Jesse Witten’s ranking was apparently so low that he needed a wildcard for qualifying. Who knew they gave wildcards for qualifying?
Witten’s rank is 276. He wasn’t ranked high enough to get a wildcard into the main event.
By the time he reached the third round, he was getting ready to play his sixth match while Djokovic, being the number 4 seed, was only on his third match.
On paper, Witten had no business being on the court with Djokovic. He had to qualify, has toiled for a few years on the tour. Few people, even really dedicated fans, would have heard of Jesse Witten.
The only way Witten could beat a guy like Djokovic is if Djokovic got hurt, or Witten channeled Federer, or Djokovic played below par. But you have to realize, even a player ranked 276, can hit the ball. The difference between 4 and 276 is great, but usually, it’s a matter of steadiness, or a matter of being able to reach a ball and do something with it, or relying too much on a serve and volley game, or it’s mental.
For a set, Witten and Djokovic were actually trading breaks. Witten was playing aggressive and hitting a lot of shots, making Djokovic work. If one thing might help Witten, it’s Djokovic’s fitness. But a guy like Witten is not a guy like Federer. He may not have to be as fit as the number 1 player because in general, he doesn’t have to be.
Witten found himself in the first in a tiebreak, taking a lead, and then winning the tiebreak. For Witten, playing Djokvic and winning a set has to be thrilling, but Djokovic came back and took the second set. In the third set, Witten continued to play well, and broke Djokovic late. All he had to do was to serve the set out and he’d have an improbable two sets to one lead. But Witten found himself unable to buy a first serve. He kept slapping serve after serve into the net. Losing his serve, Djokovic then served to get in a tiebrak. By the time the tiebreak rolled around, Witten was looking tired, and it would not have been surprising for him to have rolled over easily in the fourth set. Yet, Witten stood tough, and when he lost, it was only by a break. The little guy who “could” came up a bit short, but he did it in a crowd of adoring fans.
Like Djokovic, Federer opted for an early match. At least, one imagines the players put in requests for favored playing times. Although it’s not great for the fans to have two good matches early on, the Open seems to have accomodated both players. At the very least, it allowed Roddick to play later and Blake to play later. The advantage of that is to get the raucous American crowd behind the hometown favorites.
Roger Federer matured later than Lleyton Hewitt. When Hewitt was on top of the world, Federer hated to play him. He felt he couldn’t keep up with Hewitt off the ground. He had to come to net to win. Federer eventually beefed up his game and learned to win from the backcourt, and now rarely ventures to the net against pretty much anyone.
Federer’s streak is 13 consecutive wins, but as confident as Federer is, Hewitt always comes out to play. Hewitt lacks the really powerful shots of Federer, but he can move around, and he hits his shots hard. If Federer is not on his game, Hewitt can try to take advantage. Hewitt had hip surgery last year, and spent the months leading up the French getting himself back in match form, and getting his ranking up. In many ways, he’s like Juan Carlos Ferrero, whose ranking also slipped, and who also has been working his way back up. The two recently met, but Hewitt’s knee was bothering him and Federer had a comfortable win. Today, the knee seemed fine, but Roger did not.
Of all the top players, Roger’s game can go bizarrely awry. Forehands inexplicably stray long and wide. Although Federer looked like he was ready to take the first set, he hit a rash of bad shots, and gave the first set to Hewitt. In the second set, Federer decided to add a bit more spin to his shots and control them better. He took the second set, 6-4.
In the third set, Federer again looked like his game was faltering some, and Hewitt was trying to take advantage. However, Federer managed to recover a bit quicker and not lose a set in the process. Federer then closed out the match in four sets, thrilled to have beaten his long-time rival once again.
When Roddick was coming up, he fancied himself one of the taller players. At 6’2″, he is comparable in height to Federer and Nadal. There weren’t many players like Todd Martin (6’5″) playing when he started. But the times, they are a chagin’. All of a sudden, there’s now a huge crop of huge guys, including Cilic, Berdych, Karlovic (old, but tall), Soderling, etc. Even Americans are getting taller. This year, two Americans made an upward trend in their game during the hard court season.
The more visible guy is Sam Querrey. During the summer, he made four finals, won one, and won the US Open Series. John Isner, for his part, did well in Los Angeles, beating Tommy Haas. He reached the semifinals against Andy Roddick at Washington DC. His successes, for a guy of his ranking, has been pretty good, perhaps comparable to Querrey for his ranking. If Isner can move to about 30 in the world, that’s a big jump for him.
Roddick had already lost to Sam Querrey this summer, and Isner had played him tough at DC. Roddick knew that Isner would be tough, but probably figured he could win in four sets. However, Isner surprised Roddick, taking the first set in a tiebreak, the second, 6-3. Roddick then clawed back taking the third set, 6-4, and the fourth, 7-5. Both stayed on serve in the fifth set til the tiebreak.
Isner took an early lead in the tiebreak, and got to a 6-3 lead. Roddick served two aces. Isner then served, Roddick returned and Isner volleyed, Roddick tried to pass, then a Isner volleyed again, and Roddick netted the shot. Minutes later, Roddick quickly scooted off court. His new game still not quite ready to challenge the upper players, especially with players like Isner and Querrey nipping at his heels. If Isner showed something, he showed calm under pressure. He did this against Roddick at Washington, and he did it again, coming up with a huge pass against a charging Roddick. A great win for Inser.
Speaking of Querrey, he had to face the Swedish buzzsaw, in Robin Soderling. Soderling just has perhaps a few too many weapons for Querrey. Soderling beat Querrey in four sets.
So although three Americans lost (Querrey, Roddick, and Witten), one guy had a huge win (Isner).
And at 9:22, there’s still James Blake to play!
Gotta love the US Open.
