!IlAt 9:00 A.M., before keyboards start clicking and gossip starts twisting up and down the rows of desks, two sounds can be heard outside an empty Indian Wells press room. First, you hear birds singing, likely asking each other when all of these humans—players, coaches, ushers, writers—are going to leave them in peace. Second, you hear the springy, thudding pop of a tennis ball being hit. It echoes all around the main stadium. Together they make for a soothing soundtrack for the tournament. Even when the grounds are filled, the chirps and pops can be heard underneath the chatter of thousands of people.
Call it the hum of the tennis universe. Out of it shoot a million other little sights and sounds that give a tournament its texture. While television gives you a nice view and lets you watch in slouching comfort, it can't match the invigorating surprises you find on the courts. Before the desks around me fill up, here are a few of the sights and sounds that have stuck in my memory.
“Come on!”
I haven’t written anything about Caroline Wozniacki yet, though she’s looked extremely competent so far and will be hard to beat. I watched her up close last night on Court 2 against Jie Zheng. They played a brisk match, the kind where a single rally might inspire three different people around you to whisper, “wow,” “amazing,” and “holy…” before it’s over. What impressed me most was Wozniacki’s defense. Many times Zheng hit what looked like a sure winner only to see the ball find its way back over the net. From close range, Wozniacki is a bigger and more physical player than she appears to be on TV, or from afar. There's an energy to her game that doesn’t translate to the big screen.
There’s also a testy nerve in Wozniacki, and it was touched by Zheng’s frustratingly sharp hitting—is there a player other than Zheng who hits as many shots that appear to be going into the net, but which ultimately sneak over it? She controlled one key rally in the middle of the second set, sending Wozniacki scrambling all over the place. Ultimately Zheng, unable to find an opening, hit a screaming forehand wide. Wozniacki let loose with a fist-pump and an in-your-face “Come on!” worthy, very nearly, of Lleyton Hewitt. Then she looked across the net at Zheng. Like Roger Federer, it pays to watch Caroline Wozniacki up close.
Pow!
This Batman-inspired word is the only one I can think of to describe the sound of Andy Murray’s serve as it went off inside center court last night. By now, Murray has settled happily into his role as a risk-averse defender, a very fancy wallboard. Watching him set up shop behind the baseline, you get the feeling that it’s impossible for him to miss. But like Andy Roddick, he succeeds with this style because he can punctuate that defense with free points on his serve. For every winner his opponent comes up with, Murray can answer with an ace or an unreturnable—the combination typically tilts a match’s risk-reward balance in his favor. From an entertainment perspective, his serve is the place where Murray, who is a deceptively strong 6-foot-3, can show off the explosiveness that’s latent in the rest of his game. No matter how many times he belts it, it still comes as a surprise.
Pow 2!
Nicolas Almagro’s backhand is the most glittering bauble in tennis, and purely ornamental—the guy just doesn’t get the most out of his formidable ball-striking gifts. I can remember seeing him hit that full-loop one-hander for the first time back in 2004 or so and thinking, "This guy is going to be huge." The trouble is, as with so many shot-makers, because Almagro can haul off on a gasp-inducing backhand at any time, he tries to do it at any time. Still, whatever its ultimate value, the sport would be poorer without the shot, tennis’ guiltiest pleasure.
