Coin makes Ivanovic pay

New York, August 29: Choose your favourite preposterous factoid from one of the biggest upsets in tennis history.

Maybe it’s that when No. 188 Julie Coin played No. 1 Ana Ivanovic on Thursday in the second round of the US Open, Coin played the second WTA Tour-level match of her 25-year lifetime. Maybe it’s that two weeks ago at a second-tier tournament in the Bronx, Coin lost to 423rd-ranked Kelly Liggin of Ireland.

Maybe it’s that two months ago at Wimbledon qualifying after another galling loss from ahead, Coin figured she would probably give up tennis and pursue tennis coaching or something related to her degree in mathematical sciences. Maybe it’s that when Coin called her parents in France after defeating Ivanovic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, they had seen only the third set because French TV hadn’t shown the first two.

Maybe it’s that Coin, qualifier, all but quaked with dread when some rapid early finishes prompted officials to move her match from smaller Louis Armstrong Stadium to the largest tennis stadium on Earth, Arthur Ashe Stadium. Maybe it’s that Coin looked just daunted enough by reporters afterward that a tour representative felt moved to tell her, “They don’t bite.”

Even if Ivanovic looked ripe for felling in the first round, it’s outlandish that it’s Coin who wrought the biggest upset of a No. 1 player since the rankings began in 1975. Even though Ivanovic had the newly repaired thumb and the lack of practice time, it’s crazy that it’s Coin who caused the earliest exit of a No. 1 player in US Open history. Even if Ivanovic already lost to then-No. 133 Jie Zheng at Wimbledon, still, Julie Coin?

“I don’t realise yet that I beat the number one in the world,” Coin said.

Not even Amelie Mauresmo had seen her play, curious given Mauresmo hails from the same French region, but by the dinner hour on Thursday, a few thousand lingering New Yorkers had seen her and so had Mauresmo, with Coin her third-round opponent.

Ivanovic floundered with Coin’s excellent serve and sprayed 34 unforced errors, but she still had three break points at 2-2 in the third set, whereupon Coin hogged 10 straight points to go 4-2 and 40-15. All that remained was the serve for the match and a match point at 40-30, where Coin hit a fault graphically long.

She double-faulted but grinded to another match point. Ivanovic hit a winner smack onto the doubles line, but Coin grinded to another match point. Ivanovic yanked a forehand far wide, and Coin smiled and exulted just a bit. Then the veteran of the drudgery of lower tours and qualifying explained just how she took until almost age 26 to get here.

... contd.

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