::the story, the Open::

On Aug. 28 Justin Gimelstob took the court for the last US Open singles match before his retirement. In the draw, Gimelstob, once ranked 63rd in the world of men's singles tennis and from the county my paper covers, drew his first round opponent to be Andy Roddick, seeded fifth in the tournament.

The first set was great--Gimelstob led Roddick to a tie breaker with an overhand near the net.


...a few action shots...


Here he's waiting for the call on a challenge he made against Roddick's serve.
Sixth game, second set-Gimelstob is up to serve but waits as the men's and women's tennis teams from West Point exit the stadium. When he does step up to serve, the chair ump called it a second serve because of the delay. Gimelstob headed to the chair to protest the call.
Gimelstob leads the crowd in the chant, "first serve, first serve."

Gimelstob's protest was successfull, the ump reniged the call only for Gimelstob to double fault on the serves.
Roddick yelled across the court, "After all that, you go and do that!"
In this frame, Gimelstob replies across the court, "Trust me, I am more disappointed than you are."

Gimelstob reacts to accidentally hitting Roddick in the back saying that he would never intentionally hit him there. Gimelstob is bowing out of the sport becuase of back injuries that recent back surgery was unable to fix.

Gimelstob jokes around by sitting in the lap of officials on the court while waiting for a call on his serve, challenged by Roddick.

Gimelstob reacts to winning a challenge. I kept trying to ge somethig like this frame to work, but it just wouldn't. I think it needed a combination of different things--a longer lens, a different location in the photo pit, a different moment, etc...


I don't know much about tennis, but it seems to be largely a game of reactions, when it comes to the visuals of it all.

In a press conference after the match around 11:25 pm, Gimelstob said, "My back started bothering me in the third set. In a way, it makes (retiring) easier. I know in my heart I can't play at this level anymore. It was hard enough to play at this level when I was healthy. I can't compete with these guys on week-in week-out basis."

the press conference

A crew from the USA Network interviews Gimelstob at center court after the match.

Roddick won the game 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-3.