US Open Qualifying Tournament 2014 #2

Above: Yuichi Sugita of Japan

Wednesday August 20th, 2014 – Today was a really good day at the US Open Qualifying Tournament. What constitutes a “really good day” at a tennis tournament? A day when the players you like…win!

Today started excellently with China’s Di Wu (above) scoring an impressive victory over Gerald Melzer of Austria. Di Wu dominated the match with his steady play, slowly wearing down his opponent. Patience and surety of technique kept the Chinese boy on the path to victory. The 6-2 6-2 score says it all.

Above: Di Wu signing autographs after his match

A new face from Korea, Hyeon Chung (above), convincingly beat Argentina’s Augustin Velotti. Hyeon Chung, rather gangly and loose-limbed – and sporting some funky sunglasses – kept his opponent under control and was enthusiastically supported by a large contingent from New York’s Korean community.

Yuichi Sugita (above) played an exciting match against Germany’s Tim Puetz. Yuichi had opportunities to close out the first set sooner than he did, but his patience paid off. In the second set. Tim Puetz put up a strong battle, with some rowdy vocal support from the German fans, but Yuichi never lost his cool and he prevailed in the end, playing some beautiful tennis along the way. Rather reticent throughout the match, Yuichi let out a celebratory whoop when he scored match point.

Above: Yuichi after the match

Yuki Bhambri (above), the tall player from India, took an early break from the Lithuanian Laurynas Grigelis. But Grigelis broke back and the match progressed with some very exciting rallies and fantastical shots from both players. They seemed well-matched in the first set – it seemed it could go either way – but then Yuki took the edge. He sustained his high level of play throughout the second set, giving Grigelis few chances to make any headway. A strong victory for the Indian.

Above: Yuki Bhambri

I don’t get to watch many women’s matches at the Open; there are so many male players I try to follow, plus – to be honest – women’s tennis at the qualifying level is not always exciting. Today I did watch China’s Qiang Wang (above) fighting hard to sustain a win over Russia’s Evgenia Rodina in a three-set match buoyed by good audience particpation.

I hadn’t been over to the corner courts (4, 5, and 6) on Tuesday and I was surprised today to see the renovations that have taken place since last Summer. The three courts are streamlined, with new scoreboards, seats that don’t over-heat as the sun beats down on them, and added “mezzanine” seating at each end of the court.

One funny thing happened: the girl at the food stand misunderstood me, thinking I wanted a beer. She asked for ID! I said, “I need ID to buy a diet Coke?”