Please help me Mr Agassi, pleads Youzhny
Please help me Mr Agassi , pleads Youzhny
He might have raised a few disapproving
eyebrows among Wimbledon's head honchos but nobody would have blamed a
tortured Mikhail Youzhny if he had chosen to use his racket end to
scrape "Help Me!" into the hallowed Centre Court turf.
After all, he is no stranger to conveying his innermost thoughts with his on-court artwork.
Thirty two days after scratching the word "SORRY!" into Roland Garros's red clay during a third-round bashing by David Ferrer, the
Russian oddball found himself on the edge again after being on the
receiving end of a royal thumping by six-times Wimbledon king Roger
Federer.
If relaying a message by digging up Wimbledon's famous lawn had flashed through Youzhny's mind, he thought better of it.
Which is just as well since Britain's Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge were among those in the Royal Box.
Also in attendance were Wimbledon greats Rod Laver, Steffi Graf and
Andre Agassi and it was perhaps unsurprising that when Youzhny found
himself two sets down, he turned to tennis royalty for help.
"I asked Andre what I have to do. I asked if he could help me. If I
had a chance, I would have asked everybody, there were a lot of top
players sitting there (in the Royal Box)," Youzhny told reporters with a
wry smile after the 6-1 6-2 6-2 hammering.
"But Andre was sitting close so that's why I asked him. He knows how
to beat Roger and how to play on grass (so I thought he would be my best
bet).
"He said (something back) but it did not really help me because it
was two sets too late. If we had played best of seven or nine or 11
(sets) ....," Youzhny added, his voice trailing off.
Agassi's words of wisdom certainly did not aid Youzhny as he promptly double-faulted to lose the game.
For those watching a majestic Federer in full flight, it was hard to
imagine the result would have been any different even if they had played
best of 11, 13 or even 15 sets.
It would simply have prolonged Youzhny's agony.
After losing the first set, Youzhny found himself 0-40 down in the
first game of the second. When the Swiss sailed a forehand long, Youzhny
yelped. When Federer steered his next service return wide, Youzhny
barked. When Federer broke in the next point, Youzhny was muted.
It was a feeling all too familiar to one guest in the Royal Box. If
anyone could feel Youzhny's pain, it was Mark Philippoussis - after all
the Australian was the first of Federer's 16 grand slam final victims on
the same stage in 2003.
On Wednesday, he was among 15,000 fans who, while marvelling at
Federer's wizardry, would have wanted to go out and lend a helping hand
to a player who ended up spending the changeovers with his head buried
under a towel.
But tennis is a one-on-one combat sport and even when the going gets tough, the players have no one to turn to.
Youzhny's heart started thumping in the fourth game of the third set
when he earned two break points, which if converted would draw him level
at 2-2.
A forehand error scuppered the first opportunity and a service return
into the net took care of the next, prompting a wildly gesticulating
Youzhny to let out a roar that went on, and on and on.
"I yelled in Russian many times, wondering why the hell the ball
stopped on my side and did not roll over to his side," a laughing
Youzhny said.
Danger over, Federer slammed the door shut in 91 spell-binding minutes to take his place in a record 32nd grand slam semi-final.
Recalling the days when he used to go "completely nuts on the tennis court", the Swiss was sympathetic to Youzhny's plight.
"Mikhail is a great guy. He's always a great fight out there," said
Federer. "You could see it with his outbursts, trying to get some energy
going and just getting pumped up a bit. It was pretty funny him
speaking to the Royal Box, I thought."
As for Youzhny, he was left to wallow over his miserable 0-14 record against the Swiss.
"I hope so (that I can beat him one day). I can say it's still my
dream. I think if I continue to play more, more and more against Roger,
then maybe I'll have a chance to beat him," said Youzhny, whose losing
streak against Federer is now into a 12th year.
"I don't wake up every morning thinking that one day I can beat Roger but..."
