Few spots for US men in Arthur Ashe Stadium (US Open diary)
By DPA, IANSTuesday, September 7, 2010
NEW YORK - American men have complained about what they perceive as unfair US Open scheduling with the local hopes given minimum appearances at this edition on the massive Ashe showcase court.
The 23,000-seat monster - almost never sold out - remains the gorilla of tennis stadia. And American Sam Querrey and defeated Mardy Fish are now questioning why they haven’t become more familiar with its surrounds.
John Isner, the Wimbledon marathon man who went out in the third round, lost his only match in the big house. “I didn’t hit a ball on that court, no practice or anything prior to this match,” he said after going out to Mikhail Youzhny.
“Without a doubt, had I been a little bit more comfortable on that court it probably would have helped.”
Fish, the revelation of the summer for the US with his two titles in two weeks, made his first showing in two years on Ashe as he went down in the fourth round to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
Querrey, last American standing in the singles field, has also had limited exposure to the showcase, which has been the venue for every match played by headliners Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I’m not a huge fan of the scheduling this week,” said Querrey. “We have a lot of Americans here. None of us play on centre court. If you go to the French Open, they have Gasquet, Benneteau, Monfils, they’re on Court centrale every day.”
Fading force Andy Roddick was the only Yank to get consistent big-court dates - but he lasted just two matches before losing.
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Venus changes dresses like she changes rackets
Venus Williams is promising to trot out more of her controversial dresses - in new colours - as she progresses at the US Open.
The third seed has been playing and winning in cocktail-style numbers which have drawn fashion comment for their brief length and radical backless styling.
But it’s all good for part-time fashion designer Williams, 30, whose own company designs her gear.
“I do have some more colours, but so far I’ve worn the colours I liked best,” Williams said of her sequined creations. “We’ll see how I feel in the next round if I just do a repeat or something new.
“Obviously the dresses are super fun - hopefully just as much fun as my game is, and seeing those kind of fun in big shots.”
Williams said that while she is not in the habit of giving her “used” dresses away, she will occasionally get a request from a museum or collection. She handed over a Wimbledon dress to the tournament museum.
“Historically I’ve saved like one of each dress. I do a lot of the organising at the house, so I’ll save one of Serena’s, too. At the end of the day, to have an exhibition of all the dresses we’ve worn would be very interesting.”
