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9/5/09 8:53 AM | Ricky Dimon
Once-retired Taylor Dent continues his comeback to tennis with a heart-stopping five-set win over Ivan Navarro in the second round of the U.S. Open on Friday night. Juan Carlos Ferrero also advances in five.
When Taylor Dent opted for back surgery and retired from tennis in 2007, nobody could have imagined this.
When Dent returned to the sport in 2009, this is surely why he did it.
Adding an improbable chapter to his already amazing story, Dent outlasted Ivan Navarro 6-4, 5-7, 6-7(1), 7-5, 7-6(9) in the second round of the U.S. Open in the midst of a electric Friday night atmosphere on the Grandstand. Dent saved one match point and needed all of four hours and 12 minutes to pull off the inspirational victory.
After splitting two tight sets, Dent lost his way in a third-set tiebreaker to fall behind two sets to one. The 28-year-old American, however, stormed back with an incredible fourth-set performance. He blasted 24 winners, lost a mere five points in six service, and seized one critical break at 5-5 with a scorching backhand pass. That set up a memorable fifth set in which both men held comfortably en route to a rare phenomenon in tennis: the fifth-set tiebreaker.
Dent fell behind an early mini-break at 2-4, but got it back with Navarro serving at 5-3. The sentimental favored promptly took care of his two service points for 6-5, but Navarro saved the first match point of the night with a perfect serve-and-volley. Back and forth the two veterans went, trading spectacular shot after spectacular shot through a classic tiebreaker. Before it finally ended, Dent held three match points (one on his own serve) and Navarro had one (on Dent's serve, which the American thwarted with a serve-and-volley). At long last and to the delight of the Grandstand faithful, Dent capitalized on his fourth chance with a clinching down-the-line backhand pass off a Navarro serve.
In what is perhaps an unprecedented move, Dent--after exchanging a huge with Navarro at the net--promptly grabbed the chair umpire's microphone and told the crowd, "You guys are unbelievable. I love you." Two hand-slapping victory laps around the Grandstand ensued.
All of this after Dent had back surgery just to have a chance at a normal lifestyle in the future? "You can't even imagine these moments when I was lying in bed. I would think of matches and kind of reminisce a little bit. But just experiencing it and living it now is more than I hoped for."
Also pulling out a five-set thriller on Friday was another veteran in Juan Carlos Ferrero. The 24th-seeded Spaniard trailed by two sets and a break before storming back to stun Philipp Petzschner 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Even after recovering to win sets three and four, Ferrero again went behind, this time 4-1 in the fifth. "The Mosquito," however, righted the ship and won the last five games of the match as Petzschner collapsed mentally under the weight of multiple blown leads.
"It was an amazing comeback for me,” said Ferrero. "I played much more consistently beginning in the third set and I stayed strong mentally."
Added Petzschner: "It was a mental breakdown."
Ferrero will take on Gilles Simon in the third round, while Dent will go up against Andy Murray. Simon dispatched Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets on Friday; Murray took care of Paul Capdeville in four.
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Awesome match. It would only be good for tennis if we could get a top-flight serve-and-volleyer back into the mix at the top.
SenorPlaid , 9/5/09 6:13 PM
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Congrats to Taylor on such an emotional win. He is such a nice guy and it's great to see him back playing and winning.
sukhumvit , 9/5/09 1:30 PM