Peter Bodo's TennisWorld - Can't Go Backwards

Home About Peter Bodo Contact

RSS

Follow on Twitter

Categories Archive

Can't Go Backwards	09/01/2009 - 4:38 PM

by Andrew Friedman, TW Contributing Writer

Hi, all. As he mentioned earlier, Pete is rolling in later than usual this afternoon, and made my day by asking me if I’d throw up a guest post in his absence. In truth, I was secretly worried about how I’d pull this off while also tracking qualifiers for a story I’m working on for TENNIS magazine. Fortunately, my two commitments collided in the form of an unheralded, sponsor-less, twenty-six-year old American qualifier named Jesse Witten, who took out Russian Igor Andreev (seeded 29th) in straight sets on Court 7 early this afternoon.

I’ll be honest: in looking for potential qualifiers to track last week, I had overlooked Witten. When I first saw him playing, I actually did a double take. Because Witten isn't built like a tennis player. He weighs in at 5’10” and a stocky 180 pounds; the two times I've seen him here he was wearing an ill-fitting white t-shirt and baggy black shorts that hang down to his knees. What leg is visible is massively thick, and the cherry on top of this incongruous package is his quasi-crew cut. I would describe him as a running back, but ESPN’s Bonnie Ford got closer to the mark when she observed, “He looks like a rugby player.”

Today’s victory was swift. By the time I was settled in for the morning and ready to hit the grounds, a glance at the scoreboard in the Media Center revealed that Witten was up, 6-4. By the time I got into a seat on Court 7, he was up 4-0, and would go on to win the set 6-0. The match was just 59 minutes old at that point.

The most striking thing about Witten was how comfortable he looked. For he was playing in the main draw of a Slam for just the second time in his career (the first time since was in 2006, when he also qualified for the Open).

Big serve by Andreev? Witten would poke it back, retreat to the baseline, and settle in for a rally. Powder puff second serve? He took a lot of those with his two-handed backhand and pounded them crosscourt, for winner after winner. No clear opportunity to end a point? He ran side to side, with surprising agility for a man of his build, and he waited. Much of the time, he was able to outlast Andreev, who made an ungodly number of unforced errors today. But when the time came, Witten fearlessly unloaded with his signature shot, a flat and furious forehand that he managed to bury in the corners, over and over. Each time he uncorked it, the packed house of patriotic American spectators gasped with glee: Who IS this guy?

Witten is a native of Naples, Florida, who began playing tennis at age 6, but didn’t get serious about it until he was 15. He played college tennis for the University of Kentucky and reached the NCAA championships in 2002. He lives back in Naples now, and has been back with on-again, off-again coach Jonathan Thompson—a former assistant coach for the UK Wildcats —since last October. Thus far, Witten has notched two Challenger titles and eight Futures titles. But until today, had never won a single Tour-level match.

Without taking anything away from Witten, it must be said that Andreev didn’t seem himself today. I thought he might be injured, but couldn’t find a “tell” in his movement. Maybe it was Witten that was troubling him, or, as Jesse himself told me, maybe it was the ignominious notion of being down against a qualifier after the first set.

We’ll never know, because the Russian pulled a fast-one, come interview time. Although there was an official announcement that he was on his way to the "Player’s Garden" (the area in front of the entrance to the player lounge, which acts as a overflow meeting ground if none of the three media center media rooms is available), by the time those of us interested in speaking with Andreev made the two-minute walk to the garden Andreev had taken off.

Regardless of what was - or wasn’t - wrong with Andreev (and absent any comment from him, I’m going to assume perfect health), Witten was completely unfazed by the occasion. All he knows is that he’s been playing better in the last few weeks, executing a more patient game, and waiting for the right time to unload with that sweet forehand. Coach Thompson says that he and Witten have been talking about this continuously for the past nine months, and that it’s finally taking hold. “If I would have known [the results I’d get], I would have done it years ago,” said Witten of the strategic shift.

Thompson isn’t the only one advising Witten. Through his participation in World Team Tennis, Jesse has also struck up a friendship with one John Patrick McEnroe, with whom he plays for the New York Sportimes. “I think he likes me,” said Witten. “He doesn’t yell at me, so I guess that means he likes me.”

Standing at the registration desk at the Waldorf-Astoria on Saturday, trying to extend his reservation after making it into the main draw, Witten received a cell-phone call from Johnny Mac, offering his congratulations. Witten took a shot and asked his teammate if he’d like to hit sometime.

“Yeah!” said McEnroe. “Let’s hit tomorrow.”

The two practiced on Sunday and Witten said that McEnroe gave him some pointers about Andreev. He didn’t say anything more in his official interview, but a short while later I happened to be walking by in the corridor near the locker room when the two men bumped into each other.

McEnroe was ecstatic: “I was watching at home,” he said. “I see you win the first set then it was like 2-love, 3-love, 4-love…You just killed him.”

“I got it crosscourt to the backhand,” said Witten.

“That opened the door…” said McEnroe, who went on to point out that Andreev likes to run around his backhand, leaving more than enough open court for Witten’s knock-out-punch forehand.

“I didn’t make a lot of errors. Didn’t go for too much. I made him work for it.”

“The serve? You were getting high percentage?”

“No. But he wasn’t doing anything to the second, so no pressure. It felt good.”

“How many (ranking) points you picking up?”

“I think sixty,” Thompson interjected.

“Awesome,” said McEnroe, smiling big. Then, noticing the small group of eavesdroppers that had assembled, he added: “I saw the second round prize money… it’s almost what I got when I won the Open.”

We all cracked up. McEnroe continued: “I got $39,000. I think [the second-round haul is] $32,000 or $31,000. And it’s $48,000 or $50,000 in the third round. That’s not bad.”

Witten couldn’t agree more. Last week, his earnings to date for the year were just $22,000. And he's been paying the toll for grinding away with injuries - most seriously, an inflammation in his back that lingered for about three months last year. By the end of 2008, his ranking had plummeted to around number 500, and he was thinking of hanging it up. “It’s expensive to play tennis,” he said. “I wasn’t sure it was worth it, especially on my own dime.”

Next up for Witten is Maximo Gonzalez. If he gets through that, he’ll likely face Djokovic or Ljubicic who play each other today in his part of the draw. He’s not worried about what’s ahead, though.

“I think if I got through that one,” he said of today’s match. “I’ll be all right. He (Andreev) was the seed. I got my first ATP win, so I can’t go backwards.”

30
Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

Posted by Master Ace	09/01/2009 at 04:43 PM
Indeed, winnable match for Witten against Maximo Gonzalez and what a way to win your first ever ATP match at the USO in straight sets.

Posted by Black Matt

09/01/2009 at 04:48 PM

Are we sure no money changed hands over in Russia today?

No, no, surely not.

Kidding. ;)

Posted by Red (Temporarily in black)	09/01/2009 at 05:08 PM
The Waldorf Astoria??? R u kidding me? Life is good. Congrats to Witten!!

Posted by Matt Zemek	09/01/2009 at 05:18 PM
These stories represent the true drama of the first week of a major. Thanks, Mr. Friedman, for crafting this story and delivering it to us!

Posted by Master Ace

09/01/2009 at 05:42 PM

Pete and Andrew Friedman gets an A for their stories in the first 2 days

Monday - Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman
Tuesday - Jesse Witten

Posted by Colette Lewis	09/01/2009 at 05:51 PM
Great piece Andrew. Along with Pete's yesterday on Devvarman, that's two fantastic stories about former college players. I echo Matt--these are the sweetest fruits of all the first week's labor.

Posted by thebigapple	09/01/2009 at 06:06 PM
Agreed on the kudos! But please do not ignore Steve's outstanding piece in handing out the As. As allround then...

Posted by jb (Go Smiley Fed!!!)

09/01/2009 at 06:12 PM

Great post Andrew! Confess I didn't know who the heck jesse witten is, but i sure do now!

I really do like hearing about the 'journeymen' on the tour, in so many ways their stories are more interesting to me. I don't know if its because they seem more accessible,just more like 'everyman' than the stars do and I can relate to them more.

Posted by TennisFan2

09/01/2009 at 06:18 PM

Nice writing Andrew (and the story is good too). :-)

Can't say enough about the great stuff that comes out of the first round of a slam - especially in NYC!

Kudos to Oudin as well!!

Posted by Master Ace	09/01/2009 at 06:25 PM
Thebigapple, Apologies are in order to Steve at Concrete Elbow as he talked about the unknown Americans on his visit to USO yesterday.

Posted by Andrew

09/01/2009 at 07:11 PM

Hi Andrew - last year, when Andreev took Federer to five sets in R16, he was killing Federer with the runaround I-O FHs. Looks like McEnroe and Witten were readier than TMF for that ploy.

And I like the note that Witten earned $22k to date - that's serious non-money. You're doing what you love, but hard to make a living doing it - and you're way better than 99.999% of us who pick up a racquet!

Posted by Christopher	09/01/2009 at 08:06 PM
Congrats to Witten, in spite of the fact that I had Andreev in the suicide pool. One less thing to remember to do everyday!

Posted by toonie	09/01/2009 at 08:57 PM
Great piece Andrew! What a thrill for him to hand a seed a bagel!

Posted by tina

09/01/2009 at 09:04 PM

Posted by Master Ace 09/01/2009 @ 5:42 PM

Pete and Andrew Friedman gets an A for their stories in the first 2 days

Monday - Sania Mirza and Somdev Devvarman
Tuesday - Jesse Witten

------------

Couldn't agree more with this -- I nearly choked when the NY Times basically had a Federer section in Monday's paper, aside from the piece about WTA players traveling with their pooches. It's nice to come here and read something more refreshing. Thanks Andrew!

Posted by Andrew Friedman	09/01/2009 at 09:22 PM
Hi, all - Thanks for the nice comments, and Andrew, I had forgotten about that Fed match, but you're right, of course. Nice to be posting after about a year of not doing so...

Posted by Ray T.	09/01/2009 at 10:54 PM
Ahh, the "cult of nice" is in full throttle once again glorifying another insignificant NCAA player making it past the 1st round at, surprise, a "hardcourt" Slam...It's pretty nice to hear about them once in a while, but it is just as dishonest to patronize their results than the NY Time's pooches stories...give it a rest

Posted by Loneexodus

09/01/2009 at 11:43 PM

Sometimes the most interesting matches are the ones with lower ranked players who have so much on the line and who simply reaching the second round is a huge victory. I watched Mayer vs. Golubev Monday night on some court hidden in a corner and it was a good match and fun to watch them fight with so much resolve and be so into it. As opposed to matches where you may get to see a high ranked player, but he/she just destroys the low ranked player.
These poor guys, they make the sacrifice to make tennis a living but if they don't produce with wins they end up losing more than they're making, then they start doubting if it was even the right decision in the first place. So to see them go out there and fight so hard and win it... is a damn good feeling and entertaining as hell to watch (Of course it's entertaining also if they lose... but as long as it's a fairly close match).
Ray T., I don't mean to get into an internet war with you (and I'm not), but I don't think his post was him "glorifying another insignificant NCAA player making it past the 1st round", but rather him simply talking about a journeyman player (who happens to be a former NCAA player) struggling to make a living, but being able to feel good about sticking with tennis despite the troubles he's had.

Posted by mccoy

09/02/2009 at 12:02 AM

Q. Were there some folks from Kentucky up there?
JESSE WITTEN: I had some of my teammates, actually. They came up. They kind of follow me whenever I can. Whenever I get to a big show, they're definitely there. They're always supporting me.

Q. Are they sticking around now?
JESSE WITTEN: If I let them stay in my room, (laughter) which they have been. So I mean...
We had like five people I mean, don't tell the hotel, but...
No, yeah, I'd be glad for them to stick around, do whatever I can to keep them around. I need as many fans as I can at this point.

Q. You can get them another hotel room?
JESSE WITTEN: I don't want to waste my money. (laughter.) Just because I have some for once.

Q. Do you have any ideas what to do with it? That's a chunk of change.
JESSE WITTEN: It's expensive to play tennis. I lost I had a sponsor. I don't really have any sponsors this year. I was with I had a couple people from Naples where I'm from helping me with expenses. This year I've kind of been on my own.
At the beginning of the year it was, Am I going to keep playing? Is it worth it? I was kind debating at the beginning of the year, and then I started winning a couple of tournaments and got going.
Because I was coming back from injuries last year, as well last year. I was ranked about 500 at the beginning of the year, and then it was I wasn't sure it was worth it, especially on my own dime.

Posted by Shiv	09/02/2009 at 01:00 AM
I took one good look at the photograph at the top of this report and thought that this guy must be a retired tennis coach still trying to keep fit!!Witten,, what a story and all the more, Mac the legend,has loads of time for the likes of him.My rating of Mac as a person has sky rocketed.Thanks Andrew

Posted by jewell - Make tea, not war.	09/02/2009 at 02:14 AM
Thanks for the post, Andrew, I love to read about the players you don't see or hear about very often. :)

Posted by maedal (Vamos Rafa and the Armada!)	09/02/2009 at 07:26 AM
like christopher, i had picked andreev for the sp and feel better about his loss (and mine!) after reading about this unexpected, engaging fellow. thanks for the article, andrew.

Posted by fatboy

09/02/2009 at 08:33 AM

nice post andrew - the first thing i thought when i saw the photo was .. that looks like some aussie rugby player ... LOL! .. the thick neck and all that. but no! good story and glad he is making a little money!

Posted by sokol

09/02/2009 at 08:33 AM

"Are we sure no money changed hands over in Russia today?'

lol

Posted by princepro110

09/02/2009 at 08:36 AM

Really nice to see an American qualifier make it to the main draw and now to the round of 64. You go to hand it to the guy who was playing Futures in Florida in January making $1,300 for winning & now in line for a decent pay day. I have watched him over the years in Delray trying to qualify for the ATP event and never making the field. I always wondered about his conditioning with too much weight to carry.........looked the same in college so he has always had that look. I talked to his father in Delray years ago......nice guy! The USTA should be a little more on the lookout for US born Americans that pay their dues on the Futures/Challengers during the year and not give the Wild Cards to guys like Levine/Sweeting that were not born here!

I will be courtside tomorrow watching Witten.......they might even put him on the Grandstand.

Posted by noleisthebest

09/02/2009 at 09:05 AM

Why are American media avoiding mentioning Novak's match last night?

If they say anything is bringing up that rubbish from last year...sore big-headed losers....I'd just love for Novak to clean them all up and lift the trophy, just to see all those lard-laced paper pushing egomaniacs combust....

God honours those who honour HIm.

Posted by TennisRone 1000

09/02/2009 at 10:13 AM

....not to mention this Andreev loss paired with the Wawrinka loss torched most of the entrants in the Suicide Pool. I think they started with 416 entries....and we're down to 146. I'm glad I went with Querry. Can't say I'd blame anyone for picking Andreev in the first round.

Big day today! Does Reeeeeeeechard have anything for Rafa? Prob not.

Posted by Asad Raza	09/02/2009 at 11:21 AM
Great piece dude! Forget Federer and Roddick, these are the guys who face the real pressure. And I'm glad you have the dude for your story, it'll be a great one.

Posted by Arun	09/02/2009 at 11:48 AM
Great post, Andrew.

Posted by DH	09/02/2009 at 03:42 PM
Great post.

Posted by Bonna	09/03/2009 at 08:13 AM
I really hope Jesse Witten pulls through against Gongalez tonight. God bless you!

We are no longer accepting comments for this entry.

<< A Field of Unrelieved Sorrows

US Open Crisis Center, Day 2 >>

They Said What? 5.31
RG Crisis Center: Day 5
They Said What? 5.29
Notes From a Couch
The Incredible Inevitable
RG Crisis Center: Day 3
Red, White and Not So Blue

This blog has 3597 entries and 1604856 comments.