Tennis out of singles, survives mixed doubles

by Joshua Weinstock on September 7, 2009

There’s an expression no athlete wants to hear during the Deaflympics. “First round exit.” Unfortunately for the U.S. Tennis team, Aaron Gomez and Jennifer Woyahn lost their opening draw singles matches in Taipei on Monday. The official drawing had Gomez facing off against Jan Uiterwijk Winkel, of the Netherlands, on Sunday. The match went 6-0, 6-0 in favor of the Netherlander. Gomez said he was physically prepared to play, but mentally was elsewhere. “I felt my showing was a fluke. My body was playing here, but I was so nervous, my mind was far away. I wish I could have a rematch and show everyone how I really can play better,” he said. Head coach Howard Gorrell said he was disappointed with Gomez’s debut, but added that the match was much closer than the score indicated. Gorrell said Gomez lost countless advantage opportunities, which blew points for the American. Gomez was disappointed also, but said he is glad the jitters are out of his system. “I want to redeem myself along with Jennifer in the mixed doubles. We’ve been working hard, and I don’t want to let down everyone who’s been behind us.” Woyahn opened her draw against a Deaflympic legend, Barbara Oddone, of Italy. The 2009 Taipei Games is Oddone’s sixth Deaflympics, and she has won gold in every Deaflympics in which she has competed. The match originally was slated to start at 10:30 a.m. Monday, but the previous match was extended, pushing the start time to 12:22 in the afternoon. Oddone, a left-hander, appeared superior to the visibly nervous and restless Woyahn during warm-ups. Woyahn’s warm-up serves continually hit the net. Once the match started, Woyahn opened with a 1-0 lead and seemed to gain momentum. However, the Italian came back, winning three consecutive matches, and she never looked back. Gorrell pointed out that Oddone broke five service chances of Woyahn that contributed to her victory. Woyahn had an opportunity to even up the first set at 2-2 when Oddone made two consecutive errors, and she had the advantage. However, Oddone rallied with three straight points and grabbed the lead, 3-1, on the way to a 6-2 first-set victory. The second set was all Oddone as she showed why she owns five gold medals, winning, 6-1. It only took an hour to complete the match. Woyahn said she knew this Deaflympics could have played out differently after she watched others play their matches. “I know I’m better than most of the players here, but it’s unfortunate that I had to be the one who got the opening draw of playing against Oddone.” An American fan attending her eighth Deaflympics recalled seeing Oddone play in her debut at the 1989 New Zealand Deaflympics. “She seems to be still in tip-top shape despite looking old [at age 39]. It’s amazing how she is able to play at that level after all those years,” she said. After their losses in the singles, Gomez and Woyahn had a chance to redeem themselves in the mixed doubles event, opening against Ismail Yilmaz and Asuman Saki, of Turkey. The pair defeated Turkey handily, 6-2, 6-1. Gorrell said he thought the victory would “boost our confidence and raise our spirits” after disappointing first-round exits. The duo opened up with four consecutive wins, including a shutout in the second match. On the third match, the U.S. broke Turkey’s service after Yilmaz committed three consecutive service errors to give away points. Turkey rallied to make the match 4-2, but the comeback was short-lived as the U.S. turned on the heat and went on to win five consecutive matches in the two-set game. Turkey kept serving the ball into the net for a total of nine errors to the Americans’ four. These errors set the tone of the game — the Turkey duo also ended with an error. The match lasted 49 minutes. The U.S. also edged Turkey in advantage points, winning, 3-1, with all of the tension coming only in the first set. The second set saw 40-15 matches, which the U.S. easily won with match points afterwards. Gomez and Woyahn both said this victory “felt great” after tasting the bitterness of defeat earlier. However, Gomez didn’t get overly excited about earning his first Deaflympic victory. “I didn’t want to celebrate too much,” he said. “It’s only the first round. I’m just glad that we’re still playing and have a chance to win more.” “We’re not finished!” Woyahn added.

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Tennis out of singles, survives mixed doubles

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