BRONX--While Hurricane Bill steered east of New York City, the powerful gusts of  Patricia Mayr are swirling around the boroughs for a couple weeks.

Mayr, a 22-year old from Austria currently ranked #82 was one of the players in the Bronx Open draw that I was most excited to see.  I had never seen her play, but the accounts of the havoc she wrought in Budapest had me excited to see just how nuts she would be.

Her first round match against Paraguay's Rossana de los Rios was not nearly as packed as I would have hoped.  Clearly the word had not yet reached New York tennis fans as to just how crazy this unassuming Austrian blonde could be.  At 34, de los Rios is easily one of the oldest singles players on the tour, and I was curious to see how a player with her experience would grapple with Mayr's sophomoric tendencies.

The match started out relatively calmly, with Mayr holding easily.  Then de los Rios held easily to level the first set at 1-1.  Furious at herself for even dropping one game, Mayr cocked her racquet back as though she was going to smash it into the light pole, but resisted. 

Continue reading this post »

For the next couple days I'll be at the EmblemHealth Bronx Open, a $100k ITF women's challenger being held this week in Crotona Park in the Bronx.

With lots of players wanting to get warmed up for the US Open next week, it's a pretty strong field made up of predominantly players who have already qualified for the US Open.  Big names include Anna-Lena Groenefeld, Julie Coin, and recent TDF interviewee Vania King.  There are also a couple intriguing blast-from-the-past wild cards in Alexandra Stevenson and Mirjana Lucic.

It's my first time going to a stand-alone challenger, so I'm not entirely sure what to expect, but I hope I'll be able to get some interesting looks at and insights into the lives of the non-marquee, grinding players on the upper end of the top 100.