you rip Serena for being brash and crass, consider her exchange with the umpire. Over the course of two weeks, numerous players (including Capriati) were fined for “audible obscenities“ and others -- Roddick among them -- cursed at the chair without consequence. Serena gets completely jobbed and the worst thing to come out of her mouth is, “What the heck is going on here?“
10. Speaking of taking the high road, Oracene Williams was quick to applaud both players after the Capriati match. And though he was given ample chance to燾omment by reporters, Richard Williams refused to opine about the officiating. Not a lot of other tennis parents would be that big under the circumstances.
11. Anyone else find it dispiriting that the notion of Capriati conceding the point to help to clarify the confusion wasn‘t even in the realm of possibility? The party line is that “it‘s not up to the players to call lines.“ But when your opponent hits a ball that is good by nearly a foot, shouldn‘t there be a moral obligation to concede the point?
12.燤any of you asked why the U.S. Open doesn‘t take the lead and institute some replay technology, be it Hawkeye or SpotShot. Ted McCarthy of Baltimore wrote: “Even if it costs $20,000 per court, I‘m sure the U.S. Open can find that money between prize-money reduction and the $8 hot dogs in order to become the world‘s greatest, most accurate tournament. Would Serena really care if the prize was $800,000 vs. $1 million爄f there was a guarantee that she wouldn‘t be shafted when it counts most?“ I tend to agree. One reservation: I‘d need a little more reassurance that this technology captures reality. We‘re guessing there will be some form of replay by next year‘s Open.
13. Despite yet another Grand Slam flameout, Mauresmo took over the top WTA ranking.
14. Who says the Americans had a lousy tournament? Bob Bryan teamed with lachrymose Vera Zvonareva to win the mixed doubles title.
15. Anyone else wonder if grass isn‘t Tim Henman‘s worst surface?
16. Michaella Krajicek won the girls‘ title beating Ohio‘s Jessica Kirkland in the final. Krajicek was a multiple winner, teaming with Marina Erakovic to win the doubles.
17. Andrew Murray of Britain won the boys‘ title, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine. (Murray-mania, we see it already.) Donald Young, the hyped American, had a match point against Stakhovsky in the first round but couldn‘t seal the deal. In the doubles, Americans Brendan Evans and Scott Oudsema took the title.
18. Hampered by a knee injury, France‘s Gael Monfils failed in his effort to win the junior Grand Slam. He lost in the third round to Viktor Troicki of Serbia-Montenegro 6-4, 6-2.
19. From Angela Haynes to Scoville Jenkins to Amber Liu to Rajeev Ram to Shikha Uberoi to Phillip Simmonds....at the risk of sounding like a political speech writer, it‘s nice to see the future of American tennis reflect America.
20. What if every player in, say, the top 50 donated? percent of their prize money to the ATP and WTA trainers? Those folks are the unsung heroes of tennis.
21. Tony Trabert, chairman of the Enshrinee Nominating Committee and president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, announced the 2005 nominees: Jim Courier, Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna, Owen Davidson, Christine Truman Janes, Patricia Canning Todd, Earl “Butch“ Buchholz Jr. and Eiichi Kawatei.
22. Best爊ews conference exchange:
Reporter: What‘s your favorite movie about outer space, and why is it your favorite?
Hewitt: What do you write about? I think you‘re at the wrong press conference (smiling). I thought we were playing tennis here.
Reporter: Pardon?
Hewitt: We‘re playing tennis here, aren‘t we? I don‘t know. Sorry. I don‘t know.
Reporter: It‘s for Nickelodeon magazine. It‘s for their celebrity page. They want to know what you and other celebrities, it‘s the space issue for February.
Hewitt: I don‘t watch too many space movies.
Reporter: You ever think about being an astronaut?
23. Snake-bitten in so many other finals, Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor took the doubles title, beating Leander Paes and David Rikl.
24. Paola Suarez and Virginia Ruano Pascual won their third straight U.S. Open women‘s doubles title beating an exhausted Kuznetsova and Elena Likhovtseva in the final.
25. Ivan Ljubicic is the leading vote-getter for the “Most Bizarre Injury“ award.燭he Croatian veteran爓as hugged so enthusiastically that he broke a rib. He was forced to retire from his first-round match in New York.
26. Mark Miles, the CEO of the ATP, announced that he will step down at the end of 2005.
27. Anna Kournikova -- perhaps the name rings a bell -- will make her second appearance at the 12th annual WTT All-Star Smash Hits, presented by ADT Security Services, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 11, at the Bren Events Center on the University of California, Irvine campus. Hosted by (Sir) Elton John and tennis legend Billie Jean King, this evening of tennis will benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation. The event is expected to raise more than $1 million for the organization. Tickets for the event range from $40 to $105 and are available at all Ticketmaster ticket outlets and the Bren Events Center box office. For more information, call Ticketmaster at 714/740-2000 or the Bren Events Center box office at 949/824-5000.
28. Pat McEnroe announced the U.S.‘ Davis Cup squad for the semifinal tie against Belarus. Roddick and Mardy Fish will play singles while the Bryans will get the nod in doubles. The tie is Sept. 24-26 at the Family Circle Tennis Center in Charleston, S.C. A limited number of tickets for the event are available by calling (888) 484-USTA.
29. If the U.S. wins and France beats Spain, the final will be in the U.S., perhaps in Philadelphia. If the U.S. wins and Spain beats France the final will be in Spain, perhaps in Barcelona.
30. Thomas Berdych is destined for the top 10.
31. Five players, apart from Berdych, worth keeping on your radar: Marcos Baghdatis, Nicole Vaidisova, Amer Delic, Tatiana Golovina and Haynes.
32. It‘s no Anna Smashnova (or even Sabine Hack) but Thailand‘s Danai Udomchoke is blessed with one of the better tennis names we‘ve heard in a while.
33. This strike anyone else as absurd? You couldn‘t bring a tote bag into the U.S. Open but you could buy one at the concession stand for $140.
34. Award for Objective Journalism goes to the reporter who “asked“ Serena after an early-round win: “I was getting concerned. The other player was getting too close!“
35. Award for tackiest question goes to the reporter who asked燚avenport how she kept so trim given that she “used to be kind of roly-poly.“
36. Tracy Austin may have taken heat for it, but she certainly raised a valid point when she suggested that Venus Williams爎etain a forehand coach.
37. Sad as it is to see Venus so removed from her glory years, she‘s well within her rights to leave New York feeling somewhat encouraged. She beat three players, including Chanda Rubin, and then played the hottest player (Davenport)爋n tour 7-5, 6-4.
38. Boris Becker remind anyone else of Ali G‘s “Funkyzeit“ character?
39. The U.S. Open Series is a hit, and it played no small role in the heightened attendance and -- at least until the final --燭V ratings. But here‘s another plea to end the “Series Standings,“ an utterly meaningless set of numbers that serves no apparent purpose other than to keep logo-makers employed and exaggerate the USTA‘s sense of importance. The ceremony honoring the “Series Winners“ played out like a middle manager awkwardly awarding Russell the short-order cook an “Employee of the Month“ certificate.
40. Can anyone explain why the French Federation doesn‘t create a comparable “French Open Series“ leveraging Monte Carlo, Hamburg, etc.?
41. One final shout-out to our man Olivier Rochus, who was a few points from reaching the quarterfinals before he succumbed to cramps and fell to Dominik Hrbaty in five sets. Sadly, Rochus without wheels is like Roddick without power. Two points: First, credit the guy for finishing out the match even though he was bageled in the final set. Second, Rochus was down to game point in the fourth set on his match against Carlos Moya. After a nice rally, Moya hit a ball on the line that was called “out.“ Rochus smiled and without hesitating, walked to his chair, conceding the point. It would be nice if more players did that.
42. Can we eliminate the “tradition“ of running into the stands to hug your posse after winning a title?
43. Last weekend marked the 20th anniversary of Super Saturday. Compare Cash vs. Lendl, Martina vs. Chrissy, and McEnroe vs. Connors to Hewitt vs. Johansson, Henman vs Federer and Kuznetsova vs. Dementieva.
44. Wayne Odesnik beat Joachim Johansson earlier this year. Odesnik entered the U.S. Open ranked No.480.
45. The WTA released its 2005 calendar and announced some structural changes. The upshot: a) in something of an upset, the 2005 championships will remain in L.A., which is odd given that the WTA burned more bridges at the Staples Center than Gary Payton. b) the Fed Cup finals will be played after the U.S. Open, shortening the season by two weeks. c)燼ge eligibility works swell.
46. Good news: Kim Clijsters, seen practicing on the U.S. Open courts, is due back in action later this month.
47. Good news: The men‘s and women‘s Beijing events held this week and next, are expected to be huge draws.
48. Bad news: It‘s looking like Mike Bryan‘s bad hips will require surgery.
49. Bad news: Word is that the Kirsten Dunst movie, Wimbledon, is watchable, the same way Serena‘s attire is modest.
50. Bad news: Four months until the next major shindig.
Have a great week everyone.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jon Wertheim covers tennis for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com.
合上美网最初一页
我的50个随性的冥思－－关于今年度最初一项大满贯锦标赛
如今2004年最初一项大满贯赛事成为了汗青。那里是关于本届美网的50个深思：
1.想象一下，当Roger Federer试着在场上多跑动时，他会变得有多棒。礼拜日纽约的Queens，二万三千名球迷可以享遭到如许的演出是件很温馨的工作（对国度橄榄球赛事间歇日的球迷来说也是如斯），虽然我们同样也期看看到合作稍稍强一些的决赛。数据统计自己其实不能表现Federer好到了什么水平，但我们那里仍是提一个吧。与Lleyton Hewitt那场决赛，Federer有35次来到网前，赢下了31分。Hewitt被良多人认为是那届美网里更好的破网选手。
2.Svetlana Kuznetsova可能是美网汗青中最让人食惊的冠军。我们也起头测度本来名望不克不及代表一切。很明显那几年她参与了相当可看的角逐，就以她的才能来看，将来几年跻出身界前五一点都不困难。有人说得不错，在岁首年月，谁会想到威廉姆斯姐妹，比利时双姝，艾米丽毛瑞斯莫，达文波特，詹妮弗卡普里亚蒂得往合力争夺独一剩下的一个大满贯呢？
3.我们都讪笑艾莲娜.德门蒂耶娃像快死的海鸥似的发球。但是当起头与敌手相持的时候，没有人能占到她廉价。不错，她是丢了冠军。但是，我们何曾听到过如她那般的赛后感言？美网史上还有比她更深入更具关心更能给人以触动的发言吗？
4.休伊特交出了他所有的大满贯头衔，四项锦标输给了四个最末夺标的敌手。
5.假设你对达文波特没有一点点同情，赶紧往看看你的心脏医生。那一场很大水平上决定冠军回属的角逐，达文波特面临库兹涅佐娃，她已经压服性地拿下了第一盘，突然间却拉伤了大腿并输掉了后两盘。
6.可曾记得须眉角逐几时如斯明显地给打上冷门的印记，不为通俗球迷熟悉的男选手纷繁突破着大满贯的传统次序；女子那一边，赛场中却涌动着一股占统治地位的力量。（商榷）
7.布鲁克林的Anand Ramaswamy那句话说出了真理：“俄国革命”已经演化成“俄国占据”。
8.假设安迪.罗迪克是输给了一个猛抽底线的小伙子，那没啥大不了。然而决胜盘打到4：4时,往和裁判纠缠不休就其实说不外往了。
9.“塞雷娜门事务”的即兴反复。下一次当你要呵斥赛雷娜的表示傲岸和卤莽时，先想一想她那一次与裁判的交换。在过往的两周里，不竭有选手收到罚单。一些球员（包罗卡普里亚蒂）是因为“言语上的下贱”，另一些（包罗罗迪克）则不思后果地对着裁判席矢语。
10.说一下值得尊崇的举行。在女儿和卡普里亚蒂角逐完毕的时候，老威廉姆斯立即起头拍手。其后虽然记者们给了他足够的时机来评判那场角逐，老威廉姆斯却回绝对当场的执法停止指责。在那种情形下，不会有良多选手的父母可以做得跟老威一样好。
11.“喊卡普里亚蒂本人舍弃得分以廓清事实是底子不成行的“——还有没有人觉得那种看念令人沮丧？产生不合在于“断定球能否出界不是球员的义务”。不外当敌手击出了一个距出界将近一英尺的好球时，你是不是有道德上的义务舍弃掉那本不属于你的一分？
12.不论是依阿华的通俗看寡，仍是场上的明星选手，良多人城市问，为什么美网就不领个头摘用录像回放手艺呢？巴尔第摩的Ted McCarthy如许写道：“即便每个球场需多破费两万美圆，组织者假设能削减奖金额和节约消费热狗的收入，我确信那笔钱可以攒得出来。而如许做能够使美网成为世界上最伟大，最精准的赛事。当塞雷娜亟需有一种包管能使本身不遭受错判的损害时，她实的会很在乎本身的奖金是80万仍是100万吗？”我比力附和他的话。一个保留定见：必需确保运用那项手艺能切当反映场上的情状。我们料想明年的美网会摘用某种重放手艺。
13.虽然冲击大满贯冠军再度失利，毛瑞斯莫仍成为WTA排名第一的选手。
14.谁说美国人履历了蹩脚透顶的一届美网？博比.布赖恩不是和阿谁爱哭鼻子的薇拉.兹沃娜列娃获得混双冠军了吗！
15.如今还有谁不晓得的，蒂姆.亨曼最糟的不是草场。(?商榷)
16.Michaella Krajicek击败了俄亥俄得essica Kirkland获得少女组冠军。Krajicek 还与Marina Erakovic同伴获得双打冠军。
17.英国的Andrew Murray击败乌克兰的Sergiy Stakhovsky 博得了少年组冠军（默里狂热，我们已经常识了）。赛前被鼎力大举鼓吹的美国选手Donald Young在第一轮碰着了Stakhovsky。虽然Donald Young拿到过一个赛点，仍是败下阵来。双打角逐折桂的是美国组合 Brendan Evans与Scott Oudsema。
18.受伤膝之累，法国的 Gael Monfils未能博得青年组大满贯。第三轮他以6-4, 6-2负于赛黑的Viktor Troicki 。
19.从Angela Haynes到 Scoville Jenkins到Amber Liu到Rajeev Ram到Shikha Uberoi再到Phillip Simmonds......(嗯，有点像政演稿了)，很兴奋看到美国网球的将来们展示了美国的风摘。
20.排名前50位的选手把奖金分点出来给ATP和WTA的操练师若何？那些人是网球角逐的幕后英雄。
21.Tony Trabert，名人堂提名委员会 兼世界网球名人堂会长，公布了2005年提名名单：Jim Courier, Yannick Noah, Jana Novotna, Owen Davidson, Christine Truman Janes, Patricia Canning Todd, Earl “Butch“ Buchholz Jr.and Eiichi Kawatei.
22.更佳新闻发布会对话笔录：
记者：你最喜好的太空片子是哪一部，为什么它是你最喜好的？
休伊特：你要报导什么？你是不是弄错了新闻发布会（笑）。我想各人如今是在打网球吧。
记者：对不起，你说什么？
休伊特：那里在打网球，不是吗？（关于片子）我不晓得，对不起，我不晓得。
记者：那里是五分钱娱乐场杂志。我在为名人版面部门摘访。他们想晓得关于你和此外名人的一些东东。杂志二月分要发行太空版。
休伊特：太空片子我看得不多。
记者：......你有没有想到过做一个太空人？
23.良多决赛里呈现后来居上的排场。Mark Knowles和Daniel Nestor击败Leander Paes和David Rikl，夺得双打冠军。
24.Paola Suarez和弗吉尼亚的Ruano Pascual博得了美网女子双打三连冠 。败者是已经筋疲力尽的Kuznetsova和 Elena Likhovtseva。
25.伊万柳比西奇荣膺最奇异受伤奖。在纽约，克罗地亚宿将被过度热情的拥抱折了肋骨而不能不从第一轮角逐中退出。
26.ATP的CEO Mark Miles公布2005岁尾退位。
27.WTT第12届年度全明星演出赛，有目共睹安娜库尔妮科娃将再度参与。该活动由ADT Security Services举办，时间定于10月11日暨礼拜一晚上7点，地点在加州大学Irvine校区的Bren Events中心。Elton John爵士和网坛传怪杰物Billie Jean King将停止主持。活动收益将回Elton John艾滋中心。该组织期看能获得超越100万美圆的收进。门票价格于40到105美圆不等，所有Ticketmaster的销售点和Bren Events中心的售票办公室均供给售票办事。欲知详情，请联络Ticketmaster－ 714/740-2000或者Bren Events中心售票办公室－949/824-5000。
28.Pat McEnroe公布了本届戴维斯杯美国队对白俄罗斯队的阵容名单。Roddick和Mardy Fish将出任单打，布赖恩兄弟将领衔双打。赛事定于9月24－26日在 Family Circle网球中心停止。S.C.A将供给为数有限的门票。请联络calling (888) 484-USTA.
29.假设美国队胜出，法国击败西班牙，决赛将在美国举行，地点可能定在费城。假设美国和西班牙获胜，决赛将在西班牙举行，地点可能是巴塞罗那。
30.托马斯.伯蒂奇的世界排名将进进前十。
31.除了伯蒂奇，还有四小我值得你存眷：Marcos Baghdatis, Nicole Vaidisova, Amer Delic, Tatiana Golovina and Haynes.
32.那段时间，我们听到过的做为网球选手更好的名字，不是Anna Smashnova（以至也不是Sabine Hack），而是泰国的Danai Udomchoke。 （？乞助）
33.实是荒唐事。大手提袋不容许被带进赛场，你却能够花上$140在出口处买一个。
34.最客看新闻奖揭晓。获奖记者在早先完毕的一场角逐后，对赛雷那“发问”：“我起头担忧了，敌手的程度（跟你）也太接近了！”
35.更低俗发问奖回属于另一名记者。此人问达文波特，本来她老是邋肮脏遢，此次是如何使本身连结那么整洁的。
36.Tracy Austin可能为此而招人愤怒，不外当表示维纳斯.威廉姆斯detain（原词为*etain)(拘阻?)了一个副手锻练时，她确实仍是也有一点根据。(商榷)
37.看到维纳斯与昔时的荣耀渐行渐远是件令人伤感的事，虽然如斯，在分开纽约时她仍是有足够的理由鼓励一下本身。她此次击败了三名好手，包罗Chanda Rubin，最初只是7-5, 6-4输给了唤声更高的Davenport。
38.美网系列赛事大获胜利，至少决赛以前，它为美网正赛的上座率和收视率做了不小的奉献。不外那里唤吁一下，别搞那些“系列赛牌牌“了，完完全全的安排，其意义除了让告白牌造造者不赋闲，就只起到让美国电信联盟自我觉得优良的感化了。别的系列赛冠军的颁奖仪式看起来就像是某个部分司理在鸠拙地给罗素阿谁快餐厨师颁布月度更佳雇员的证书。
39.谁来阐明一下法国网联为什么没搞一个“法网系列赛”来借此“削弱”一下蒙特卡洛，汉堡巨匠赛......?（?乞助）
40.最初再为我们的Olivier Rochus饮声彩。他只差几分就将进进八强，然而腹部痉挛使他在五盘大战中最末负于Dominik Hrbaty。那实在让人伤感。Rochus失往他的飞毛腿好像Roddick失往了发作力。两点：起首，在决胜盘身体极度蹩脚的情状下他仍然对峙完角逐很值得称颂。其二，之前和 Carlos Moya那场对决，Rochus丢了第四盘。清点那一分两边履历了一段超卓的往返球，最初Moya将球击在线上，被喊了出界，。Rochus浅笑着当机立断地坐回到本身的歇息椅上。他主动舍弃了那一分。假设更多的人能像 Rochus一样那该多好。
42.选手在博得冠军后老要跑到看台上往和亲朋团拥抱个没完。可否不让那个传统延续?
43.上周末是超等礼拜日的二十周年纪念。
20年前的那个周日： Cash vs. Lendl, Martina vs Chrissy, and McEnroe vs. Connors。
本周日：Hewitt vs. Johansson, Henman vs Federer
and Kuznetsova vs. Dementieva。
44.Wayne Odesnik本年早些时候击败过小约翰森。Odesnik以No.480的排名参与美网。
45.WTA公布了2005年赛程并公布了一些构造上的改动。a）2005年锦标赛仍定于L.A.举行，鉴于WTA之前已经。。。此举很让人希罕。b）the Fed Cup决赛放到the U.S. Open之后举行，将赛季缩短了两周。c）裁判任选工做将加鼎力度。（?乞助）
46.好动静：金.克里斯特尔斯已经起头在美网场地上操练，估量本月底重返赛场。
47.北京的赛事开锣了,有看将吸引很多好手。（or吸引很多眼球？乞助）
48.坏动静：看来Mike Bryan受伤的臀部需要手术了。
49.坏动静：有动静说，Kirsten Dunst的那部片子“温布尔顿”还看得下往，不外那跟塞雷娜穿戴非常得体有什么纷歧样呢。
50.坏动静：下一次狂欢要比及四个月以后了。
祝各人那个礼拜过得愉快!
头一次认实翻译了一点工具,花了很多功夫.英语很有限,有不当请各人指出来.别的有好几个处所我不解的,都标出来了,各人有兴致帮帮手.