Bill Simons
SOME ENCHANTING ALCARAZ: Mark Petchey said, “The intensity and instincts that [Carlos] Alcaraz plays this game with are enchanting.” After the Spaniard hit a down-the-line genius tweener against Tommy Paul, Petchey noted, “We are fascinated by things we don’t understand.”
THE LADY WITH LIPSTICK STICKS IT: Tall and elegant, Venus Williams sported bright lipstick. And this summer the lean, iconic elder briefly brightened up the circuit as she fended off nine match points against Madison Keys in Montreal before falling in the first round. But, no problem, in Cincinnati, Venus came back from 1-4 in the first set and 1-5 in the second set to upset No. 16 Veronika Kudermetova and score her first top-20 victory in four years. Venus, who was injured in her first match of the year in New Zealand and now is playing a bit more defensively, is 2-6 this year and is No. 533. She got a wild card into the US Open.
SUMMER IN THE SILLY: The summer swing always gives us a delightfully random mix of bizarre events. So far this season no players have had nasty encounters with TV cameras. Decades ago John McEnroe shoved over a TV camera in New Haven. In 2021 Daniil Medvedev crashed into an on-court camera in Cincy. This year Stefanos Tsitsipas wanted a fan to be kicked out because, during his serve, she imitated the buzz of a bee continuously. In Montreal, Danielle Collins told Maria Sakkari, “Shut your mouth! Shut your mouth!” And then posted a clip of her match with the Greek accompanied by the Guns N’ Roses song, “Back Off, B**ch.”
And out of nowhere, at a critical point during the Jessica Pegula-Iga Swiatek Canadian Open semi, the funky song “Cotton Eye Joe” accidentally rang throughout the well-named IGA Stadium, stunning players and fans. The song, which has pre-Civil War origins, is supposedly about a man who has syphilis and is sleeping around town.
NO BEER FOR NOLE’S RECORD YET: After Novak Djokovic beat Gael Monfils for the 19th time without a loss, establishing the ATP’s most lopsided, undefeated head-to-head record, Andy Roddick noted, “Novak’s record can almost legally drink in this country.”
One then imagined that Vitas Gerulaitis was up in tennis heaven chuckling. After losing to Jimmy Connors 16 straight times, Vitas finally won and uttered the immortal words: “No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row!”
MIA: This year’s Open will, of course, be staged without Serena, who first started playing at the Open in 1998. Naomi Osaka, who recently gave birth to a girl, and Rafa, who has been injured since the Aussie Open, will also be missing, along with Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapavalov, Emma Raducanu, Simona Halep, Bianca Andreescu, Jenson Brooksby, Marin Cilic, Garbine Muguruza and Reilly Opelka.
US OPEN NOTEBOOK: Three top USTA executives – Brian Hainline, Lew Sherr and Stacey Allaster – gave a preview of the US Open. Here are some takeaways: Late night tennis will be unchanged. Due to work and lifestyle patterns of fans, an earlier start time isn’t an option, and having just one match a night could lead to problems…The Open will be on the ABC network over the Labor Day weekend…The US is the only country with two men and two women in the top ten….There are 22 million tennis players in the US, a 33% increase since 2019…The US Open employs 17,000 workers. It will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of equal pay for men and women…There’s a record $65 million in prize money at the Open…More languages are spoken in Queens, New York, then anywhere in the world.
AMERICA ROCKS: Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula won all three of the big WTA tourneys this year – Washington D.C., Montreal and Cincy.
QUOTEBOOK:
“There still are some ghosts in the machine.” – Jim Courier on Aryna Sabalenka’s serve
“Belief is irresistible, belief is learnable and belief is unstoppable.” – Mark Petchey
“I cannot play tennis today!” – No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, when struggling against Tommy Paul
“I never want to stop growing, learning, improving, understanding the nuances, the details, whether it’s with my game, whether it’s with my body, whether it’s with my nutrition, whatever it is.” – Novak Djokovic
“Early in my career every loss was like a tragedy and I needed a couple of days to reset…[Now when I lose] I feel like I’m going to have another chance and the world is not ending…One loss is not going to change everything.” – Iga Swiatek
“I spent a lot of nights at home crying, trying to figure it out.” – Coco Gauff on her sometimes bumpy career
“Thanks to my mother and father. They’re the reason I’m playing tennis. They’re kind of the reason I kind of somewhat have a good personality.” – Coco Gauff
“Alcaraz loves the crazy matches, he loves the drama and he loves tiebreaks!” – Andrea Petkovic
“You shouldn’t be able to play this level of tennis with this level of fatigue. Thank you, tennis gods.” – Jim Courier on the Djokovic-Alcaraz Cincy final
“crazy, honestly…Definitely one of the toughest matches I’ve ever played in my life…“It’s a thrill to play against Carlos, yet it’s also suffering.” – Djokovic on the Cincy final
RODDICK ON RADEK: Our favorite intergenerational comparison of the summer came when Roddick – that would be Andy Roddick – compared Radek – that would be the retired Czech Radek Stepanek – to Aussie Max Purcell.
WHERE FORMER (AND SOME CURRENT) PLAYERS GO TO TALK: Tennis broadcasters have a tradition of putting injured or recently retired players on air as commentators. It’s fun and fresh, and often feels like an audition. Some who’ve been recently featured are the bright, sassy German, Andrea Petkovic, a couple of mothers, Caroline Wozniacki and Taylor Townsend, two Northern Californians, Jenson Brooksby, the retired Cici Bellis, Wimbledon phenom Chris Eubanks, Nick Monroe, the whimsical Alexandra Stevenson and the everstyling Eugenie Bouchard. It will be interesting to see which ones stick.
EAST IS EAST AND WILL THE WEST BE EVEN LESS? Tennis’ severe eastern tilt will become even steeper if Cincinnati’s Western and Southern Open moves to a proposed $400 million tennis complex in Charlotte, NC in 2026. The tourney, which has been in Cincy since 1899, was sold to South Carolina billionaire Ben Navarro. The city appears to be battling Charlotte to see who can get more public financing.
JUST WONDERING: Just how much impact has courtside coaching had on tennis…Will tennis embrace Saudi Arabia’s effort to sportswash its problematic reputation and stage events in the controversial country? BTW: The WTA still hasn’t announced where its once lucrative year-end WTA championship will be held.
SAY IT ISN’T SO: After a 37-year run, tennis’ most beloved stats man, Greg Sharko, will be retiring. BTW: Tennis is known for its illogical names and nicknames. The diminutive Aussie Ken Rosewall was called “Muscles.” Serena Williams’s brand was ferocity, but her first name evokes serenity. Greg Sharko was as mellow as you can get, yet he was known as “Shark.”
KYRGIOS CONTROVERSY: When 28-year-old Nick Kyrgios was asked whether he’d be playing when he’s 33, the sidelined Aussie replied, “The sport’s crazy. The schedule is out of control. No f**king chance…Insane! I’m not playing ‘til 33. I promise you when I’m gone, you’ll never see me again.”
But the Tennis Channel’s unsparing Jimmy Arias noted that the Aussie rarely plays a full season. “I don’t know what he’s talking about when he says this schedule is out of control. He’s played one match this year. He seems to take every other year off, so he should be able to play for another 25 years…It’s interesting to listen to him talk. Let’s see what happens when he’s 33…I’m not sure [if his] wrist, knee, his tattoo is hurting him too much [from playing] Pokemon maybe. I don’t know.”
Tracy Austin added, “I find it sad when you’re playing a pro sport and you just don’t absolutely love it. You don’t drink it up. You want to feel like you’re lucky to be out there.”
Kyrgios countered, “Why am I lucky to be out there? I worked and I put myself in that position, there wasn’t any luck involved. Some people play for different things. We aren’t all tennis nuts. Some of us have a little more of an impact than that.”
THREE YEARS, TWO BABIES, ONE WOZ: After three years, eight months and two babies, the 2020 Aussie Open champ Caroline Wozniacki returned to court in Montreal and made clear that she still had wheels as she downed Kimberly Birrell. Andy Roddick claimed, “She was a hall of famer before her layoff. Now she’s just showing off.”
A LOT OF WEAR ON THOSE YOUNG TIRES: Carlos Alcaraz, who famously played long marathons at last year’s US Open, has already had to deal with injuries. And this summer his last seven matches in Toronto and Cincy went to three sets. Then again, he’s only 20.
ALL HAIL THE KING AND THE RAJ: To honor the 50th anniversary of having equal prize money at the US Open, the tourney will honor Billie Jean King. Just over three weeks later on September 22nd in Vancouver, opening night at the Laver Cup will feature a ceremony to honor its founder, Roger Federer.
TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS: In Cincy, Iga Swiatek scored another win despite losing a set. In her press conference she contended that the trolls and the haters on the Internet should be more positive toward her and her team when she drops a set. We agree. Still, why doesn’t Iga just turn off her phone and ignore all the toxicity that’s on the Internet?
