Can't Go Backwards
The most striking thing about Witten was how comfortable he looked. For he was playing in the main draw of a Slam for just the second time in his career (the first time since was in 2006, when he also qualified for the Open).
Big serve by Andreev? Witten would poke it back, retreat to the baseline, and settle in for a rally. Powder puff second serve? He took a lot of those with his two-handed backhand and pounded them crosscourt, for winner after winner. No clear opportunity to end a point? He ran side to side, with surprising agility for a man of his build, and he waited. Much of the time, he was able to outlast Andreev, who made an ungodly number of unforced errors today. But when the time came, Witten fearlessly unloaded with his signature shot, a flat and furious forehand that he managed to bury in the corners, over and over. Each time he uncorked it, the packed house of patriotic American spectators gasped with glee: Who IS this guy?
Without taking anything away from Witten, it must be said that Andreev didn’t seem himself today. I thought he might be injured, but couldn’t find a “tell” in his movement. Maybe it was Witten that was troubling him, or, as Jesse himself told me, maybe it was the ignominious notion of being down against a qualifier after the first set.
We’ll never know, because the Russian pulled a fast-one, come interview time. Although there was an official announcement that he was on his way to the "Player’s Garden" (the area in front of the entrance to the player lounge, which acts as a overflow meeting ground if none of the three media center media rooms is available), by the time those of us interested in speaking with Andreev made the two-minute walk to the garden Andreev had taken off.
“Awesome,” said McEnroe, smiling big. Then, noticing the small group of eavesdroppers that had assembled, he added: “I saw the second round prize money… it’s almost what I got when I won the Open.”
We all cracked up. McEnroe continued: “I got $39,000. I think [the second-round haul is] $32,000 or $31,000. And it’s $48,000 or $50,000 in the third round. That’s not bad.”
Witten couldn’t agree more. Last week, his earnings to date for the year were just $22,000. And he's been paying the toll for grinding away with injuries - most seriously, an inflammation in his back that lingered for about three months last year. By the end of 2008, his ranking had plummeted to around number 500, and he was thinking of hanging it up. “It’s expensive to play tennis,” he said. “I wasn’t sure it was worth it, especially on my own dime.”
Next up for Witten is Maximo Gonzalez. If he gets through that, he’ll likely face Djokovic or Ljubicic who play each other today in his part of the draw. He’s not worried about what’s ahead, though.
“I think if I got through that one,” he said of today’s match. “I’ll be all right. He (Andreev) was the seed. I got my first ATP win, so I can’t go backwards.”