Ricky Dimon

• The greatest road trip in sports: D.C. Day 1

  2008-08-12 19:12:45
  

  Tennistalk’s Ricky Dimon is on stop two of three of his trip through the U.S. Open Series, billed as “The Greatest Road Trip in Sports.” This week he is blogging live from the Legg Mason Classic in Washington D.C.
  
  Another great event and another great day of tennis, although this tournament is nothing like the other three that I attend or have attended. First of all, it's not a Grand Slam. It's not even a Masters Series. The bad news about that is there are fewer players, little action the practice courts, and most importantly only match courts, Center Court, the Grandstand, and Court 1. The good news is that 1) it is much less crowded and 2) ushers (at least so far) don't even check tickets for the court-side boxes, I guess because the tournament just isn't that prestigious and the crowds aren't packed. Contrast that with Arthur Ashe Stadium at the U.S. Open, where they sometimes check tickets where binoculars are required just to find out who is playing.
  
  I arrived well before matches started at 4:00 so I headed out to the practice courts where Tommy Haas was getting ready for his match against Rik De Voest. Unlike at a Grand Slam or Masters Series, Haas is one of the biggest attractions here (probably third behind Andy Roddick and Marat Safin, and maybe last year's Legg Mason sensation John Isner). Not surprisingly, however, his practice court was far from a mob scene.
  
  Then it was time for the first match of the day and the match I was most excited about: Somdev Devvarman vs. Taylor Dent. Devvarman, who recently left UV to go pro, is the 2007 and 2008 NCAA singles champion (he beat Isner on Isner's home turf of UGA in 2007). He went undefeated in his first four professional tournaments post college life, winning Futures events in Florida, New York, and Pennsylvania, and a Challenger event in Kentucky. He also had to win three qualifying matches over the weekend just to get in the main draw, so to say Somdev is on fire would be an understatement. Dent, meanwhile, was forced into semi-retirement by recurring back problems and he did not play a single ATP match over a span of exactly two years, three months, and one week. Once ranked as high as No. 21 in the world back in August of 2005, Dent is just now coming back to professional tennis. While it is a fan-friendly first-round showdown, it's kind of shame they are meeting this early because I would be rooting for both Dent and Devvarman to go deep in this tournament.
  
  I headed up to see what the view from the press box was like and while it is as high as you can get in the stadium, it's actually a great seat: right in the middle of the baseline and perfectly overlooking both the Grandstand and Court 1. After the first set, though, I moved down low into a box for better viewing and photos.
  
  The match definitely lived up to expectations, especially considering Somdev was looking for his first-ever ATP win while Dent barely plays tennis anymore. Somdev won the first set in a tiebreaker, but Dent (surprisingly) fought back and dominated the second. As expected (since Somdev is so match-tough at the moment having played more matches over the last two days than Dent has played in two years), Somdev caught fire and wore Dent down to win easily in the third. He hit almost every single return right at Dent's feet and that allowed for easy passing shots. And Somdev's speed consistently put a what-do-I-have-to-do-to-win-a-point look on Dent's face throughout the final set. All in all: stellar showings from both men.
  
  Haas and De Voest were next up so I stayed down low in the stadium for that match. I had never seen De Voest play and his scrambling and counter-punching game was impressive. He even took the second set off the heavily-favored German, but Haas was near-flawless in the third and dominated. I went to Haas' press conference after the match and he definitely gives a good interview; or he was just in a good mood after the win. I asked him if he is following the Olympics and if he has any regrets about not being there. He said he does really enjoy following on the internet, either via live scores or live feeds of matches. As for second thoughts about not playing, he has none because he won Silver in 2000 (Sydney, Australia) so he can "just sit back and relax at home and look at mine all the time if I want to." Interestingly, Haas absolutely LOVES the bronze medal match. Absolutely LOVES it. He went on and on about how excited he is to watch it because he thinks it is the most pressure match in all of tennis. "Either you win a medal, or nothing," he said. "Fourth place: you want to shoot yourself."
  
  Then came the second most anticipated match of the day between Isner and No. 8 seed Marcel Granollers. On hard courts it's a match Isner should definitely win, but since there are so few breaks of serve and so many tiebreakers in most of his matches, anything can happen. Two tiebreakers were what ended up happening, after Isner took the first set 6-3. Granollers won the second and then seized the first break (seemingly a match-clinching break) of the third set with Isner serving at 5-5. But just as he did against Gael Monfils in last year's semifinals (his fifth straight win in a third-set tiebreaker), Isner broke back to force a tiebreaker and dominated the rest of the way. 2007 all over again. Unbelievable.
  
  I started watching the match from the press box since Bobby Reynolds and Marc Gicquel were going to a third set on the Grandstand. Able to keep an eye on both courts, I saw Reynolds prevail 6-4. Then I moved down low for Isner.
  
  Obviously I was not about to miss Isner's press conference. First I asked him if he immediately started thinking about the Monfils match when he got broken at 5-5 in the third set. He said right at that moment he wasn't really thinking about it but he recalled how similar the circumstances were: got broken on the same side of the court, came back to "dominate" the tiebreaker each time. After a few more questions and responses--including a comment that Isner is "not going to invite those drunk idiots (his friends who cheered him on to last year's final) until I make it a lot deeper in the tournament"--I asked him if he has been following Somdev's incredible progress and what he thinks about Somdev's potential. He said he has definitely been keeping track of Somdev's results and compared how similar their stories are, including winning the Lexington Challenger event right out of college (Isner last year, Somdev this year). He added that Somdev "never gets tired" (very true) and "will be up to where I'm at (in the ATP rankings) in no time; that's for sure."
  
  After the press conference I headed back over to Center Court for the last match of the day between Donald Young and Luis Horna. Even though Young is just 18 years old, it's fair to say he start of his pro career has been a struggle so I really wanted to see him get a win (especially after watching him get blown out by Monfils in the Cincinnati first round). I got there after Young won the first set 6-3, but since it was already after 11:00 (because the first three matches all went three sets) the crowd was sparse and I planted myself in one of the many available front-row seats. Young played really well as Horna imploded, and he took the second set--and the match--6-1.
  
  That's all for Day 1! Day 2 will feature big names in Mardy Fish, Marat Safin, and Andy Roddick.

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