Non-Tennis Fans Takeaways From the 2009 US Open

PETE ZIEBRON

 

The non-tennis fan had these remarks to make following the 2009 US Open.

 

·     THAT GIRL (Melanie Oudin) did pretty well

·     Federer’s shot was spectacular

·     Serena: What will happen?

 

Melanie “THAT GIRL” Oudin backed up an impressive debut at Wimbledon with a run to the US Open Quarterfinals, defeating several top players along the way, including #4 Elena Dementieva and former #1 Maria Sharapova.  However Ms. Oudin will probably need to win much more in the near future in order to penetrate the minds of non-tennis fans.

 

After receiving a couple of “THAT GIRL did pretty well” comments from non-tennis fans, I started to take note of how many times I would hear that statement and immediately asked the follow up question of: “OK, can you tell me THAT GIRL’s name?”  Unfortunately, the field went 0 for 13 as not one person could provide me with the name Melanie Oudin.  The most common response besides “No” that I received was “That young American girl.”

 

Roger Federer chose to hit an amazing between-the-legs shot when he stood two points away from a semi-final victory over #4 Novak Djokovic.  The shot was a clean winner as a stunned Djokovic stood at the net “like the house by the side of the road and watched that one go by.”  Djokovic smiled in admiration of the shot and shook his head in disbelief.

 

The non-tennis fan was very well aware of Federer’s shot as it was replayed numerous times of many sports highlight shows.  Roger Federer, unlike Oudin has name recognition in the non-tennis world.  Even though he lost the US Open Final the day after hitting “the shot” Roger Federer will continue to enjoy name recognition in the non-tennis world going forward.

 

Another interesting event happened two points away from the conclusion of a semi-final match.  This time, the end result was not a thing of beauty.  Serena Williams unleashed a profanity littered tirade, which included threats, against a line judge who called a second serve foot fault against her.  The point gave Williams’ opponent, Kim Clijsters, a match point, however the next point was never played since Williams was defaulted from the match after receiving a point penalty at 15-40 as a result of her unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

Unfortunate.  This one word is all that is needed to describe the event that was seen and heard live by millions of viewers worldwide.

 

Non-tennis fans want to know why Serena’s fine of $10,500 is not more expensive and why she has not yet been suspended from future tournaments.  Despite the fact that Serena has millions of dollars in the bank, $10,500 is a hefty fine for most of the field.  The 274^th ranked man, American Jesse Witten, who won two rounds of the 2009 US Open and earned $48,000 for his efforts, had five college friends sleeping on the floor of his New York hotel room in order to save on expenses.  The 274^th best basketball player, football player, hockey player and baseball players in the world are making millions of dollars each year.  Not the case for a tennis player whose ranking is not in the top twenty.  Perhaps a more effective message to Serena Williams would be a suspension from the next Grand Slam, the Australian Open in January 2010.  Serena Williams currently owns 11 Grand Slam titles, one behind her idol Billie Jean King.

 

NOTE: In the 1973 Cincinnati tournament, Champion Ilie Nastase had several lengthy arguments with the chair umpire in the Singles Final.  All but $1,000 of his $9,150 prize money (singles and doubles) was withheld pending an appeal to the United States Tennis Association, which was later upheld.