| A large crowd
gathered on Friday evening to watch the second round match
between Luke and Murphy Jensen and Leander Paes and Nenad
Zimonjic. While anything is possible with the Jensen's - who,
win or lose, are always entertaining - the crowd was surprised
to see Murphy enter the Stadium Court holding a microphone and
dressed for dinner rather than tennis. He announced that he
had been advised by a doctor not to play due to a heart problem
that had apparently been caused by a viral infection. But,
rather than disappoint the fans, Luke and guest partner Paul
Goldstein (wearing a sign that read "I am Murphy") would play an
exhibition match against their scheduled opponents. |
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| Fred Stolle, tennis
legend and winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, agreed to be honorary
chair umpire and commentator. |
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| After feeling a
little pressure from the racquets of Leander Paes (winner of 26
doubles titles) and his powerful partner, Nenad Zimonjic, Luke
Jensen called for assistance and quickly assigned one of the
umpires to play in place of Paes. If he had to play with a
substitute then his opponent should too, he reasoned. |
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| After continuing to
lose points, Luke decided that the substitution had been a
mistake and looked for further assistance "Can I play?" shouted
a voice from the stands. "Come on down" shouted Luke. Ridley
Seguso (son of Robert Seguso - winner of 29 doubles titles
including Wimbledon and the French and US Opens - and Carling
Bassett, #8 in the World in 1985) quickly sprinted down from the
stands and happily took Luke's place next to Paul Goldstein. |
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| He quickly
demonstrated that he would not be intimidated by his larger
opponents and proceeded to dominate the match... |
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| ...until he was
finally scooped up and deposited back in the stands by Zimonjic
- anxious to regain the lead - and the limelight.... |
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| There followed a few
games of some serious tennis - which demonstrated just how good
these players can be - before a foot fault was called on
Zimonjic by an honorary umpire brought down from the stands. |
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| She was rewarded by
the racquet being thrust in her hands and being invited to "do
better"... Six faults later, Zimonjic took his opportunity
to provide a little tuition. Leander Paes joined the lesson. |
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| Chair umpire Fred
Stolle finally decided that things were getting much too
friendly and play resumed. Paes and Zimonjic were declared the
winnners - but we think Fred was fairly generous with the
scoring... |
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| But, as much as the
fans were disappointed by the withdrawal of the Jensens from the
tournament, no-one went home disappointed by this mixture of fun
and fine tennis - especially future pro Ridley Seguso and proud
Mom, Carling... |
|
Go to Saturday, March 8
(Kids' Day) |
|
Go to Saturday, March 8
(Semi Final Matches) |
