In a city immune to shocks, the 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 defeat of the number two seed Gustavo Kuerten by the Australian qualifier Wayne Arthurs in the first round of the United States Open yesterday barely merited a raised eyebrow. Brazilian loses tennis match? So what?
Kuerten, the French Open champion and most successful player on the ATP Tour this year, always knew he would be in for a struggle against the big-serving Arthurs, who is British-based, and earlier this month - wait for it - won the Wrexham Challenge.
The Australian, who reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, is no spring chicken, having passed his 29th birthday in March, but he possesses the sort of serve that on any particular day can Kentucky-fry the top players.
Kuerten was mortified: "I had great feelings for this tournament, especially after winning my first hard-court tournament in Indianapolis this summer, but he served really well."
The Brazilian was battered by 27 aces and, on occasions, stood so far behind the baseline to receive that he was almost outside the Arthur Ashe stadium.
Richard Williams, the unpredictable father of Venus and Serena, was no doubt being a little mischievous when he suggested that American pundits should be picking Lindsay Davenport or Martina Hingis for the title this year.
Nevertheless, it was interesting to hear Davenport, after her crushing 6-0, 6-1 opening-round win over Spain's Gala Leon Garcia, say she had only been "probably around 70 per cent fit" when she lost July's Wimbledon final to Venus.
Davenport had back problems before Wimbledon, together with a heavy cold, and has suffered a foot injury since, but now feels back to her old self. She is seeded to meet Serena, the reigning champion, in the quarter-finals.
Davenport lost to Serena in last year's semi-final. Yesterday Serena opened by beating Slovakia's Tina Pisnik 6-3, 6-2.
Since winning Wimbledon Venus has extended her winning run to 20 matches, including her first round here, defeating France's Anne-Gaelle Sidot 6-3, 6-4.
Goran Ivanisevic, who has struggled badly for the past two years, lost his first-round match 3-6, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0 to Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia and admitted afterwards that his motivation had almost totally disappeared.
"I have no idea how to play or what to do. It's not that I didn't try, but I don't have fun any more. No fun to play, no fun to be here, no fun to practise."
Andre Agassi, the king of the New York night, began his defence of the title with a straight-sets victory over the 19-year-old US collegiate champion Alex Kim.
"Winning this tournament is a big issue mentally - how much you want it," said Agassi after his 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 victory.
"I think the more toll you take on your body, the more difficult it is to stay hungry."
And nobody can be sure just how hungry Agassi now is.
