Coin flips Open on its head with upset

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK -- One August day in New York, Julie Coin lost in straight sets to the world's 423nd-ranked player in the first round of qualifying for an unheralded tournament. She never would have guessed she was a dozen miles and a few weeks away from one of the most remarkable victories ever in women's tennis. On the main court at a Grand Slam, Coin beat the No. 1 player in the world. "Before the tournament, I was not imagining it this way like it happened today," a giddy Coin said after beating Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 Thursday in the second round of the U.S. Open. No, recently what she was imagining about her tennis future was maybe quitting at the end of the year. The Frenchwoman wasn't making any headway toward breaking into the top 100 in the rankings, the measure of viability. She came into the Open at No. 188. Coin toiled at a series of minor league tournaments, where players make their own travel arrangements. Earlier this month, she lost her first match in trying to qualify for the GHI Bronx Tennis Classic, a USTA Pro Circuit event. She had never played in a Grand Slam before Tuesday, when she upset 40th-ranked Casey Dellacqua of Australia. It took winning three qualifying matches to even reach that point. Coin didn't get as far as figuring out what she'd do for a living if she quit. Maybe she'd coach. It doesn't hurt to have a mathematics degree from Clemson to fall back on. "So I guess maybe now I'm going to think about, like, keep playing," she said. Coin's match was originally scheduled for Louis Armstrong Stadium, the Open's second-largest venue, which seemed huge as it was. Coin practiced there, then learned they were moving to Arthur Ashe Stadium, capacity 23,733. But after the initial shock and some early nerves, she looked right at home. More so than Ivanovic, the French Open champ. "I thought she was maybe nervous more than I was," Coin said. It wasn't until match point that the enormity of the situation weighed down on her. Back in France, her parents were only able to watch part of the third set on TV; countrywoman Amelie Mauresmo's match had been shown instead. Mauresmo, the No. 32 seed, will be Coin's third-round opponent. Coin's parents were elite team handball players who wished they could have advanced farther in their sport. They encouraged her to chase the dreams they never achieved. She turned pro after a college career in which she reached the No. 2 ranking in the country. Coin followed a boyfriend to Clemson, where she learned to appreciate the intricacies of American football. Even if it took some time to grasp the concept of the Tigers' rivalry with the South Carolina Gamecocks. "When we get to Clemson, they're like, 'OK, you don't like USC,"' she said. "Why? Because that's like this, you don't like the chicken, whatever. So that's how they teach us. And then you start liking football, too." Perhaps Coin is a bit of a late bloomer. Even as a junior player, she said, it always took forever before she achieved breakthrough victories. She joked that she's a "slow learner." Thursday's win was worth any length of wait. "Today," she said, "was just like perfect."

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