I watched Fernando Verdasco practice. He's got good wheels (he’s from Spain - ‘nuff said), a huge roundhouse forehand, and a flat two-handed backhand. He can blast a flat first serve, which is dart-like, but not heavy, like Blake's or Roddick's. I was a bit surprised by his volleys. He gets a late start with his feet, and often lets his elbow collapse behind him on his forehand wing. A decent teaching pro would make him keep his elbow in front of his belly button.
My seats were in Section 213, Row P, Seat 1, in the Upper Level. It's just a half-dozen rows from the roof line, but there isn't a bad seat in the JC. I wish I could say the same for the food and fan-unfriendly restrictions. For example, you can't take in beverages - not even water. And as there are no fountains, the only option is the 16 oz. bottle of water - at $3 a pop. Highway robbery appears to be the MO at arenas these days. The "beer" was hardly deserving of the name: Bud Light and Icehouse.
I watched a couple of guys juggling and firing plastic bowling pins at each other; the other pre-match activities included the Calypso Tumblers, five gumbys who performed amazing contortions. Blake had a fan contingent in the Upper Level; they were wearing Blake Blue and bearing drums. The Spanish contingent of fans were clad in red and seated in a block behind their team’s bench. Every time they tried to whoop it up and make some noise with their cow bells, rattles and horns, the PA system instantly drowned them out with heavy American rock 'n' roll.
Each day started with pomp and circumstance, featuring the local National Guard Armory Color Guard. It seemed overly somber, except for the odd touch of sparklers that were ignited when the U.S. team entered the court. I wondered, though, why the USTA doesn't come up with some sort of traveling tennis show - something a little more festive - featuring kids, or a small troupe of athletes, who would showcase tennis in some super-lively, acrobatic manner, a la Ringling Brothers or Harlem Globetrotters.
The action was a bit pedestrian on the first day, except for Blake's performance against Spanish No. 1 Tommy Robredo in the opening match. James came out so fired up that he resembled MIA Rafael Nadal as he bounced on his toes and then dashed back to the baseline to start the warm-up. You could sense that he was hungry for a win, although taking on the mercurial world No. 6 on a slick, rubberized surface wasn't a gimme by any means. To his credit, Blake saw his opportunity, and he seized it boldly.
Robredo’s game is silky smooth, featuring relaxed, easy strokes off both sides. But he never seems able to really crank it up a notch when it's most needed. He hurts his opponent with disguise, using his classic windshield-wiper forehand to yank opponents from side to side or wrong-foot them. But he cocks his wrist back, and it stays rigid throughout the stroke; hence, he's unable to get that extra bit of leverage, or pop, from a good wrist snap.
The path Robredo's racket travels on the forehand side is perfectly circular; he doesn’t really extend out toward his target. On his backhand side, he gets a bit more extension, but again - he never breaks his wrist. It's always cocked back. That may help disguise his stroke, it also keeps him from hitting shots like the very useful, cross-court, sharply angled "dipper." Also, he doesn't use slice. Given his great foot speed, picture-perfect footwork, and early preparation, adding slice would give him a ton of options. Robredo's stock in trade is keeping his opponent running and mixing up his direction; at that, he is a genius. His strokes are studied, a testament to technique.
Robredo's first serve is good, but he went to Blake's forehand too often. His second serve is a weakness, at least on this surface, which seemed to have a deadening effect on bounce and spin. Robredo's serve can't hurt anyone. So all Blake had to do was keep his errors and aggression in check. He used his head well in this match, despite the wild cheering and adulation showered on him from the packed house. In Davis Cup, it's okay to be unashamedly biased and even to cheer a visiting player's errors. It's a weird departure for me, but I get into character quickly. The most effective ploy of a home crowd is to remain utterly silent when a visiting player does something brilliant. I'm sure it makes the guy feel very lonely out there.
Roddick and Verdasco were next up. Verdasco, ranked No. 35, is a terrific athlete but even from the upper reaches of the coliseum his swagger was obvious. But it wasn't wise to strut around in Roddick's face; it just made him angry, in his house, in front of his people. Verdasco played brilliantly in patches, He was up 5-3 in the opening set, but blew it with some sloppy, nervous play. It was like Roddick realized that Verdasco was cock-n-bull, and he never looked back after getting back on serve. Verdasco had 14 aces in the match, but Verdasco threw in ill-timed double faults and otherwise seemed to wilt when it most counted. Roddick seemed content to roam the backcourt, six to eight feet behind the baseline, a position that didn't allow him to make the most use of his forehand weapon, but clearly he didn't need it.
It was interesting, throughout the tie, to watch the teams' benches. Each player has quirks and a personal way of engagement - or disengagement. Watching Blake on Day One and the Bryans on Day Two, Roddick alternated between biting his cuticles and spacing out. Mardy Fish seemed to be always nudging his neighbor and showing him the latest text message on his iPod or BlackBerry. Feli Lopez was the epitome of cool, detachment - BTW, ladies, he seems less "handsome" than "pretty." As for the coaches: Spain’s Emilio Sanchez (yes, Aranxta’s older brother) was a constant presence for his players, always ready with a word of advice or strategy. In contrast, McEnroe was sedate, rarely offering much in the way of counsel.
On Doubles Saturday, Bob and Mike Bryan, the world's top doubles team, took on the unranked pair of Feliciano Lopez and Verdasco. The cognescenti might not have predicted that Lopez and Verdasco would put up much of a fight, but with their big serves and huge forehands, they're a threat on any surface. I hope we see more of them, because they are highly entertaining and a very capable doubles team.
