Bill Simons
The Roger vs. Rafa rivalry we so loved is no more. And Djokovic will never again face Nadal.
But, no problem: Novak vs. Carlos Alcaraz is an irresistible, must-see heavyweight slugfest that Aussies are itching to watch Tuesday night in Melbourne. Noble and sometimes nasty, Novak is a proud, still limber elder and master craftsman who calls on every trick in his trade and is hoping to win a slew of records: 11 Aussie Opens, 100 ATP matches and a 25th Slam title. With Andy Murray in his corner, and motivated by a wretched diss by a callous Aussie commentator, the 37-year-old is again moving beautifully, serving with conviction and playing great ball. Fans whisper: “Is this the best chance for him to win his 25th major?”
All the while, Alcaraz is hard not to love. His bounding sprints dazzle. His beaming smile lifts our spirits. His bulging biceps impress. At 21, tennis’ most charismatic young star since Rafa is seeking to become the eighth and youngest man to claim a career Grand Slam.
Nole and Carlos have split their four most recent matches. Alcaraz won in both the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon finals, while in 2023 Djokovic came out on top in the greatest best-of-three-sets match in the Open Era, the 2023 Cincinnati Open. And Novak prevailed in straight sets to win Olympic gold in Paris.
AMERICA IN THE LAND OF OZ: The fat lady didn’t start singing today. The party isn’t over. The thrill’s not gone.
But the luster of America’s glorious break-out Melbourne run took a hit today.
The storied surge by Irvine’s youth brigade – Southern California’s beach-trained besties – 19-year-old Learner Tien and his older buddy, 20-year-old Alex Michelsen – was brought to a screeching halt by a couple no-nonsense veterans.
A savvy old Italian, 29-year-old Lorenzo Sonego, wouldn’t be bossed around by Learner, the dreamy American rookie. Then the fleet world No. 8, Alex de Minaur, rode the mighty waves of howling patriotic zealots to down Michelsen. The Sydneysider now hopes to become the first Australian in 49 years to lift the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup.
Yes, ESPN grooming sage, Chris McKendry noted that America’s darling duo of Learner and Michelsen both need a haircut. But the two can hold their heads high.
Learner’s run of six straight Melbourne wins and his epic triumph win over Daniil Medvedev and Michelsen’s memorable run to the fourth round – which included stunning upsets over the No. 11 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and the No. 19 seed Karen Khachanov – are foundational triumphs that the pair will build on.
Plus, their 22-year-old elder, Ben Shelton, put a stop to the punishment an old Frenchman was dishing out to lanky US hopefuls. Gael Monfils had shot down America’s top gun, 6’ 5” Taylor Fritz. But the 6’ 4” Shelton (with a little help from Father Time) put Elina Svitolina’s 38-year-old husband in his place in four sets. After three tight tiebreak sets, Monfils had to retire due to a back injury and Ben prevailed 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 7-6 (2), 1-0, ret.
US fans had hoped that half of the AO’s eight quarterfinalists might be Americans. But now, at least we’ll have two in the field.
Shelton will try to do what Learner could not. He hopes to down Sonego and go on to face Alcaraz or Djokovic. And Tommy “Under the Radar” Paul, a 2023 Aussie Open semifinalist, hopes to win his third straight match against the No. 2 seed, Alexander Zverev.
All the while, American women are again doing even better than the guys. Three are into the quarterfinals. Madison Keys, 29, surged past Rybakina, and will next face Elina Svitolina.
But it is Emma “I may not have big weapons, but I sure know how to win” Navarro, has won all four of her matches in three sets, but now she’ll face the streaking five-time Slam champion, Iga Swiatek, who has lost only 11 games in four matches. All the while, America’s best hope, No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, wants to extend her two-match winning streak over the No. 11 seed, Spaniard Paula Badosa, in order to have another captivating battle with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
THE QUEEN OF CHILL: The other day, with a twinkle in her eye, 23-year-old Emma Navarro said, “I love three-set tennis.”
No kidding. Amazingly, she’s taken down four foes in a row in incredibly tight three set battles to reach the third major quarterfinal of her career. She beat her fellow NCAA champion Peyton Stearns, Wang Xiyu, three-time Slam finalist Ons Jabeur, and the crafty No. 9 seed, Daria Kasatkina.
How does the queen of chill do it? A revealing profile by Jon Wertheim details how her grandfather, legendary football coach Frank Navarro, would pick her up every day at 5:30 AM and offer her life lessons during soul-defining rides to her tennis practice sessions.
The other day, Emma told us of how her 6-hour “bike and cry” bicycle and hiking outings with her dad Ben toughened her up. So, maybe it’s not that astounding that the athletic 23-year-old impressed us with her crunch-time heroics. She’ll need that when she plays Swiatek, who’s been so dominant that she hasn’t come close to playing a third set.
LEARNER’S LEARNING CURVE: Few teens have been more resilient in their Grand Slam breakout performance than Learner Tien. The appealing Californian, who glided across Melbourne’s courts as he captured the imagination of the tennis world, fought hard in qualifying and early in the main draw. Then, in his epic David downs Goliath second-round win over Daniil Medvedev, “he out-Medvedeved Medvedev,” according to Pat McEnroe.
Time and again he brushed aside crises. And, after dropping the first two sets of his fourth-round match against No. 55 Lorenzo Sonego, it seemed he might again tap into his inner Houdini. Despite having been on court for about 13 hours during the tourney, Learner took the third set 6-1.
But even Cinderella’s carriage became a pumpkin. Soon, his delightful joy ride came to an abrupt halt, as Sonego called on his experience to end the kid’s Down Under bliss.
Oh, well. At the end Learner was still beaming. After all, it was quite the learning experience.
JIMBO AND LEARNER: One veteran California observer said that when you compare the 19-year old Tien with Jimmy Connors at that age, Tien has a better forehand and serve. But the question is whether he has the personality to be a champion.
A WEDDING GIFT FOR MADDY? In 14 years of battle, Madison Keys has had plenty of disappointments. There was her devastating loss in the 2017 US Open. Last summer, she was on the brink of victory in the fourth round at Wimbledon, but suffered a leg injury. Tears flowed.But, of late, things have been bright.
She got married, switched to a Yonex racket and developed a new service motion. The 29-year-old, who’s the No. 19 seed, has been in a happy place at the Happy Slam, and in the fourth round she prevailed in the first set of her match against the No. 6 seed Elena Rybakina.
But then she dropped five games in a row and lost the second set, 6-1 and was down four break points early in the third. But she held her nerve and eventually prevailed on 25 of Rybakina’s 38 second serves to score a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win.
When Keys broke through to reach the 2015 AO semis, many thought she’d soon win a major. She still hasn’t. But who knows? Magnificent Maddy could shock us and go all the way. And what a sweet wedding present that would be.
PRICEY CAMERA: In a rage, Daniil Medvedev smashed the little camera that was attached to the net. It will cost him $70,000.
CONNECTIONS: Husband and wife Monfils and Svitolina both played yesterday, as did close friends Lerner Tien and Alex Mickelson. The Mickelsen vs. de Minaur match was a battle of the Alexes. Paula Bedosa and her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas are both the No. 11 seeds.
Keys’s husband, Bjorn Fratangelo, has long been her coach. Maddy just beat an Elena (Ms. Ryabakina) and now faces an Elina (Gael’s husband, Svitolina.)
GO FIGURE: Even the Australian Prime Minister commented on broadcaster Tony Jones’s wretched anti-Novak mockery. Unfortunately the politician’s comments were tepid.
HOW COCO WILL BECOME A MORE PRODUCTIVE HUMAN BEING: Coco Gauff, who has over 750,000 TikTok followers, mourned that it’s being banned.
She wrote on a TV lens, “RIP TikTok USA” and then said, “Hopefully it comes back…I love TikTok. It’s like an escape. I do that before matches. I guess it will force me to read books more – be more of a productive human…Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise.”
QUOTEBOOK:
“The spirit of Ukraine” – Elina Svitolina’s message on a TV le
“Maybe I get 1% credit for Learner’s win, since I practice with him every day?” Alex Michelsen on Tien’s epic win over Daniil Medvedev
