Bill Simons
New York
DIAMOND VISION GOES DARK: The candid, Diamond Vision views of elated, well-lubricated fans have long been a delightful sideshow during changeovers at the US Open – what fun. But this year they’re gone. Why? Could it be a legal issue?
THE GUNS OF NAVARRO: After losing to Emma Navarro at Wimbledon, Coco Gauff said, “I think I literally collapsed mentally.”
She did it again today.
Gauff won last year’s US Open and is No. 3 in the world. She’s a superstar. No WTA player is more charismatic. She’s fast, athletic, a fierce fighter, and may have the best backhand in the women’s game. But she’s also flawed – and today, we saw her errant forehand let her down once again. Worse yet, the 20-year-old suffered 19 double faults. And that’s one stat that will certainly torpedo your hopes of reaching a Grand Slam quarterfinal, especially when you’re facing a rising star.
Emma Navarro did win the 2022 NCAA Championships, but her rise to the top of the game has been far more steady than spectacular. Until this afternoon, the No. 13 seed tended not to make waves.
Yes, she’s now into the US Open quarters, where she’ll face Paula Badosa, and she’ll break into the Top Ten. But she doesn’t have a single stroke that blows your mind. What impresses you about this New York native, who has a billionaire dad and a million dollar future, is her steady rise through the ranks.
Just a while ago, she had a triple-digit ranking and was battling in Challengers. She feared what the spotlight would be like if she broke through. Fluid, fleet, calm and athletic, she hits deep, she defends well and she’s resilient. Playing the rowdy college game helps – just ask Ben Shelton.
Yes, before this year, the US Open had hardly been nirvana for Navarro – she hadn’t won a single match here. But in the third round she came back from disaster against the considerable young Ukrainian, Marta Kostyuk. Never mind that she was playing her first match on Ashe. Today, while Gauff wobbled, Emma was steady.
Yes, in the second set, she was just six points from victory. But she squandered her 4-3, 30-0 lead. Then she simply shrugged it off. She attacked Gauff’s forehand, hit a brilliant cross-court backhand and an inspired lob, and had to be thanking the tennis gods as Gauff suffered one incredible double fault after another.
Thousands of baseball wannabes never could make it to the major leagues because they couldn’t hit a curveball. The NBA’s iconic Wilt Chamberlain never mastered the art of free throw shooting. Arthur Ashe and Jimmy Connors both had major problems on their forehands, Novak Djokovic’s overhead cost him, and Aryna Sabalenka had to overcome wretched problems with her serve.
So does Coco.
FUN FACT: Emma Navarro has won one title. Her father Ben owns three tournaments: Cincinnati, Charleston and Monterrey.
‘I’VE HAD IT I AND WON’T TAKE IT ANY MORE:’ Ball persons are trained to meet the whims of sometimes rude, sometimes kind players. At times the mindset of players is, “Peel me a grape.”
Saturday, when a ball girl tossed a couple of balls to Yulia Putinseva, the Russian just let the balls bounce off of her. What ‘tude. Then (as the crowd booed) the ball girl had an “I’ve had it and I won’t take it any more” moment, and retreated to a far corner of the court, looked down and wouldn’t have anything to do with Yulia.
The Russian later offered an “I was lost in my thoughts” apology.
TIAFOE’S SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: The lean Aussie, Alexei Popyrin, was the hottest player in the game who wasn’t a Sinner. En route to the Canadian Open title in Montreal, he beat five Top 20 players before coming to New York, where he sent a GOAT, Mr. Djokovic, packing.
But his next foe was Big Foe, who, after a problematic start of the season, had reached the Washington semis and the Cincy finals and had dismissed Ben Shelton in the third round here at the Open.
With the crowd chanting, “USA!” Frances Tiafoe, the product of Maryland’s JTCC, blasted forehands, offered clever drop shots, again played with focus and scored a 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over his friend and frequent practice partner to become the first American man since Andy Roddick to reach the US Open quarterfinals three years in a row.
Tuesday he will meet the 33-year-old Grigor Dimitrov, who prevailed in five grueling sets over Andrey Rublev. The Bulgarian has a 3-1 record against Tiafoe. But Frances is feeling it. In the second set he brilliantly saved three set points.
Afterwards, he told the adoring crowd, “I always dreamt of playing here…I used to hit against the wall wanting to compete on this court. I saw the Williams sisters win titles here – Roger win a million times. I wanted to win on this court that was named after Arthur Ashe.”
He will get another chance to win Tuesday, when he hopes to get through to the semis, just as he did two years ago.
CELEBRATION OF THE OPEN: Deep into his match against Novak Djokovic, Alexei Popyrin blasted a mighty forehand. After his winner he thrust his hips forward, leaned far back and unleashed a primordial grunt that could be heard in the Bronx.
In the fitness room, the spontaneous and fun-loving Aryna Sabalenka immediately offered a flawless imitation – pure delight.
FABULOUS FRITZ: In an odd way, it’s easy to overlook America’s No. 1 player. But incredibly, Taylor Fritz continues to excel. After the Los Angeles powerhouse dropped the first set of his match against the 2022 US Open finalist Casper Ruud, he roared back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Fritz has now at least reached the fourth round in four straight Slams. Plus, he’s the first American man since Andy Roddick in 2007 to reach three Slam quarterfinals in the same year.
He’ll next play Alexander Zverev, who came back to end the breakout run of San Diegan Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. In the fourth round at Wimbledon, Fritz came back from two sets down to beat Zverev in five sets.
PHONE MAN: Right after Ben Shelton beat Frances Tiafoe in 2023, he offered his iconic gesture. He hung up his imaginary phone. This year, while conducting his press conference after losing to Tiafoe, Shelton’s phone went off. He told reporters, “Someone’s blowing on my phone.” Ben answered and told his father, “Hey, I’m in a press conference, Dad. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
A GRIM COMMENTARY: When the lean Daniil Medvedev was about to close out his match against the Italian Flavio Cobolli, broadcaster Jason Goodall commented, “The slim reaper is now ready to administer his last rites.”
