Long Wait But Well Worth It
It wasn’t until early evening Friday that the rain finally eased and Sovereign Singles semis were able to be completed.
When the players took to the court, patient fans who stayed the course were rewarded with terrific action.
Top seed Tommy Robredo of Spain beat seventh seed Agustin Calleri of Argentina 6-4 6-0. At around 1.30 pm their match had been stalled at 1-0 (Robredo) when the rain looked to have set in for the duration, but plenty of fans were keen to make the most of the Heineken Open’s superb facilities and hang around in hope.
Every dry table or chair was taken (and some wet). The atmosphere was very relaxed and convivial. No wonder this tournament has a reputation as a boutique Wimbledon.
Robredo played his usual game when the match resumed five hours later, staying deep behind the baseline and working the ball viciously with his extreme Western grip. Calleri made a good fist of countering the accurate Spaniard, considering his back was stiff to begin the match and progressively got worse.
The fans were getting quite vocal by this stage, their throats well lubricated. When Spanish third seed David Ferrer and popular American Mardy Fish (pictured) walked out to begin their semifinal, the vibe on centre court was carnival-like.
Ferrer surprised everyone including Fish by walloping the American 6-0 in the first set.
The giant-killer finally looked beaten. But Fish rallied somehow from the humiliation and demonstrated the superb mental strength he’s shown all week to guts his way to a set all at 6-4. Then Ferrer took control again while Fish began to get frustrated including one smashed racquet. His touch seemed to have deserted him and the frequent (if well-meaning) humour at the expense of his surname from the crowd probably didn’t help.
He trashed a racquet and the umpire over-ruled a line call on match point to end proceedings at 6-0 4-6 6-1.
