* !Kev by Pete Bodo*
I had to smile when I read the match reports from around the world over the past few days. This is one of those select times when off-the-radar players are given an opportunity to strut their stuff before the admiring eyes of their countrymen in a variety of third-tier ATP 250 events.
The nice thing about these weeks is that unless a Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Rafael Nadal is feeling particularly perverse (or collecting an enormous appearance fee), almost any player in the draw is entitled to feel that he has a shot—and that's an enormous inspiration to those whom we might call local boys, or potential hometown heroes.
But these events are anything but wild-west style shootouts producing random champions. This last week, David Nalbandian was the top seed in Santiago, Chile, and Marin Cilic was defending champ and top seed in Zagreb, Croatia. The weakest of the three ATP 250s, Johannesburg, featured Felicano Lopez as the man to beat (and beaten he was, in the first round by Canada's Frankie Dancevic). So if you happen to be, say, Ivan Ljubicic and you win Zagreb, chances are you'll have done your due diligence as an ATP pro. Nobody gives away anything for free.
BTW, Zagreb is not the official "Croatia Open," which brings up a point I go back to periodically. I think it's a shame that, for mostly commercial reasons, we've gotten away from this "national championships" concept, even if the word "national" is no longer very useful in the Open era. I like that the Italian Open is still called just that, rather than, say the Pellegrino Cup. There's a certain gravitas to being the one and only national championship, even if it's an Open, when it comes to the record books.
I'd like to see the lords of tennis identify and create a master list or table of the various official national championships (thus, Umag would be on the list as the Croatian Open, but not Zagreb, which I assume is the Croatian Indoor Open). I just think it's nice, and will be helpful for future historians and students of the game, to keep track of and know these things. It's a form of pageantry as well as a validation of the nature of this sport and the breadth of its appeal. Every nation should have an open tennis championship and keep track of who won it.
But anyway...getting to play a big event in your home nation may not seem like a big deal to Americans, or the French, or any other nation that has a healthy number of pro events and top players. But a guy like Kevin Anderson of South Africa spends almost his entire year abroad, and gets to show the home folks what he's got only on rare occasions. If you go down the rankings list, you'd be surprised at how many of the itinerant pros almost never get to play what we might call a "home game."
The opportunity to shine at home is so rare for most players that when it comes along, it ramps up the pressure as well as the incentive and determination. You can bet that a kid growing up a tennis player in Chile today dreams about winning the Movistar Open—probably just as longingly as he fantasizes about winning Wimbledon or Roland Garros. Just getting to play in your home tournament basically represents a dream come true in the most literal way. And unless you're a transcendent player, a Nadal or Federer, actually winning your home tournament represents an enormous achievement—and it usually says a lot about your poise and nerves.
This was a banner week for aspiring hometown heroes. Two of the three ATP events were won by them. And to make matters sweeter, the titles were career-first triumphs for the two winners, Kevin Anderson of South Africa and Ivan Dodig of Croatia.
Seeded No. 4, Anderson, a 6'8" power server, was a contender in the SA Open by any measure, and he brought upon himself contender pressure. In his only other final, Anderson was beaten in Las Vegas in 2008 by another lean, tall, flamethrower, Sam Querrey. Anderson won back-to-back three setters over, respectively, Adrian Mannarino and Somdev Devvarman to claim the Jo'burg title. Afterward, he said: "There’s so many emotions running round right now. Not only winning a tour title, but winning it here in South Africa is a great experience and memory I’ll have for the rest of my life. I’m just really thankful that I was able to come out and play here."
Dodig had never been to any kind of final before the one he won yesterday in the city where he lives. And he wasn't the only Croatian hoping to bask in native adulation. Marin Cilic was defending champion and the top seed, followed by No. 2 Ivan Ljubicic, who's won a Masters 1000 event (Indian Wells) and once almost single-handedly whipped a U.S. Davis Cup squad led by Andre Agassi. Dodig got through, though, with a little help from the gods of the draw—at least in the upper half, where No. 5 seed Florian Mayer knocked off Cilic and finalist Michael Berrer dispatched dangerous Richard Gasquet.
Still, Dodig had to beat the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds (Ljubicic and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez respectively) to get opposite Berrer. Down a set against Garcia-Lopez, Dodig won a second-set tiebreaker and a tight third set, 6-4, after which he coasted across the finish line, beating Berrer 6-3, 6-4. Perhaps Dodig and Anderson were texting each other and comparing victory speeches, for this is what Dodig said later: “This is the best thing that can happen to a player—to play at home in front of your own crowd and win your first title. I’m really happy and enjoying the moment. It’s been amazing all week; it’s an unbelievable experience."
The ATP missed a trifecta when Tommy Robredo won Santiago, and in this case it missed by a mile. Not one of the four Chileans in the draw survived the first round.
So now it's on to the Brasil Open, where Thomaz Bellucci will get the same chance as the players we've been praising here. Bellucci has won Santiago and Gstaad, but the closest he's come to to claiming Brazil's Open championships is a runner-up finish in 2009. Maybe it's time to step up and become a hometown hero.