Bill Simons, Steve Pratt and Vinay Venkatesh
NEW YORK
CORRECTION: In over 40 years of covering tennis we’ve never begun an article with a correction. But seven hours ago we posted this column with the headline US Open Shock – Calm Strikes the Serena Open. But calm, of course, violates the US Open’s religion. And former Open champs Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka both crashed out of the tourney and so, by the end of the day, the Open was back to its normal, far from calm, ways. Please accept our apology.
YES, FANS, THERE’S MORE TO THE OPEN THAN SERENA: The grounds of the US Open are still abuzz. Not since 1991, when Jimmy Connors made his operatic run to the US Open semis, has there been such electricity onsite. Serena’s farewell has given a mighty jolt to the Open. A record crowd of 29,402 were on hand Monday night and today the grounds are still packed.
Inevitably, the Serena surge took all the oxygen out of the US Open ecosphere. Compelling stories were left in its wake. It’s not only that Andy Murray won his first straight-set Grand Slam match in five years, that Coco Gauff won her first match ever on Arthur Ashe Stadium and a three-time Grand Slam winner, Stan Wawrinka, had to withdraw mid-match.
It was simply stunning to see a Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur, down the No. 7 seed Simona Halep. And what’s going on with Stefanos Tsitsipas? The young Greek zephyr certainly has had his share of triumphs. He has twice won in Monte Carlo and was close to winning the 2021 French Open when he led two sets to love over Novak Djokovic before he faltered.
For all the power of his strokes and the beauty of his backhand, his return of serve still has issues and he may suffer from a certain fragility. Did his French Open loss to Djokovic and the devastating Wimbledon loss to Nick Kyrgios leave scar tissue? And New York has been a problem. He’s never gotten beyond the third round of the US Open and in 2021 and 2020 he suffered devastating losses to young Carlos Alcaraz and Borna Coric.
Plus, Brandon Holt’s defeat of his friend Taylor Fritz, who some felt had a good chance to reach the final, was jaw-dropping.
EMMA’S PAIN: Last year teen Emma Raducanu won 20 sets in a row as she sprinted from the qualies to the Open title. This year she didn’t win a single set as France’s Alize Cornet beat her 6-3, 6-3. Emma will lose 2040 ranking points and will drop to around No. 80. Cornet is quite the giant killer. She’s won seven Slam matches in a row against top 20 players. Another French woman, Clara Burel, beat Wimbledon champ Elena Rybakina in straight sets.
THE MONKEY IS OFF HER BACK: After 1990 US Open champ Pete Sampras failed to defend his title in 1991, he said he was relieved because “a monkey was off his back.” The ever-combative Jimmy Connors was livid. Tonight after her loss, 2021 champ Raducanu said, “In a way I’m now happy because it’s clean slate… I can just start again…As a 19-year-old I’ve not had a bad year. To be in the top 100, if you told me that a year ago, I’d take it.” When asked about about her future, she quipped, “I want to go to bed…It would have been great to defend the title, but I kind of want new experiences.”
WILLIAMS LOSES: Venus Williams played her 20th US Open. She’s 42 and New Yorkers do like the number 42. That was Jackie Robinson’s number. Today broadcaster Mary Joe Fernandez said, “Venus has the will to win, you see it in her eyes, she’s focused.” But, despite superb second-set play, 42-year old Venus fell to No. 43, Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1, 7-6(5).
GO FIGURE: When 17-year-old Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam, the 1997 US Open, she beat five players who would become Hall of Famers: Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Kim Clijsters and Conchita Martinez…Monday night, Serena had 100 guests on hand and tickets were going as high as $3000 each.
RAFA’S FOOT AND HEEL PROBLEMS: For years Rafa has been struggling with his foot. Tuesday night he struggled with a heel – that would be ex-University of North Carolina Tarheel Rinky Hijikata. The former collegian, who’s an Aussie, came out fast and won the first set 6-4. Nadal, who hadn’t played in New York for 1087 days, was on his heels. But the 2018 Open champion soon found his footing and after a 3:08 battle won in four sets. Rafa said there were times when he thought he might not ever be back on Ashe. Then he offered a delightfully typical “Rafaism” to the adoring crowd. He said that the key has been “being humble enough to accept the process…It’s a moment to be positive and accept the feelings.”
REFLECTIONS ON NO.2: Avis Rent-A-Car built their brand on being No. 2 behind Hertz. Their theme was, “We Try Harder.” Perhaps the most famous No.2 in recent memory is Rafa Nadal, who for over seven years filled the second spot behind Federer. He was always so respectful of his Swiss rival. These days, Estonian Annet Kontaviet has been the lowest profiled No. 2 player we can recall. She has never gotten past the semis of a major. She gained her lofty ranking thanks to fabulous results on indoor courts. Recently, she’s been fighting long term effects of Covid and wisely contended that the pressure will be on Serena when the two meet on Wednesday night, in a match between the No.2 player in the rankings and the No. 1 player of our era.
NO. 1 IS UP FOR GRABS: When the Open ends, No. 1 Daniil Medvedev could still be at the top of the rankings. But Rafa Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and even Casper Ruud could gain the top spot. If by some chance the Norwegian prevails, the 23-year-old will be the youngest ATP No. 1 ever.
HOT COCO TAKES: “I can’t stand the sound of my voice.”
“I like to pretend that I’m a supermodel.”
“I’m gonna watch Serena’s match because the 8-year-old in me would want me to see this.”
JUST WONDERING: When will Venus retire? How many Slams would she have won if her sister hadn’t been on the scene? Serena prevailed in seven of their nine matches in Slam finals…With the early exit of Stefanos Tsitsipas in the bottom half, will the No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev defend his US Open title? No one has done that since Federer in 2008.
HOLT SCORES HUGE UPSET OVER FRITZ: Brandon Holt couldn’t have picked a better time to play the best tennis of his young career. The former USC No. 1 continued his impressive US Open run Monday night as the qualifier won his fourth match at this year’s final Grand Slam, shocking No. 10-seeded Taylor Fritz, 6-7 (3), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the main draw on the Grandstand court in 3:5.
Smith’s college coach Peter Smith said it was too bad the two Palos Verdes neighbors had to meet so early in the US Open. “When I saw Taylor was going to play a qualifier, I just knew it was going to be Brandon,” said Smith, the general manager of the Jack Kramer Club, the same club the Holt family has been members of for years. “That’s just how tennis is.” Smith said he watched four years ago as Holt beat Fritz 6-3, 6-3 in a UTR money event, the California Cup, at the Kramer Club. “First of all, it’s a tough matchup,” Smith said. “Brandon’s game plays into Taylor’s game. Taylor’s game is all about power, and Brandon loves power.
“It’s one thing to play well and another to not have any nerves in a match of that magnitude,” Smith continued. “Brandon’s a pressure player, and always has been. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. This was his coming-out party, and I couldn’t be happier for him.”
The son of two-time US Open champion Tracy Austin, the 24-year-old Holt played three three-setters in qualifying, coming down from down a set and a break in two of them. Asked in his post-match press conference if he recalled what his mother told him before the biggest match of his career, Holt replied: “I don’t remember what she told me…Probably just go have fun…The same stuff. ‘Enjoy it.’ And I did. I found myself in some difficult situations, maybe I didn’t play quite as well as I could have in certain times, but then, I played very well in other times.”
When ESPN noted in a report following the win that he still is Tracy Austin’s son, the well-mannered and popular Holt replied, “I’ve been that way my whole life.”
Like Austin, Fritz’s mother Kathy May was a former WTA Tour player who grew up in Southern California and reached the US Open quarterfinals in 1978, a feat Taylor duplicated at Wimbledon earlier this year. ESPN noted Austin beat May in 1978 in a tournament in Philadelphia.
There were high hopes for Fritz coming into the Open, and even tennis commentator Luke Jensen picked Fritz, who came in with 20-1 odds to win the Open, to take the title. “Been playing really well,” Fritz said. “Had really high hopes. I feel like an idiot for thinking that I could win this thing, win the US Open. I can’t go out and play a match like that. It sucks. I feel awful.”
Following an eight-month potentially career-ending hand injury that required surgery and kept him out of action last summer and fall, Holt started the year on a tear, going 15-0, and he’s won five ITF singles Futures titles so far in 2022. Holt said Fritz has been supportive of him since he returned from the injury.
“I’ve practiced with him at Carson a lot,” Holt said. “He’s given me a lot of advice. When I was winning, he always was congratulating me. I’m very happy to see how well he’s been doing…Yeah, I mean, it was a little bit weird to be playing him. At the same time, it was kind of nice to be playing a familiar face…Taylor is a nice guy, really funny, has a good sense of humor…I’ve known him a long time. More than anything I think he’s been almost like someone I can look up to. He works really hard, has been doing really well, and was not shy to give advice and help me out when I wasn’t doing very well.” Holt will next face Argentina’s Pedro Cachin, who is unseeded and No. 66-ranked in the world, on Wednesday.
TAKE THAT BABE RUTH, MOHAMMAD ALI AND MICHAEL JORDAN: John McEnroe said, “Serena and Venus are the best story in any sport in the last 100 years.”
THANKS FOR LETTING US KNOW: Serena, who has won six US Opens and is 21-0 in opening rounds in New York, told the media, “I feel so confident on this court.”
DOUBLES MATTER: As the Bryan brothers evolved out of the sport, the impact of doubles diminished. Still, there would have been plenty of stories along the way. American Coco Gauff is the No.1 doubles player in the world. Serena and Andy Murray, Venus and Jamie Murray drew attention when they played at Wimbledon. And now everyone is looking forward to Venus and Serena playing Hradecka and Noskova of the Czech Republic on Thursday.
BONUS QUOTE OF THE TOURNAMENT: When reflecting on her on-court play these days, Serena said, “At this point, everything is a bonus.”
WHAT DO WHITNEY HOUSTON AND THE UKRAINIAN CHORUS DUMKA OF NEW YORK HAVE IN COMMON? Houston rocked the crowd by singing the iconic One Moment in Time to open up Arthur Ashe Stadium in 1997 and the Ukrainian offered their poignant version of the song 25 years later just before Serena came on court Monday night.
