Ah, yes, Stupid, er, Super Saturday. No one could understand CBS's thinking, nor do I think the format ever helped boost the ratings over what a normal Slam schedule would have given them.
Men's Semis Rate Super At Open
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Friday, September 8, 1995
BRUCE JENKINS
IT RUNS way too long, it's not really fair, and it stands in defiance of the other Grand Slams -- but many consider it the greatest day in tennis. If you're in that camp, get ready for one of the most fascinating Super Saturdays in U.S. Open history.
The tournament still needs Steffi Graf and Monica Seles to come through in the semifinals today, and let's just call that a lock. Look for a couple of straight-set routs, Graf against Gabriela Sabatini, Seles against Conchita Martinez, and then it will be official: Graf vs. Seles in the ultimate women's match of the 1990s. Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier in a men's semifinal. And Boris Becker vs. Andre Agassi in the other, with the exact order still to be decided.
If there was any doubt about Sampras' status, he became the odds-on favorite yesterday with a tremendously overwhelming 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-0 victory over the onetime barefoot Zimbabewean, Byron Black. Then, in a tumultuous evening quarterfinal, Courier took the fight out of Michael Chang, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.
Too often, the CBS-rigged Super Saturday is a colossal drag. In a tournament that routinely gives players a day off between matches, the women are not only forced to come back within 24 hours of the semifinals, they don't know exactly what time they'll play (sandwiched between the men's semifinals). And if one of the men gets trapped in a five-set marathon near the stroke of midnight Saturday, he can't be thrilled about playing his Grand Slam final the following afternoon. That would never happen at Wimbledon, the French Open or the Australian.
But hey, this is CBS. This is television, which runs professional sports like a spiteful dictatorship. You wonder how CBS expects people to sit through 10 hours of tennis on a Saturday, even with the nuttiest barbecue host in charge, in the face of competition from baseball and college football. And the whole idea goes right down the dumper when relatively unappealing players like Miloslav Mecir, Wally Masur, Helena Sukova and Karel Novacek find their way in.
The year's lineup has the potential of being the best in at least 11 years. Back in '84, there were epic men's semifinals that saw John McEnroe score a five-set victory over Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl outlast Pat Cash, 7-6 in the fifth. The women's final was a pure museum piece that found Martina Navratilova beating Chris Evert Lloyd, 6-4, in the third.
COURIER THRILLING AGAIN
Earlier this summer, the notion of watching Courier in a Grand Slam semifinal might not have thrilled you. Although he did engage Sampras in a wild, emotional final at the Australian (the night Sampras was in tears over the condition of his coach, Tim Gullikson), Courier has been a state of decline for more than two years. Whatever the reason -- burnout, overtraining, other players catching up to his talent -- he hasn't been the same holy terror he was in 1991-92.
Well, he's back. Courier is positively thumping the ball, covering the court like a panther, destroying his opposition in both the physical and mental competition. That was especially evident last night against Chang, his old rival from their junior days. Courier seemed unaffected by the swirling, gusty winds; Chang admitted it was a ``big problem,'' especially on his serve. Chang had service games that would have closed out each of the first two sets, and he had five set points overall , only to find himself unable to put the first serve in.
And in the third set, during which Chang went on a fist-pumping frenzy to get himself recharged, he doubled-faulted away the 10th game (squaring it at 5-5) and finally the match. ''When you're serving for all three sets and can't get it done,'' he said, ''that's pretty disappointing.''
FIERY COURIER
Courier was his old fiery self, at one point drawing a code violation for cursing in a foreign language. Courier stalked chair umpire Cecil Hollins, raging, ''You've gotta be kidding me -- we're in New York City and you nail me for swearing in another language? Where are you from, Spain? What's the big deal?''
Later, Courier said with a smile, ''That's the first word I ever learned in Spanish. I didn't realize there were so many bilingual officials around.''
Courier also became furious with Chang over alleged gamesmanship. ''Michael has a way of bouncing the ball when he's serving, then staring at you, like 'What are you doing? Are you ready?' And I'm like, 'You can serve it any time.' We've had that sort of stuff for years. He tries everything he can to beat you. He'd jump off the top of the scoreboard to beat you.''
As for Sampras, the vanquished Black summed up the prevailing opinion. ''He took the wind out of my sails,'' said Black. ''He totally blew me off the court. The guy's so calm, so stable out there. Every one of his shots is just about perfect. So it's kind of a downer.''
A lot of those heralded Super Saturdays have been a downer, too. This year, it looks like the real thing.
-----------------------------------------------
TODAY'S FEATURED MATCHES
.
Play begins at 11 a.m.
-- Men's Doubles Championship: Alex O'Brien, Amarillo, Texas, and Sandon Stolle, Australia (15), vs. Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, Australia (2)
-- Women's Semifinals: Steffi Graf (1), Germany, vs. Gabriela Sabatini (9), Argentina; Monica Seles (2), Sarasota, Fla., vs. Conchita Martinez (4), Spain.
-- Women's Doubles Final: Gigi Fernandez, Aspen, Colo., and Natasha Zvereva, Belarus (2), vs. Lori McNeil, Houston, and Helena Sukova, Czech Republic (15)
-- Juniors: Ludmila Varmuzova (7), San Marino, vs. Lilia Osterloh (15), Columbus, Ohio
Ryan Wolters, San Jose, Calif., vs. Henrik Andersson, Sweden
-- Men's 45 Doubles: Marty Riessen, Dallas, and Sherwood Stewart, The Woodlands, Texas, vs. Ken Rosewall and Fred Stolle, Australia