How did Elf being a more than competent clay courter sneak up on me like this? Or was I just not paying attention? Of course, it doesn't hurt that he's 7 feet tall and, no matter what the surface, can just send shots down like bombs. Including serves. Maybe especially serves. During the bit of the match that was actually on TV, the broadcasters whipped out the "game clock" and timed JMDP winning a service game in under a minute. Uh, what? (And no, before you ask, it was not four aces. But it was at least two.)
Also, has this picture been floating around under the radar, or is it another thing I missed? Because it's pretty much the most adorable thing ever.
Besides JMDP generally controlling things at will, Jo-Willy just looked a little flat. Not counting the second set, he hit more than twice as many UEs as JMDP. I guess it's probably jarring to go from playing Christoph Rochus, who might be an actual elf, to playing some guy everyone calls "Elf", but is actually a skyscraper. Too bad for the home crowd, but it's nice to see "the best of the rest" living up to his potential.
