A point here and a point there

By JEFFREY DUNHAM
Aug 7, 10:43 pm EDT

Having already had some success on this year's Challenger Circuit, unseeded No. 194 ranked Rajeev Ram knows all too well that intangibles often make the difference in a tennis match.

"It came down to the execution of my shots. In a match like this, it's really a point here or a point there," concluded Ram following his 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) defeat of fellow American Todd Widom this afternoon at the LG&T Tennis Challenger.

Ram won the Winnetka Challenger in June and was a quarterfinalist in Dallas back in January. He lost in the first round in the ATP Masters Series Cincinnati last month, dropping a close 6-7(5), 4-6 match to Frenchman Gilles Simon, who defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer the previous week in Toronto. Ram got into Cincinnati only as a lucky loser. The differences can truly be subtle at this level of competition.

In today's second round match, Ram was cleanly striking his one-handed backhand during Widom's first service game, providing a refreshing and stark contrast to the multitude of two-handed backhands seen this week. The contest went back and forth between the two, often ending on a winning volley by Ram. A long point with a couple of drop shots, forehand drives, and a net cord allowed Ram to keep the momentum in set three long enough to edge Widom in the tiebreak.

The most dramatic and exciting match of the day was the often furious battle between Serbian No. 2 seed Ilia Bozoljac and unseeded American Brendan Evans before a crowd of about 150 people. Bozoljac was challenging the chair umpire with the pronunciation of his name before the match even began, and the contentious atmosphere continued right to the end almost two hours later. The flashy and entertaining Bozoljac, who is right-handed, hits with two hands off both sides, with his backhand actually proving to be a more punishing shot. He occasionally runs around his forehand to strike a backhand, a rarity on the professional tour.

Bolzojac's antics had Evans talking to himself at the baseline.

"Don't even tell me to go to the backhand," muttered Evans.

Evans rifled a forehand directly at Bozoljac, who was crowding the net, while serving at 5-6 in the first set. This drew a long glare from Bozoljac, and one got the feeling that this match was getting personal. Bozoljac would go on to win the first set 6-4.

Bolzoljac took an injury timeout for an apparent foot problem to begin the second set. Evans proved to be adept at hitting behind the athletic Bozoljac, and Bozoljac compounded his problems in the second set by double faulting to go down 0-30 in his first service game. A disputed call on a forehand down the line by Bozoljac gave Evans the break for 2-1, eliciting a primal scream from Bozoljac. From this point on, Evans seemed to calmly cruise through the rest of the match, while Bozoljac was often left sprawling on the court when wrong-footed by Evans, his foot obviously hampering his movement.

The evening's feature match between Australian No. 7 seed Carsten Ball and American qualifier Chris Klingemann was evenly contested in the first set. Ball displayed some good reflex volleys, and was especially effective at the net on the forehand side. Klingemann often looked to take advantage of Ball's backhand, but Ball's frequent changes of pace proved an effective response to this strategy. Initially, Ball seemed to be going for a bit too much with his shots, but eventually he reigned himself in enough to claim the first set in a tiebreak.

In other matches, Italian qualifier Luigi D'Agord continued his impressive run through the tournament with a 6-4, 7-6(9) victory over Czech No. 3 seed Lukas Rosol. While the extended tiebreak proved to be "a little hairy," to use D'Agord's words, the win was comfortable enough to give the young Bahamas-born Italian citizen some confidence.

Two of the three doubles matches played today had decidedly lopsided results. Evans and Great Britain's Ken Skupski routed the American duo consisting of former LG&T singles champion Scott Oudsema and Jesse Witten 6-3, 6-1. Similarly, the Czech duo of Tomas Zib and Lukas Dlouhy ousted Americans Marcus Fugate and Rylan Rizza in short order by a score of 6-1, 6-0. The fortunate and surprising teenage duo of promising Serbian Nebojsa Peric and American Anthony Assal finally saw their run come to an end with a 6-7(3), 3-6 defeat at the hands of Luis Manuel Flores of Mexico and American Brad Pomeroy.

The length of today's singles matches prevented juggler extraordinaire Will Stafford from giving his full show on center court this afternoon. However, he entertained spectators outside the gates with his combination of unicycle riding and juggling of flaming sticks.

"Don't try this at home," urged Stafford while in the midst of juggling some knives with sharp points.

The quarterfinals all being set, tomorrow's matches will begin with No. 1 seed Paul Capdeville taking on American Jesse Witten and conclude with American Travis Helgeson vs. 2006 finalist Lukas Lacko of Slovakia.