It's Open Time (melbourne Time) And The Eyes Have It
The Age
Tuesday January 17, 2006
HOW'S this for a change of pace? You're a 20-year-old tennis player from Western Australia. Ranking? Number 180 in the world. Suddenly you're on centre court at the Australian Open, facing Lindsay Davenport - former Australian Open champion and, oh yes, number one in the world.
Welcome to Casey Dellacqua's world. Courtesy of a wildcard that gave her a place in the draw, the left-hander had the honour - if that's the right word - of playing the first match at Rod Laver Arena of Open 2006, which started this morning.Early in the morning she kept waking up, worrying about her alarm clock betraying her. Once up, she thought she'd handle things OK. But then, just on 11am, she walked out on court and suddenly felt incredibly nervous. She's not used to several thousand spectators. They winced as she sent down three double-faults in her first service game. Within a matter of minutes she was trailing 0-2.Things improved a little after that, though not a great deal. In just under an hour, Dellacqua's great adventure was all over, one last Davenport overhead sealing a 6-2 6-1 victory. For the tournament's top seed it was a regulation win; for the young Australian, an insight into what she needs to do to improve if she wants to advance further in the game.Far from being crushed by the experience, Dellacqua later seemed to be treating the match as a master-class. "I've got a lot of hard work to do," she said. "I felt quite slow out there today; I'm not used to that pace of ball. To go from playing against numbers 300 to 500 to playing number one in the world is quite a jump." Yet, in its way, also something to savour: "Playing Lindsay was definitely my biggest match ever."Davenport, one of the most respected figures in the game, has been a regular at Melbourne Park since 1993 (when, incidentally, Dellacqua was a youngster of seven). In her first Open, aged 16, Davenport advanced to the third round. Since then, she has never made an earlier exit.The American has reached two Australian finals, winning the title in 2000 and finishing runner-up last year after holding a big lead over Serena Williams. Remarkably, that 2000 Australian crown remains her last major title.If there's a question mark over Davenport's claims on the number one spot it is this: she's a top gun without a major victory in six years. Not long ago she seemed to be contemplating retirement; now, as she turns 30, she looks and sounds rejuvenated - a player with unfinished business. Before yesterday, Davenport was the last woman Jelena Dokic had played at the Open. That was in the first round of the 2001 tournament. Dokic, then a troubled teen representing Yugoslavia, played the defending champ on centre court. Spectators faced a dilemma. Whom should they support - the former Australian, whose personal problems were well known, or the popular American? They remained split, as Dokic staged a hell of a fight but lost in three sets. Then she left - apparently for good.Yesterday Dokic was back; this time without her infamous father and once again representing Australia. After five years her comeback to an Open court happened slightly earlier than expected. Razvan Sabau - a Romanian contesting the earlier match on Margaret Court Arena - pulled out because of injury late in the second set of his match against eighth-seed Gaston Gaudio. Suddenly the Argentine was through to the second round and Dokic was due on court.Perhaps, after her hot time on court, Casey Dellacqua had a chance to watch some of Dokic's match somewhere cool. There were several lessons to be learned there. One was that there are indeed second chances in sport. The other is that there is life after Lindsay.ONLINE Full coverage at theage.com.au, including latest results and match reports
© 2006 The Age
