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From the French Open to Philadelphia: Tennis and Red Brick Dust

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 29 May 2010 12:41:10 +0000

I’ve been updating this blog more infrequently than I’d like over the past few months, in part because of a new job but also due to the distraction of a major renovation of our row house in Philadelphia. I didn’t think this project — tearing down and rebuilding the brick three-story front of a 103-year-old row home — had anything in common with the French Open until I began thinking about the “terre battue,” the surface of the courts at Roland Garros. (Terre battue’s translation is “beaten earth or ground.”) Of what does the red clay in Paris consist? Crushed red brick. What have we had all over our street and in the front rooms of our house for the past month? Busted red bricks, and more than a century of dust.

The good news is that the work is almost complete – a few finishing touches, and it will be done. The TV is back in place, and those matches on the red clay of Paris are beaming into our living room once again. And although it was a total coincidence, the new bricks have a very similar orange color to the red clay of European tennis courts. It must have been my subconscious at work when we selected the brick.

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A Nod to Jimmy C — Courier, that is…Two-Time French Open Champ

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 23 May 2010 12:32:06 +0000

Jim Courier often does not get his due when American tennis players are discussed, but he is the only one to win two French Opens (‘91, ‘92) since pros started playing Grand Slams 42 years ago. And he is one of only three Americans in history to win the tournament twice (the others being Frank Parker ‘48, ‘49 and Tony Trabert ‘54, ‘55).

Courier played at the same time Sampras was on the way to winning 14 slams and Andre Agassi fashioned mullet hairpieces and wore flashy clothes and often played brilliantly, so he was overshadowed and outglitzed. But he won something twice that McEnroe, Connors and Sampras never won even once.

Courier continues to battle on the Champions tour, and has a lot to say on his blog about this year’s French Open. He also is the best of the young former players turned commentators I’ve heard, and I hope he’ll end up in the booth more often in the future. And I hope that the American tennis establishment will remember and make a big deal of recognizing Courier next year on the 20th anniversary of his first French Open championship.

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The Red Dirt of the Mediterranean Spring

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:27:38 +0000

On mornings the past few weeks before work I’ve flipped on the Tennis Channel with breakfast, watching the ATP matches on red clay from Monte Carlo, Barcelona and this past week Rome, perhaps the best time of year for the tennis tour as long as you don’t mind that there aren’t any American competitors deep in the draw. (Although John Isner and Sam Querrey beat the great Roger Federer and Yves Allegro in doubles in Rome yesterday; they took my advice and hit the ball to Allegro.)

Soon the tour will move on to Madrid and then onto Paris, like some modern day Hemingway trail of tennis battled across red dirt courts. I can’t help thinking I’ve lived my life all wrong, watching this from a Philadelphia rowhouse, having to leave for work when the matches are just getting interesting. Next life I’m going to learn Spanish and Italian and finagle some sort of job related to pro tennis, or maybe reincarnation will come with a better backhand. Or maybe, just maybe, a novel about tennis I recently finished, entitled Red Dirt, will sell and I’ll get invited over there — and could even afford to go.

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Around the Net Post — The Hole-in-One of Tennis

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:25:30 +0000

Let me set the scene for you: Weekly doubles match, indoors, Court 3, under a bubble covering four clay courts. In the very first game I was struggling to hold serve when Anthony Pozzi, a good friend and lefty opponent possessing a devastating drop-overhead volley (yes, it doesn’t seem possible but it is — a dropper from the overhead position), hit an overhead backhand parallel to the net, bound for Court 4, an almost sure putaway. But after a long winter of doubles against him, I anticipated this move and sprinted diagonally toward the space between the net posts of the two courts, my eyes wide and wild with the distinct possibility of hitting a forehand winner around the net … Of course, I’m not Roger Federer, not even close. I missed the shot, running smack into the Court 4 net post, scraping up my right hand and bruising my left thigh, not to mention getting tangled in the netting separating the two courts. They broke my serve, and we went on to lose the match. I am certain if I had nailed the ball around the net posts that we would have gone on to win. At least I didn’t hurt myself seriously — James Blake broke his neck in 2004 in a net-post collision.

This foolish attempt of mine was another failed moment in a lifelong effort to hit a ball around the net post, the rare shot that is equivalent to golf’s elusive hole-in-one. I did it once in practice in high school, but that was a long time ago, and not during a match. I almost hit one in a 4.5 USTA league doubles match a few years ago, aided by the fact that the net on the adjacent court was down, providing ample space, but I still missed the shot. According to Patrick McEnroe’s commentary in this fantastic compilation video of Federer’s around the net post shots, an ATP player might hit a shot around the next post six times in their career. Me, I’ll be happy with one … Most likely, however, I’ll settle for none.

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Gambling and Pro Tennis — The Human Dog Track of the Future

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:01:00 +0000

I doubt most readers of this blog have been to an American dog track, where greyhounds run a frantic loop chasing an electronic rabbit that scoots along the rail. In Sarasota, Fla., the announcer starts each race with a fevered, “Here comes lucky!” the dogs take off, and hundreds if not thousands of fans hold their tickets and cheer and yell and then most tear them in half and curse.

I worry that professional tennis may soon become the dog tracks of the future, where gambling on the sport is the driving source of revenue. I also worry that it will become as crooked as boxing is known to be, and that many of the matches are corrupted by players willing to hit enough bad shots to lose when they could have won. I think it will be any day now when tennis suffers a match-fixing scandal of the highest order, similar to baseball’s famed Shoeless Joe Jackson/Chicago Black Sox fix of the 1919 World Series or college basketball’s 1951 point-shaving scheme.

I know I sound alarmist here, but two things have prompted me to say this. The first is the solicitations I’ve received for my blog. I do not get tremendous traffic, seeing just shy of 10,000 unique visitors in 2009, but in spite of that, I have been contacted three or four times recently by web sites who compliment me on the quality of the writing, and then ask for a link exchange with a site that purports to be a tennis blog or news page. One even offered to pay me. When I visit their pages, I find they are simply betting sites, and are hosted in spots all over the globe, including New Zealand the Czech Republic. The bets offered don’t include simply Grand Slams or ATP events, but the opportunity to gamble on Challenger events in places like Lexington, Ky., or Biloxi, Miss., where players well out of the top 100 compete. How hard do you think it might be to get a player who has never earned more than $100,000 in one year (and remember, that’s before their expenses of traveling, training, etc.), to throw a match for a bag of cash? All you need is one desperate player.

The second is, that in spite of the obvious risk of match fixing, gambling gets the endorsement of some of the cornerstone organizations in the game. The Australian Open is even sponsored by a London-based gambling web site, a recent report in The New York Times said. Not only are they a sponsor, the more money bet, the more money the Australian Open makes, as the article by Joe Drape reported: ”[The gambling site I refuse to name here] pays Tennis Australia a share of revenue from wagers on matches during the tournament. ‘“We’re not opposed to gambling,” said Steve Ayles, a spokesman for the Australian Open. “It is part of our Australian culture and it is widely accepted.”’

Tennis organizations have created a lofty sounding “Tennis Integrity Unit,” and a study found 45 matches that caused suspicions. But in the biggest suspected case, Nikolai Davydenko was cleared, despite that “the ATP acknowledged that its investigators were unable to review the phone records of Davydenko’s wife and brother, which were first withheld and then destroyed” the Times reported. We clearly can’t expect much investigative savvy from an organization that believed Andre Agassi’s excuse for testing positive for crystal meth was that he sipped a friend’s drink, or Richard Gasquet’s recent claim that he didn’t do cocaine, he only kissed a woman who had been, causing him to test positive. The ATP is predisposed to believing the falling down drunk who runs his car into a telphone pole and claims, “I only had two beers.”

Even with crack investigative work, I don’t know if match fixing can really be stopped. I love following tennis and other sports because of the unscripted nature of it, of the possibility that anybody, even someone ranked 900 in the world could beat a favorite, as unlikely as that might be. But with the growth of gambling, I will wonder. Was the upset I saw real, or did the favorite just need the money? With the multinational flavor of tennis, tracking the exchange of currencies across the globe and through many tongues is almost impossible.

I don’t know what can be done, if anything, to stop it. But tennis organizations, especially prestigious Grand Slam events like the Australian Open, need to eschew any connection to gambling. But in Australia, much like the bets on a dog race, a portion of the bets made go the house. And the house always wins, and the dogs always lose.

In this case, tennis fans, the dogs are us.

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James! — Blake Falls in Yet Another Heartbreaker

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:12:49 +0000

I feel like I’ve been watching James Blake lose tough matches all of my life, from the five-set defeat to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2001 U.S. Open to the brilliant fifth-set tiebreaker agaisnt Agassi in 2005 to his defeat to Fernando Gonzalez in Bejing that cost him an 2008 Olympic medal to early this morning in Australia against Del Potro. I flipped on the TV shortly after 5 a.m. this morning to see him go up 7-6 in the fifth. James! I yelled, ecstatic, happy to see him pushing the big Argentine, and believing he could win. But Del Potro hung tough and the next James! out of my mouth was the more familiar, the “Oh no, why did you do that?” way of saying it, the way you might question a close relative about a choice you find dubious. In the final games, Blake hit some brilliant winners, but made a few more mistakes, and Del Potro got the better of him and broke him at 8-all, and then served it out. Another five-set loss for Blake, who at the age of 30 has seen his ranking fall all the way to 45, needed this one more than ever. It could have been a huge boost for him to move back up the rankings.

Blake is now 4-13 in five set matches over his career. I do remember him winning a key four-set match in the Davis Cup 2007 final against Mikhail Youzhny that helped to seal the championship for the U.S., and the next spring he came back from match points against him to beat Paul Henri-Mathieu in five sets in the U.S. – Franch Davis Cup 2008 quarterfinal. He has won some big wons, just not in the Grand Slams. Also, more importantly, Blake has been a gentlemen in the losses, and today hugged Del Potro and congratulated him after the match. While it’s painful, there’s certainly no shame in losing in five sets at this level against the No. 4 seed, nine years your junior. Good effort, James. I’ll be pulling for you in that next fifth set.

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An Unlikely American in Australian Open: Hopes for a Great Hurrah for Michael Russell

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:41:51 +0000

I’ll never forget watching Michael Russell against then No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the fourth round of the 2001 French Open. Russell, a qualifer then ranked 122 in the world, won the first two sets and was up 5-2, and held a match point but couldn’t close it out. He lost in five sets, and Kuerten went on to win his second French Open, defending his championship from the previous year. I wonder how Russell’s career would have been different if he had won one more point, and moved into the quarters.

Russell, who turned 32 on Jan. 5, has held an ATP ranking since 1995, mostly out of the top 100, and often far below. He has been as high as 60 in the world, reaching that mark in 2007. He recently climbed back into the top 100, and stands at 90, although he was 79 in October after winning a challenger event. He has a tough draw, going up against No. 4 Juan Martin Del Potro on the first day of the Aussie Open. (On a side note, U.S. Davis Cup Patrick McEnroe should consider giving him a shot against Serbia in March on the clay there — it’s his best surface, and without Roddick and Blake, the U.S. goes into Serbia very thin.)

Journeyman is a term often used for players like Russell, meaning they’ve traveled the world but have never been able to crack the top ranks of the game. I’m sure you’ll heard it bandied about if his match get much air time (It probably will, since he’s playing Del Potro — they are the third match on the Hisense Arena on day one). But the determination of a player like Russell who has fought 17 years on the tour should not be under-appreciated. No media ever covers these guys, but they continue fighting into their thirties. Russell, by the way, has outlasted Kuerten, who retired in 2007.

I keep hoping for a Rocky-like character to emerge from American tennis, and tonight, I’m pulling for Mike. (Check out his Facebook page if you want to cheer him on.)

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Wild Cards and Qualifyings: Filling Out the U.S. Open Men’s Draw

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 01:41:39 +0000

If you are one of the rare men’s tennis fans who care about those outside of the Big Four and believe that tennis is about more than selling Rolex watches, the weeks leading up to the first round of the U.S. Open hold serious intrigue. For the first time in about seven years, the NCAA college champion has received a wild card entry into the U.S Open. (The USTA recently has snubbed foreign-born NCAA champions, including two-time chap Somdev Devvarman of the University of Virginia.)

This year, the 2009 NCAA singles champion Devin Britton of the University of Mississippi is in, as are Taylor Dent, Jesse Levine and the Kalamazoo champion and others. I’m hoping that the USTA will let Britton blog about the experience, as he did in Wimbledon. He critiqued London movie theater concessions, raving about the candy selection with this line: “Solid effort from the English.” I can’t wait to hear what he has to say about New York. For a great piece about him, check out Peter Bodo’s profile, Rod Laver Don’t Fish. Britton is the next great hope to bring back the serve-and-volley game. I’m happy to see a fellow southerner charging the net, and hope he goes deep.

Jordan Cox got a late entry into the qualies on Monday and will have to win his way into main draw. Cox, who turned both 17 and professional this summer, beat Britton in their epic semifinal 16-14 third set in Wimbledon.

The USTA also announced qualies wild card in last week’s press release: “Players receiving US Open qualifying wild cards are: Lester Cook (25, Sherman Oaks, Calif.), 2008 US Open boys’ singles champion Grigor Dimitrov (18, Bulgaria), Alexander Domijan (17, Wesley Chapel, Fla.), Ryan Harrison (17, Bradenton, Fla.), Scoville Jenkins (turns 23 on Sunday, Atlanta), 2009 USTA Boys’ 18s runner-up Ryan Lipman (18, Nashville, Tenn.), Tim Smyczek (21, Milwaukee, Wis.), Blake Strode (22, St. Louis) and Michael Venus (21, Orlando, Fla.). Strode and Venus are both members of the 2009 USTA Summer Collegiate Team.”

The qualifying tournament starts on Tuesday. If you are within striking distance of New York and can get to Flushing Meadows, it is very much worth checking out. You’ll see world class tennis for free, and won’t have to wait in the obscene U.S. Open lines. Here’s the blurb from the tournament, and check back on this link for the draw, which was not up yet as of Sunday night: “If you can’t wait for the US Open to begin, you can get a head start on the action by coming out for the US Open Qualifying Tournament-one of the largest tennis tournaments in the U.S.-with $1million in prize money. It’s held free to the public from Tuesday, August 25, to Friday, August 28, and consists of 128 men and 128 women competing for the final 32 entries (16 men and 16 women) in the 2009 US Open singles draws. Check back soon for qualifying scores and results.”

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Roddick Falls Just Short in Rogers Cup

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:27:55 +0000

Andy Roddick lost to Juan Martin Del Potro for the second time in six days, but still leaves Montreal with a strong showing, and promising play going toward the U.S. Open. I was there when Roddick beat Verdasco on Thursday, and also saw Nadal’s return this week, as well as Andy Murray and Del Potro in action. Click here for a slideshow of my photos – I’ll be adding more shots tomorrow.

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Lukoil Open Battle of the Samuels: Years Are Against Me Despite My Indirect Wins Over Pete Sampras, McEnroe and Bjorn Borg

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:45:26 +0000

The draw is up for the Lukoil Open, and the years and statistics are against me. I play Samuel Sherrill from Southborough, Mass., a recent number one player for Roanoke College in Salem, Va., in the first round at 3 p.m. Friday. So I’m giving away about twenty years, but will give it a shot. He could always get stuck in traffic, or get lost on the way to the Green Valley Tennis Club. I know how to find my home courts with ease.

I also play against him in doubles. He’s teamed with Franklin Sherrill, whom I assume is his brother, who has played on the Futures tour. Franklin Sherrill last year was part of a team that won the USTA National Open Grass Court championship, so my buddy Jim Lewis and I might be in some trouble.

However, the Sherrills probably don’t know that Jim and I have some claim to fame that happened long before they were born. Jim and his mother reached the semifinals of the Charleston (W.Va.) Public Courts Mixed Doubles Championships circa 1977 despite Jim playing with a cast on an arm he broke while goofing around in the parking lot during a rain delay, a feat worthy of the front-page newspaper coverage he received.

That very same summer I beat Al Parker in a doubles match in Savannah, Ga., when he was eight and I was ten. Parker went on to win 25 junior national championships in singles and doubles, a record that will never be touched. Eight years after my win over him he beat none other than Pete Sampras in straight sets, giving me an indirect win over Sampras. Sampras beat McEnroe in the 1990 U.S. Open, giving me indirect wins over Borg, and just about any player in history if I chart it out far enough. So look out, Sammy Sherrill.

Check back Friday night to see if I was able to win any games or not, and you can follow the results on the tournament page.

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