Todd Martin backhands the ball against Aaron Krickstein Wednesday night at the Stanford Championships at the Turpin Tennis Center. (Casey Lee)
In day one of the Stanford Champions Tennis Tournament, fans and students from all over the Dallas area crammed into SMU’s newly renovated 2,200 seat Turpin Tennis Center to catch a glimpse of some of the top names in tennis square off against each other.
Wednesday night featured Todd Martin and Aaron Krickstein as part of the Group A match, and Jim Courier and Karel Novacek from Group B. Dedicated fans braved the chilly weather as they witnessed the battle for bragging rights as part of the Outback Champions Series.
Krickstein, the former No.6 world player, defeated Martin in a back and forth battle. Krickstein, decked out in head to toe Nike, swept Martin in the first game of the first match, but Martin quickly caught up as the duo volleyed to a six to six tiebreaker.
As the pair continued to hit back and forth, Martin matched Krickstein point for point, but the youngest ATP player ever to win a singles title on the tour, pulled out a 6-4 final game point over the grey-haired Martin. In the second set, Krickstein established an early lead and defeated Martin six games to four for the win.
In the night’s second match, Courier faced off against Novacek, resulting in a victory for Courier, putting him one step closer to his second win in the Outback Champions Series.
As the American and Czech Republic native fought it out, the old opponents joked as Courier took an early and dominant lead. Novacek even went so far as to request the placement of Courier’s serve.
“So you want it 121.5 miles per hour. Okay, here’s the serve just for you,” joked Courier. But as the ball soared past Novacek, he joked, “Courier, that was more like 127 miles per hour.”
As the crowd cheered the American favorite on for his side comments to the crowd and entertaining antics towards Novacek, it was ultimately Courier’s serve that won him the match and fan support. Courier won the first match 6-3, and nearly swept Novacek, 6-1, in the second match.
“It felt pretty good to get out there on the court and run around,” said Courier after his win. “[Novacek] really played well. I had a couple of lucky breaks, and just rolled with the momentum.”
Tomorrow’s schedule will see Thomas Enqvist against Jimmy Arias on one court, and Justin Gimelstob and defending Stanford Championship titleholder, Wayne Ferreira, on the other court. Both matches will begin at 6:30 p.m. SMU students can get tickets at a discounted rate of $10 at the venue prior to the start of the match.
Boris Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champ, was forced to retire from the Stanford Championships last night due to a long-standing back injury. Becker, who was scheduled to make his debut back in the United States after nearly a decade long absence from the country, will be replaced by former U.S. Davis Cup player Justin Gimelstob. Becker’s last U.S. appearance dates back to 1999 when he played in the Lipton Championships in Florida.
Expressing his disappointment in not being able to play at SMU this week, Becker said in a press release, “I am so sorry I won’t be able to play this week as I was looking forward to playing the Stanford Championships in Dallas very much.”
Gimelstob, the previous Grand Slam winner, has been overheard insulting Anna Kournikova, and has been paired with Venus Williams at the Australian and French Open mixed doubles matches. In his prime, Gimelstob defeated Andre Agassi, Petr Korda, Alex Corretja, Patrick Rafter and Gustavo Kuerten. Gimelstob with make his debut at the tournament tomorrow night against Ferreira.
