FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. — Sam Querrey is as impressed as anyone over fellow American Mardy Fish‘s ability to shed 30 pounds and streamline his game. But the Californian also feels Fish’s feel-good story has been blown a bit out of proportion. “I honestly think everyone’s kind of rough on him,” he said. “They make him sound like he was just fat before this year and that they’re surprised he could play. I mean, the guy used to be 17 in the world. He finaled at Indian Wells. I feel like the commentators were surprised that he could move, you know. It’s obviously helped him. He’s much quicker and he’s much fitter. He’s playing great right now. He won Newport, he won Atlanta, finaled in Cincinnati. Now he’s in the fourth round here. I think he’s going to play well against Novak [Djokovic]. It’s definitely helped him, but he’s not a different player.”
GREG’S TAKE: Former Canadian-turned-Brit serve-and-volleyer Greg Rusedski told Inside Tennis that he can’t envision more than a top-50 future for 18-year-old American all-courter Ryan Harrison, who reached the second round at the U.S. Open. (Then again, this comes form a guy who, after losing to Pete Sampras at the ’02 U.S. Open, said the Hall of Famer was “not the player he used to be” and would be surprised if he won another match. Days later, Sampras won his 14th Slam.)
A STOLEN HUG: Of his heartfelt gesture after topping Arnaud Clement in five tense sets in the third round, when he turned to all four corners as if to hug each and every Louis Armstrong Stadium fan, Mardy Fish confided, “I stole it from Jonas Bjorkman. I saw him do it at Wimbledon. He was thanking the crowd, thanking the crowd for the help. They pulled me through it.”
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The USTA is heavily promoting QuickStart tennis, the innovative, down-sized system which gets 10-andunder players into tennis using a smaller courts and user-friendly gear. USTA Community Tennis chief Kurt Kamperman said — unlike many other sports (think: Little League baseball, soccer, etc.) — “It took 100 years for us to figure that tennis was sized wrong for kids.”
A FABULOUS LOSS?: Gilles Simon found himself in a win-win situation heading into his third-round matchup with Rafael Nadal. The Frenchman, whose girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy on Sept. 2, said he wouldn’t be crushed if he was sent packing: “If I win, it’s fabulous. And if I lose, it’s even more fabulous.”
NO ‘WHERE’S WALDO’ SYNDROME HERE: Oracene Williams and Richard Williams are easy to spot in the Players Box. Brooklyn Decker sticks out on a crowd, too. So did Martina Hingis‘ mom, Melanie. But James Blake‘s brother, Thomas, may just standout more than anyone. “My brother, he’s usually not one that people miss with that crazy hair, 6-foot-6, dreads halfway down his back,” said James.
WAS THAT A KICK SERVE?: After Nicolas Almagro smacked a ball out of Louis Armstrong Stadium during his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 third-round loss to Sam Querrey (thus receiving a warning from the chair ump Kader Nouni), CBS’ Jim Courier said, “That was the best serve Almagro has hit all day.”
BUT WE ORDERED HALF PEPPERONI, HALF ANCHOVIES…: Italy’s Francesca Schiavone put her unpredictable style in culinary terms, saying, “I can do serve-and-volley, I can play faster, I can play slow and back. Is a mix. It’s like Capricciosa pizza. I don’t give you margherita, I give you Capricciosa, different kind of ingredient.”
IT’S ALL GREEK TO ME: Filip Bondy called Ashe Stadium the “vacation residence of Aeolus the Greek god of swirling winds.”
COLLEGE PRIMER: John Isner said that there was great value in going to college. Caroline Wozniacki said some day she might want to attend Yale and take some business classes.
OLD OUTFITS NEVER DIE, THEY JUST…: Asked what happens to her old outfits, Venus Williams said, “They get retired.” But Williams then revealed that the Wimbledon museum asked her for her “Tina Turner” dress, and the International Tennis Hall of Fame inquired about the controversial “can-can” dress she wore at Roland Garros.
EXCHANGE OF THE DAY:
REPORTER: If Stacey [Gardner] said to you over coffee one morning, ‘Don’t worry, Mardy, you’re going to be one of the hottest players of the summer, reach the fourth round…'”
MARDY FISH: “She did tell me that.”
NEVER A ‘NA-DULL’ MOMENT: While reflecting on Gilles Simon (who’s girlfriend prematurely gave birth to their son), Mary Carillo compared prenatal moments to pre-Nadal moments.
SPANISH GOLD: Mary Carillo said Rafa Nadal‘s incredible young career on all surfaces has been critical to the wide-ranging success of Spanish tennis. Makes sense. Plus John McEnroe said that Nadal’s trip to South Africa just prior to the Spain vs. Netherlands World Cup final played a role in his nation winning for the first time ever. Not sure ’bout that one.
CONDOLENCES: Joan Edwards, the wife of Oakland-based tennis journalist Joel Drucker, passed away on Sept. 2 after losing a long battle to lupus. Edwards, a talented artist, was one of Inside Tennis’ first art directors and met Drucker when the two worked for our publication nearly 30 years ago. Mary Carillo noted that Joan “has earned every tear that has been shed for her, including me.” We send our condolences to Joel and his entire family.
HEADLINES
A LOVE LESSON (for Beatrice Capra‘s 6-0, 6-0 loss to Maria Sharapova)
FISH STAYS AFLOAT
BLONDE ON BLONDE (Maria Sharapova vs. Caroline Wozniacki)
THE NUMBERS
4: Months prior to the U.S. Open that all 140 of its luxury suites were sold out, the earliest ever.
9: Of the 32 men reaching third round of the U.S. Open hailed from Spain. But no Spaniard has won since 1975, which Manuel Orantes topped Jimmy Connors.
QUOTEBOOK
“My time will come. If it won’t come now, it will come tomorrow.” — Caroline Wozniacki
“Seems like everybody is hitting their stride at 30. It’s the new 20.” — Venus Williams
