Day 3 at Flushing Meadows promised to be an interesting one. The prospect of Tim Henman’s finale, along with the appearances of Henin, Federer, the Williams sisters, Gonzalez and Nadal to complement a couple of crazy Russians, meant that this was surely the day of the tournament thus far.
No question for first destination of the day – Louis Armstrong for Marat Safin v Frank Dancevic for what looked an interesting match-up.
The mental Russian has recently availed himself of the services of yet another new coach in an attempt to make the most of his incredible talent. It’s a poisoned chalice of a job that has proven beyond the likes of Lungdren, Wilander, Volkov etc and surely a psychologist is more the requirement these days.
I was expecting the usual Safin histrionics, but the only real explosion came from a loud speaker that inexplicably blew up during match point and Dancevic got a first serve out of it and clawed his way back, but the stay of execution was temporary, as Safin took the breaker for a 7-5, 7-6, 7-6 victory.
After a bit of court hopping, it was soon time for the second of the crazy Russians and Dmitry Tursunov’s attempt to finish our Tim’s tour career on Armstrong.
Henman started well, getting a high percentage of first serves in, to the delight of the pro-Tim crowd and I couldn’t resist possibly my final ever wager on a Henman match. I decided to lay a Tursunov 3-0 victory and hoped for one last roar from the Tiger.
It was a bright start from the Brit and the cries of ‘Come on Tim’ were ringing out around Armstrong, as he ghosted in at the net to earn a break point at 4-3. Could he do it? You bet he could – a Tursunov pass went wide and Henman had the chance to serve for the set.
Typically though, Tim started with a double fault, but improved to earn a set point and my cash was almost earned. The Russian snuffed it out and then came up with an amazing pass to earn a break point. I’ll miss this kind of drama when Tim goes, I’m sure. Back to deuce and a big serve gave Tim another set point. This time surely? Yeeess!! Great volley and I’m in profit for once on a Henman match.
Of course, he lost the second set by 6-3, but he came roaring back in the third to go an early break up, before Tursunov broke back immediately. This was turning out to be much more competitive than many people thought and Henman earned himself another break, with the help of some dodgy serving by Tursunov and he served it out for a two sets to one lead.
Tursunov was rattled by some vintage Henman play and they traded breaks in the fourth before Tim took at 5-3 lead. We’ve been here many times over the years with Henman, but would this time be different? Remarkably, yes and he served it out comfortably for a stunning victory.
No time for celebration though, as I nipped over to Court 13 to see Fernando Gonzalez in trouble against Teimuraz Gabashvili, down by a set and a break and looking on his way out. Indeed, he lost the second set to the Russian, despite a vociferous band of Chilean supporters cheering him on.
Anyone familiar with Gabashvili will know that he’s not the most handsome of men and bears more than a passing resemblance to 70’s comedy legend, Marty Feldman. The joke appeared to be on Gonzalez though, until he cranked up that big forehand and took the third set with the aid of a very dubious line call that didn’t exactly have Gabashvili rolling in the aisles. It then turned into a classic, with the Russian having the last laugh - coming through in five hugely entertaining sets.
No respite for me though and I was in danger of contracting DVT due to the fact that I hadn’t moved from the sofa for about six hours, with still another four to go, but I had Serena Williams to watch next and then Federer.
Williams won comfortably, without hitting top gear. The best moment of that match was when a disheartened Maria Elena Camerin, after failing to reach a drop shot, executed a perfect right-footed volley, narrowly missing an incredulous Williams.
As for Federer, well he entered the building dressed from head to toe in all black, a la Mike Tyson and 23 minutes later, it was first set done, curtains for Capdeville and bedtime for me.
So, not a bad day betting-wise - a nice bit of trading on Gaba v Gonzo put me in profit and I needed it after yesterday's disaster.
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