AMERICAN YOUTH ARISE: The Sloane Stephens vs. Jamie Hampton match was the first all-American meeting of two women under 24 at Arthur Ashe Stadium since the all-Williams final of 2002.
THINK FAST: Saying that Sloane Stephens has “everything” as an athlete after Stephens’ 6-1, 6-3 win over Hampton, Chris Evert observed, “I’ve always said you have to think from the ground up, and her foot speed is unbelievable.”
NEW YORK STATE OF MIND: Deep in the fourth set of American John Isner’s second-round match against French entertainer Gael Monfils, the crowd at Armstrong broke out into “Monfils! Monfils!” chants. ESPN commentators were dismayed, as was Isner. “I noticed it,” the top-ranked US men’s player said after the match. “He’s a fun-loving guy, and an exciting guy to watch no matter where he is playing, but honestly, it was a little bit surprising. I know the New York fans, they like to see long matches and fifth sets and whatnot … [but] I was a little disappointed in that, actually. Not going to sugarcoat it … If I was playing him in France, it certainly wouldn’t be like that.” Later, Isner tweeted, “I miss the south. #godscountry.”
ANOTHER GREAT THING ABOUT TENNIS: Raucous late-night American fans chanting “Monfils! Monfils!” may not appeal to the ultra-patriotic among us. But that’s the great thing about tennis at its best. Borders and race don’t matter. Character, charisma, entertainment, the scoreboard and history do.
MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE US OPEN: At a $25,000 circuit event in Mamaia, Indy De Vroome of the Netherlands hit 32 double-faults—and won the match. De Vroome had hit only one double fault in the previous round. Though it occurred on the Challenger tour, De Vroome’s number outdoes Anna Kournikova’s tour record of 31.
HER GAME IS GROWING: Teen sensation Victoria Duval caused a murmur in the press room when she said, “I am still growing right now. My growth plates are still open … One doctor told me [I’d grow to] at least six feet. My grandma was 6’4”, I think.” Duval is currently listed at 5’9 1/2”.
WINNING ON EMPTY: On his way to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, American Tim Smyczek’s car ran out of gas, but Smyczek accelerated once he reached the court, defeating Australian Jack Duckworth 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. He’s now in the third, after a five-set win over Alex Bogomolov, Jr.
SHE’S STILL SINGLE, AND IN THE SINGLES: A fan yelled out a marriage proposal to Christina McHale during her hard-fought second-round win. “Some of the fans say some crazy things,” she said after the match.
RISKE BUSINESS: After her second-round win, American Alison Riske was asked about her expectations going into the US Open. “You never know,” she said. “Anything can happen. That’s the beauty of tennis. ranking is kind of just a number.”
SURFACE ROMANCE: At Roland Garros, Victoria Azarenka declared her newfound love for clay, so IT caught up with Vika to talk about her connection with a different surface:
IT: You had the revelations in Paris about how you’re having a great relationship with clay. talk about your romance with hard courts. Is that more like an old lover you’re familiar with?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Old lover, huh? Well, that’s a good one.
I would say [it] is my husband, hard court, if we talk about relationship status, because we have been together for a long time, you know, got really comfortable with each other.
IT: When it comes down to it in the relationship, who wears the pants, the husband or you?
VA: Well, I think I’m the one who is doing that, because without me it would just be a hard court. With me, it’s Vika on hard court.
IT: Vika, a hard court lover?
VA: Yeah, hard court lover [laughter].
FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: In an emotional interview after being knocked out of the US Open, fourth seed Sara Errani spoke candidly about her current problems. “I don’t want to to go out on the court,” she said. “I don’t want to play … You have to find your motivation. I have to find a way to stay there and fight.”
FORZA ITALIA: While fourth-seed Sara Errani went out early, Italian women’s tennis is undergoing a mini-renaissance in the US Open’s first week, with a trio of players—Roberta Vinci, rising big-hitter Camila Giorgi, and Flavia Pennetta (who beat Errani)—through to the third round. Top-seeded in doubles, Errani and Vinci continued their doubles success with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Daniela Hantuchova and back-from-retirement Hall of Famer Martina Hingis.
JEWISH ORIGINS?: Years ago, in an interview with IT, Boris Becker revealed that his mother was Jewish and had been imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp during World War II. At this year’s US Open, Rafael Nadal was questioned whether he was of Jewish heritage. He said it didn’t really matter, since he’s not Jewish himself.
ANA THE CASUAL PHILOSOPHER: When Rafa Nadal reached out to Twitter newbie Ana Ivanovic with the message, “Welcome to this mean[s] of communication. Looking forward to exchanging tweets with you,” Ana wrote back, “Thanks Rafa, but why so formal?! Haha.” BTW: Ivanovic’s Twitter bio is a quote from Lao Tzu: “Only he who know the destination knows the way.”
YOU ASK, HE’LL TELL: A New York Times profile piece this week focused on UC Santa Barbara women’s tennis Simon Thibodeau, who recently announced came out as gay. Thibodeau joins Kennesaw State men’s tennis coach TJ Riggs as part of a short list of NCAA Division I head coaches who are publicly out. In the piece, Thibodeau says he hears from other gay coaches “all the time. Every day.”
IDEA VS. EXECUTION: Going into his second-match against Roger Federer, Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq wrote on Twitter, “Talked to Rafa, Delpo and [Federico] Delbonis. They gave me the tactic to play Roger. Now the hard part: do it.” Federer won 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
“YA SELFISH BASTARD”: In his new role as sometime-broadcaster, Andy Roddick interviewed Roger Federer for Fox Sports. When Roddick brought up Federer’s subdued locker room celebration in the locker room after the pair’s 2009 Wimbledon final, Federer observed, “the moment was probably tougher for you than it was happy for me.” Later, when Federer remarked, “Of course, you can’t have it all” in passing, Roddick replied, “But you can, ya selfish bastard.”
CURIOUS QUESTION COMBO: After John Isner’s second-round win, a reporter asked him, “What do you think about men and women making the same money? Second, have you ever tried yoga?” Isner said he’s for equal prize money. As for yoga, though he described himself as “not a huge yoga guy,” he would be a huge yoga guy if he was doing it.
PASSING THE TORCH: A New York Times piece by Harvey Araton surveyed the growing African-American presence in tennis. Noting that Venus Williams played at Arthur Ashe Stadium on the day it opened in 1997, the piece went on to show links between generations:
[Venus’] mother, Oracene [Price], said that day that her daughter was not overly thrilled with the prospect of being cast as the great urban athlete crashing the coveted country club. Venus, she added, had even called Althea Gibson to ask for advice on how to handle the inevitable onslaught of cliches.
“She’s going to have to handle it,” Oracene said, “because that’s the way it’s going to be.”
… Preparing to step on a practice court on Wednesday morning, 17-year-old Taylor Townsend said she had grown up on Venus and Serena:
“It was great to see African-American people in the sport, especially when you found out that there was at one point only Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson,” said Townsend.
TIME WARP: Thursday’s night session at the US Open finished before the day session, as Monfils and Isner played late into the night.
