Bill Simons
HEAR THE CROWD, FEEL THE CROWD: Pat McEnroe said, “It’s sure nice for us and for the players to see the crowd, hear the crowd, feel the crowd.”
GOOD QUESTION: Jon Wertheim asked, “Is anyone else marveling? It’s amazing how much less you sweat when you have to get your own damn towel.”
QUEEN SOFIA LOSES HER CROWN TO ROLLING ESTONIAN: Get this: Estonian Kaia Kanepi is into ice racing. Today she raced to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Sofia Kenin and put last year’s Melbourne darling, the winner of the 2020 Aussie Open, on ice. It’s not easy defending a Slam title. The last woman to do so was Serena in 2016. No. 4 Kenin, who also reached the French Open final in October, had her chances. But early, Kenin couldn’t convert any of her seven match points. And Kanepi is not someone you want to let work herself into a match. Never mind she is coming off a two-year struggle with a mononucleosis type of virus and her ranking dropped below 600. Recently the muscular 35-year-old scored wins over the streaking Aryna Sabalenka en route to the final of the Gippsland Trophy.
Long feared in the locker room, Kanepi is tough outside of it too. She climbed as high as No. 15, reached six major Slam quarterfinals and has wins over Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki. Today we saw why. Kaia’s serve was a mighty weapon and she imposed her power on the error-prone American, who she finished off with two aces. Kenin, who shocked the world with her run to last year’s Aussie crown, will now have to deal with the shock of a tough Down Under journey where she was clobbered by Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-2 last week and never seemed to be in the race with Estonia’s queen of ice racing. Afterwards, to her credit, Kenin admitted she was nervous and felt the “outside pressure” of defending her title. She said, “it was obviously tough…my head wasn’t there…the nerves big time, it got to me…I guess just I couldn’t handle the pressure.”
HEADLINE OF THE DAY: “Venus Williams Again Shows Why She’s Tennis’ Greatest Competitor”
ALL’S FAIR IN WAR AND TENNIS: Italian Sara Errani did not hesitate to dropshot the hobbled Venus Williams. Years ago, when Martina Hingis was facing the pregnant Carling Bassett at the US Open, she, too, often went to the dropshot.
A MAN AND HIS COURT: Iconic players have had extraordinary connections with the courts of the world. Jimmy Connors on Louis Armstrong Stadium in New York was so often a happening. Andy Murray on Wimbledon’s Centre Court and Gael Monfils on Stade Suzanne Lenglen in Paris were special blends of player and site.
But lately, there’s been nothing like Nick Kyrgios’ thrilling appearances on the Australian Open’s third biggest court, John Cain Arena. It’s a wonderful ritual that delivers thrills to fans each year. The Aussie Open’s center court is named after one of tennis’ most stable (and beloved) geniuses – Rod Laver. Its second largest venue, Margaret Court Arena, is the most controversial venue in tennis. But connoisseurs say John Cain arena is the best tennis arena in Melbourne. Once known as Hisense Arena, the venue’s name is changed with a maddening frequency. But it always seems to host great matches. Last night was no different, as beer-chugging mates, wide-eyed 12-year-olds with braids and fist-pumping bearded Orthodox Jews were beside themselves while Kyrgios did his magic. Once again there were baffling trick shots, random rants, ample rage and a breathless comeback. Kyrgios saved two match points and, in 3:22, he downed France’s Ugo Humbert. All this prompted Catherine Murphy to tweet, “Kyrgios is teaching Melbourne how to ‘crowd’ again.” Nick will next play Dominic Thiem, but the match will be on Rod Laver Arena.
GO FIGURE: Taylor Fritz, the highest ranked American man in the AO, came back to beat his friend and countryman Reilly Opelka in five sets in 4:07. He’ll next face Djokovic…Poland’s Iga Swiatek hasn’t lost more than four games in a set in any of her last nine Grand Slam sets…In her 27 years on the tour, Venus has defaulted from just one match in a major…Spain’s Feliciano Lopez is playing in his 75th straight major… It will be interesting to see if the Denis Shapovalov vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime match will be the first all-Canadian match to be featured on Rod Laver Arena.
HALEP HOLDS UP: Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic was up 5-2 in the third set and twice was two points away from victory over No. 2 seed Simona Halep. But the Romanian, who’s won two Slams, is one of the most tenacious competitors in the game. She toughed it out and prevailed 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in 2:34.
QUOTEBOOK
“Serena is really, really good at her own PR.” – Rennae Stubbs
“People say Serena doesn’t have a rival. Well, Margaret Court has been her rival for about four years.” – Jon Wertheim
“I feel old. I feel like this sport has stressed me out. I feel like an old soul…I’m a wise man now.” – Nick Kyrgios
JUST WONDERING: What’s harder these days, to try and claim that a Hawkeye line call was all wrong or that fans are making too much noise? Is tennis’ ultimate gentleman Rafael Nadal the greatest master of lowering expectations? Somehow he always gets us to think he’s a great underdog.
BEST OF THE REST: Is former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, who has won a tourney every year since 2013, the best active woman to not win a Slam? Or do you go with world No. 5 Elina Svitolina, or perhaps Kiki Bertens or Aryna Sabalenka, all of whom have struggled at Slams?
A MAN WITH A FOREHAND BUT NOT A FILTER? When Stefanos Tsitsipas was asked to comment on Krygios he said some of Nick’s comments “can cross the line and be too much. He’s a guy who doesn’t really have a filter. He says things as they are. I think he has a brain in his head when he says stuff…[But] there are many stupid things…I’m sure he’s aware of, and obviously can’t deny them. There are a few things he has said in interviews and quotations and headlines that he has created that could be considered as true.”
WE NEED TO ADAPT: Nadal said, “We are living in a little bit more of a sad world, but we need to adapt and do things the best way possible to get better. We dream to get back.”
Naomi Osaka noted, “In life you have to be adjustable and it’s probably the people who are not able to adjust quickly that are having the hardest time. I feel I am a person who can adjust quite quickly. Everyone is finding their own way to cope.”
HAIR THIS: Brad Gilbert noted that it was real hot in Melbourne. “It’s a hair dryer day,” noted the now bald Gilbert. Chris McKendry quipped, “That’s funny, coming from you.”
COCO WILL POP: Chris Evert noted Coco Gauff’s power, mobility, big serve, forehand and fearlessness. Then she added that players now know Coco’s game and, “The coaches have gotten together and said, ‘Hmm, that forehand will make errors and her second serve will spray.’ But I have no doubt that Coco Gauff will win a Grand Slam soon – in the next two years, let’s say.”
A TALE OF TWO MARTINAS: Belinda Bencic, 23, beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, 35, today. Early in Kuznetsova’s career, Martina Navratilova was a key ==person and a doubles partner for the Russian. Early in Bencic’s career, Martina Hingis was an important coach and doubles partner for her fellow Swiss player.
Frances Tiafoe’s Letter To Arthur Ashe: When Frances Tiafoe heard that he’d won the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, he wrote this letter to Ashe, who died in 1993, five years before Frances was born.
Dear Arthur,
I did not have much growing up. My parents are both immigrants from Sierra Leone. My dad was a janitor at a tennis facility in Maryland, and I was lucky to be around the sport from a young age, even if I did not have the money or opportunities a lot of other kids did. None of that stopped me from dreaming big. I pushed myself to the limit every day with a big smile on my face.
Here I am, 22 years old, and I just found out that I won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award. That little kid with big dreams now has his name associated with yours. That is insane…and a massive responsibility. I am not just that smiley kid on the rise anymore. I know I need to carry the torch and make a difference in the world.
This year my girlfriend and I made a video called, “Racquets Down, Hands Up.”…I wanted people to know it does not matter who you are, where you come from or what the color of your skin is. Everybody has the opportunity to be something special.
I wasn’t lucky enough to be around when you were doing your thing, but I know you were so much bigger than tennis. Honestly, you could have been the President! Something you once said always sticks with me: “From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.”
I mean, damn, that is deep. Nothing you ever did was about you. You were just trying to be a person first and an athlete second. It was always about helping others. That is truly inspirational.
One of the craziest things about you is that everyone knows all the work you put in to make the world a better place. But you won Grand Slams, bro! I wish I could just pick your brain to find out how you were able to be as successful as you were while still being a great humanitarian…
It sucks you are not here anymore and I was not able to meet you, but rest easy man. You are still making an impact…[I know] we are not just athletes. We are human beings. There is more outside of tennis. I really believe in the past couple years I have found my purpose.
I realised I was lucky enough to set up my family financially. I started thinking…what about those kids who are where I was not that long ago?
Ten years ago I thought it would be amazing just to see the stadium they named after you at the US Open. To even walk into Arthur Ashe Stadium would have been amazing for me back then, forget playing there. I remember getting a little watery in 2014 when I got to play at Madison Square Garden. I was a 16-year-old kid from College Park, Maryland, the son of two immigrant parents warming up the world’s most famous arena for Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Remember how nuts it was when you played John McEnroe there? It is still crazy.
I have had little kids come up to me and say they want to be like Frances Tiafoe. That blows me away every time…if there are kids out there who do not think they can achieve their dreams.
You showed so many of us the way, and now I want to pay it forward. I want to help these kids understand that they need to find their passion and just go absolutely crazy and be obsessed with it. I found mine and I get to live my dream every day…If years down the road people say Frances Tiafoe was a hell of a person first and an athlete second, I will be really happy…I have been lucky enough to make a living. Now, it is time to make a life. You did more than your share for the world. I promise I will always do mine.
– Frances Tiafoe
