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China Open - Beijing 2004 Final
Well I didn't have any access to the scoreboard for the first set, and when it did eventually
start to work it was at 2-2 in the second set, after Graydon and Justin had lost the first set 6-4... So with Dent/Bogmolov
Jr serving, they held to go 3-2, love service game for GO/JG 3-3, they went racing to a 0-30 lead in game 7, but it was pulled
back to deuce, but on the first Advantage point and break point they took it to lead 4-3, had a 40-0 lead, but went to 40-30
before taking the game and leading 5-3. A love service game in the tenth, meant triple set point, and that evened the match
up at one set all.
TD/AB Jr. to serve first in the third set, game went to deuce but the servers held 1-0, GO/JG
faced double break point at 15-40 but held on the first advantage point 1-1, Easy game for TD/AB Jr. 2-1, Heart stopping game
here in the fourth for all of us.. and the longest game in the match, unless there was a longer one in the first set before
my scoreboard launched...4 break points saved I think I counted but held the game 2-2 (phew!)
love service game to Dent/Bogmolov Jr. 3-2, game six went to deuce but advantage point taken
3-3, TD/AB held to 15 4-3, GO/JG raced to 40-0 but took the game at 40-30 4-4, TD/AB a break point at 30-40 wasn't able
to be converted so they held 5-4, game ten was held pretty comprehensively 5-5, one break point in game eleven could have
stopped my heart being put to the test in the breaker, but it wasn't converted so TD/AB held 6-5, game twelve 0-15,15-15,30-15,40-15
Game... 6 games all and into the tie- break we go!
TD/AB to serve the first point, held 1-0, GO/JG held their two 1-2, as did TD/AB 3-2, and again
3-4, at this point GO/JG got the mini break and led 3-5, 4-5, 4-6, the mini break was now to be claimed back 5-6, 6-6, mini
break to set up a match point on GO/JG serve 6-7, and it was only the one that they needed.. and took the tie-break 6-8, and
so the final result was
G.Oliver/J.Gimelstob d. T.Dent/A.Bogmolov Jr. 4-6,6-4,7-6 (8-6) to claim their
first atp title together, Graydons second in his career and Justins eleventh.
CONGRATULATIONS
US Open 2004
Well normally I would like to be there for a match when I'm going to do a match report, but with the
help of Fee (many thanks) we did a point by point I.M. of the match, as my scoreboard still won't load!
Sept 2nd, 1pm EST time, Court 15, US open 1st round.
Graydon/Justin Gimelstob v A.Clement/G/Carraz
GO/JG started serving in the first set.. 1-0.. Good start, unfortunately with the scoreboard it doesn't
tell you who in the doubles pair is serving first.. any way there were no breaks of serve in the first set, and no break
points even reached... so that meant first set tie-break.. GO/JG served first, and took the first point, a mini break
was taken by the French pair, but it was back on serve at 4-4, at 6-5 the French pair broke to take the first set 7-5
in the tie-break.
Second set, Clement/Carraz to serve first, and it went with serve until 2-2, when Graydon and Justin broke
to 15, taking it to 3-2 GO/JG to serve... at 5-3, 30-40 first set point/break point to GO/JG.. Converted.. so a double break
of serve in the second set to even the score to one set all.
Third Set, With GO/JG to serve first it was a little worrying to see 0-40 but they managed to pull
it back to 30-40, but the 3rd break point was converted, so they were trailing 0-1, but as we all know its not a break until
the other side has held their own.. which thankfully they didn't! So its all back on serve at 1-1, and went with serve until
5-4 to our boys, lots of shouting and cheering from this side of the Atlantic when I saw 0-15, 15-15, 15-30, 15-40.. double
break point/match point.. and just like the end of the second set, only the one point was needed to win the set, and win the
match....
Final score, G.Oliver/J.Gimelstob def. G.Carraz/A.Clement 6-7(5), 6-3,6-4
Sept 3rd Round 2, 11am EST, Court 8
G.Oliver/J.Gimelstob v L.Arnold/M.Hood (15)
GO/JG to start the match serving again, with a very convincing love service game gave them a 1-0 lead, they
had double break point in the 4th game and converted it to take a 4-1 lead, the scoreline continued 4-2, 5-2, 5-3, Graydon
and Justin were then broken back to take first set back on serve 5-4, 5-5, Graydon and Justin held to take them to 6-5, they
had 0-40 and three break points to take the first set but the game was pulled back to deuce, they converted the 4th BP to
take the set 7-5.
GO/JG to serve and immediately got broken 0-1, but as in the first round when this happened they broke right
back 1-1, back on serve, 2-1, triple break point again and they converted on the third, to take the game, 3-1, held
for 4-1, 4-2, 5-2,5-3, in the last game they held to 15 and took the set 6-3
Final Score G.Oliver/J.Gimelstob def. L.Arnold/M.Hood 7-5,6-3
Sept 5th 3rd Round, 11am EST, Grandstand court (and its on the TV so I can watch!)
G.Oliver/J.Gimelstob v D.Nestor/M.Knowles(3)
I don't need to tell you how excited I was to have Graydons match on the Grandstand court and Sky Sports
in the UK to have interactive channels so that I could watch the match, the first time I have seen Graydon since Wimbledon.
The weather in New York was cloudy and 68 degrees F at the start of the match, and the chair umpire was
Emmanuel Joseph of France.
Nestor/Knowles won the toss and elected to recieve, So Graydon was up to serve first, wearing all white
nike gear and cap. Nice service game, serving one ace and held his serve to love 1-0, D.Nestor was serving
next, they also held to love 1-1, Justin up next and unfortunatley they found themselves at 0-40, but pulled it back to deuce
then lost the next point and Nestor/Knowles converted to take a 2-1 lead,
Nestor/Knowles took the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead, Graydon produced another love service game
and another ace in that game 3-2, 4-2, This was the nightmare game where Justin served 2 double faults,
and they were broken to 15, and were now 2 breaks down 5-2, Knowles then served out the set and took the first 6-2.
Second set was not off to a good start when Graydon had his service game broken when they were 30-40, Nestor
then held to love taking their lead to 2-0, Justins service game was held to love also, so they were on the scoreboard 2-1,
they had one break point in the fourth game which didn't get converted, Nestor/Knowles moved ahead 3-1, they broke again
in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead, held to love in the sixth game 5-1, and Justin had to serve out the match 0-15,0-30,0-40,15-40,30-40
and then it all came to an end with a double fault...
The match was over in 50 mins and the final score was 6-2,6-1
As I have said on the home page, Nestor/Knowles were seeded No.3 and they are a very experienced
doubles team that have already won 3 titles this year, I hope Graydon and Justin play together again, as this is a pairing
that is working.... well played this week guys.
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