ROLAND GARROS IN THE AGE OF COVID
By Michael Mewshaw
“No human heart changes half so fast as the face of a city.” So said 19th century French poet Charles Baudelaire. One wonders what he would have made of Paris in its second spring of the COVID-19 virus when every human face is masked?
In 2016 after several terrorist attacks killed a couple of hundred people, the French Open was played in a state of high tension. Guards armed with automatic weapons formed a perimeter around Roland Garros, and spectators and members of the press were questioned and frisked at check points before they entered the grounds.
This year, the security personnel are still in place, checking bags, waving metal detectors. But after the coronavirus has killed tens of thousands in France, the tournament now takes place under a different type of tension. While the epidemic seems to be subsiding here, matches will be played under extraordinary conditions. The protocols for players remain stringent – although not as draconian as those at the Australian Open this past January where competitors were isolated in hotel rooms upon arrival and spectators were banned mid-tournament after a brief outbreak of cases.
For weeks before my flight to Paris, I filled out questionnaires, swore to abide by health protocols and appealed for a laissez-passer that would permit me, as a journalist, to bypass the quarantine that supposedly applies to all foreigners entering the country from outside the EU. Normally Roland Garros accredits 800 reporters. This year it granted credentials to 240, just 27 of them Americans, some of whom will cover matches remotely. The assumption seems to be that a simple reduction in the number of press-credential holders will improve the odds against catching or spreading the virus.
The same logic applies to the number of fans allowed at Roland Garros. Normally an excess of 35,000 spectators throng this Grand Slam event every day. This year attendance has been restricted to 5,000 spectators at the start, rising to 13,000 as the tournament progresses. On the evidence of the first few rounds, things seem to be working as planned. People remain faithfully masked. It has to be said, however, that more could be done to keep them safely spaced. On the other hand, maybe the pods of people in the stands are among the 38% of the French who’ve been vaccinated. Here’s hoping.
The enduring paradox of the epidemic is that while its dangers are dreadfully real, there are long stretches of time when the threats feel entirely theoretical. So it is during these bright balmy days in Paris when the face of the city, despite the masks, appears unchanged. The chestnuts have finished blossoming. Young couples kiss on bridges. The outdoor tables at cafes and restaurants are crowded. But then, just as the evening seems to be building toward a crescendo, the clock strikes nine and the waiters call time. Although the sun is still shining, the festivities are finished, the streets quickly empty. There’s a curfew cutting short another day of the plague year.
– Michael Mewshaw is the author of 23 books including AD IN AD OUT, a collection of his tennis articles, now available as an e-book.
A GOOD DAY FOR THE RED WHITE AND BLUE: In the women’s draw, Serena, Madison Keys and Danielle Collins picked up wins. On the men’s side, Stevie Johnson, Marcos Giron, Reilly Opelka and John Isner won.
COVID ALERT: Officials announced that two players in the doubles draw have tested positive for COVID.
OSAKA NEEDS EMPATHY: The LA Times’ Helene Elliott said Naomi Osaka “needs empathy, not iron-fisted Grand Slam tournament executives threatening to bar her from tennis’ most prestigious events.” Elliott asserted that the joint statement by the Grand Slams that said if Naomi missed more missed interviews she would be subject to heavier fines and a possible default, “was heavy-handed and ominous. Calling it sexist and condescending isn’t a big stretch.”
Pam Shriver told Elliott, “The Grand Slam statement just threw flames on it in a major way. For them to throw the threat out there that she could be defaulted was so insensitive and tone deaf…When it comes to someone’s health, until you know the full facts, it was almost careless.”
Shriver, who’s the mother of three teens, two of whom struggled with mental health issues during the pandemic, noted, “Young people connect with Osaka, and young people…they’re going to connect even more because she’s come out openly now about her mental health, naming it depression,” Shriver said. “[For] a lot of young people, it’s the epidemic that’s commingling with the pandemic.”
GO FIGURE: Madison Keys needed six match points to down Leylah Fernandez…Richard Gasquet plays Rafa on Thursday. He was 12 the last time he beat Nadal.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I have all the time in my mind that I want to come back,” said Carla Suarez Navarro on her thoughts during her long struggle to overcome cancer.
GIRON REACHES NEW HEIGHTS: After surging to NCAA singles title in 2014 for UCLA, double hip surgery slowed Marcos Giron’s pro ascent. But today he backed up his first round win over No. 16 seed Grigor Dimitrov with a win over Guido Pella. The Thousand Oaks native, who’s ranked No. 84, is now into a Slam third round for the first time. So it will next be Giron vs Garin. (That is he will soon faces Chilean Cristian Garin, who overcame fellow Bruin grad Mackie McDonald in round two.)
STEVIE SOARS TOO: It was just too emotional for the pride of Orange county, Steve Johnson, to play on the same French Open court where he first played after his beloved father had suddenly passed away. So he asked for a different court and somehow packaged his emotion to score a five-set win, just as he’d done in the first round. In his opener, Johnson came back from two sets down to beat his fellow American Frances Tiafoe. Today, he beat Brazilian Thiago Monterio in five sets deep into the Parisian night. Johnson, who has been ranked as high as 21, has more recently seen his ranking drop to 88, and he hadn’t won a match all year. The surging 31-year-old veteran will next face No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta.
KENIN, KEYS AND SLOANE KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE: Three players with links to Northern California have committed to the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State, coming August 2-8. Sofia Kenin won the Berkeley Tennis Club Challenge in 2018, which built her confidence before she won the 2020 Australian Open. Fresno native Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open Champion, is returning to play in the Bay Area for the first time since 2012. She played an important fundraising role in getting the new tennis center at Golden Gate Park rolling. Madison Keys, the 2017 US Open finalist, won the MSVC in 2017. For more information go to mubadalasvc.com
NOW WE KNOW: When Jon Wertheim asked Serena what it was about tennis that kept her going for all these years, she replied, “I guess it was the outfits.”
KEI IS CLUTCH: While Rafa won last year’s French Open in under 13 hours, Kei Nishikori’s first two matches lasted eight hours and two minutes. He’s won 11 of his last 12 five set matches. When it comes to deciding sets, only Novak Djokovic and Bjorn Borg have a better winning percentage.
MACKIE GOES DOWN: Mackie McDonald seemed to have been sustaining his long comeback from injury. He was up two sets to love against the considerable Cristian Garin, No. 22 seed. The Piedmont product even had two match points to set up an all-UCLA third-round match against Marcos Giron. He faltered – midway through the fifth set he had key break points and couldn’t convert. And at 6-6 in the fifth he had two more big opportunities on two more break points. But Mackie couldn’t hit a key passing shot or a forehand to an open court. Jim Courier said, “The moment was just a little bit bigger than Mackie.” McDonald has had a good year. This was a tough day.
DREAM DUO GOES DOWN: The appealing doubles duo of Venus Williams and Coco Gauff lost 7-6, 4-6, 3-6 in their first-round match to Ellen Perez and Zheng Saisai.
COLLINS CONTINUES TO BATTLE: Following surgery to address her ongoing battle with endometriosis, Danielle Collins survived her first-round match against Xiyu Wang. In the second round, the two-time NCAA champ blitzed through Anhelina Kalinina 6-0, 6-2. She next plays Serena.
ISNER ENDORSES GAMBLING: John Isner endorsed the growing presence of gambling in tennis. He said, “Most of the issues tennis has had have been in the lower-circuit events…but I think it’s way past time that tennis at the biggest stages…embrace the gambling side of things. It’s very popular. It just is what it is. It can be a revenue stream for the tournaments, for the players. In my opinion, there is not much match fixing going on…[Gambling’s presence] is way past due in my opinion, and hopefully they can continue a partnership for many years to come, because DraftKings is an incredibly popular app back home in America. So many people use it. Daily fantasy sports, it’s fantastic. Those people are on top of their game, and the fact they want to partner up with tennis is pretty huge.”
