Bill Simons
THE WISEST PERSON: Chris Evert told Billie Jean King, “You are the wisest person I‘ve ever met in my life. You are my friend, and I just want to thank you for everything.”
EVERT’S ON-AND-OFF LOVE: When Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk charged the net at a critical moment against Osaka, Chris Evert said, “I love it, I love it, I love it. But I don’t love it. I love it that she came in, but I don’t know if that was the right time.”
MYSTERY DELAY: The third round match between Alexander Zverev and Adrian Mannarino was delayed for over 2.5 hours. Mannarino had had contact with his fellow Frenchman, Benoit Paire, who’d tested positive for COVID. Extremely strict protocols (that are called “the bubble within the bubble”) were put in place. And, in a guarded statement, the USTA said there had been dialogs with health officials and due to the medical nature of the matter, they would not be providing additional information. French players had complained about the strictness of the restrictions. Novak Djokovic was in touch with Mannirino’s coach and tried to get in touch with New York governor Andrew Cuomo. James Blake conceded they were intense, then noted, “The tradeoff is that we’re allowed to have the US Open.” Zverev said that at one point he had been told that New York state officials said the match shouldn’t be played. But it was, and Zverev won and is through to the fourth round.
SERENA WILLIAMS – THE STORY OF MY LIFE
SERENA’S NEED FOR PERFECTION: Last night Williams said, “The only thing that gets me flustered is me, because I always feel I’m not winning every point. I mean that doesn’t make sense…I felt like I needed to be perfect. I always feel like I’m not perfect unless I’m perfect. That’s not a fun way to…live your life…It’s really just me and my mental.
“In general, I always feel joy when I win [smiling]. But that’s unrealistic, because you can’t win every single match. That’s the pressure I put on myself. It’s just completely unrealistic. So I had to take a step back and just say, ‘Okay, Serena…no one has ever done that. I think Floyd Mayweather did, but dang.’
Serena told Inside Tennis, “I’m a perfectionist. I remember some of my earliest memories. I must have been two, three or four and doing the alphabet, and it wasn’t perfect. I kept erasing it until I got it perfect.
“Then I would cry and then I would erase it and redo it and redo it. I woke up the next day and I didn’t finish my homework because I kept erasing it. That’s been really the story of my life.
“It’s so, so crazy because my daughter does the exact same thing. Oh, my goodness, it is just something that’s innate. It’s like, ‘Okay, Serena, stop – only Jesus was perfect. So just stop.’
GUILTY FUN: The New York Daily News Filip Bundy often offers unvarnished views. He wrote, “In a perfect tennis world, Serena would already have claimed her 24th and 25th major titles, surpassing the anti-gay sourpuss, Margaret Court.”
Looking at the big picture of women’s tennis he said, “Then maybe a young, transcendent star would have come along, giving the women’s draw a structural and narrative arc that it seems to lack at the moment. We are so accustomed to an orderly succession of transcendent stars: King…Evert…Navratilova…Graf…Venus…Serena…then, nobody.
“Where is the next great player? Five different women have won the last five majors. Serena has been granted a welcome, open window, far longer than the one extended to stars such as Evert or Monica Seles…The weird calls, and her ensuing tantrums, are legend – and frankly, a lot of guilty fun for journalists.”
IS SERENA THE GOAT? A rather careful Chris Evert spoke of Serena’s career. Trying to thread a needle, she twice said she was sorry. Chris noted, at first saying that Serena is “the greatest woman player, but I don’t know if I would say she’s had the most accomplished career, because if you look at Graf and Navratilova, they are right there with her – sorry.
“She’s the greatest player, physically, mentally emotionally, that has ever lived, but that doesn’t mean she had the most accomplished career, the best career, numbers-wise, tournament-wise – sorry…It’s not all about winning Slams, there are so many other factors. How many tournaments [have you played]? How consistent have you been?”
SERENA IN THE TWILIGHT: Mary Carillo noted, “The problem with aging athletes is that while they still have purple patches, they will have some bad patches – bad days as well. We see it with Roger and Venus and even Serena. She’s playing less and less…and winning less, too. Her form can seem fraught, anxious rather than eager. The locker room still respects her so much, and she has earned that respect. But she puts so much pressure on herself to win even more.”
QUICK HITS: Jon Wertheim said, “Serena’s made a career out of bucking trend lines.”…Martina Navratilova said, “For Serena, it’s about that number.”[equaling Margaret Court’s record of 24 Slams]…James Blake said, “Players are still dealing with one of the most mentally tough athletes of all time.”…Serena herself said, “I’ll never be satisfied until I retire. I’m never going to stop until I retire. It’s just my personality. That’s how I got to be here.”
TWO SISTERS WHO CHANGED THE GAME: In a frequently aired Nike ad, Venus says, “Ever since we were little girls, you’ve compared us to each other. My game versus her game. My ranking versus her ranking. My titles versus her titles. My Grand Slams versus her Grand Slams. It’s funny, you saw two tennis players trying to win a game. We saw two sisters changing it.” The commercial goes on to note that the sisters have won 122 singles titles and 30 majors, and have been No. 1 for 327 weeks.
FUN FACTS: The last time Serena lost before the middle weekend of the Open was 1998, and she is undefeated in the second round at the Open.
A NEW WAY TO WATCH SERENA? The New Yorker’s Gerald Marzorati noted that fans might want to watch Serena win and make history. But he suggested there’s a better way to watch her: “She has already made history. She is, clearly, the greatest of all time…[and] the most influential on the way the game has come to be played; the most consequential culturally, too…But to watch with too much anxiousness that she wins risks distracting from the components of her greatness…The gift is that she has continued playing well after her legacy was secured, with sufficing flickers of brilliance, ‘granted by the relenting fates a golden twilight.’”
Gerald suggests, “Keep an eye out for how she steps a foot or more inside the baseline to return a second serve, rocking back and forth to not be caught flatfooted, taking the ball early, on a short hop…and, if she’s able to extend her arms, striking it hard enough to take immediate control of the point…Watch what she does, mid-point, with a short ball to her forehand. She might crush it, but she is just as likely…to roll it to her opponent’s forecourt, acutely angled, the topspin carrying the ball out of reach. And her backhand, look closely: it’s open-stanced, the way her father taught her and Venus…the better to buy her a little more time.”
QUOTEBOOK
“Serena had a Margarita [Gasparyan] on the rocks.” – Brett Haber
“There is a reality show going on between Kostyuk and her mom after each point.” – Chris Fowler
“Life is funny. I came here as a kid in 2011 and it’s crazy that nine years later I’m here getting the win.” – Felix Auger-Aliassime after beating Andy Murray
“He’s been a walking ad for hip resurfacing surgery.” – Jim Courier on Murray
“You guys obviously don’t know how I was feeling even just a couple of months ago.” – Murray
“He’s going up against the game’s greatest shock absorber.” – Jim Courier on Jan-Lennard Struff facing Djokovic
“She’s an animal out there.” – Bethanie Mattek-Sands on the surging UCLA product Jen Brady
“Chaos wins the point sometimes.” – Mattek-Sands
“The last four days have been a lesson in self-motivation. They say tennis is a solitary pursuit. That has never been truer than at this US Open.” – Brett Haber
GO FIGURE: Novak Djokovic, 33, is the oldest player left in the men’s draw…There are seven women Slam champs still in the Open: Serena, Osaka, Kenin, Azarenka, Stephens, Kvitova and Kerber, but only two men – Djokovic and Marin Cilic…Since 2019, Osaka is 24-4 in deciding sets…Despite being the 15th seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime had never won a match at the US Open prior to this year…For the first time three Canadians (Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil) are at least into the third round of a major. But Canada’s foremost star, Milos Raonic, is already gone.
CRAFTY CHRISSIES AT THE OPEN: As she began talking with a trio of ESPN broadcasters, Billie Jean King said, “I have a lot of Chrises going on right now, Chrissie [Evert] Chris [Fowler] and Chris [McKendrick].
WOMEN’S LIB: After US women got off to a dreadful start, they’ve come back with a vengeance. It’s been a great Open for American women and for mothers. There are now 11 in the third round, the most since the 1989 US Open and the 1994 Wimbledon. When reflecting on motherhood, Vika Azarenka said, “My life just began when I became a mother…Women being able to fulfill their dreams, as well as balancing motherhood, they all are heroes. I hope women are inspired to do what they love to do but still able to go after what they want. Being a mother, your life doesn’t stop.”
NOT FOR MEN ONLY: Novak Djokovic said the new Professional Tennis Players Association was not for men only and that talks are underway with women.
FRANCES ALERT: Will we see a big run from the Big Foe in the Big Apple?
THIS TIME HE CLOSED THE DEAL: Before beating John Millman in the fifth set Thursday night, Frances Tiafoe had lost 14 matches in a row in the deciding set. It probably helps that he has coach Wayne Ferriera, who has wins over both Sampras and Federer, on board. As Bret Haber noted, Tiafoe “has been driving the bus pretty much by himself.”
SCOUTING REPORT OF THE DAY: Jim Courier said Felix Auger-Aliassime has “so much on his ball, a lot of guile. His powerful forehand was awesome, and he was able to close like a champion. He will become world No. 1…He’s a big guy that moves like a small guy. He’s balanced and built for greatness. And I’m looking for his career to unfold.”
FRITZ FALTERS: San Diegan Fritz Taylor was seeking to become the first American to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Donald Young in 2011. Against Denis Shapovalov, he was up 5-3 and serving for the match in the fourth set. But the Canadian broke serve, gained energy and confidence and served like a demon. He took 10 of the last 13 games and won 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2. Fritz is now 0-4 in third rounds of majors. Frances Tiafoe and J.J. Wolf are the only American men left in the Open.
McCOCO UPDATE: With the retirement of the Bryan brothers, tennis is hunting for any charismatic doubles team it can discover. And McCoco – that would be 16-year-old Coco Gauff and her 18-year-old elder Caty McNally – draw attention. Usually the duo comes to the fore after Coco has finished a shock run at a Slam. But the Floridian lost in the Open’s first round, so now it’s the Cincinnati Kid who has the singles stage. No. 124 in the world, McNally beat the No. 21 seed, Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who earlier had beaten Kim Clijsters. McNally will now play the considerable No. 9 seed, Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
COMPLETELY AVOIDABLE: When reflecting on the name on her mask today, Naomi Osaka said, “The death of Ahmaud Arbery [a Georgia man who was killed by two citizens] was completely avoidable. It didn’t have to happen. None of these deaths had to happen.”
