Net Play: start spreadin’ the news…
It's just days away! So to get you in the mood, here's our round-up of the best of the web in the run-up to the US Open
‘Crazy things can happen in NYC’…
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| After a stellar 2009, this season has been tough for US Open quarter-finalist Melanie Oudin |
Little Boots is back in NYC – and boy, don’t they know it. Melanie Oudin's face has been plastered all over the place: gracing billboards for Virgin Mobile, American Express and adidas, who have followed up last year’s trademark mi adidas ‘Believe’ Barricades with this year’s offering, Oudin having chosen ‘Courage’ as this year’s buzz word.
Those new US Open kicks have got one hell of an act to follow – and the rehearsals haven’t gone well. With Serena and Venus missing the entire US Open Series, Oudin has been the top-ranked American at every event she has played at – and has gone a disappointing 2-4. She’s on a 3-10 run since May, and as Nick McCarvel at Tennis Served Fresh wrote earlier this year, “What we’ve learned about Oudin in the time that we’ve known her well (since she won six matches at Wimbledon last summer), is that she’s a streaky player.”
It’s worth remembering that Mel is only 18 – still the youngest player in the top 50, and third-youngest in the top 100 (she’s got a few months on Bojana Jovanovski and a few day on Simona Halep). She’s still learning her game, and she’s still growing. Her serve is a work in progress and has been erratic of late, and ramped-up media commitments are getting in the way of her court time.
Despite that, she is still set to be one of the key stories next week, especially if she finds herself parked among the ’ovas in the draw. After all, why let all that form guide and perspective nonsense get in the way of a blockbuster sequel? As LZ Granderson wrote over on ESPN, “you know how we are America; in our rush to find the next great whomever, we take the tiniest spark and behave as if we've discovered a supernova.” If there’s one person who might be able to relate to what Andy Murray went through as a teenager at Wimbledon, it’s Oudin. Laura Robson doesn’t know she’s born.
As top-drawer tennis bloggers C Note at Forty Deuce and Diane Dees at Women Who Serve point out, maybe the best thing we could do would be to back off and let her play away from the limelight, away from the stratospheric expectations. You never know, she might just turn it on again. Don’t bank on it, but don’t bail on her if she doesn’t. Nobody’s story should be over at 18, and nobody should deny just how great a run she had in 2009. Sadly, as American novelist Dean Koontz once said, too many sequels diminish the original.
Power a la mode
Who said long-form journalism was dead? In an interesting twist on the theme, The New York Times Magazine are celebrating the power in the women’s game – and how.
You can read the article here, but not before you check out the stunning super-slow-motion video clips of the likes of Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka hitting balls in haute couture – well at least some of them are. Azarenka looks like she forgot her ballgown and was made to play in her training gear, while the less said about Sam Stosur’s outfit, the better. There’s a slideshow as well to complete the three-pronged smack attack, so make some time, sit back and scroll.
Sneak peek
Can’t wait until Monday to see what Nike have created for Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Na Li? Check out the latest lookbook. We’re liking the understated Feds day shirt and Li’s understated, and the DayGlo Court Ballistecs Nadal will be putting through their paces during the night sessions. As for Sharapova’s tuxedo lapels, let’s hope it’s a grower…
New York’s finest
To get you right in the mood for two weeks of pulsating US Open tennis, check out these clips from some of the best encounters from yesteryear. How at least one Sampras-Agassi showdown didn’t make the cut is beyond us, but the old-school footage of Billie Jean King beating Evonne Goolagong on the grass courts of the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills is the perfect counterpoint to the NYT article, showing just what the women’s game used to be about.
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