The Rookie Chronicles: Part II

During day two of the qualifying rounds for the 2010 U.S. Open, the weather is still refusing to cooperate. I did, however, manage to be on court for a complete women’s match where young American Madison Brengle put up a good fight before eventually falling to France’s Claire De Gubernatis. Brengle showed a lot of heart and used her beautifully efficient two-handed backhand to make this match go the distance. Though she eventually fell short, Brengel’s foot speed and her obvious competitive drive convinced me that she still has the potential to grow as a player and will hopefully have more success in the future.

Though most of the day was spattered with rain, there were still some big name players to be seen around the grounds. While waiting out a rain delay, I got to see veteran Lleyton Hewitt have a hitting session with Tomas Berdych (incidentally Hewitt was the champion of the final TD Waterhouse Cup in 2004 and the finals of that match was the last time I had worked on court prior to yesterday).

Then, much to my surprise, in walked number one-seeded Raphael Nadal for a little practice session with Mikhail Youzhny. In the first two days of the qualifying rounds, I have also spotted Marin Cilic, Gael Monfils, Stanislas Wawrinka, Ivan Ljubicic, Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez either walking the grounds, practicing or even drying the courts. Anxious to get back out to play, I spotted Cilic with a squeegee in hand helping to dry the Louis Armstrong court on Tuesday. Seeing a player of Cilic's caliber willing to do something as pedestrian as drying the court was admirable, and it's nice to know that success does not always lead to an inflated sense of entitlement.