NEW YORK, NY, USA – Before main draw play begins on Monday, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center will have already seen four days of hotly contested play during the US Open’s annual qualifying competition. Open to the public, US Open qualifying always features a fascinating mix of the game’s past, present, and future, all of whom have equal opportunity to win the three matches required to gain access to the final fortnight of the 2016 season.
Here’s a taste of some of the buzz from around the grounds last week:
Laura Robson goes from ashes to Ashe: The former World No.27 had already considered her summer a success when she swept the singles and doubles of an ITF Challenger in Landisville, Pennslyvania – her first titles of any kind since 2008. With her protected ranking given after her left wrist injury expired, she was ranked below the US Open qualifying cut-off, and so planned an Italian vacation with the hope of earning a late wildcard fading by the day.
“I played my final on a Sunday, and none of us thought there was any chance of me getting a wildcard here,” she told a small press room after knocking out Tatjana Maria, 7-6(5), 6-1, to reach the main draw. “I was on the phone with Max [Eisenbud], and he wasn’t getting good vibes from the USTA, either. He was telling me to go ahead and go on vacation.
“The next morning, I was thinking, ‘I’m supposed to get on this flight. Should I go?’ Everyone told me to, that there was only a 10% chance of a wildcard. It was one of those things where I sort of knew in the back of my head that it was going to happen, because as soon as you plan for it not to…”
Like forgetting your umbrella on a rainy day, Robson got the news soon after landing in Italy with her friends: New York was calling.
“We landed in Italy at 9AM, went to Vesuvius and a little bit of Pompei, and went straight back to the airport!” she joked. “I dropped my friends off at the villa, and I was there maybe seven hours. I was panicking a little bit, but my main priority was just to get back to London and then take the next flight here. My friends were helping me pack, not that I unpacked that much at that point.
“We’d already had a shared iCloud album, so all week, I’ve been getting photos of them on a sunset cruise and having the best time, but they’re all very happy for me.”
Winning all three of her matches in straight sets, the young Brit wouldn’t be denied, even as her sudden change of plans were compounded by a bout with pink eye.
“It was actually a shocker though, because when I landed here, with all the travel I’d been doing, I got conjunctivitis. You’ve never seen an uglier eye, and I couldn’t come in on Friday because I was still contagious, so they sent me to a specialist. It was swollen shut, and you know when people will say, ‘Oh, it’s not so bad,’ but you know it is? Yeah.
“They obviously don’t do requests for Slams, but I saw Laura [Ceccarelli], the referee, and I was like, ‘Anything you could do to get me a Wednesday start?’ She took one look at my face and said, ‘We’ll do our best.'”
It has been a long road for for one who has been largely off the tour since the start of 2014 dealing with multiple surgeries on her left wrist. Playing qualifying at a major tournament for the first time since 2012 brought back plenty of memories, particularly of her first two attempts to make the main draw in New York.
“I had two matches when I was 15 and 16, where I was up in the third in the last round of qualies both times and almost had panic attacks. I put so much pressure on myself trying to qualify and it was such a big deal at the time. The third year, I qualified, but honestly I’ve just been happy to be here. I don’t know how it looks from the outside, but I feel like that’s been projecting as well. I feel a lot more confident. Today was a tough first set, and we had a long timeout in the second, but I’m not panicking about it. I’m just a lot more relaxed.”
Robson will play fellow Brit Naomi Broady on Tuesday for a potential second round match with No.4 seed and Connecticut Open champion Agnieszka Radwanska.
Jaksic gives back: Jovana Jaksic was close to making her Top 100 debut at the end of 2014 when a back injury forced her to start all over again. The Serb has had to rebuild her ranking from a low of No.244 and appears back on her way to a strong finish to her season after a solid performance in qualies, where she narrowly lost to eventual qualifier Nadia Podoroska in the second round.
But before her week in New York could begin, Jaksic took time to help raise money for Manhattan’s Serbian Church of St. Sava. A fixture of the Flatiron section of the city since the mid 1800s, the church suffered a four-alarm fire back in May. A benefit was held last Monday at the New York Athletic Club, one that Jaksic didn’t think twice about missing.
“My Serbian friends organized an auction for raising money to rebuild the church,” she told WTA Insider. “I was a part of it and grateful to be so because I really believe in God. What happened, it was terrible to see the church burn down. But they did an amazing job organizing. I was really thankful to be invited and part of it.”
It was a somber start to her stay in what she calls one of her favorite cities in the world.
“I love fast cities. Here, they call it ‘The City that Never Sleeps,’ and that’s something I’m in love with. It just has an energy, positive vibes, and that’s what you want, to come to a town that’s energetic and full of cool people.
“I went with my best friend for sushi afer my first round win because that’s my favorite restaurant. He’s staying in Manhattan, I’m in Queens, but we always end up in Manhattan. I don’t know why. Manhattan just calls out to you; it’s magnetic, and I love New York. There’s so many restaurants, good places to go. I like exploring different food, but sushi is my favorite.”
Jaksic will next play at the Coupe Banque Nationale in Québec.
Wedding Bells for Karatantcheva?: In a season that has already seen wedding celebrations from Ana Ivanovic, Dominika Cibulkova, Vera Zvonareva, and Dominika Cibulkova, former World No.35 Sesil Karatantcheva won’t be following her colleagues down the aisle in 2016, but did start the season by getting engaged to fiancé and former footballer Georgi Dolmov.
“He proposed in February, eight months after we met,” she said after her first round win over Rebecca Sramkova. “He wants us to get married next year, but I still haven’t decided if I want to let go of my freedom! He’s an ex-professional soccer player. Athletes find athletes; don’t get me wrong, I’ve dated non-athletes before, but I feel like another athlete really understands this kind of lifestyle. It’s tougher for a non-athlete to understand all the traveling, the pressure, and the hustle.”
A self-described contrarian, the former French Open quarterfinalist doesn’t feel the difference between team and individual sport is as great as many often believe.
“It’s funny because, to be honest, it’s a pretty thin line. When he tells me about the pressure he was under before matches and the responsibility he’d feel towards his team after a loss, you see it’s not that different. The responsibility isn’t shared between the team the way we think on the outside – especially when they miss penalty shots, it’s a big drama.
“He’s told me, ‘You know when you lose a match point? That’s how we feel.’ It’s good that you know someone is able to relate to your pain; when you win, it’s easy, but when you lose, that’s when the tough part begins.”
Dolmov traveled with Karatantcheva to New York, a decision that was as much of a relief to him as it was to her.
“I was alone at Wimbledon and he was following my match on live scores, saying, ‘It’s killing me, I cannot look at the points flickering on the screen like this!'”
The tour’s preeminent Spice Girls enthusiast also fields music recommendations from her fiancé; though they might not fight over radio stations, Karatantcheva ultimately prefers her admittedly eclectic taste.
“I’m a big music junkie; you can open my phone and find anything in it. But lately, because my fiancé is into very heavy rock – he really likes Metallica and bands like Nirvana and Blur – and he was telling me, ‘This is the kind of music you need to listen to before your match,’ and I was like, ‘I’m not sure that’s me. I like it, but I’m a little bit more chill than that.'”
Karatantcheva will stay in the States following her second round loss to Elise Mertens to play more ITF Challengers with hopes of ending the season ranked inside the Top 150.
