Live from New York

Me: “Fuck, don’t you wish you could have that dude stand around with you at work? Any time you didn’t feel like you could do something he’d look at you and you’d shit yourself in fear and do it. Your productivity would go through the roof.”

Matt: (worried) “I think he knows I took his picture.”

Me: “People must take his picture all the time. Look at him.”

Matt: “He keeps looking over here.”

Baron von Rockwell looks in our direction. Not happy.

Me: (worried) “Okay, don’t look at him.”

By day’s end — on this, our second day — we are finally courtside for a match. The Scottish phenom Andy Murray, twenty, is taking on Korean journeyman Hyung-Taik Lee. Murray is ranked nineteenth and has a McEnroe-like demeanour. He’s coached by Brad Gilbert (Agassi’s former advisor and the author of the book Winning Ugly), and has been off for twelve weeks with a wrist injury. Lee, the world’s forty-third ranked player, upset Pete Sampras in 2000. Other than that, he’s been consistent, but has had no real break-through.

The crowd is with Lee from the start. There are Korean flags held high and chanting. I find this annoying, perplexing, and not just because I’m a Canadian with Scottish ancestry. America went to war in Korea, the North remains a sore point, and the South produces knock-off goods, and, with the other Asian tigers, is threatening US global dominance. What have the Scots ever done to this land of plenty besides provide it with able and dutiful servants and scotch? In this most tribal of the Grand Slam tournaments — along with, perhaps, the Australian Open, the New World varieties being less mannered than their European counterparts — my annoyance at this partisanship is due, I finally realize, to my being a Scot, at least temperamentally.

“New York loves you, brother!” One overly enthusiastic fan and Lee supporter screams throughout the match. It gets to Murray a little. I can see it. The referee constantly asks for quiet but the crowd continues to heckle the Scot. He misses a shot, throws his racquet, paces madly, and then strikes a series of down-the-line winners. Still, it’s obvious that Murray is not 100 percent. He often does not get low on his forehand and flags too many into the net. Thanks to his own stunning array of ground strokes and a plethora of Murray errors, Lee takes the first two sets. The crowd, which at this point in a match usually starts cheering for the other guy to make it interesting, continues to bate Murray.

“Don’t choke Andy!” One bozo calls out just before Murray is about to serve.