Day 2: Ernie's first round match against Taylor Dent. Here's another caveat that I forgot to mention yesterday: If you're looking for serious, pinpoint commentary on the technical aspects of the game that was played, you had better look for it elsewhere. Sure I'll give it a shot, I might even pretend I'm a female Johnny Mac with a keyboard but don't forget, I warned you. So proceed with caution. Here goes. First order of business for Ernie as soon as he entered the stadium and after setting down his tennis bag: change his shirt. What was up with that? He couldn't do it while getting ready in the locker room or he sweated so much on the way to the stadium? Never mind. Both you and I know, an Erno shirtchange is a rare sighting indeed so it was a treat, though so fast that if you had blinked you'd have missed it. Anyway, to the match. I'll start with broad strokes:

• Taylor Dent is as much a ballbasher as Ernie
• He also has a powerful serve, with the same speed averages as Ernie (100-132 mph)
• They are both tall and large men

So if you look at my broadstrokes you'd think that they were pretty evenly matched, right? Wrong. Ernie is eye-candy and Taylor is not. No, sorry, not what I meant. Ernie is way more talented, that's what I meant. Anyway, to the pinpoint commentary. Take from it what you will, they're my notes from the match. I hope you don't get a headache. (Sorry but I'm too sleep-deprived to make poetry out of it.) There are holes in the commentary where a. I stopped writing because Ernie was on my side of the court and I just had to ogle, b. the game was played so fast that it could not be transcribed, c. there were errors off Ernie's racquet that I was too upset to write about, and d. I remembered that it was a lot more fun watching than writing!

First set, 0-0 T serving. Started off with a tumble after lunging at a strong return from E. Got people worried there. Held serve. Next, E serving, 0-1. At 15-15, a 2nd serve at 106 mph, then a nice return down the line from T that E could not get to.15-30. First double-fault (DF) to 15-40. First dropshot, a success, to 30-40. At 40-30, an ace at 98mph. Game to E. Whew! As you can see he got himself down to 15-40 and then had to climb out of it. T now serving at 1-1. T came to the net but E passed him pretty, to 0-15. Got to 15-40, then a long forehand miss from E, to 30-40. DF from T. Broken. E now serves at 2-1. At 15-0, DF to 15-15. Then an 80 mph serve that was well-placed, to 30-15. At 40-15, a 122 mph serve that was unreturnable. Game to E, 3-1. T now serves. A beautiful down-the-line (dtl) pass with T at net, to 0-15. Two aces from T followed. Game. E serves at 3-2. Got to 0-15 somehow. Got to 15-15. Then a long rally followed that E won where he mixed up his shots- slow-slow-fast-slow (the slow coming from sliced backhands which as you know seem to just float over to the other side, hence, "slow". And btw, E can slice prettyyyy!) . 30-15 now. Then, get ready for this, a 2nd serve at 122 mph! I had to do a double-take at the speedometer. Unreturnable, of course. 40-15. You'd think that he's home safe now but no, it got to deuce. (You can supply your own choice of Erno errors here.) Now E comes to the net but T passed him, so to 30-40. Then a long backhand-to-backhand (bh2bh) rhythmic rally that got me in a trance until E ended it with a drive to the forehand side that was as swift as it was delicious! Point! 40-40. Then an error and so back to 30-40. A strong serve followed by 2 solid bh shots then to the net to finish with a soft volley. 40-40. Then 40-30. Now a 108 mph serve with a good pickup from T but E passed him on the fh side. Game. Ernie leads 4-2. Fast forward now to 4-4, T serving. (E got broken in the previous game.) E broke back! E serves at 5-4. At 30-15, E serves a 108 mph, then hits to fh, then to bh, and to fh again to finish, none of the balls bashed, just nice topspin shots. For game-set, an ace. Ernie leads 1-0.

Second set. Well, what do you know, we got fast to 0-2. T started playing better and I guess E felt the pressure. This set is not really worth writing about because he lost it (and also my notes are more messed up than usual) but E got dramatic here and showed what an emotional player he is so for that reason, I'll go ahead anyway. T serving now at 2-0, 15-30. E missed a shot and screamed something in Latvian. 30-30. Then E smacked a passing shot to T's fh, 30-40. Then another point and it's game to E but still down a break. E now serves at 1-2. He got quickly down to 0-30. Frustrated, he kicked the ball and it was such a good kick that it sailed into the stands, accompanied with some choice words in Latvian. Did he apologize to the people in the stands? Noooo, not our spoiled brat. Next, he served an ace. 15-30. Then, a dropshot (ds) that T got to and returned with a shot that E could not get to. 15-40. Another error and it's game to T. 3-1. The next game T won to go up 4-1. E now serves. At 15-0, a long bh2bh rally, about 6 balls, then a ds from T that E ran down and returned with a bh slice down the line for a winner, 30-0. For 40-0, E hits to fh then to bh, fast and furious, that D returned short, so E ran to meet the ball and here carved the shot so deliciously that you could see the ball twirl in the air as it dropped just over the net. Game to E, 2-4. T now serves. In this game, which T held to go up 5-2, E missed a return of serve and screamed again in Latvian (I must learn it!). And you know, the place was so quiet so you can just imagine how jarring it was. Anyway, T finished off the set in style, with a couple of aces.

Third set, 1-1, E serving. Long exchange that E ended by netting a fh return. 0-15. Ace. 15-15. Ace. 30-15. Then to 40-40. An attempt at a ds that failed. 30-40. Ace. 40-40. Error from T. 40-30. Ace. Game to E, 1-0. T serves. At 15-0, an error from T to 15-15. Then a long exchange that E won. 15-30. E doesn't usually make much sound while playing but here he was going HMPT....HMMMMNNNHHH....with every shot, I guess from having to exert a lot. At this point, I noticed that he was not bashing the ball as much, just using topspin to create some angles. I love it. Anyway, E broke T to go up 2-0. E now serves. He got down quickly to 0-30. Blame it on that high-risk game of his. And oh, I have some thoughts on that but first I must get to the end of this so I can get some sleep! So now, another error and it's 0-40. Then broken, 2-1. Then E breaks back, 3-1. E now serves. Opened with ace, 132 mph. 15-0. Ace again at 132 followed by a "c'mon!" a la Vika, 30-0. Third ace at 118, 40-0. A 2nd serve at 128 but a DF, 40-15. Then an ace at 132. Game to E for a 4-1 lead. Towelhead moment. T now serves. Twice T went to net and won both points. Then he follows with 2 aces to clinch the game, 2-4. Crowd roared approval. E now serves at 4-2. A 126 mph ace. 15-0. Another point for 30-0. Then a 127 mph for 40-0. To finish, a 104 mph to T's fh, then to bh for a winner, not bashing it, mind you. Game to E, 5-2. Well, you know the rest.

I hope you didn't get a headache. If you read it through, well, I'm honored. There's more to report but I must get some rest. But I'll leave you something to chew on. Vika also played today. Her match was the last to be played in the stadium and for whatever reason, given her #1 ranking in this tourney, very few people stayed to watch it. Her coach was sitting nearby and since she kept looking towards him, I dunno, I also found myself looking his way. Besides, he's a cutie. Anyway, Vika won the 1st set easily. At the start of the 2nd, I looked towards her coach and guess who my radar picked up... Erno! He was with Ainars. I think they came near the end of the 1st set. They were sitting three rows above me so I didn't have the pleasure of reading his facial expressions while he watched Vika. Damn! Well folks, I'll leave it to your rich imagination.