Bill Simons
Paris
The clan gathers, the tribe unites. Pick up your spears – bravehearts bond. The foe must be vanquished.
Coming together en masse feels good. It lifts our spirits. Bonding makes us seem invincible. It’s central in life, in sports, in tennis.
Brazilian tennis fans are passionate. The French shriek. The Arthur Ashe Stadium roar at night is shattering.
But when it comes to zeal and devotion, no other sport, including tennis, matches soccer. Across the globe, fans turn passion into a virtually life-or-death happening. When there’s a big soccer match, tennis press rooms come to a halt, as reporters from Manchester and Marseilles stop in their tracks to follow a Euro or World Cup match.
On Saturday in Munich, Paris St. Germain (PSG) met Milan, the pride of Northern Italy, in a momentous final of the high-level Champions League. Meanwhile, in Paris, just a lob and a half from Roland Garros, 48,000 rabid PSG fans poured into the team’s home stadium, Parc des Princes, to cheer their boys. And my third-floor Air BNB is right across the street from the arena.
For hours, I soaked it all in. At first, bare-chested, flag-waving men, smitten couples and wide-eyed kids descended. Three pals piled onto a scooter and took off going the wrong way on a one-way street. Many sprinted to get a good seat inside the Paris stadium. Fans listened as the operatic pop star Andrea Bocelli offered a rousing anthem. Billboards told us to visit Rwanda and try Uber Eats.
Meanwhile, as I watched out my window at the massive arena, wave after wave of raucous, pounding chants filled the air. “Ole! Ole! Ole!” shouted some. Were others nasty? In their last big match, PSG yelled at the opposing fans, “In the mud there are rats. In the sewers there are rats. Rats are everywhere. They are the Marseillais.”
Sure, NBA spectators let ‘er rip: “Ref, you suck!” But Parisian fans have been chastised for their wickedly racist and homophobic messages. Thank goodness my French is not that good.
But it was abundantly clear when Paris scored. The roars were relentless, spotlights shined, fireworks blared. And PSG scored not one but five goals, humiliating the Milanese 5-0. Elation exploded.
The street below me, Rue de la Tourelle, was flooded with joyous French fans. Shirtless, full-throated and well-lubricated fans sported flags and banners. Exuberant youth danced. We’re told that, poignantly, PSG’s coach had used the memory of his late nine-year-old daughter to inspire his side.
For hours, until 2 AM, the explosions and fireworks blared. “I slept,” explained broadcaster Simon Cambers, “because all the sounds were loud at the same time.”
I simply tossed and turned, thinking, “What a celebration of the human spirit.” The tribe I knew had subdued its foe – merveilleux!
But not so fast. When I went out to meet my niece for breakfast this morning, the streets were littered, bikes were toppled. Worst yet, a despondent woman sat by her SUV. It had been burned to a crisp. There had been 559 arrests. A fan had been stabbed to death, another had been killed in a car accident.
It’s inspiring when we gather to back a beloved cause. But, at times, a painful price is paid.
TIAFOE IS COASTING TO GLORY: Frances Tiafoe’s parents came from Sierra Leone, but their beaming, vastly successful son is as American as you can get. He doesn’t exactly thrive at overseas Slams like the Australian Open. Worse still, he has struggled on the dirt in Paris. Even as a junior, on a far distant court he seemed adrift. In ten years of play, he won a mere four matches. Ouch!
But something has clicked in Paris for the No. 15 seed. Vibes experts might say it’s his snazzy blue kit. Experience and a nice draw certainly help. Seeing his fellow Americans thrive is a plus. But now the most charismatic guy in the American game has surprised many a pundit, as he’s equaled his victory total over a decade – four wins – to reach the quarterfinals. Facing Russian Roman Safiullin, Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, his fellow American Seb Korda and German Daniel Altmaier, Frances hasn’t dropped a single set.
Plus, in the quarterfinals he won’t have to face Alcaraz or Sinner. It will either be Italian Lorenzo Muzetti.
Tiafoe is always smiling. But this week in France, his smile seems bigger than ever. And so is every American tennis patriot’s. This is not a typo: for the first time since Pete Sampras and Jim Courier did it in 1996, two American men, Tiafoe and Paul, are into the French Open quarterfinals. Vive La France!
TOMMY HOPES TO REEL IN THE BIG ONE: After more than eleven hours of play on Simonne-Mathieu Stadium, No. 12 Tommy Paul moved to Court Suzanne Lenglen, where he efficiently dismissed the No. 25 Alexei Popyrin, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, to become the first American since Andre Agassi in 2003 to make the quarters at Roland Garros.
After his win, the chill American, who next faces Carlos Alcaraz, thought of home, telling the media that it’s the height of the fishing season in Florida, and that he goes fishing to stop thinking of tennis. But sometimes, when he plays tennis, he thinks of fishing.
FORGET THE BAGEL, IGA TURNS THE TABLE: Just a while ago, women’s tennis was said to be a matter of the Big 3: Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. Then Elena’s game dropped. There was an issue with her problematic coach, who was suspended.
But recently the Kazak rebounded. She won Strasbourg a few weeks ago, and was on a seven-match winning streak.
Coming into her fourth-round match against Iga Swiatek, she was the only player to have twice beaten the Pole on clay. Today, amazingly, she pounded Iga and swept to a 6-1, 2-1 lead.
But she flubbed the easiest of high volleys. Swiatek promptly took full advantage. She claimed the second set and seemed to have scored a break, deep in the third.
But, on his own, the chair ump came down to the court to make a key overrule and deny Swiatek’s breakthrough. Iga didn’t blink. She hit big and showed her incredible resolve, as she somehow survived to win 1-6, 6-3, 7-5.
The Pole has now won 25 straight French Open matches. If Iga wins her next three matches and takes her fourth title in a row, she’ll be just one short of Chris Evert’s record of 29 straight wins here.
BEN FALLS: Broadcaster Markus Buchland said that Ben Shelton “doesn’t want to be dragged out of Chartrier [Stadium] a beaten man.” As usual, the 22-year-old hit his ferocious forehands and nasty serves against the Roland Garros defending champ, Carlos Alcaraz. He nearly won a marathon first-set tiebreak. And he took the third set. But the Spaniard is the best clay court player in the world, and today he won his 11th straight match on the clay, downing Florida’s best southpaw, 7-6(8), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
REFLECTIONS ON THE LOST GENERATION: Rafa Nadal’s farewell, and losses by assorted stars this week, bring to mind a core theme of recent tennis history. In the period between the dominance by the Big 3, or Big 4, and the recent emergence of the Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner duopoly, a generation or two of ATP hopefuls has (except on rare occasion) fallen short.
Some call Juan Martin del Potro, Marin Cilic, Marat Safin, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori “the lost generation.” Collectively, they could rarely penetrate the Big 3 fortress.
The next group after them, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, didn’t do much better.
Here in Paris, the problematic fate of the underperforming ATP hopefuls between the Big 3 era and the emerging dominance of Alcaraz and Sinner, at least for now, remains in place.
While Zverev is still alive and has a fairly friendly draw, tennis elders Stan Wawrinka and Dimitrov, as well as former US Open champ Medvedev and former No. 3 Tsitsipas, are all gone.
SVITOLINA – FROM A FIGHTER TO A WARRIOR: Simon Cambers noted Elina Svitolina’s ongoing effort to support her fellow Ukrainians in their struggle.
But has her war effort helped her on court? Cambers observed, “She’s always been a fighter, but now she’s become a warrior.”
Today, on the brink of defeat, Elina saved three match points against the Italian Open champ Jasmine Paolini, who reached last year’s French Open and Wimbledon finals, and went on to win Olympic gold in doubles. Svitolina – a local fave due to being married to Gael Monfils, will next face Swiatiek in the quarterfinals.
LET THE KIDS DREAM: Year after year, the war in Ukraine drags on. So many are sickened by the carnage. Today Elina spoke of the importance of playing with “a Ukrainian spirit” and how, “The last few months have been really, really tough…and the last few weeks have been awful.
“It’s something that we live on a daily basis – the bad news. So…I try to get these wins to keep the Ukrainian flag flying…That’s what’s motivates me to keep pushing…to keep playing tennis…It’s heavy, but…it’s a huge motivation.”
She was then asked, “This war, it’s been going on and on, and there are some people in my country, America, who say, ‘Well, Russia is wrong, but Ukraine is wrong, too.’ What is your message to us in America and in the West?”
She replied, “The war has been ongoing for over three years. I want to focus on the innocent people that are suffering…[They] are our future, and we need to take care of them.
“Through my foundation, I try to give them the opportunity to continue playing sport, to continue dreaming…where they can just switch off for this moment and just be kids like in the States, like here in France.”
JTCC AND THE LOVE OF THE GAME: American tennis academies are typically in sunny climes like California and Florida. The Junior Tennis Champions Center goes against the grain. It’s in a first freezing and then steamy Maryland suburb.
But, over the years, and here in Paris, it’s also been in plenty of tennis headlines.
Its prime alum, No. 14 Frances Tiafoe, is now fighting to get to the quarterfinals, as is the still unsung Hailey Baptiste. Robin Montgomery has reached a career high of No. 100. And JTCC alum Denis Kudla, who was No. 53, is now coaching Reilly Opelka.
So we asked Tiafoe why the modest teaching mecca has had such success.
He didn’t hesitate. “It’s the best academy in the world. We just built a culture there, man – really family-oriented. Everybody plays with everybody – old dudes and girls. The coaches give everyone love. The friendships are all so close. It helps you believe…They tell us to compete your hardest – do it for the love of the game.”
