Donaldson’s underhand method falls short
A young American man tried an underhand serve while cramping during a five-setter at the French Open. Hmm. Seen that before, haven’t we?
Except there was one key difference this time: For 21-year-old Jared Donaldson against No 4-seed Grigor Dimitrov yesterday, unlike for 17-year-old – and eventual tournament champion – Michael Chang against Ivan Lendl in 1989, the unorthodox strategy didn’t come in a victory.
Dimitrov came back to beat the 57thranked Donaldson 6-7 (2) 6-4 4-6 6-4 10-8 in a second-round match that lasted 4hr 19min at Roland Garros. The most memorable aspect was Donaldson’s two unusual service motions; he won the point the first time, but not the other.
‘‘I would never try it if I was feeling 100 per cent and stuff,’’ said Donaldson, who could barely move by the end because of painful cramps in his legs.
‘‘But obviously Grigor was playing so far back on the return that I felt like, ‘You know, maybe it’s just something that I’ll try.’ He obviously wasn’t expecting it, you know what I mean? It’s kind of a cheeky way to get a point.’’
Donaldson said he has never seen footage of what Chang did 29 years ago. He did, however, know of the episode: Chang used an underhand serve while cramping during a fourth-round win over Lendl on the way to the French Open title.
Dimitrov was not angered by the tactic. Quite the opposite, actually, shrugging his shoulders and conceding it was smart for Donaldson to try it.
‘‘It was beautiful, right?’’ Dimitrov said. ‘‘He wanted to use something different to kind of try to put me off guard.’’
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic may not be firing on all cylinders but he is safely through to the third round.
The Serbian, seeded only 20 this year due to his recent injury absence, will face Spanish 13th seed Roberto Bautista Agut after a 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-4 win over Jaume Munar.
Meanwhile, Dane Caroline Wozniacki produced a ruthless display to beat Spain’s Georgina Garcia Perez 6-1 6-0 in 51 minutes.
World No 1 Simona Halep, chasing a maiden grand slam title, secured a 2-6 6-1 6-1 win over American Alison Riske in the opening round.