Indianapolis Tennis Championships: Round Two

Coverage

2009

Indianapolis Tennis Championships

Friday, 24 July 2009 09:09

Indianapolis Tennis Championships: Round Two

Written by Megan Fernandez

Robby Genepri at 2009 Indianapollis Revenge is a Dish Better Served to the Forehand Side

Serving at 5-6 in the first set against Sam Querrey, Rajeev Ram lunged for a wide forehand and felt a sharp pain in his left calf.[/dropcap]He knew this feeling: it had also occurred during his match against Querrey 11 days ago in the final of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Championships in Newport. Ram lost the first set, and with limited movement to his right and forward, allowed Querrey to run ahead to 3-0 in the second set. Rain delayed the match for about an hour and a half, but it didn’t matter. Ram held serve three times but lost the match 5-7, 3-6. “I wish I could have been playing this match healthy,” he said afterward. “At the end of the first set, I think I looked at the scoreboard and saw that we each had won 33 points.” Ram quickly gave all credit to Sam, however. “I don’t want to make too much of the injury. Sam showed up, and he deserved it.” Ram played doubles later but bowed out of that draw, too. Next up: addressing this recurring injury, which has also popped up in his other leg.

Fight Club

Sam Querrey’s high-school pals, called the Samurai and dressed the part, were back tonight with bongo drums, and this time they attended his press conference, too (though they refrained from cheering after every one of Sam’s answers). As it turns out, asked if the Samurai help him at matches, Querrey laughed and said, “of course.” the tournament flew these guys out to Indianapolis, where they have signed Samurai T-shirts, entertained (or otherwise) crowds with their boisterous support of their friend, and have been spotted playing ping-pong in the players’ lounge. Asked if the Samurai help him at matches, Querrey laughed and said, “of course.” Sam was then asked about top seed Dmitry Tursunov’s quote from earlier in the week about not expecting to even make the quarterfinal here. Querrey rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “He’s just saying that,” suggested the American, adding that he likes his own chances to make a title run.

In fact, it is clear that Tursunov was selling himself short. The Russian looked sharp during his win against Brazil’s Marcos Daniel, who was playing his second match of the day after knocking out Taylor Dent in a first round match (played on Thursday!). Daniel made the mistake of serving into Tursunov’s forehand a few too many times, eliciting a stinging cross-court winner time and again. But Tursunov still claims to not be on top of his game because he “hasn’t done his homework yet” and says he’ll have to step it up if he’s going to beat Frank Dancevic on Friday. Tursunov beat the Canadian in June in the final of Eastbourne and also at Indy in the final in 2007.

After the Rain

American Wayne Odesnik popped in a corporate suite for photos and questions during the rain delay. When asked how he was going to return John Isner’s serve in the quarterfinal the next day, he said, “I don’t know. Get a ladder?” Meanwhile, Wednesday’s near-total rainout made for an overflowing lineup today, pushing Jesse Levine and Dudi Sela’s doubles match against the top-seeded team of Ashley Fisher and Jordan Kerr to a side court. Oh, what a far cry from Wimbledon, where Levine and Sela both exceeded expectations. A few games in, Levine corrected the umpire’s call of the score (30-all, not 40-30). “My bad,” the ump said. The top seeds won in a super tiebreak, and Levine lost his singles match to dark horse Mark Gicquel.

Marcos Baghdatis also crashed out of singles and doubles without winning a match, but the Cypriot is still around, jokingly stealing a volunteer’s sack of Arby’s. And Ernests Gulbis nursed his wound of yet another first round loss by going to a Def Leppard/Cheap Trick/Poison concert, while Arnaud Clement went go-karting.

The Volunteer Day

Carolyn Varndell loves to get her hands on a player at the Indianapolis Tennis Championships, but it’s not what you think. This physical trainer has been one of the only women in the man’s world of the training room for about ten years. She used to drive down from Michigan to spend a week volunteering. Now she flies in from South Carolina and spends all day, every day near the players’ locker room.

Varndell, who grew up playing tennis with Pam Shriver, got involved in the tournament through a former co-worker, who booked volunteer trainers for all ATP tournaments. Part of the reason she continues to use vacation time for a non-paying gig is because she likes reuniting with friends she has made over the years. Another appealing factor is that the players are eager “patients” who are much more likely to do what she says than her non-athlete clients are. “The advice is more appreciated. They’ll follow through with it,” she says.

By early evening Tuesday, Varndell had seen eight to ten players, and she would stick around through the evening matches. Some guys seek stretching before or after a match, and some want treatment for a nagging injury. In return, Varndell gets plenty of laughs from the locker-room atmosphere and the YouTube clips that players pull up on computers.