Category: Blog

Above: Robby Ginepri

Monday August 20th, 2013 – Robby Ginepri hit a career high in 2005 when he finished the season ranked #15 in the world. Thereafter he remained a force on the tour but never equalled his 2005 record. A biking accident in 2010 side-lined him for almost a year. To be honest, I’d sort of forgotten about him and I guess I assumed that he’d retired. He’ll turn 31 this year, and when I saw his name among the players listed for the US Open qualifying tournament this week, it was a bit like a blast from the past.

Last summer I’d almost given up on the Open; the constant use of cellphones during play is so distracing, as are the large of small children who have no clue as to what tennis is all about and invariably get cranky very quickly (“I’d rather go to the playground!” whined one tiny girl being dragged around by her mother today); food and beverages are absurdly expensive ($5 for a normal sized bottle of Coke), and off-duty linesmen and ball-kids love to congregate around the courts during matches and chatter away: “Did you see ELYSIUM yet? Awesome…blah blah blah”. But today it was not overly crowded and for the most part I was able to concentrate on the actual playing.

The seats at the outer courts of the Tennis Center can be exceptionally uncomfortable: hard, bare metal that heats up like a stovetop in the summer sun. Invariably people taking seats during a match find their butts getting baked: first contact can really be alarming. Thus I normally prefer to stand (it’s also easier for taking pictures). But this summer they’ve extended the 3-row metal seating bleachers almost the full length of the court so you can’t stand by the court-rail any more and get all into the match. Since hardly anyone watches a complete set these days, there’s a lot of coming and going, and clambering over other people.

The tall, lanky Israeli player Amir Weintraub is being hosted in NYC by the building manager of our apartment complex. Augie asked me to check out Amir’s match and since it was the first match of the day, I started there. Amir was playing the American Noah Rubin; Rubin was heavily favored by the large and fairly attentive crowd. Amir took the first set and seemed destined to win in two sets; but Noah fought back hard, delivering some great shots. After Noah won the second set, I needed to head over to Court 7; but I ran into Augie later and he told me that Amir – deservedly – had prevailed.

On Court 7, the Indian player Somdev Devvarman (above) was facing Brazil’s Fabiano De Paula. I’d seen Somdev at the US Open in 2009 and I was really impressed, but today was the first time I’ve seen him since. I went up high into the bleachers and found a solitary vantage point. I enjoyed the match tremendously because I could really concentrate; and up above court-level a gentle summer breeze and passing fluffy clouds made for a perfect tennis-watching experience. 

Somdev for the most part dominated the action; his serve is breakable but when it’s on it’s really on. His shots go deep and his sense of placement is keen, and despite some frustration with questionabe line calls he moved steadily onward to a straight-set win. Mr. De Paula had some fine moments but Somdev’s victory seemed inevitable. 

Somdev, after the match.

Then I ran over to Court 17, the new ‘stadium-style’ court, where Robby Ginepri and Giovanni Lapentti (of Ecuador) were already into the second set. Robby had taken the first set but Giovanni wasn’t about to give in. The crowd was lopsidedly pro-Robby, understandably, and the American clearly didn’t want to disappoint. A hoped-for win at 5-4 didn’t materialize, and the set went to a tie-breaker in which Robby eventually secured victory.

Robby Ginepri

Lapentti and Ginepri after the match.