AND NOW FOR THE MOST INTRIGUING RUMOR OF SERENA’S PREGNANCY: A good source told IT that Serena will this Friday be induced to give birth to her child. Stay tuned.
NICK KYRGIOS – ‘I’M NOT DEDICATED’: These days reporters sometimes walk away from press conferences with young players shaking their heads. At Wimbledon, Bernie Tomic said that tennis is just a job, that he gets bored on court, and that sometimes he gives 30%, sometimes 100%, and it averages to about 50%. Today, after a first-round loss to lower-ranked compatriot John Millman that was marked by right shoulder and middle finger problems, the ever-elusive, continually perplexing Nick Kyrgios said, “Obviously I’m disappointed I lost today. It’s not the end of the world. I will get over it in probably half an hour.”
Asked whether he’ll continue working with coach Sebastien Grosjean, Kyrgios replied, “I’m not good enough for him…He’s very dedicated…He probably deserves a player that is more dedicated to the game than I am…I’m not dedicated to the game at all…There are players out there that are more dedicated…that strive to get better every day, the one-percenters. I’m not that guy.”
Kyrgios said he trained harder for the US Open than he did in Cincinnati, where he recently reached the final. “I played an hour of basketball before I played David Ferrer in the [Cincy] semifinal,” he said. “I was going to ice cream, like this Graeber’s place, getting a milkshake every day.”
On one thing No. 17 Kyrgios and the press can agree: He has had a “diabolical year” at the Slams, losing in the second round of the Australian and French Opens and going out in the first round at Wimbledon and in New York today. “It doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “It’s just the story of my career, really.”
RAFA ON BARCELONA: After his first-round win, IT asked Rafa Nadal about the recent terror attack in Barcelona, where he has won ten titles and has a court named after him. “[We’re] now affected…in Spain, in Barcelona,” said Rafa.
“Before [it] was Paris and London – New York a few years ago. It’s happening. It’s happening very often, and when [it] happens closer to you, [it] seems more important.
“But at the end of the day [it’s] important everywhere, because some innocent people are suffering and a lot of families and people are suffering, so [it’s] terrible.
“I was in Cincinnati [when I found out], completely destroyed, because you don’t feel safe, no? And it’s very difficult to manage, because there [are] a lot of ways to create pain. It’s difficult or almost impossible to control. [It’s important] to just be together, and hopefully some day it’s going to stop.”
FROM BIG RUTH TO THE BIG ROOF: Ninety years ago, New York sports was all about Big Ruth, i.e. the one and only Babe Ruth, who led the 1927 Yankees to glory. Now it’s all about Ashe Stadium’s “Big Roof,” which, despite a downpour yesterday, allowed over 40,000 fans to enjoy Nadal and Federer.
THE NOSEBLEED CONNECTION: What do Andre Agassi’s wife and Maria Sharapova’s agent have in common? Years ago, when Stefanie Graf was starting to date Agassi, she wanted to see her future husband play a US Open final, but she wanted to be anonymous. So she sat in Ashe Stadium’s nosebleed seats. A few years ago Sharapova fired her agent Max Eisenbud from her box. So now he takes to row Z in the upper tier of Ashe.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN NEW YORK WHEN: You see a sign that says LIE OVER GCP BRIDGE REHAB. Translation: the Long Island Expressway bridge over the Grand Central Parkway is being upgraded…Suburban dads get peeved when policeman inspect the trunks of their cars.
CICI STUMBLES: Tennis looks like a pleasant enough sport, but it can be brutal. CiCi Bellis is just a teen, but she has already experienced the elation of big breakthroughs at the US Open, where she beat Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova in 2014, and last year reached the third round.
This year the Atherton teen has done great, with big wins over Aga Radwanska in Doha, and Petra Kvitova at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic, where she reached the semis. As her ranking rose, so did expectations. Inside Tennis asked, “Will Bellis be able to ring the bell in New York?” But this year her bell was on mute in New York.
After a slow start, Bellis dropped the opening set of her first-round match against Japan’s Nao Hibino, who was gunning for her debut Slam win. But then she came back to win the second, impressing ESPN commentator Chris Evert, who has worked with Bellis at her academy in Florida.
“CiCi is a hard worker,” said Evert. “She is easy to coach and loves to work on shots…She is full of energy – she doesn’t know how to sit still. She’s got to learn to relax if she is going to be on the tour for the next 10 or 15 years.”
Bellis, who is already well-known for her big fighting skills, managed to come back and take a 5-3 lead in the decisive set, but suddenly she lost four games in a row and the match. Her biggest weapon, her forehand, spilled errors.
“It’s not just that she lost it,” said Pam Shriver, “but it’s the way she did it. It was a total collapse.” So Bellis will have to overcome this setback. But she’s young, she’s tough, and she’s learning that her craft is a challenging one.
HEADLINES:
’Stop That Racket! Nadal Calls For Quiet Under Open Roof After Noisy First-Round Win’
‘Fans’ Noise Raises Roof’
‘Quiet Please! Nadal Sounds Off Over Noise’
‘Sharapova Rides a Wave of Emotion’
‘One and Done for Defending Champion’
QUOTEBOOK:
“He won by the skin of his teeth.” – Frances Tiafoe on his five-set 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 loss to Roger Federer
“He’s only going to learn from a match like this and become better.” – Roger Federer on Frances Tiafoe after dispatching the #NextGen American in five sets
“This year is a completely different year.” – Angelique Kerber, who became the first women’s defending champion since 2005 (Sventlana Kuznetsova) to fall in the opening round
“If you told me I would be here at 31, being No. 1 of the world, especially, six, seven, 10 years ago, I would not believe you.” – Rafa Nadal
“Tennis is a very important part of my life, but not everything. I have a lot of things that make me happy in this world.” – Rafa Nadal
