Above: Belgium’s Steve Darcis
Tuesday August 19th, 2014 – Steve Darcis played an immaculate first set at the US Open Qualifying Tournament today. The Belgian is one of my favorite tennis players; I first encountered him in 2007 when he played in the Qualifiers and secured a position in the main draw. He has been ranked as high as #44 (in 2008) but his successes have been counter-balanced by injuries that have kept it from attaining his rightful place in the tennis world. He has everything: serve, return-of-serve (really on today!), depth, variety of shots, great court coverage, and agility at the net.
Throughout the first set today there was virtually nothing Spain’s Inigo Cervantes could do to keep the steam-rolling Darcis at bay. As the second set started, Cervantes seemed newly energized: his powerful serve began to work more impressively and there were some great rallies. And also some vocalism: both players loudly questioned line calls – Steve at one point rushing towards the chair umpire yelling “Jamais! Jamais! Jamais!” – and a bit later Cervantes smashed his racquet to the ground in frustration. Darcis had Cervantes at 5-4 and was serving for the match but he couldn’t close it out. They went on to a tie-breaker where Darcis finally prevailed.
Earlier, Go Soeda – a great favorite of mine and ranked #2 among the qualifiers – played his usual gorgeous game. But Oscar Hernandez’s power and grit were too much for Go to handle. The opposite happened when Ireland’s Louk Sorenson, a powerful and almost brutal player, took the first set from Portugal’s Gastao Elias. Thereafter Elias seized the upper hand, grinding down Sorenson’s stubbornly sturdy game with craftiness and finesse and going on to victory.
Above: Gastao Elias
Sorenson is a player who grunts emphatically every time he hits the ball. God help us if he and Azarenka ever team up for mixed doubles.
Growing weary of the crowds, I decided to head home a bit earlier than I had originally planned.
Oberon's Glade 