Verdasco stars on Sunday at the U.S. Open

Excited to see Nalbandian first up on grandstand vs. Verdasco. Fer takes the first set then Nalbandian takes the second on a forehand crosscourt winner. Verdasco challenges it and wins the challenge by mere centimeters – so Nalbandian has to get up from his chair, put down his towel and try to win the set again from deuce. I have never seen that happen, where a player has to get up off the chair and try to win the set again. It’s not an easy thing to do.

Then a too-casual Nalbandian is able to take charge of the next point but misses an easy forehand volley winner wide, near the previous miss. Suddenly it’s ad-out and one error away from 5-5. Nalbandian stands there looking helpless and deeply frustrated for about two seconds. But then he collects himself. He settles down and comes back to win the game/set.

In the third and fourth sets, Verdasco’s firepower and incredible defense/retrieving overcomes Nalbandian and the talented Argentine is sent home to rest and prepare for the very important Davis Cup semifinal vs. France in Lyon.

Llodra was practing with Stakhovsky on Court 5 and both appeared in good health and fitness. However both are soundly defeated on grandstand. Llodra looks ill as he retires to Robredo after winning the first set and losing the second in a tiebreaker, and Stakhovsky quits in the second set vs. Feliciano Lopez.

Andy Murray ends up losing another U.S. Open match most people expected him to win (like vs. Cilic one year ago), this time with a flat performance vs. the unsung and low-key 2008 Olympic doubles gold medalist Stan Wawrinka. Perhaps Wawrinka is benefitting largely from the addition of Peter Lundgren to his team, as Lundgren is one of the most astute and respected coaches in the business, having worked with the likes of Federer, Safin and Rios. I was told Rios called Lundgren “a great coach.”

Martina Navratilova walks by while I’m waiting outside the locker room to talk with Alex Corretja about his memories of playing Rios for my book. Corretja, by the way, defeated John McEnroe in a practice set two nights ago – 6-4. While Martina is motoring by I ask her, Martina I heard you played tennis with Mike Tyson? She turns around and smiles an approval. I then ask if he was any good and she smiles again and says, “No.”

Fred Stolle is one respected expert who firmly believes Nadal will win the U.S. Open. Nadal scored another impressive win today vs. Simon and his serve is clearly becoming an important weapon. Nadal’s serve has not been broken yet this tournament. After each match in the press conference, Nadal is asked the same questions over and over…How important would it be for you to win the U.S. Open? And other similar queries about court speed, etc. Nadal, to his credit, handles the monotony like a gentleman.

Also, if you haven’t seen it, Vanity Fair did one of those back page Proust Questionaires with Rafa in the latest issue. Lindsay Lohan is on the cover.

Francesca Schiavone is in tremendous form right now, she crushed another victim – Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in two simple sets on Armstrong. Schiavone looked superb on grandstand the previous round in eliminating Alona Bondarenko. So good, in fact, the members of the Italian media were openly cheering and applauding her and even gave her a standing ovation after one amazing point when the French Open champion hit a between the legs shot, and then won the point a few shots later. It was one of the shots of the tournament, for sure. #6 seed Schiavone has defeated Venus Williams before and I believe she will upset the #3 seed in the quarterfinal.

A former USTA bigwig told me an interesting story while we were watching Verdasco vs. Nalbandian in the USTA media section. The story was about a McEnroe/Stich doubles match on grandstand vs. Scott Davis/David Pate in the early 90’s. Davis was having a running conversation during the match with his girlfriend Shaun Stafford, the NCAA women’s champ from the University of Florida, who was seated in the front row.

Well, of course, this did not sit well with Mr. McEnroe who interpreted it as an act of disrespect and Super Mac eventually barked at Davis to tell his girlfriend to shut up, according to the storyteller. Davis, a solidly built Californian, did not take this crude request from McEnroe politely and told him so. Eventually, Davis was overheard to tell McEnroe to meet him in the tunnel after the match and they’d settle their dispute there. Of course, McEnroe wasn’t interested in winning both a doubles match and a fist fight that night and called for security to protect him, as, my storyteller told me, Davis was yelling and screaming from under the stands for McEnroe to come and meet him for the brawl.

Only at the grandstand my friends, only at the grandstand. Where S.L. Price of Sports Illustrated, believes is the best seat in all of tennis.

But the story doesn’t end there. Davis and Pate went to the Hard Rock Cafe that night and who walks in but Michael Stich. Davis and Pate were witnessed to be playfully tossing french fries at Mr. Stich, recalls my friend/storyteller.

The juniors events have begun and the one player who caught my eye today was Tiago Fernandes of Brazil who is the #3 seed and won his match 60 61. Tiago is a tall righty, attired in Adidas and coached by Larri Passos. The #1 seed is also a South American – Juan Sebastien Gomez of Colombia.

McEnroe almost got into fight on grandstand

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