AN L.A. FAN FALLS FOR THE LITTLE MAN WITH THE BIG HEART
By Josh Gajewski
LOS ANGELES – The night before, a pretty, twenty-something brunette watched anxiously from her baseline seat. Her hands were clasped tightly because she was nervous, or because she was cold, and a blanket covered her lap, knees bouncing underneath.
And then, all at once, Emily Moore jumped, screamed, the blanket unfurling. “YYYYYEAAAAAH! WAY TO GO, MICHAAAAAAEL!”
Michael Russell, a small, aging tennis player who may never know the feeling of lifting an ATP winner’s trophy – in 14 years he’s never won a pro tournament – had just won the first set of his match. His opponent? Benoit Paire, who was the very thing Michael Russell never was, nor will be – the wunderkind; a towering, powerful, built-for-tennis phenom blessed with a ferocious backhand among other things – fuller hair, younger legs, and at the age of 22, a lot more time to fulfill his limitless potential.
And the brunette? Surely, we thought, she was a friend of Russell’s. A relative. Maybe even the wife? After all, she was the only one in her section who stood.
And so we asked – friend of Russell’s?
“Nope,” she said, and smiled. “He’s just my favorite player.”
Michael Russell?
“Yeah,” she said. “I get that, though. I mean, usually at Indian Wells, I cheer so much that everyone thinks I’m his girlfriend. Every time. There’s usually like 10 people that will come up and ask me that after the match, because there I always sit front row.”
And again we asked… Michael Russell?
“What I’ve always loved so much about him,” she explained, “is that he grinds for every point. And the fact that he’s 5-8, I mean, that’s tiny. So for every step these other guys take, he has to take about six.”
Small exaggeration, the last part. But watching Russell against the 6-5 Paire, it actually wasn’t too much of a stretch. Where Paire glided, Russell scrambled. And where the young man bombed those backhands, the old man simply battled, and to no end. Or until there finally was one: 7-5, 6-4 Russell.
The evening even concluded with a TV interview – and rarely does Russell get to play in front of a national audience – that would be beamed back home to his wife and parents, who’ve supported Russell for so long both financially and emotionally. And on TV, Tennis Channel’s Jimmy Arias noted that Russell might actually be playing the most consistent tennis of his career – and at the ripe old age of 34. “That’s just a number, Jimmy,” the little guy quipped with a smile. “Maybe it just took me 14 years to get comfortable on tour.”
This was one of the good days, the kind of day that made the previous 14 years of travel, ice bags and a slew of losses worth it.
The next day? Well, that’s the other side of Michael Russell’s tale. With a chance to make it to the semifinals and an even bigger TV audience on ESPN2, Michael Russell found himself face down on the court, a physical trainer rubbing his back. Russell had just lost the first set of his quarterfinal to Marinko Matosevic – yet another younger man with a bigger game – and needed a medical timeout because his back – like so many of his body parts at one time or another – had failed him.
As always, though, Russell got up. He played the second set, fought valiantly despite the bad back, but ultimately fell, 6-2, 6-3. Afterwards, he withdrew from his doubles match, the pain in his back too much to take. This was one of the bad days. And Michael Russell left the tournament, probably straight for the next.
“There are a lot of ups and downs with tennis,” Russell had said the night before, “and it’s always easy when you’re in the ups. When you’re in the downs is when it really matters. (But) I’ve always believed in my game, you know?”
We know …;
