Court 18, my favorite court at Wimbledon (other than Centre Court), is a short walk from the press center here on the grounds. What's so splendid about it? First and foremost, it's cozy (capacity 782, a more than a third of Court 2). It also has a lot of perches that other courts do not have. You can sit high up in the bleachers in the rear. You can sit at court level, where you'll find yourself a few feet from the players. If you have a press credential, you can watch from the roof deck of the broadcast center, which overlooks the court from the opposite side of the bleachers, or from the large glass window inside the ESPN studio, which gives you the feeling that you are hanging over the side of the court near the service line (though you're not).
As Marcos Baghdatis and Feliciano Lopez finished the fourth set of their fourth round match yesterday, I took in a few points from the roof and then found a seat in the corner near Baghdatis' new coach, Peter Lundgren, the former coach of Roger Federer and Marat Safin and (more significantly, at least for me) the man who lost the first live tennis match I saw in my life (the 1989 final at the Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, courtesy of my older brother Mike; in case you're wondering, Jim Pugh won the title).
In the afternoon, the left side of the court (picture the chair umpire on your left) is draped in shade, perfect for the fans but not very good for the left-handed Lopez, who had trouble with the sun when serving from that side of the net (he kept checking it and occasionally practiced his toss). Anytime Lopez plays, a disruption to his serve could be fatal (he hit 25 aces in all, including four in the fourth set tiebreak). It's far and away the best stroke he has.
Lopez cruised along in the fifth set until he served at 4-5; this is where he showed me a side I haven't seen before, and one I wish I would see form him more often. Baghdatis put Lopez in a 0-40 hole with a few fine shots. There Lopez stood, facing triple match point, serving into the sun, and up against the conclusion of the tournament best suited to his game. Lopez served two bombs to bring him within a point of deuce, but then missed his first serve. His tournament on the line, Lopez did what no one--least of all Baghdatis and Lundgren--expected him to do. The Spaniard tossed up the ball for a second serve and just let it ride. Thwack! A 117 mph slice ace into the backhand corner. Lopez smashed a forehand approach shot on the next point and ended the game with 138 mph service winner up the middle, punctuated by a booming "Vamos!" Lundgren slowly bowed his head and after sitting silently for about ten seconds, said to himself, "Unbelievable."
Gutsy, too. It's one thing for Lopez to go for broke against Federer at the U.S. Open (he won a set last year) when he has nothing to lose, but to do it in a match that he knows he can win, in a fifth set, after saving two match points--well, that's something else entirely. Logically, it was the best choice: his serve is his weapon, so he might as well try to win with it (and accept losing because of it). But this was the time in a match where one's body often doesn't do what's logical, even when asked. Three games later, when Baghdatis faced double break point on his serve, he played a tentative rally. This time, Lopez wisely looped the ball to the baseline. He had everything to gain and nothing to lose, so why bet it all? Baghdatis hit a tentative forehand wide to give Lopez the lead. The Spaniard surprised Baghdatis with another second serve ace at 30-15 in the next game (perfect time for that 116 mph flat bomb down the middle) and ended the match with another thumper (a service winner 123 mph). When he fell to the court (see above) he collapsed limply, as if someone had just unplugged him from an electrical outlet (is Feliciano Lopez a robot? Sounds like an investigation for the folks at The Onion, the worldwide leader in news about Spanish tennis players).
Lundgren consoled Baghdatis' mother after the match.
"He can serve an ace on his second serve as hard as he can hit it?" Lundgren said. "What can you do? [Marcos] got unlucky."
I can see Lundgren's point, but Baghdatis' bad luck arose only because Lopez had the courage to gamble more. Perhaps he was emboldened by Spain's Euro Cup victory and the dream that this is Spain's year. There are, after all, two Spaniards in the quarterfinals, along with perhaps two Frenchman (shock of shocks, Arnaud Clement, and maybe Richard Gasquet, unless Andy Murray continues to wave the magic wand he waived in the third set) and a German (31-year-old Rainer Schuettler, shock of shocks of shocks of shocks, ad infinitum). Will they be mere foils for Federer and Nadal, or real threats?
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
