Archives - Tuesday, August 8, 2006

Can two bucks get any better than this?

Hard to imagine there being a better ticket in town last night. The packed house saw some great tennis.

Philippoussis def Lee 7-6(2),3-6,6-3

Delic def Wessels 3-6,6-4,7-6(8)

Giraldo def Widom 7-6(7), 7-6(4)

Cakl def Washington 6-4,7-6(5)

Rehnquist def Lu 6-4,5-7,6-4

Vico def Smeets 6-2,6-2

Gambill def Zib 6-3,6-4

Baker def Mergea 6-1,6-4

Okun def Lipsky 6-2,6-4

Warburg defeated Kuznetsov 6-4,6-4

Wilson/Witten def Ratiwatana/Ratiwatana 6-2,7-5

Jones/Smeets def Healey/Bourgeois 3-6,6-4,10-6

Really great day of tennis today. In the ranks of the best days in the history here in Broome. Really enjoyable to see Rec Park jammed and full of excitement.

Philippoussis did not disappoint tonight. It is reminiscent of Andy Murray last year in that match against Harsh...

Mark turned it on in the 3rd set after he relaxed.

1st set really it was Lee who impressed. Lee was there to play hard and made it a good one. Lots of quick points. In the second, Mark let the concentration slip and Martin took advantage. Credit there to Lee because he took the opportunity that was given. Mark was disappointed too. It got to him and he let out a yell when he was winning 2-1 in the 3rd, 30-40 Lee serving. The chair gave him a warning for foul language. Mark flipped and immediately called for the supervisor. Poussis apparently needed that moment to focus. He ended up breaking Lee in that game. The level of play had risen. "Scared to hit the ball" Mark said as he was continually searching to step it up. A couple of games later, Mark didn't get to a short ball quick enough and the chair correctly said he hadn't. Mark mentioned a couple of words to the chair, and gave the crowd a big laugh when he smiled looking for a break. He continued to settle down and interact with the crowd a bit and the game responded. He stepped it up, chipping and charging more and showing the crowd some crisp volleys. The decider was a big baseline forehand that Lee couldn't get to.

There happened to be a great match on the other court. Delic and Wessels had a heck of a match. Both players really playing well and it went down to the wire. Wessels had match points, the breaker was a tight one with players coming up with great stuff. At 7-7, Wessels played an aggressive volley beautifully. Both players had aces in that tiebreak. Delic had a rippin' pass on match point. Too good.

That was enough with those matches, but there were more.

-Baker continued his good form and again relatively comfortable getting through. He's in a bad part of the draw though.

-Okun served big to handle Lipsky. The final game was at love with an ace and 3 unreturnable serves.

-Gambill, what about Gambill. Well, as expected (or hoped?), he closed that match kind of textbook.

-Warburg beat Kuznetsov in a tight one. Warburg looked a bit like Huntley, Kuznetsov a bit like Lleyton. Some good baseline rallying in this one. These guys look to be on similar paths, both young ... didn't seem like any huge weapon, just pretty good all around. A key point was a low backhand volley that Kuznetsov couldn't get back over the net and that was the break in the 2nd that sealed it for Warburg.

-Rehnquist looked aggressive in his match with Lu. Jumpy and seemed into it and ready to fight. It went the distance with Bjorn holding on to the lead he had in that 3rd.

-Brian Wilson retired Sunday in qualifying singles, but was back out today and he and partner Witten took out doubs #2 seed, the Ratiwatana brothers.

Organizers brought in extra bleachers for that feature match, and it was needed. The house was jammed and it was entertaining. Just cool to see people appreciating Mark with a nice warm hand, and then Mark signing autographs after the match. Great atmosphere. Makes you want to peak at Thursday, but you can't because tomorrow Gambill is the feature again.