Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Ron Kantowski on how the cold and wind affected the other Becker’s performance

How cold and blustery was it at the Polar Bear - er, Tennis Channel - Open on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday?

It was so cold and blustery that M. Freeze - as in Mister - was given a bye to the quarterfinals.

It was so cold and blustery that the press tent was lifted from its moorings and blew across the desert before it crashed to Earth, crushing three Munchkins and the Wicked Nastase of the East.

It was so cold and blustery that Court 10, which flanks Durango Drive, which flanks the open desert, which, at least this week, flanks Antarctica, was renamed "Ice Station Zebra."

If there is a lesson to be learned from the first two Tennis Channel Opens, it is this: If you go out early in the week, there's a good chance you will freeze your McEnroe off before the first tiebreaker.

For the second year in a row, the early rounds of our fledgling pro tennis stop have been plagued by weather that would make Buffalo seem inviting.

It's too bad, because everything else about the tournament at the Darling Tennis Center in Summerlin, with the possible exception of the makeshift parking lot and the barbecue at Smoke-n Sam's on the midway, is an ace. The weather, on the other hand, is a triple fault.

You can't blame the organizers for that, something I kept reminding myself as I was watching the other B. Becker lose to A. Snowman - actually, Jan Hernych of the Czech Republic - in straight sets Tuesday.

The other B. Becker - that would be Benjamin, not Boris - was seeded eighth. But that's when the thermostat is set at 72 and the big orange sock at the airport isn't standing at attention.

When the Candlestick Park weather blows in, take the guy from the Czech Republic over the guy who now makes his home in Coral Springs, Fla.

On the last point of the match, Becker wound up and belted Hernych's serve a la Tom Hanks in "Bachelor Party," with the ball winding up somewhere near Jean.

At first, I thought Becker, who when last seen was ending Andre Agassi's career at the U.S. Open, was just upset losing to some guy whose name conjures visions of field-goal kickers in NFL Europe. But with the wind blowing at 30 mph you almost had to hit the ball like Godzilla for it to have any chance of landing in play.

"It's always tough to come from indoors to outdoors," said the other B. Becker, now wearing the initials of the original B. Becker - Boris - on his warm-up parka. The countrymen recently met for the first time at a Davis Cup match with the active B. Becker agreeing to wear the retired one's clothing line.

Benjamin Becker, who grew up in Merzig, Germany, a burg of 31,000 on the river Saar, said it's always frustrating when the wind blows. But, no matter what John McEnroe might have believed, it blows for both guys. "So he did a better job handling it than I did."

Actually, I thought the other B. Becker would do a better job adjusting to the wind, considering he played his college tennis at Baylor in Waco, Texas, where it really blows. Even when you're not playing tennis. But as Becker said, it had been a couple of years.

The festering gale couldn't have come at a worse time for the other B. Becker, who comes across as an extremely nice guy, regardless of the weather. Or whether he wins or loses. He recently broke into the top 50 in the computer rankings, a sign he may be on the verge of becoming known as somebody other than "the guy who beat Agassi at the Open."

Still, if you could stop yourself from shivering, it was hard not to notice the contrast between the Benjamin Becker we all saw at Flushing Meadows last Labor Day weekend and the one I saw laboring like a swordfish boat captain in the perfect storm on Tuesday.

On that day, there were 23,000 fans in the stands, cheering like mad well, if not against him, then certainly for his opponent.

On Tuesday, there were 23 in the stands. Not thousands. Twenty-three. As in 10, another 10 and three ones.

At least they weren't cheering against the other B. Becker this time. Because if there's another thing I have learned from the Tennis Channel Open, it's that it is impossible to cheer for anybody when you've got one hand in your pocket and the other wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate.

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