us open 2011: statue-esque

i caught dr. ivo, practicing before noon on saturday, the day he was set to play alexandr dolgopolov. i was amazed at how slow and easy his entire service motion was. i wondered, is he posing just for me?

his arm position, even his hands, reminded me of a greek statue.

but then i caught him during the match and everything was exactly the same. his motion wasn't any faster, his form was rarely imperfect. that's just how he does it.

he was easy to photograph, but after a time i yearned for something different.

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i do love how he barely grips the racquet here...

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and well, for something different, one can rely on karlovic's oppenent that day.

the crowd tittered a bit when the players first marched on court--hard not to be shocked to see the two of them (and not assume one of these guys is going to get crushed).

but the "little guy" prevailed...

tale of the tape:

alexandr dolgopolov 5' 11", 157 lbs

ivo karlovic: 6'10", 230 lbs

dolgopolov def karlovic: (6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4).