Bill Simons
MAKES SENSE: Andy Murray said, “The last three years, I was not particularly happy playing tennis because I was miserable.”
JUST WONDERING: Could it turn out that Rafa, on European clay, is the only player who beats Novak Djokovic this year?…Will Andy Murray, who fell to Felix Auger-Aliassime, play the US Open again?
‘WE’RE ALL REALLY IN THIS TOGETHER:’ It wasn’t surprising that Naomi Osaka, the leader of the social awareness initiative at the Open, explained, “We’re entertainers in some sense…I feel sometimes we’re distracting from the real issues, and I didn’t want to take away from one person reading or seeing something that is really important.”
To many, it’s stunning how widespread the support is for social justice in an international, majority white sport. After speaking at length with Osaka, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas donned a Black Lives Matter t-shirt. German Alexander Zverev contended, “We live in 2020. All of this stuff should be behind us. Racism should be behind us. Inequality should be behind us. The reality is, it isn’t. The reality is there – every day of our lives.”
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov added, “Everything is bigger than us right now.” Canadian Felix Auger-Alliassime concurred: “We’re really all in this together. And everybody deserves their voice. Everybody deserves to be heard.”
ESPN stepped up and aired an in-depth piece on these challenging times. Commentator Chris McKendry explained, “We bring these things up…because it answers the question, ‘What can tennis do?’ Now that everyone has expressed how upsetting, outrageous and ridiculous all of this is…What do you do next? Where would you like to see tennis go?”
Her fellow broadcaster, Mary Joe Fernandez, said, “It feels like we have this dark cloud around us, and it hasn’t gone away. It’s so stressful…[But] it’s great that different sports are coming together…If everybody can get together, they’re powerful. They have a huge voice.”
Milos Raonic cautioned, “We can’t just say, ‘We did our part,’ and move on… Something has to be done. We don’t just turn our backs and walk away now.”
But it was James Blake, who was violently tackled by a New York policeman outside his hotel during the US Open five years ago, who was most outspoken today. The former No. 4 contended, “At this point, if you’re not aware, you’re willfully ignorant. You’re choosing not to be aware of the double standard.”
Blake asked, “What are the tours now going to do to make a difference on income inequality, for LGBT issues, for race issues?” He asserted that there are “enough tennis leaders to make a difference…[but] some of these players are going to have to get a little uncomfortable and get out of their bubble and then make a difference.”
Blake said, “You could give seven masks [with names of victims] to everyone in this tourney and you still would not have enough…There are plenty of issues…[like] all the power that police unions have and how they defend the police no matter what. I understand the need for defending good police officers, but the ones that don’t deserve to be there, they are indefensible, and the police unions are still defending them, and they have political power…I’m encouraged that there are going to be more meaningful steps…It feels like they’re protecting themselves, they’re not protecting the community.”
QUOTEBOOK:
“In the back of your mind you know you are facing Andy Murray…You never know what tricks he’s got in his pocket.” – Felix Auger-Aliassime
“Today’s the first day of kindergarten on zoom for my 5-year-old, and I hope I can adjust to that as quickly as I’ve adjusted to watching tennis with no fans in the stands, which feels totally normal now, having watched 30 hours of it over the past 3 days.” – Jim Courier
“The US Open ambiance has the feel of a state high school championship.” – writer Marc Berman
“Be large and in charge and bold – and take your chance.” – Brad Gilbert
“Katy McNally can draft in the slipstream of Coco’s popularity…I know I was the guy drafting behind more popular, better-looking players.” – Jim Courier
“It’s not about me. My legacy is hopefully what I do for my community, not what I do on a tennis court.” – Frances Tiafoe
OF TAXIDERMY AND A TAX ATTORNEY: When Gustave Simons, the father of Inside Tennis publisher Bill Simons, was vacationing in Lake Louise, Canada, he went out on a trail ride. There, an attractive Canadian asked him what he did. She thought he’d answered, “Taxidermy” and for three days imagined that he stuffed dead animals. Simons had actually said “tax attorney.” But the two fell in love anyway and were married for 51 years.
All of this has been replicated in an uncanny manner this week in an inventive Geico ad. Out of nowhere, singer Idina Menzel surprises a chilled-out lady in her home and belts out a song, passionately praising the unsuspecting woman for putting all her energy into taxidermy. The woman promptly corrects the delightfully overenthusiastic Menzel, saying, “That’s tax attorney.”
GO FIGURE: While covering Sumit Nagal’s unsuccessful effort to topple Dominc Thiem, Brad Gilbert confided, “You want to say Nadal so much.” BTW: Gilbert said the most surprising result he’s seen in 40 years of tennis coverage was Thiem’s coach, Nicolas Massu, winning the 2004 Athens Olympics. The Chilean hadn’t won a match in two months, had never made it past the fourth round of a major and was a clay specialist, but won Olympic gold in singles and doubles on a fast, hard court. Brad added, “That was it, that was the rest of his career right there.”…Sofia Kenin’s father Alexander came to the US from Russia with $218…LA’s Ernesto Escabedo got into this year’s Open at the very last minute, and, despite his second-round loss today, will collect $100,000.
AMANDA REMEMBERS: Amanda Anisimova, who is into the third round, today recalled her father, who passed away a year ago. She told ESPN, “On court I could definitely feel a lot of energy from him. Just thinking of him made me want to fight. Just having him here in spirit lifted me up.”
THE RHYTHMS OF SLOANE: Reflecting on Sloane Stephens’ up-and-down results, Jon Wertheim said, “If nothing else, this is in keeping with her career rhythm. This is a prolonged slump. She has not looked particularly strong, but she looked great in round one. This is how she rolls – she’s always comfortable with these gyrations. She’s not freaking out when she loses four or five matches in a row. This is just the rhythm of Sloane.” Stephens won convincingly today, and faces Serena in the third round.
KIKI’S MISERY: Kiki Mladenovic was up 6-1, 5-1 over No. 102 Varvara Gracheva, had four match points, and still lost. The Frenchwoman, who’d been in contact with Benoit Paire, who tested positive for COVID, has been under more stringent restrictions than others. She said, “I have the impression we are prisoners or criminals. For even the slightest movement, we have to ask permission, even though we are tested every day and had 37 negatives. It’s abominable…But I don’t want this to be an excuse for my defeat. It’s not the USTA’s fault that I didn’t convert my four match points.”
A MOVING CONVERSATION: Pat McEnroe asked, “Who’s the best all-time mover on a hard court? Darren Cahill replied, “The guy right there in front of us, Novak Djokovic.” McEnroe then asked, “Better than Federer?” Brad Gilbert quipped, “Not even close.”
TRICK OR TREAT: Noting that Korean Soon-woo Kwon was eating both bananas and Kit Kat bars during his match against Denis Shapovalov, Jon Wertheim said, “That is the best and the worst of Halloween at one changeover.” Martina Navratilova said the candy, which gives you a sugar rush, is absolutely the worst thing you can eat during a match.
SAY IT ISN’T SO: In 2019, Coco Vandeweghe suffered a devastating foot injury. She battled back and was a World TeamTennis star in July. But sadly, she recently needed wrist surgery.
MAMA MIA: Today more top women’s seeds fell, thanks to two moms. Vika Azarenka took out her Belarusian countrywoman Ayrna Sabalenka and Tsvetana Pironkova beat the No. 10 seed, Spain’s Garbine Muguruza. It was the Bulgarian’s second match back after retiring in 2017 to start a family. The former Wimbledon semi-finalist admitted, “I just wanted to see if I still had it.” After her win, James Blake quipped, “She wants to stay out here longer, rather than having to go change more diapers.” At first the US Open featured nine mothers. now just Serena, Azarenka, and Pironkova remain.
SCOREBOARD: The Open began with 32 American women. Now there are ten. There were 22 American men in the draw and now only San Diegan Fritz Taylor, Frances Tiafoe (who beat Aussie John Millman today) and Ohio State product J.J. Wolf are left. Referring to men’s tennis, John McEnroe asked, “Did you ever think the Canadian players would be better than the Americans?”
WE MATTER: After Inside Tennis asked Frances Tiafoe if he and his brother were fearful when they were out in public, the charismatic African-American replied, “If you’re in the wrong place, wrong time, yes. Everyone is in fear. You try to do the right things. It’s crazy, what’s going on right now. It’s sad. It’s not right. Because we definitely matter. We definitely mean just as much as the person to the right or left of us…
“But I love everyone coming together, everyone trying to figure out ways to get these things done. It starts with young guys, it starts with our communities, it starts with representation really helping people of color…[We have] such a great culture. It just needs to be showed for.”
THE OTHER SAMPRAS: UCLA product Jen Brady, who won in Kentucky and is into the third round, spoke of how glad she is to have spent two years at UCLA and how great her coaches, Stella Sampras and Rance Brown, were. “They’re great people and I’m still in touch with them,” she noted. “I was able to improve a lot. Stella’s very honest and straight up. I have a lot of respect for her.”
Speaking of college tennis, Stanford’s Bradley Klahn, who won the 2010 NCAA title, spoke of the challenge for college tennis these days. He told IT, “With much of football and basketball not being played, colleges have to make cuts. I’d love to see tennis not get cut. It was so important to my life. The team camaraderie was incredible.”
STILL FEELING IT: Venus Williams, who lost in the first round and has been struggling, gave us no hint of retirement. After her opening round loss, the 40-year-old said, “I love this game. I’m good at what I do. It’s easy to stay motivated and excited about something so amazing.”
