From: clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin)
Subject: More tennis results (spoilers)
Reply-To: clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles C. Lin)
Organization: College of Engineering, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 01:25:19 GMT


    In my previous post, I talked about the Hamlet Cup.  In the
interview in the semifinals he claims that he is one of the
five or so men with a legitimate shot at winning the US Open,
though I would disagree.  I think he can get far, but he
has lost to four other players in recent weeks.   Potentially
he could have lost to Becker, but I am not sure how well Becker
is playing.  He gave Sampras a hard time in Indianapolis.

    On the women's match, the Mazda whatever-it's-called.  The
finalist for this were Jennifer Capriati and Conchita Martinez.
Unfortunately, I wasn't watching this match all that closely.
Basically, Conchita got way ahead in the first set (like 5-2 or
so) before Jennifer came back to win the set (7-5?).  Then,
I think Martinez may have won the second set (or was that
Huber?).  No, actually, I think Capriati won in straight
sets, basically overpowering Martinez with hard hit ground
strokes.   Capriati is Bud Collins selection for winning
the US Open.  Chris Evert selected Monica Seles.  I think
Bud prefers underdogs who are playing pretty well.  My guess
is that Monica may do it, though she has suffered three
straight finals losses (any other player, say Lendl, and that
would be pretty good, except this is Monica we are talking about).

   The OTB Championships has a weaker field than than the Hamlet
Cup.  Stich, I believe, was supposed to have played here, but
if he did, he lost before the finals.  In the final,  Wayne
Ferreira of South Africa played, uh, gee, I can't remember who
he played.  Anyway, this guy was from Australia (I think) and
went through qualifying.   I think they mentioned that he
wasa lucky loser, in that he lost the qualifying, but someone
pulled out, and he got in the draw.  He made it all the
way to the finals beating Sanchez in the semifinals.  Now, since
he has qualified, and since this result will not help his ranking,
he may not be in a position to play in the US Open (since qualifying
would have required him to be there before Monday).  At least, that
was the impression I got.  

   This is also the first time I have seen Wayne Ferreira play.
He seems to be a fairly tall guy, who can play both net and
backcourt.  He's got good groundstrokes, and a better than
average forehand.  He uses a two-handed backhand (a little
unusual for someone who appears to be quite tall) and hits
a bit like Mecir on that side.   Ferreira won the first set
rather handily (something like 6-3) and I didn't see
much of the second.

   Finally, I caught bits of the charity benefit run by Arthur
Ashe's foundation for AIDS.   Many of the players who chose
not to play this week, came out for a one day affair and played
a so-called shootout, where a regular tie-breaker was played, but
the restriction was that at 10-10, whoever won the next point
won the match.   The players there included Agassi, Courier,
Sampras, Graf, Sanchez-Vicario, Shriver, and McEnroe.  Shriver
won the women's (defeating Graf and Sanchez-Vicario in the
semis and finals respectively).  This was a surprise, even
in this kind of format.   Agassi won over Sampras, and if the
tie-breaker is any indication, he seems ready to play in
the Open.   There were quite a lot of commercials and interviews
between the play, mostly concerning AIDS awareness.   CBS
covered this event.

   My choices for the Open aren't going to be restricted to
one or two players.  Who's got the best chances in the men's?
I think Korda is playing hot now, and if he can stay mentally
focused, he's got a good shot.  Sampras, Agassi, and Edberg
round out my choices.  Courier and Lendl will have to raise
their game a notch if they wish to win, with Courier needing
less of a improvement.   Becker also has a chance, but I wouldn't
put him with the top group based on recent performances.
I would guess that there won't be a Connor's repeat this year
(facing Lendl will probably be his ouster), and the only
longshot might be someone like McEnroe.   Also, look
to folks like Stich, Ferreira, Krajicek, Ivanisevic, and the
like to cause trouble.

   Among the women, you can usually choose six women for
almost any event.  They are Seles, Graf, Sanchez-Vicario,
Sabatini,  Navratilova, or Capriati.   Bud Collins picked
Capriati, and while she has struggled in some of her matches,
she has as good a shot as any of the others.  Evert chose
the safer choice of Monica Seles.

    Coverage of the US Open in the US should be by USA network
which essentially is the same cast as Prime Network.  Barry
MacKay, Vitas Gerulaitis (I think), and several others
that I don't recall tend to cover the event.  They mostly
cover night matches, and started off with a doozy last year
when Connors won a five-setter over Patrick McEnroe.  This
year,  Pat may meet up with Michael Chang in the second
round, if both win the first round.  Eyes will be looking
to Connors and Lendl in a potential second round match, but
Yzaga has given Lendl a tough time before, and Oncins
also gave Lendl a hard time, so neither may be such an
easy opening win for either player, though Lendl is
playing pretty well.

--
Charles Lin
clin@eng.umd.edu