Bill Simons
FRITZ READY FOR PRIME TIME: Taylor Fritz had just suffered a tough, some would say humiliating, US Open loss to his younger, lower ranked American rival, Jenson Brooksby. As I left the Grandstand Stadium, I heard a random fan in a Mets T-shirt mumble, “That guy’s not ready for prime time.”
I bristled big time. After all, Taylor is a world class athlete and one of the best 25 players in his sport. He’s a pro’s pro who limped out of a French hospital after devastating knee surgery and won a Wimbledon match 27 days later. The guy travels far and wide to play on his off surface, clay, and long has been determined to make it into the top twenty. He’s now No. 22.
Then again, the expert in the Mets shirt did have a point. As great an effort as Taylor was making, as wonderful as his tennis family is, as brutal as his draws have been, he has never reached what some in tennis call “the promised land” – the second week of a Slam. Seven times he’d reached the third round – that impresses. Seven times he’d lost.
Finally, in Melbourne’s third round, it seemed that Taylor would snap his frustrating streak. “He started in turbo mode. Roberto Bautista Agut,” noted ESPN, “couldn’t get off his back foot.” Fritz bageled the Spaniard 6-0 in the opening set. But hold on. Things are rarely easy for Fritz. And the Spanish veteran who’d owned Taylor 5-1 in their six previous matches roared back to win the next two sets. Normally, you’d think that was it. But there’s a new Taylor in town, and Fritz proceeded to overwhelm his exhausted foe in the decisive fifth set and won the marathon 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. No longer “the third round guy,” just after his win he teared up.
Taylor has been a bit of a new man of late. He made a feel-good run to the Indian Wells semis and has recently scored wins over No. 3 Alexander Zverev, Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner and Cam Norrie, whom he’s downed twice. He not only has worked hard on his conditioning, he also explained that his forehand had been his weapon as a junior but he’d been too conservative for the last couple of years, and that now he’s been punishing with his forehand. Or, as they say, he’s been “in turbo mode.”
Will Fritz be able to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas next? Who knows, he’s 0-2 against the Greek. But for sure, the LA kid is more than ready for prime time.
WISHFUL THINKING: Darren Cahill is now coaching Amanda Anisimova, who will soon battle Ash Barty. Cahill confided that he hoped Barty, who is known for her professionalism, had gone off “on a two-day bender” after she beat Camila Giorgi earlier this week.
THE WIT AND YIPS OF SABALENKA: Aryna Sablenka’s wretched serving misadventures have been hard to miss. She endured 70 double faults in her first four matches this year. Surprisingly upbeat after her third round match, she leaned into her shortfall and told the Melbourne crowd she was happy to have had only ten double faults. She added that her problems were more mental and that she put a lot of pressure on herself, was overthinking and “trying to control everything on my serve: my legs, my arm…[But] today I was focusing only on the good jump…I just trusted myself today.” Luke Jenson said of her struggle, “This builds character. Her mind is just getting stronger and this will help her become No. 1.”
MAX’S RETRO PLAY ROCKS: It’s not as shocking as it would be if he were playing with a wooden racket. And his strokes are no more unorthodox than Jenson Brooksby’s two-handed backhand slice. Still, tennis has been in shock watching the serve and volley tactics of Maxime Cressy that are a feel-good throwback to the good old days of Rod Laver, John Newcombe and Arthur Ashe. But since the likes of Stefan Edberg, Tim Henman and Patrick Rafter left the game, it has been accepted ATP gospel that, due to slower courts, hi-tech strings, deadly returns and more athletic players, serve and volley play was the tennis equivalent of the futile Charge of the Light Brigade. Serve and volley was clearly a masochistic indulgence, an extinct tennis species.
Enter Max. Like many ATP pros he’s 6’ 6”, lean, athletic and ambitious. But the Paris-born American didn’t even make the starting line-up at UCLA. Veteran coach Billy Martin, who battled against many a fine serve and volleyer, insisted Cressy try the old style. Max didn’t even think of playing pro ball until he was a junior and won the 2019 NCAA doubles championships with Keegan Smith as a senior.
Now he’s on a mission. “My vision from the very beginning was to bring serve and volley back,” he explained. “I’ve had many different people tell me that it’s dead, that it’s not going to be efficient…I’ve heard many excuses…[But] I believe it’s going to happen.” Despite enduring many double faults, Max explained his approach: “The mindset is to go for it. Sometimes I have good days, sometimes bad days…On the good days it’s very difficult to beat that style of play – going for both serves.”
At the Melbourne warm-up tourney, Max beat Grigor Dimitrov, Reilly Opelka and pushed Rafa Nadal hard in the final. At the Aussie Open, he first downed John Isner and qualifier Tomas Machac. Then, in an intimate stadium, he overcame the howls of support for the Australian Chris O’Connell and survived a wretched lapse in the second-set tiebreak before scoring a convincing four-set win. His mental toughness shone.
Reaching the fourth round is Max’s best major result. Until now, he’d never gotten past the second round. It will be interesting to see how his net-charging adventures fare against his next foe, Daniil Medvedev. The tournament favorite seems to return serve from Adelaide and is known for his fleet defense and power-absorbing play. But at the Paris Masters, Djokovic played serve and volley against him to great effect.
Max, now No. 70, hasn’t signed any endorsement deals. Still he feels he can go to the very top. “I’m patient,” he confided. “I wait until I have a major breakthrough…to the top 50, top 10 – then I negotiate. I can even go to No. 1. I’m very confident. My game style can beat anyone. I played Nadal and I believe that it really put him in an uncomfortable position.”
JUST WONDERING: The uber limber Djokovic is known as “Gumby.” The astonishing splits of Kim Clijsters long amazed us. But the 6’ 6” octopus man, Daniil Medvedev, with his forehands that wrap around his neck and his free-flying limbs, clearly is the most flexible big man in tennis history.
THE ROLLING ESTONIAN: Coming into the Australian Open, Anett Kontaveit was a trendy pick. Ranked No. 7, she was streaking and had won four late-season tourneys in 2021. But she fell in the second round to Clara Tauson, while her fellow Estonian (and one of tennis’ fine journeywomen), Kaia Kanepi, is through to the fourth round. Kaia, who is known for her giant-killing ways, scored wins at Slams over Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitova, Angie Kerber and Jelena Jankovic. This is the ninth time she’s reached the fourth round of a Slam.
AN ABNORMAL MAN IN NORMAL GEAR: Due to his poor play and “I don’t give a s–t” ‘tude, Benoit Paire lost his endorsement contract with Lacoste. He played the Aussie Open in a shirt from the French apparel brand Celio. Paire’s tennis shirt read, “Be normal.” Brad Gilbert didn’t buy it – he said it should read, “Don’t be normal.”
BLACKJACK THERAPY: Jessica Pegula has again reached the fourth round of the Australian Open. All the while, she briefly played in doubles, and her dad’s Buffalo Bills are making a playoff run. That’s a lot of pressure. So how does she deal with the stress? She told ESPN that she goes to the Melbourne casino everyday to play blackjack. She noted, “It gets me thinking strategy, and relaxes me a little.”
THE GREAT DEBATE: An indignant Rennae Stubbs said, “I want to make a rule from now on, that players don’t get to review the calls. It drives me crazy.” But Mary Joe Fernandez countered, saying, “It gives players peace of mind.”
STEF’S LINGERING HEADACHE: Rarely has a single match seemed to have had such a lasting effect as Stefanos Tsitsipas’ loss to Djokovic in the 2021 French Open finals. After winning the first two sets he faltered badly. Now through to the fourth round, to become the youngest Aussie Open men’s winner since Nadal in 2009 he will have to beat Taylor Fritz and then perhaps Jannik Sinner, Daniil Medvedev and Rafa Nadal or Alexander Zverev.
DJOKOVIC MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR FRENCH OPEN: France’s new law on COVID requires vaccinations of people in sports stadiums. But those who have had COVID in the last six months would be exempt. So Novak, who got COVID in mid-December, could play. For now, foreigners cannot fly into the US, so Novak would not be eligible for Indian Wells in March. BTW: Djokovic is now getting back to his roots and is skiing.
GENDER BENDER: After noting how relaxed Simona Halep seemed to be after her marriage, Martina Navratilova claimed, “Guys play better when they are in a relationship, women sometimes they don’t. Usually they play their best when they split up.” When Serena was upset about her break-up with a NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington, she said she wanted to show him a thing or two and won six Slams in a row.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Refering to Sabalenka, Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman asked, “Have you ever seen anyone who has ever been so happy with having made 10 double faults?”
GO FIGURE: Six of the top eight women’s seeds are still in the draw…There are four American women into the fourth round: Madison Keys, Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins. By the end of the Australian Open any of the four could become the No. 1 American…With a new husband, but not her old coach Darren Cahill, Simona Halep has cruised into the AO’s fourth round for the fifth straight year…Pole Iga Swiatek has made the fourth round at five straight majors…Max Cressy won six matches in 2021. This year he’s already won nine.
MAC ON NICK: John McEnroe, who has coached Nick Kyrgios in the Laver Cup, reflected on the play of his fellow rebel: “It’s tough to watch because he’s so talented, so great for the game…I would love to see him step up and be in the top five or six players [in the world], where I think he belongs.”
QUOTEBOOK
“It’s there but it’s not quite what it was. But it can come back quickly.” – Pat McEnroe on Rafa Nadal’s intimidation factor
“Smile always.” – The message Simona Halep wrote us on a TV lens
“The tournament really doesn’t start until you get the first ‘C’mon!’ from ‘the Danimal.’” – Steve Weissman on the feisty Danielle Collins
