Bill Simons
It’s odd, but it’s fun.
Every year as summer fades, the final event of tennis’ Grand Slam season, the US Open, dovetails with the start of America’s pro football season, the NFL’s opening game. And each winter, as tennis’ Grand Slam season at last gears up, the NFL playoffs take center stage.
Saturday, amidst snow and 5° temperatures, the NFL gave us a classic game on the frozen tundra – the San Francisco 49ers’ dramatic win over the Green Bay Packers. Sure, sports purists could claim that Lambeau Field is Lambeau Field and Laver Arena is Laver Arena, and never the twain shall meet.
But, man, oh, man, oh, Mannarino, 9,865 miles from the frigid land of Lombardi, Rod Laver looked on as tropical birds squawked in 90° temperatures and Rafa Nadal and Adrian Mannarino unleashed a fierce battle that was tennis’ raucous answer to a Packer-Niner game for the ages.
The best lefty in France was taking it to the best lefty the world’s ever seen. Rafa’s backers were upbeat. His path to a record-setting 21st Slam title wasn’t as steep as it might have been. Although having just overcome COVID in December and seeded No. 6, for the first time in his career he was playing a Slam without both Federer and Djokovic. And nearby, a key rival, No. 3 Alexander Zverev, whom he would have faced in the next round, was en route to defeat at the hands of Denis Shapovalov.
Plus, in Adrian Mannarino, Rafa was facing an aging veteran who had been marinating on the ATP circuit for 17 years with only modest effect. The 33-year-old had never gotten past the fourth round of a Slam and was ranked 69.
But you could have fooled us. The Frenchman, with a rare style and nothing to lose, was playing loose, free and big. He took the ball early with short swings and imposed severe angles as Rafa found himself running haplessly to the far corners of the court.
Never mind that Adrian was 2-26 vs. top-20 players in majors. Time and again, the Frenchman baffled his foe with his serve and wristy flick-winners. Rafa seemed slow and sluggish. Standing back, his returns were ineffective, as the marathon first set wound down to a classic tiebreak.
We saw little of the intimidation the bullish Rafa likes to unleash. In the absence of iconic names like Federer, Djokovic, Wawrinka, Murray, Serena and Venus, Rafa seemed to be fighting for the glory of a golden age that is fading.
But as much as Nadal dominates in Paris, his Australian campaigns have often been misadventures: blown leads, untimely injuries and stunning losses have been the narrative. “It’s true,” he recalled, with a smile. “I’ve been a little bit unlucky with injuries here and sometimes I was unlucky because the opponents were better than me.”
Now, in a thrilling tiebreak, Mannarino was zoning.
Commentators noted that he’d already been out on court for over nine hours. But then he’d wrong-foot Nadal brilliantly. John McEnroe dismissed Mannarino: “He’s only 37-46 in Slams. That’s not going to worry many top guys.” But then the Frenchman would run down a Nadal forehand and blast a winner. “This tie-breaker has been an absolute cracker,” noted broadcaster Steve Pearce.
Amidst audacious dropshots, wicked serves and seamless defense, the drama thickened. After one of Nadal’s dipping topspin forehands dropped in for an astounding winner, Australian Open TV gushed: “In the pantheon of great shots, this one is right up there. A big time player, making big plays on a big point…This is why tennis is the best of reality TV. There are no scripts here, folks.”
But time after time, Rafa couldn’t convert set points. In frustration, the exasperated warrior puffed out his dimpled cheeks.
But all the while he’d been landing punches against the slim, bald Frenchman. As the tiebreak ground on, Adrian’s body began to rebel. He bent low over his Head racket in exhaustion “At this rate,” said Australian Open Radio, “this match will be 19 hours.”
A bit more than halfway through the epic tiebreak, Rafa was up 9-8 and had his fourth set point as a stunning battle within the battle broke out. At the end of a 25-stroke point filled with corner-to-corner dashes and airtight artistry, Adrian rebuffed Rafa with a bold forehand that caught the back line.
Battle on.
Finally, at 15-14, Mannarino was down set point for the seventh time. But at last he had no more Houdini-like escapes up his sleeve. Rafa handcuffed him at net with a powerful forehand blast, and after 1:21, the Spaniard at last claimed the set, 16-14, in one of tennis’ more notable tiebreaks since 2008 at Wimbledon, when Roger downed Nadal in the fourth set to stay alive in the best match of all time.
Andy Roddick said of Djokovic, “First he takes your legs, then he takes your soul.” The same applies to Nadal. After absorbing the best Mannarino could offer, the Spaniard raced to a 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory that, like the 49ers’ breathtaking victory, had ample flaws but inspiring grit.
THE PRIDE OF THE BILLS MAFIA: Jessie Pegula is at the forefront of the Australian Open’s curious football connection. Like she did in 2021, the 27-year-old daughter of Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula has again run her way through the Australian Open field to reach the quarterfinals. Sunday in Melbourne, the pride of the Bills Mafia (as Buffalo’s fan base is called) made up for a wretched 2021 Miami Open loss to world No. 6 Maria Sakkari, in which she failed to convert six match points. But this time, Pegula didn’t lose a point in the first-set tiebreak. Then she used her solid strokes to down the Greek 7-6, 6-3. She’ll next play Barty, who prevailed in their only meeting at the 2019 French Open.
Pegula’s fellow American, Madison Keys who also reached the quarters, sustained a happy WTA theme. At the US Open, a beaming Leylah Fernandez seemed to prove the power of joy as she swept to the finals. In Melbourne, Keys benefited well from a newfound ease and the positive mindset that her boyfriend, ATP player Bjorn Fratangelo, encourages. Keys confided that she had put so much pressure on herself that she felt frozen: “I was letting tennis become this dark cloud over me. [Now I’m] just trying to push all of that away…and start fresh.”
Poised and mentally tough, balancing her well known power with consistency, she dropped just five points on serve in the first set en route to a 6-3, 6-1 win against Paula Badosa to score her ninth win in row in Australia this year. Swinging freely, Keys is emanating the air of a champion – but she faces stiff competition. Next she plays French Open champ Barbora Krejcikova, who thumped Vika Azarenka 6-2, 6-2. Barbora is No. 4 in the world, and has won 21 of her last 23 matches in majors.
AMERICAN CINDERELLA HEADS HOME: Amanda Anisimova’s Cinderella run in Melbourne, featuring a stunning victory over defending champ Naomi Osaka, came to an abrupt end in the fourth round when homestanding Ash Barty brushed off a second-set break of serve and marched to a tidy 6-4, 6-3 win in prime time before her adoring fans.
OF LULU AND LEO: Vika Azarenka melted the heart of many a crusty media member when she held her press conference with her twitchy five-year-old son Leo on her lap and Martina Navratilova proved that her little dog Lulu was the most well behaved pet in tennis as the dog slept through an extended Tennis Channel segment.
SERBIA WARNS NOLE: Serbia’s Prime Minister Ana Brnabic warned Djokovic that he may be sanctioned if in fact he attended a Belgrade Tennis Association event right after testing positive for COVID. Seemingly in retaliation for Novak’s deportation, Serbia has revoked the license of a huge Australian-based mining company.
PENG SHUAI T-SHIRT COVER-UP: Fans were forced to remove or cover up shirts that read, “Where is Peng Shuai?” Ushers told fans that political statements weren’t allowed. Navratilova countered, “I find it very cowardly. This isn’t a political statement. This is a human rights statement.”
GO FIGURE: Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov and US Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, who recently led Canada to the ATP Cup, are both still in the Australian draw. But between them, they’ve won just one rather small ATP tourney…In Slams, Rafa has lost to lefties just twice…Anisimova has been playing with a new racket without commercial markings…With his win over Pablo Carreno Busta, Matteo Berrettini became the first Italian to reach the quarterfinals of all four Slams.
THIRTY-SOMETHING INDIANS: Thirty-five year-old Indian Sania Mirza and the Bay Area’s Indian American, Rajeev Ram, 37, are through to the third round of mixed doubles.
LIVING THE DREAM: Alize Cornet is letting it all hang out these days. She’s written a popular autobiography, was the first voice to call for the WTA to put important principles above huge money in the Peng Shuai case, was outspoken on Djokovic, and, on her 32nd birthday said, “I’m living it up like a little kid…even at my age.” Playing her 60th straight major, she faces Simona Halep in the fourth round.
ELEPHANT ON THE COURT: Sascha Zverev has long been heralded as a future No. 1. He’s reached the second week in ten of the last eleven Slams. But in defeat against Shapovalov, the racket-smashing German again battled his problematic serve. At majors, he’s now 0-11 against top 10 players.
Also Reporting: Douglas Hochmuth, Frances Aubrey
