Bill Simons
Indian Wells
SWIRLING WINDS: The winds of change in tennis are swirling. These days Serena seems more like a celebrity than a WTA battler. She’s ranked No. 59. Then again, Venus is No. 467. And we won’t be seeing Roger Federer until late this summer – if we’re lucky. All the while, Novak is doing his Nole thing. Winds up to 36 mph were also swirling at Indian Wells today. Naomi Osaka said it was the windiest match she’d ever played. Flags rippled, cushions flew, forehands sailed 20 yards long and players struggled just to get their serves in. The air was sandy, the sunset hazy, the tennis adventurous, the fans brave.
THE NEW NAOMI: It’s said that the BNP Paribas Open is tennis paradise. It was a good sign that in her opening press conference Naomi Osaka was joking around about the different dogs in her family. Then she referred to Indian Wells as a dog haven.
Just ten months ago, Naomi Osaka seemed fragile, at her wits end and in crisis. She confided that, “It’s hard for me to trust people.” She said there were always goals and she created pressure internally, but she never took a break to reflect; also that the questions the media asked her gave her doubts. The woman who once enchanted reporters with delightful, whimsical press conferences seemed frozen, uncertain and afraid. She seemed to not like her sport or her life. She boycotted press conferences and pulled out of both the French Open (after the second round) and Wimbledon.
But now, thank goodness, she seems to have found her bearings, and is far more relaxed. She’s gained some perspective. “I’ve learned to enjoy my time more,” she said.
“This moment I’m playing tennis is something I trained my whole life for. When I’m 70 or something it will probably feel like a small chapter. I have to enjoy it when I still can – just having appreciation of every tournament…I’m just trying to enjoy myself…I felt the difference in Australia when I played [and lost] my last match against Amanda [Anisimova]. I actually left the playing ground saying…‘I did my best and I had match points.’”
She spoke of going to the Dallas Open and just walking around and having fans tell her to have some fun. “It was really cool,” she said. And it is really cool for tennis that Naomi has grown, seems healthy and is enjoying both her tennis and her life. She admitted her fall in the rankings threw her for a loop, but said it was good for her.
She told Inside Tennis that what she loves the most about tennis is the competition. “If I’m playing PlayStation and my sister wins I get so mad – I stay up all night…It’s amazing.”
Even though Naomi hasn’t played since the Australian Open, she scored a convincing win today over Sloane Stephens. To her it was an important test. “My old self wouldn’t have been grateful for playing in a big stadium with fans. My past self might have been extremely tense, thinking I have to win. I might have been too tense to think logically.” Pam Shriver noted that Naomi has been No. 1, and said, “She’s on her way back. And, with that attitude, it won’t be long.”
KOSTYUK’S PLEA: ‘YOU CANNOT BE NEUTRAL ON THIS”: The tennis world has gathered in Indian Wells for sport. Still, war is raging, and in this international game players are still in shock. Dayana Yastremska poignantly told reporters how she and her 15-year-old sister left their parents behind in Ukraine and (as Roger Federer’s coach Ivan Ljubicic had once done) fled the war zone in a boat.
Her fellow Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk shared the horrors of war and her anger. “When I wake up this morning [before her win today], it was like, ‘I can’t do this.” She explained, “The whole family is in one house. If anything was to happen I would lose the entire family.” She added that she was in shock for the first couple of days, but, “You go crazy…you can’t be in this mental state the whole time.”
The 19-year old said, “I showed what it’s like to have a Ukrainian heart.” She added, “What’s very disappointing, unfortunately, is that none of the Russian players came to me and said they’re sorry for what their country is doing to mine…The civilian dead and the kids – it’s just terrible. This is shocking. You don’t have to be into politics to know what’s going on. It hurts me every time I come on site, seeing all these players. I can’t say it about the Belarusians because they’re…victims in this…The only problem [I hear the Russians talking about] is not being able to transfer the money.”
As for the various pro-peace statements that tennis players have made, she said, “I don’t like it, because what’s going on is not a secret. You don’t have to be into politics to know what is going on, to know who invaded who. You cannot be neutral in this. [Saying] ‘No war’ means a lot of things. We can stop war by giving up. But this was never an option. We don’t want to go in the direction of Russia…Those statements have no sense or no substance…Do you want Ukraine to lose? For Russia to win? I’ll say it 100 times: Ukraine is never going to give up.
“I’m not at peace with the tour. Look at the other big sports [and what they’ve done].”
After her win today over Belgian Maryna Zanevska, who was born in Ukraine, Marta said, “Everyone chooses differently. I choose to fight. At the beginning I was feeling guilty that I was not there. I’m playing tennis…I have the sky above me that is blue and bright, and very calm…But my job is to play tennis. This is the biggest way I can help…I’m thankful for God my mom arrived here. I never felt as united with my country. I still feel we are one big family.
“Ukranians are always strong mentally, always going in a European direction. I think he [Putin] made a big mistake…We are all united…He thought we would suddenly join him…and look what we are doing. The [Ukrainian] armies are amazing…[Russia] hasn’t taken one big city yet…I’ve never been more proud to be a Ukrainian.”
NORCAL THREE-PEAT: For the first time ever, three players reared in Northern California – Mackie McDonald, Jenson Brooksby and Sloane Stephens – were featured in the first three matches on Indian Wells’ center court. Piedmont native McDonald, No. 59 in the world, scored a tight 7-6 (11), 7-5 win over Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, who’s ranked No. 48. He took an epic first set-tiebreak 13-11 on his seventh set point. He’ll next face the No. 19 seed, Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.
As for Brooksby, the pride of Sacramento again used his anticipation, calm, great hands and competitiveness to score a 6-1, 6-4 win over Roberto Carballes Baena. This despite a wicked slice from the Spaniard that bounced on Jenson’s side of the net and then bounced back over to his side.
Fresno native Stephens, who just won the title in Guadalajara, Mexico, was hoping to at last have a good BNP Paribas run. Only once has the 2017 US Open champ reached the Indian Wells quarters, and she had a 2-0 lead over her foe Naomi Osaka.
Today Osaka streaked to a 3-1, 30-0 first-set lead. But Stephens adeptly adjusted to the howling wind, played with margin and won five straight games to win the first set 6-3. Then Naomi, who has been doing mindset training for nine months, switched her mindset and her tennis. She got into her power rhythm, blasted winners and showed why she was long called the best hard court player in the world. Stephens, No. 38 in the world, lost 12 of the next 15 games to lose the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.
But NorCal players won two of their three matches. And that’s pretty good.
