Oz 2- An American's Moment

While it was extremely cold in Washington D.C. for the Barack Obama inauguration ceremony, it'd been quite the opposite earlier in the day on the other side of the world at the Australian Open. But, still, an American provided the most compelling story... even in a losing effort.


Scott Barbour / Getty Images

With temperatures in Melbourne reaching upwards of 100-degrees F, you just knew SOMETHING was going to happen. And it did... to 16-year old wild card Christina McHale.

On Court 6, it was the best of times and the worst of times for McHale, who was making her grand slam debut against a fellow wild card, Australia's Jessica Moore. What played out will be remembered as the first "moment" in major competition for one of the promising group of young American Bannerettes.

Up a set and a break, McHale was seemingly set to join the Williams sisters in the 2nd Round. Then it happened. Whether it was the heat, nerves, a lack of conditioning or a failure to properly hydrate before and/or during the match, cramping in the teenager's left calf suddenly made her unable to walk without assistance. After being helped to her seat by two tournament officials, the drama began.

After treatment from a trainer, McHale went on... and she almost pulled off something remarkable. With her cramping both spreading and coming-and-going, McHale showed the type of heart that you look for in a young player seeking to accomplish great things. As the American gutted it out, Moore seemed to come unhinged. Over-hitting, becoming distracted (and likely annoyed) by McHale's plight, which had suddenly turned their 1st Round match into a drama that was starring her opponent, the Aussie nearly gave away the match. She pulled out the 2nd set, but McHale surged ahead in the 3rd and served for the match late in the stanza.

Ultimately, as McHale's movement became more and more problematic, Moore finally settled herself and used the American's inabilities to her advantage. The Aussie won 1-6/6-3/9-7 (good for her, since she'd have wanted to punch a hole through a wall had she lost), but it's the image of McHale, hobbled but fighting, that will linger long after this match's final result is forgotten.

Moments like this can define a career. See Michael Chang at Roland Garros in '89, Pete Sampras throwing up in the corner, or Marcos Baghdatis seizing up in the backcourt against Andre Agassi late into the night at the U.S. Open.

McHale didn't win, but she certainly introduced herself in a memorable way. She likely made some fans, too, by showing herself to be a player with both heart and game. After the match, ESPN2's Brad Gilbert emphatically stated that the 16-year old will be in the Top 50 in eighteen months. Quite an accomplishment, considering there are no American teenagers in the Top 100 at the moment. Her recent results, too, bear out a player on the rise, and she's now the first of the Bannerettes to flash necessary substance to become a future champion. After reaching the junior Orange Bowl final in December, she went on to win the USTA's wild card playoff competition to get into the draw of this Australian Open. Her reward: the first big moment of her career.

After the match, McHale seemed heartbroken, and still hurting. ESPN's Pam Shriver did her best to try to convince her that what happened to her on Day 2 was GOOD and will make her a better player, but it'll likely take a few days and some words from those around her to fully convince McHale of that fact. As it should be... because she SHOULD want to win, and not settle for shining in a losing effort. Next time, she'll have learned... "hydrate, hydrate, hydrate." And she'll be better for it.

Geez, if this was McHale's grand slam debut, what will she do for an encore? I mean, other than actually win a match, of course. She'll take victory over drama any day, I suspect.

Though, as we've so recently learned, a little additional drama can make winning even MORE enjoyable, right?



=DAY 2 NOTES=
...some players had little trouble in the heat, even if they didn't particularly enjoy having to play in such conditions.

Amongst them: both Williams sisters, who won in straight sets, and Dominika Cibulkova, who double-bageled qualifier Chanelle Scheepers. Victoria Azarenka, who easily advanced past fellow '09 title-winner Petra Kvitova; Patty Schnyder, who survived a game effort from 15-year old French wild card Kristina Mladinovic in three sets; and Amelie Mauresmo, whose body proved to be no worse for wear during a straight sets win over Olga Govortsova.

Some weren't quite so happy by the end of the day, though.

#9-seed Agnieszka Radwanska, a quarterfinalist last year, was taken out by Kateryna Bondarenko. Nicole Vaidisova went out meekly to Severine Bremond by a 6-2/6-1 score, while Anna-Lena Groenefeld was somewhat surprisingly worked over by very-much-in-form qualifier Elena Baltacha 6-1/6-4. #30 Aleksandra Wozniak lost to Sabine Lisicki, who stunned Dinara Safina in the 1st Round in 2008. Other seeds to be ousted were #28 Francesca Schiavone and #32 Tamarine Tanasugarn.

...meanwhile, the notion that Elena Dementieva over did it by playing and winning two tune-up events sure seemed to have legs in her 1st Round match against Kristina Barrois. Her service toss was wayward, and her serve was off for much of the match. She regularly fell behind, as the German served for the 1st set, which she eventually lost in a tie-break, and led 4-2 in the 2nd. If Dementieva had been playing a more experience opponent, she'd likely have been dumped out of the 1st Round of this tournament for the second time in four years... on the same court as in '06, as Hisense Arena is the formerly-named Vodafone, against yet another German (Julia Schruff).

...Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the player currently wearing the "Next One" moniker on her cape, learned a valuable lesson in defeat on Day 2. After losing the 1st set to veteran Tathiana Garbin, the Russian seemed to take control of the match. She led 4-0 in the 3rd set, was up 5-3 and held a match point. But she lost in a 4-6/6-2/5-7 final score. In 2008, former junior star Pavlyuchenkova started her first season on the big tour rather slowly, but by the end of the year she'd caught on and jumped to #45. Next up is learning how to win matches in slams. Consider this match a learning experience, so we'll see how good a student she is by the time Wimbledon and the U.S. Open roll around this summer.

*AUSTRALIANS IN 2nd ROUND*
Jelena Dokic (WC)
Jessica Moore (WC)
Samantha Stosur

*QUALIFIERS/WILD CARDS IN 2nd ROUND*
Elena Baltacha, GBR (Q)
Alberta Brianti, ITA (Q)
Jelena Dokic, AUS (WC)
Sesil Karatantcheva, BUL/KAZ (Q)
Jessica Moore, AUS (WC)

...through the 1st Round, the leading contenders for the Oz "Upset Queens" award are the French, Italians, and Aussies. As for the "Revelation Ladies," the Italians (five in the last 64) might be the winners, along with the Pastries (5) and Spaniards (5). But I've got a yen to lean toward the Kazakhs, which count two in the 2nd Round (when counting Sesil Karatantcheva, who's not yet officially under the national flag, along with Szavay-conquering Galina Voskoboeva, who's actually a former Hordette), especially if at least one of them gets a 2nd Round victory. Sesil's win on Day 2 over Nuria Llagostera-Vives was her first main draw slam win since the 2005 U.S. Open.

...good work, for once, from ESPN2 last night trying to do the rope-a-dope between the Venus/Kerber, Hewitt/Gonzalez and McHale/Moore matches. Well, except for the fact that after showing all the McHale cramping drama, the coverage suddenly abandoned the match at times late in the 3rd set to show essentially unimportant points in the other two contests while missing McHale serving for the match and being broken, and then again later when she was broken to allow Moore to once again serve for the match at 8-7. But, considering in the past the ESPN coverage tended to focus on one match while ignoring all others, I suppose one can't criticize things TOO much.

...and, finally, Jelena Dokic will get her first big-stage moment in a very long time on Night 3 on Rod Laver Arena. She'll play in the first scheduled night session match against #17-seed Anna Chakvetadze. With an Australian crowd truly behind her in a big match for the first time since she made a surprise run to the Olympic singles SF in Sydney in '00, it could be something special worth witnessing.




*WOMEN'S FINAL 64 - BY NATION*
9...France
8...Russia
5...Italy
5...Spain
3...Australia
3...Germany
2...China
2...Czech Republic
2...Kazakhstan (counting Karatantcheva)
2...Romania
2...Serbia
2...Slovak Republic
2...Ukraine
2...United States
1...Argentina
1...Austria
1...Belarus
1...Belgium
1...Bulgaria (not counting Karatantcheva)
1...Denmark
1...Estonia
1...Great Britain
1...Hungary
1...India
1...Japan
1...New Zealand
1...Switzerland
1...Taiwan
1...Uzbekistan

*WILLIAMS SISTERS - WIMBLEDON '08 to present*
4...tour singles titles
2...grand slam singles titles
1...season-ending championship title
1...grand slam doubles title
1...grand slam singles runner-up
1...Olympic doubles Gold
--
45-7 = tour singles won/lost (vs. field), w/ three Williams vs. Williams matches
24-0 = grand slam singles won/lost (vs. field), w/ two Williams vs. Williams matches




TOP QUALIFIER: Elena Baltacha/GBR
TOP EARLY ROUND (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE ROUND (SF-F): xxx
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q3: q3 - Stephanie Dubois/CAN d. Urszula Radwanksa/POL 6-4/6-4
TOP EARLY RD. MATCH (1r-2r): xxx
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): xxx
TOP LATE RD. MATCH (SF-F): xxx
=============================
FIRST SEED OUT: #23 Agnes Szavay/HUN (1st Rd.- Voskoboeva/KAZ)
UPSET QUEENS: xxx
REVELATION LADIES: xxx
LAST QUALIFIERS STANDING: xxx
IT GIRL: xxx
MS. OPPORTUNITY: xxx
COMEBACK PLAYER: xxx
CRASH & BURN: xxx
ZOMBIE QUEEN: xxx
LAST SHEILA STANDING: xxx
DOUBLES STAR xxx
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: xxx



All for Day 2. More tomorrow.