Discipline and hard work paying dividends for Delic
Delic not in the giving mood
MELBOURNE -- After scrapping his way through Australian Open qualifying, Amer Delic had every intention of starting the tournament right. He just didn't bargain on having to face this particular opponent.
"Feels great to get a W, doesn't feel great to beat a friend," said Delic, who defeated fellow American Robert Kendrick Tuesday. The two are close; Delic attended Kendrick's recent wedding.
Delic
But Delic can't afford to give any gifts at the moment. At 25, the former NCAA singles champion from the University of Illinois is in a key phase of his career.
Last year marked his first full season of playing consistently on the ATP level, and it was a schizophrenic one. Delic had a strong first half followed by a perfectly dreadful stretch. He didn't win a single match during the entire summer hard-court season and didn't fare much better when play moved indoors.
"Looking back on it, I learned that I have to pick my spots as to where to play," said Delic, currently ranked No. 136. "I looked at every tournament as an opportunity, and I wasn't in a position to take a couple of weeks off and get ready for the big one. Every tournament I played was the big one for me.
"It finally caught up with me. I was out of gas and I just didn't have it in me to fight."
Delic thought carefully about how he wanted to approach his offseason. He moved from his hometown of Jacksonville, Fla. to Tampa, where he's rooming with John Isner, and now trains at Saddle Brook along with a nucleus of top U.S. players that includes James Blake, Mardy Fish and the Bryan brothers. On his way to Australia, he stopped off in Hawaii and spent a week hitting with Andy Roddick.
One person who has full confidence in Delic's potential is his college coach, Craig Tiley, who also happens to be the Australian Open tournament director.
"I always believed he had a big game," Tiley said."When he started playing in college, his tennis was a little wild. He needed to learn the discipline of constructing points, getting in and controlling the net. I knew he would be a later developer, but he has all the ingredients he needs."
Delic is actually one of three former Fighting Illini who qualified for the main draw. Rajeev Ram, another member of the 2003 championship team, and South Africa's Kevin Anderson both lost their first-round matches.
It was a good day overall for American men. Blake, the 12th seed, and Sam Querrey won in straight sets and Michael Russell and Vince Spadea also advanced.
King
King said she found it hard to meet the expectations that got ratcheted up when she reached No. 50 a few months after turning pro in 2006."Last year was a tough but valuable experience for me," said King, who had what she describes as"coaching problems" and is now working with her father, David."I have a better grasp of the situation now and I'm continuing to improve."
One thing that sustains King during rough times is singing. She has taken vocal lessons for years and performed"God Bless America" before a full house at the U.S. Open, the national anthem at Fed Cup and"Wishing You Were Here" from"Phantom of the Opera" on Australian television. She practices on the road, but added,"If I sing too loud, I get knocks on the door."
Two other American women in action Tuesday, Laura Granville and Meilen Tu, also lost in the first round.
Nole-mania: Third-seeded Novak Djokovic somewhat sheepishly acknowledged the high-pitched support he got from a group of women dressed in identical T-shirts that proclaimed their affection for him."I have seen signs that say 'Mrs. Roddick,' and 'Marry Me, Roger,' but never T-shirts that say 'I Love Nole,' he said after dispatching Germany's Benjamin Becker in straight sets. Nole, pronounced no-lee, is Djokovic's nickname.
Bonnie D. Ford covers tennis and Olympic sports for ESPN.com. E-mail her at bonniedford@aol.com.
Missing person report
Murray
Harman looked up and down the row where he was sitting. "I think we're all still here, although there's blood on the walls," he said.
But seriously -- how do he and other British scribes handle coverage from here on in with their only native son gone?
"Different papers have different agendas," said Harman, who's been on the beat for more than 25 years. "There are those papers for which, when Murray's not there, it's 'So what are you doing there?' Those are the exception rather than the rule. For my paper, you cover the event. Having a British player there is great, it adds a little bit more drama, but we don't base our entire coverage of the event on that.
"In a strange way, it gives you a chance to look around at what else is going on in tennis instead of being blinkered. There are so many great stories out there. But I sit here today not a happy bunny."
Although interest will naturally fall off somewhat in Great Britain, Harman said he has some good default positions.
"They love Federer," he said. "It's taken a bit of time, but the British public now understand what a marvelous player he is. And Nadal. When The Times ran Rafa's blog last year at Wimbledon, it got an unbelievable amount of hits.
"Sharapova. Everybody loves Maria. And there's a sneaky admiration for the Williams sisters that we really haven't tapped into. I don't know if they care or know, but they're very well respected and admired."
--Bonnie D. Ford
Jelena's wrong turn
Jankovic
After leaving her city hotel Monday for her morning match, Jankovic said she noticed her driver was heading in the opposite direction from Melbourne Park and instead was on his way to the Albert Park practice courts.
"The driver almost brought me to Albert Park," the Serbian player said. "He was thinking I was going to practice. And I was like, 'excuse me, are you taking a new shortcut? Where are you going?"
"So it was actually good that I said something, otherwise I would end up in Albert Park, would miss my practice. Who knows what would happen."
Jankovic went on to save three match points to beat Paszek 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in a grueling match that lasted 3 hours, 9 minutes.
--AP
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Bonnie D. Ford is on the grounds at the Australian Open for the two-week event. She'll have firsthand knowledge of everything that's transpiring Down Under. Send your questions to Bonnie here.