Comments on U.S. Open Tennis

The U.S. Open Tennis has been a welcome diversion for me from the horrors of hurricane Katrina. There was full coverage of it on TV every day (Thank you, channel USA!). It was fun watching.

Thumbs Up:
Women's Singles: Altogether, women's matches were more interesting than the men's with long rallies and interesting personalities who expressed their emotions more openly. The graceful and pretty European players (Sharapova, Dementieva, Clijsters et al) provided a nice contrast to the gutsy and tough American players (Williams Sisters, Davenport). All played excellent matches.
Sareena Williams who used her first TV interview to express concern for the Katrina victims, and pledge $100 for every ace she serves for the rest of the year. She did this before FEMA and Red Cross reached Louisiana!
India's Sania Mizra who created a buzz with her play and personality. She has the potential to be in the top 15 of women's tennis. Hope that she keeps her focus on Tennis despite of all the attention and praise. (The trouncing she got from Sharapova should be a wake-up call!)
Andre Agassi who has reached the semi-finals despite of being the oldest player in the draw. His post match comments after the thrilling five setter with James Blake, was a text book example of humility and sportsmanship.

Thumbs Down:
Injury time-outs used as a tactic to disrupt the momentum of the opponent. The most blatant example of it was by Mary Pierce in her semi-final match against Elena Dementeiva. After getting soundly beaten in the first set, she disrupted the match with a 12-minute time-out for treatment for sprains on her back and leg. Afterwards she played with no sign of injury, and beat the distracted Dementeiva . Hope that the USTA will stop this misuse of a rule made with good intentions.
No longer a gentleman's game: Saw only few instances of sportsmanship, and respect for the opponent. In one men's singles match, the players almost came to blows. A lot of players asked for injury time-outs for no obvious reason. In mixed doubles, men served with all their might at the opposing woman player. I guess money changes the complexion of any sport.