Cincy Diary, Day 2

****I first saw an announcement for a Philipp Kohlschreiber presser, but that never panned out. Instead, Chris Guccione, who defeated the German, showed up for one-on-one with one of the journalists. (Pressers are scheduled by request - from us, the media. If only one person puts in a request, it's likely a one-on-one will get scheduled instead of a full-on press conference. At least I think that's how it works! Pete can fill in the blanks.)

[Ed. note: Jackie has all the right instincts; if more than one or two pencils request an interview, it's officially scheduled as a presser. Anyone who wants an "exclusive" can request one - and often get it with anyone other than the major stars. - Pete]
 
All I really picked up from eavesdropping(!) was that he felt he served well and was in a good rhythm throughout his match. He was asked about the Cincy tournament in general and about his next opponent (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), and then it was a wrap.
 
Only a few minutes after Guccione left, Lleyton Hewitt arrived for his presser. My first! I found Hewitt to be really pleasant and easy-going (a true Aussie bloke); he gave thoughtful responses and frequently credited Soderling's game/level of play. He noted that the key to victory was to "weather the storm" - to just stay the course, keeping in mind that Soderling is a big hitter who likes to dictate play. He said his goals for the year are to get his body to 100%, prepare for the majors, and improve his ranking, which clearly indicated he's still as motivated as ever to compete and remain a fixture on the men's tour.
 
4:45 PM
 
Not surprisingly, I next hung out at the Grandstand Court for Gilles Simon vs. Igor Andreev. Up until the third set (which Simon took 6-1), the match was airtight. There wasn't much separating these two. Simon was really verbal, talking to/yelling at himself after almost every missed point. Though stress levels were high throughout, this match did feature the funniest moment of the day:

The chair umpire wasn't doing his job; he should've overruled several inaccurate line calls and never exerted his authority. Most of these calls went against Andreev, including one during the very last game, with Simon serving for the match. After the botched call, Simon served again ... and Andreev's return hit the chair ump smack in the face ... the crowd cheered, and both Andreev and Simon had a lil' laugh. One serve later, the match was over.

**7 PM
 **
Presser #2! James Blake came in to talk about his 3-set loss to Igor Kunitsyn. What I found most interesting about Blake was his lack of eye contact. He didn't make eye contact with anyone in the room when he spoke, just kept looking down. He's a talker, too. (The stenographer mentioned it earlier - that he's hard to keep up with!)
 
He was asked about a number of different players (and I still can't tell whether or not that's appreciated - talking about others instead of oneself), like his compatriots, and raved about 'em all. Regarding Sam Querrey: He said he has a great serve and a great attitude and continues to improve. Re: Andy Roddick: He believes Roddick is playing better now than when he was #1, which says a lot about the game - that it continues to get better. Re: Federer: He thinks a lot of him, said he's a great champion, someone who gives back to the community, and just a genuinely nice guy. Re: Murray: He remarked that Murray has an "unbelievable" team around him, and he's lucky to have that at such a young age.
 
7:15 PM
 
Back to Centre Court for a few minutes of Tommy Haas vs. John Isner. I only caught the very beginning, and it seemed to me that Haas had great energy and confidence and was serving effectively. Alas, it didn't seem to be enough, as he ended up losing in 3.
 
Incidentally, Centre Court is beautiful in the evening. There's something about hardcourt tennis under the lights that has such a calming effect.
 
7:45 PM
 
Yet another presser - this time Simon's. His knee was heavily wrapped, and he actually moaned as he sat down (ouch!). He answered questions in both English and French - English first. He explained that his knee is not 100%, but he's doing what he can to compete. He commented on the frustration he's felt lately (and was unabashed about demonstrating during his win over Andreev), saying he wants his opponent to have a hard time on every single point in a match and when it doesn't happen, the frustration kicks in.
 
When the presser started, Simon looked very serious - almost despondent. A few minutes later, though, the good-naturedness we're all used to shone through, as he smiled here and there - as when he proclaimed he'd need "all his legs" to beat Davydenko - and even laughed at one point, at an expression a French journalist used. There's something about him that makes you suspect the wheels are constantly turning in his head. He's a thinker.
 
A quick note about pressers while I'm on the subject: They're short - much shorter than I thought. Hewitt was in and out in what seemed like less than 10 minutes, and Simon's only ran longer than that because of the two languages.
 
8:15 PM

****Final match of the day for me - Ferrer v. Marin Cilic. Ferrer was on fire - both in terms of play and disposition. He's a ball of energy, and it's much more obvious in person than on TV. He also has some very particular habits. The most memorable: He asked for the towel after every point and insisted on dumping it on top of the Olympus placard-y partition with all of the sponsors' names.

This apparently is a bit of a no-no, since it covers up the names (that need to be shown on TV, I'm guessing). Each time it happened, then, the ball boy had to adjust it so it rested at the very edge where it didn't obstruct the text. It was like watching an OCD duel - whose compulsions will win out?

'Til tomorrow, enjoy the tennis - I know I will.