Scene at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic: Whacked stats, dumb questions and more

Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, Andy Roddick’s wife. (photo by Kwai Chan / Meniscus Magazine)

Despite the thick humidity, fans flocked in droves to the 2009 Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C. The tournament was upgraded this year as part of the Olympus US Open Series with quadruple the prize money and extra ranking points for good measure. That said, we noticed a few oddities beneath the slick façade in the forms of words and numbers. In random order:

1, 2, 3…groan

One of the on-site restaurants was called “Thai-Breaker.”

Questionable quips

Press conferences can draw out post-match insights and thoughtful analysis from players. Other times, however, these same players are the recipients of some rather odd questions. (Jan-Michael Gambill, for example, was once asked at the US Open if he could be any animal, what kind of animal would he be?) Try not to cringe at this exchange following Andy Roddick’s narrow loss in the final to Juan Martin Del Potro:

Journalist: …There are people who would say that this is your second match, your second time losing in the finals [after being defeated by Roger Federer in five close sets (here Andy frowns)]. And, you know, you’re having trouble late in matches. Is there anything you could say [in response to] that?

Roddick: No, I mean, I played “I don’t know how many” close matches to get to this one. I’d say those people don’t really know a whole lot about our sport.

It isn’t always that bad, though. Near the end of that same press conference, Roddick was asked about his new apartment in New York City. “There’s a lack of room service in my apartment in New York,” he said with a smile. “When I mention that to my wife [Brooklyn Decker], she tells me to ‘shut it.’”

Crunching and re-crunching the numbers

Our trusty photographer noticed this one, so he gets props for this observation. Following the conclusion of matches, a “Box Score” sheet emerges with statistics such as aces, number of points won and so on – we’ll call these the “Olympus” stats. Shortly afterward, a second, more detailed set of statistics is issued by Ricoh, which expands upon the information provided in the “Box Score.” The problem? Well, the numbers don’t always match up. Here are some examples:

Roddick-Del Potro final

The numbers were slightly off when comparing the first-serve percentages between the two sets of stats:

Not terrible – a difference of 1% for each stat – but enough to raise questions since the sheets were printed at about the same time, given that this was the last match of the tournament.

Gonzalez-Del Potro semifinal

Once again, the first-serve percentages differ slightly. This time, Ricoh seemed to think that Del Potro played one more first serve point and one fewer second serve point. I’m not sure if this scorekeeping is done by hand on both counts, but it sure seems that way. Just when you think it can’t get any worse, for that same match:

So not only were five minutes tacked onto the match – or five minutes subtracted, depending on how you look at it – but the time of completion differs by SIX minutes!