Monday - Tortured Souls (Bozoljac vs. Capdeville)

The only disadvantage I’ve come up with when it comes to comparing the seats I have this year to the seats I had last year is that they’re not as close to the grandstand, court 1 and Court 2 as last year’s were, as this year’s seats are on the north end of the stadium.

So I haul ass over to Court 1 to see Bozoljac vs. Capdeville, and am disappointed to see that the first set has just ended, with Bozoljac taking it 6-3. I later surmised that the reason the first set had already ended was due to an abrupt ending to the Hernych vs. Healey match which preceded it on court, as Healey retired due to an injury.

The players are walking back onto court for the second set just as I arrive, so I am unable to make my way to a seat until the next change over. I turn around to see a little of the match on the grandstand court, between eighteen-year-old wild card Martin Klizan and Greece’s Konstantinos Economidis. Klizan had won the first set 6-3. I am immediately struck by how young Klizan looks. He apparently just turned eighteen, yet looks a solid five years younger than I am (I’m twenty). Yet here he is, withstanding the power of the 6’6’’, twenty-nine-year-old Economidis.

I turn back around to watch some more of Bozoljac-Capdeville from behind the rope. Capdeville is on the nearer side of the court, wearing an appallingly orange outfit. He is struggling to hold as Bozoljac’s groundstrokes, and dropshots have him running every which way. It should be over quickly, I presume, as Bozoljac is clearly the better player. Capdeville is scraping, playing decent defense to get him a hold. At 1-0, the rope opens up and I find a seat in the second row, right near the net.

Ilia Bozoljac vs. Paul Capdeville (Bozoljac leads 6-4, 2-1)

• I’m watching Capdeville struggle to get to just about every Bozoljac shot, and the term “tortured soul” keeps popping into my mind for some reason. This kid (he’s twenty-four) has likely spent his entire life working towards being a professional tennis player, and he frankly doesn’t have enough skill to ever get him into the top fifty. It’s gotta be frustrating.
• Bozoljac is holding easily, and Capdeville is struggling, yet managing to hold. One break and he’s toast.
• Serving at 2-2, Bozoljac begins to complain to the chair umpire about the overhead lights pointing down at the stadium. There are four poles of floodlights which have now switched on, and are now glaring down upon the court. It’s only about 6:30 pm, and the sun is still far above the tree line—there is absolutely no need for the lights. It may be like a baseball game that starts in the late afternoon, where they have the lights on from the start so that the players eyes can adjust to the new lighting gradually and seamlessly.
• Bozoljac is broken, and sits down, still barking at the chair.
• It is noted by several in the crowd that Bozoljac is complaining in perfect English. I remark to those around me that probably grew up in Florida, like so many Eastern European players. They take this comment as a sign that I am some sort of Bozoljac expert and start asking me other questions about his career, to which, of course, I have no answers.
• Bozoljac summons the tournament supervisor, via the chair’s walkie-talkie, to ask him to shut off the lights. I can’t hear most of what is said, but the lights don’t get turned off. Bozoljac is still fuming, getting totally thrown off his game. The only time I can remember seeing anything like this was during the first round of the 2006 Australian Open, during Zvonareva vs. Hingis, when Zvonareva asked that the band playing outside the stadium be told to stop. That seemed like a far easier request to execute than Bozoljac’s. Zvonareva was also crying when she asked, which probably helped her cause.
• A nice round of applause breaks out on the court behind us for “Game, set, match—Klizan.”
• Bozoljac has gone absolutely nuts. Serving at 3-5, down set point at 30-40, he asks Capdeville if he’s ready. He walks to the far corner of the base line, right next to the doubles alley, then turns with his toward the crowd to serve, with his serving arm closer to the court than his other arm (it is always the other way around). He looks as if he is about to peg the crowd with the serve, but then does some sort of backwards serve that goes into the net. The crowd murmurs a general feeling of “what the hell was that?” Bozoljac then stands the correct way and hits his second serve at about 125 MPH, for a second serve ace that catches Capdeville completely off-guard.
• Bozoljac then loses the deuce point and sets up to do the backwards serve yet again. Again it goes into the net. This time, however, his cannon-like second serve is out, and he loses the set. Capdeville looks generally peeved but still happy to win the set, while Bozoljac looks like a mischievous child, or perhaps someone who forgot to take their meds.
• Fans are leaving Court 1 in protest of Bozoljac’s behavior, saying things like “what a jerk!” Personally, I love a good train wreck in a tennis match. These are the sort of fireworks you just don’t get to see in any other sport. I wonder how Bozoljac is going to bounce back in the second set?
• During the first game of the third, Bozoljac starts grunting. This wouldn’t be especially noteworthy, except that he’s grunting not when he hits the ball, but when Capdeville does.
• Even during this meltdown, Bozoljac’s backhand is phenomenal. If he can avoid the asylum, he should have a nice career ahead of him.
• Bozoljac smashes then throws his racquet into the fence. He receives a point penalty, which gives the game to Capdeville. Perhaps Bozoljac was the real tortured soul here.
  Capdeville breaks for 2-0. Bozoljac then immediately sits down and asks for the trainer, even though it’s not time for a changeover. The umpire tells him to get back up, as Capdeville has to serve. Bozoljac complains that he “can’t even hold [his] racquet,” and refuses to get up.
• Capdeville then decides to take advantage, by serving into the open court while Bozoljac is still seated. Funnily enough, Capdeville misses two straight serves into the open court, which would make a double fault. Capdeville then goes and sits down in his chair.
• The trainer comes out, and tells Bozoljac that he can’t help him yet, that they’ve changed the rule, and to get back out there. It’s the meanest behavior I’ve ever seen from a trainer. Then again, I haven’t seen the trainers do much but wrap ankles.
• There’s a woman next to me who keeps cheering “Vamo Paul!” She says that she was from the same tennis club as Capdeville back in Chile. It's a nice distraction from all this.
• I get confused. I had thought (although I hadn’t paid close attention) that Bozoljac had been playing lefty, yet he wins the first point after he walks back while playing right-handed, even though it is his right hand that appears to hurt. I’m very confused.
• 3-0 Capdeville. During the changeover, the scoreboard says that it’s 3-2 Grosjean leading Kunitsyn on the stadium court. How have they only finished five games, when they were supposed to follow Giraldo-Johansson?
• Bozoljac is serving righty too. Maybe I was mistaken. Capdeville breaks, rolling to 4-0. Bozoljac is playing very half-assedly.
• The winner gets Amer Delic in the next round, a very nice draw. One of the few nice things about a forty-eight player draw is that you always know who the winner of a first round match will play in the next round.
• Now Bozoljac is playing lefty (again?). Is he totally ambidextrous? Has he been switching back and forth? I’m pretty lost.
• Down set point at 0-5, 0-40 in the third, Bozoljac again goes for the backwards serving. It goes in this time, spinning wildly, and Capdeville hits his return long. Bozoljac wins another point serving normally from the deuce-side, then backwards serves twice into the net at 30-40 to give Capdeville the match.
• They shake hands very amiably given the circumstances of the match. Bozoljac remains on the court for a while to get more treatment from the trainer and to complain to the char umpire some more.

I leave, to go see Elena Baltacha play doubles.