I found a great article on Ivo and his US Open match...so, if you didn't get a chance to see it, this is the next best thing...the writer does a great job of describing all the important shots and seems to know the players personalities. Enjoy....
Written by:
Christopher Gerby
Found on:
www.tennis-ontheline.com
Daniel Koellerer may not be a household name, but he already has quite a reputation on the challenger circuit. What kind of reputation? Well, for starters, Tomas Behrend and Hugo Armando circulated a petition asking the ATP to throw Koellerer off the tour. His allegedly rude, nasty behavior has gotten him fined, disqualified, and even punched (by Frederico Luzzi). This past March, the ATP finally went ahead and suspended the man they call "Crazy Dani" for six months. However, the ban doesn't apply to events run by the ITF, including Grand Slams, so Koellerer (who's managed to keep a Top 200 ranking by winning on the ITF futures circuit) remained eligible for US Open qualifying. And there he was on Wednesday afternoon, squaring off against Ivo Heuberger. Probably hoping to avoid major fireworks, the USTA had the good sense to give Steve Ullrich, one of the sport's most experienced and authoritative officials, the chair umpire assignment for this match.
With his multiple tattoos and wild facial hair, Koellerer looks like a rock musician (specifically, Travis Meeks from the neo-grunge band Days Of The New). Heuberger, meanwhile, is starting to go a little gray around the temples. Perhaps it's a side effect of the "Curse of Chucky," which seems to befall any professional athlete who dates Martina Hingis. Past victims include Julian Alonso (who virtually vanished after dating the Swiss Miss), Magnus Norman (forced into premature retirement by a largely unsuccessful hip surgery), and Sergio Garcia (perpetually stymied by his inability to win a major golf title). Heck, even Martina's current squeeze -- Radek Stepanek -- withdrew from this year's Open, citing a back injury. No wonder Heuberger, who famously frolicked in the Mediterranean surf with Hingis after her early loss at Wimbledon in 1999, had the bad luck to draw wild man Koellerer in the opening round.
Just two games in, Koellerer took an injury timeout and had his entire right foot taped. He seemed to be moving fine after that, but Heuberger did break him to take a 3-2 lead. Badly shanking balls in the sporadically windy conditions, Heuberger immediately gave the break back. Where Heuberger is fairly stiff and mechanical, Koellerer is all flash -- bouncing on his toes, springing up out of low crouches, repeatedly going to the drop shot well, and throwing in some theatrical flair whenever possible. Game 7 saw Koellerer hit an absolutely perfect between-the-legs lob...and actually win the point with it, as Heuberger missed the subsequent overhead. The very next point ended with Koellerer striking a balletic pose in midair as he let a Heuberger shot sail long. "It's like Cirque de Soleil!" one fan observed as Koellerer strutted to his chair with a 4-3 lead.
The rest of the opening set featured some flashes of temper (Heuberger throwing his racquet a couple times; Koellerer angrily punting a ball from one baseline to the other) and some athletic lunging volleys by the controversial Austrian. When the smoke cleared, it was time for a tiebreak...
DK serving: Koellerer unwisely lets a defensive Heuberger lob fall in -- 1-0 HEUBERGER
IH: A towering Heuberger mis-hit hangs in the air for ages before landing wide -- 1-1
IH: Heuberger nets a low backhand volley, whacks the ball into the woods, and gets a code violation warning -- 2-1 KOELLERER
DK: After steering a backhand wide, Heuberger bounces his racquet -- 3-1 KOELLERER
DK: Koellerer skids while hitting a delicately angled forehand pass for a winner -- 4-1 KOELLERER
IH: Off-forehand winner by Heuberger -- 4-2 KOELLERER
IH: Koellerer overwhelms Heuberger with a big forehand -- 5-2 KOELLERER
DK: Picture perfect backhand drop shot winner by Koellerer -- 6-2 KOELLERER
DK: Koellerer closes it out with a service winner -- 7-2 KOELLERER
A whippy topspin forehand winner allowed Koellerer to break for a 7-6, 2-1 lead and he didn't look back. After pulling ahead 5-3 in the second set, "Crazy Dani" raised his pointer finger, presumably indicating the number of games he had left to win. Heuberger stayed alive with a hold to 4-5, but Koellerer served it out in style, ripping one last forehand winner on match point to prevail 7-6, 6-4. Koellerer put his whole body into a fist pump and let out a primal scream. Immediately after shaking hands with Heuberger and Ullrich, he ran over to celebrate with his supporters. Koellerer then jogged back to his chair, pulled out his cell phone, and further shared the good news. Heuberger, meanwhile, was consoled -- and cheered up in no time flat -- by his fiancee Martha, who happens to be staggeringly beautiful. Maybe old Ivo's not so cursed after all.
Ivo Heuberger
Ivo Heuberger
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