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Hamburg 2002 trip report - L Lewis-Price
Qualifying Match 1 Mariano drew Michael Kohlman 1st, This match was awesome. Both players played their hearts out, breaking each other respectively. The support at the start was predominently Kohlman - until.... Gonzalez, Chela, Chela's Coach, Nalbandian, Arnold, GUGA and Henman all appeared in the Player's box. This really gave Mariano a big lift and he then commenced to destroy the German in straight sets. The par of play during this game was more like a third round main match than a 1st round qualifying match - it was excellent - ON TO ROUND TWO!
Qualifying Match 2 Mariano was seeded 3 in qualies, so we were also keeping a close eye on Meligeni and Boutter's matches, Boutter won (so qualified) but Meligeni lost - so he was in line for the 1st Lucky Loser position. Mariano drew Markus Hipfl this time, and I have to say, the weather was freezing cold!! Marcus tried to encourage me to take pictures with his super flash and wonderful camera; but I was shivering too much I was frightened to drop the thing. Besides - he was there to take the pics - not me! Mariano came out and broke Hipfl straight away... (this seems to be a new habit..) but Hipfl quickly got revenge and returned the favour. Mariano then decided Hipfl would not win another game that set. Hipfl then had an injury timeout. During this time Mariano wrapped up warm and showed off his stretching skills. Set 2 Mariano was MEAN! Hipfl had hurt his thigh, so M made him run around, He really treated him like a cat playing with a mouse. This was really good to see as I've seen too many matches where opponents take pity on injuries then the injured player wins only to pull out the following round. Hipfl took this treatment really well but threw in the towel at 6-2 4-2 (M). Mission accomplished!! He'd qualified!!! The next obstacle was..... WHO would he get first round??? There was a 1 in 8 chance he would draw Andre Agassi (Rome Champion) - and I had a horrible feeling that, he would "win" that slot - I had some ammunition ready "just in case" but luckily it wasn't required. Mariano told me he would be playing Arnaud Clement.
1st Round - Arnaud Clement What a relief! - No Agassi - but on the other hand, it meant that one of my two favourite players had to leave the tournament. Maybe they can meet up again in the French Open Final. Court 1 had a lovely homely atmosphere. Arnaud and Mariano's match was incredible it was truly a brilliant match, very close - the rallies so fast, long and breathtaking - Mariano won 6-4 6-4, easily you may think from that scoreline, but he was 2-4 + 2 break points down in the second, that game seemed to last a lifetime! M eventually won it and then rode on the adrenaline to take the (brilliant) match! (Arnaud was still in the doubles).
2nd Round - Thomas Johansson Hmmm! This was the current Australian Open Champion, who also happened to be Champion Race leader, therefore quite a big Giant! - he was slayed - very convincingly!! Eurosport TV Teletext had this quote "Argentine qualifier Mariano Zabaleta ground Australian Open Champion Thomas Johansson into the Hamburg Clay to romp into the third round - 6-4 6-2 - A runner-up here in 1999 Zabaleta's claycourt experience certainly told today!" 3rd Round - Max Mirnyi This was the first time I had seen a Max match from beginning to end, I knew this would be a really tough one, so Clare and I flew the flag and gave as much visual support as possible. Max just looked huge on that court, his arms looked about 8ft long each, and he basically made Mariano look tiny out there (and that's been written by a tiny person!!). Max took the 1st set 6-3, but Mariano courageously fought back and took the second 6-2; he then awesomely broke Max again in the third! - but then the mean Giant switched back to Set 1 mode and instantly broke Mariano again and then proceeded to take the match - it was a really powerful hard fought match - Mariano saved a few quality match points before the Belarussian won. But hey this is the guy that knocked out Petey AND has beaten an in-form Guga on clay too! So Hamburg came to an end. There was so much love for Mariano around - I do not understand much German but his name was the one EVERYONE was talking about all week. He's 100% ready for the French Open! Thanks to everyone who made this trip so great I really appreciate it (you know who you are). Claire, Liz and Shan - it was great to meet you guys - hope to see you again soon! Marcus and Louise Lewis-Price More photos coming soon.... |