Bill Simons
WIMBLEDON
A CANNONBALL HITS WIMBLEDON: It’s been carnage at Wimbledon. Already, 13 men’s seeds have lost, and the No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 women’s seeds are gone. The French Open champion and No. 2 seed Coco Gauff fell tamely to Ukrainian Dayana Yazstremska.
France’s Arthur Rinderknech scored a two-day, five-set win over the dispirited Sascha Zverev, who spoke of his loneliness on court and in life. The German, who reached the Aussie Open final in January, is the best active player to never win a Slam. But today, in a sad, poignant press conference, he confided about how for months he’s felt adrift and at a loss and how he has to do something to change his life. We will go in depth about his depression and quiet desperation tomorrow.
Zverev’s fellow No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula also lost, as did the No. women’s 5 seed, China’s Olympic gold medallist Qinwen Zheng. Other losers included the No. 7 seed and Roland Garros semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti, Canadian No. 27 Denis Shapovalov, the rising No. 28 seed Alexander Bublick, Czech No. 15 Karolina Muchova and the Ukrainian Martha Kostyuk, the No. 26 seed.
BIG WIN FOR BIG FRITZ: When it comes to power, it’s hard to make 6′ 5″ Taylor Fritz, who’s known for his thunderbolts, look like a laggard. But Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard did his best. Last night the young 6’ 8” Frenchman, who looks like a left tackle, came out of the gate and hit the fastest serve in Wimbledon history – 153 mph. Then, just to make his macho point, he blasted a 140 mph second serve. The 21-year-old went on to come from behind in the tiebreaks of the first two sets.
Fritz rebounded and captured the third set, but then fell hopelessly behind, as the Frenchman grabbed a 5-1 lead in the fourth set. But Taylor, who has a great tennis pedigree, is a fierce warrior. He’s great on grass, and he won the Eastbourne title just a few days ago. The savvy, smart vet won five points in a row to even the battle at two sets all. Then, inexplicably, with 44 minutes to go before Wimbledon’s curfew, the umpire gave the reeling Frenchman the option to stop play for the night. Giovanni said he didn’t want to go on, so everyone went home. It didn’t seem quite fair to the surging American.
But Taylor, who reached last year’s US Open final, has been through so much, and today he gained a 5-4 lead in the decisive fifth set, when Mpetshi Perricard imploded. The Frenchman double faulted and hit two forehand errors, enabling Fritz to prevail 6-7(6), 6-7(8), 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-4. Giovanni may be bigger than Fritz. And his serve is bigger, too. But it was the American who scored the big win. After all, Taylor is truly terrific.
NOLE TO ARYNA – ‘PICK UP THE INTENSITY:’ Part of Novak Djokovic’s athletic genius is that he’s a prickly in-your-face side competitor. He’s even gone after the usually proper Wimbledon crowd. Last year, after a few fans gave him a rough time, he taunted the entire crowd, saying, “Gooood night!”
But Nole also can be incredibly charming, very curious, deeply caring and extremely funny. And, just before Wimbledon, he again proved his sense of humor.
With a smile, he barged into the press conference of his friend Aryna Sabalenka, prompting the stunned Belarusian to ask, “What did you think about practicing with me? Am I good enough?” Without blinking an eye, the Serb joked, “You are a talented player. You have nice strokes, good technique. But can I be honest here? You lack intensity on the court. You don’t have enough intensity. Your game is too flat. You got to put some power into it.”
GO FIGURE: Carlos Alcaraz is 21-2 in five-set matches, and his last two Slam matches have lasted 10:06…Both Stefanos Tsitsipas and his girlfriend Paula Badosa have chronic back issues…Frances Tiafoe said that the backhand of Elmer Moller, who he beat in the first round, was weird: “It’s the best backhand I have ever faced.”… After losing to Carlos Alcaraz, Fabio Fognini asked the Spaniard to give him his shirt. He said he wanted to give it to his young son, who’s a huge Carlitos fan.
QUOTEBOOK:
“My wish is to play several more years.” – Novak Djokovic
“His chips are not chippie enough.” – Andy Roddick, on Ben Shelton’s problematic backhand
“Sascha Zverev’s father rather gives us the impression that he’d rather be anywhere but here.” – The BBC
“Every other court has gone to bed and that’s where we should be right now.” – Broadcaster Andrew Castle, after Monday’s play went on and on
“Tennis is a recovery sport.” – Jack Draper
GOODBYE JESSICA: Last Saturday, Buffalo’s Jessica Pegula was good in Bad Homburg. She beat Iga Swiatek to win the warm-up tourney in Germany. But today the No. 3 seed lost to Italian No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Jessica’s Wimbledon goal this year was to get beyond the quarterfinals for the first time. But the appealing American didn’t even get out of the starting gate.
ONLY AT WIMBLEDON: The new restaurant at Wimbledon is named after a character called The Cavendish, who was the ref at the first tournament here 158 years ago. But this hardly should be a surprise. The high-end eatery next to The Cavendish is named Renshaw’s, in honor of Britain’s dominant player in the 1890’s. Editor’s Note: if you head out for lunch at The Cavendish you can’t go wrong with the London honey-glazed gammon – it’s a steal at $27.
SPEAKING OF THE 90’s: One of our favorite Wimbledon commentaries came from writer Art Spander, who said, “The trouble with Britain is that everyone still thinks it’s the ‘90s. The 1890s. They can’t get over the loss of the Empire, much less the loss of a few soccer games, cricket matches or tennis matches.”
ONLY IN TENNIS: This sport is the only one where at the end of a tournament the loser has to stick around and give a peppy speech about how swell the rat who just beat him is and how wonderful the event is and he or she could not have gotten through it all without the help of their mental coach and the ball boys.
WHIPLASH CITY: Holger Rune, who lost in five sets to the previously slumping Chilean Nicolas Jarry, offered a disrespectful Aryna Sabalenka-like diss of his foe. The 22-year-old Dane said, “If I play normal, I’m beating him nine out of ten times.” Then he finished his whiplash sentence by saying, “With all due respect to Nicolas Jarry.”
McENROE’S NOW A BELIEVER: After being told that Alexander Zverev’s problematic forehand was given a rating of 5.4 on a scale of 10, John McEnroe said, “Now I’m starting to believe in all those useless stats.”
THOUGHTS ON TRADITIONS: Wimbledon still has its strict all-white dress code. But, one by one, it’s jettisoning many of its traditions. And it’s a real shame that there won’t be any more humans calling lines. Yes, there were mistakes. But people calling the lines simply made tennis a more interesting and compelling sport and entertainment. Dare we say, it gave the sport a certain humanity. Another change: this year the men’s and women’s final won’t start until 4 PM.
Still, Wimbledon does hold on to some good things. It’s the only Slam that doesn’t have a Sunday start and stretch over three weekends. And the time for stopping play is 11 PM, which is by far the earliest of any of the Slams.
THERE’S SORROW IN THE STREETS OF ALISO VIEJO: Orange County’s Alex Michelsen, who’s the pride of Aliso Viejo, lost to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 10-5 in a fifth-set tiebreak. But there’s joy on Main Street in Walnut Creek, California. Katie Volynets beat Germany’s Tatjana Maria. And there’s glee in Carolina. After a slow start, Emma Navarro came back to down the beloved two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, who will retire after this season. Other American winners include Cincinnati’s Caty McNally, who will next face Iga Swiatek, big-hitting Reilly Opelka, Danielle Collins and Sofia Kenin.
OF FLOWING FLORAL FROCKS: Just when you think it’s so much fun being at Wimbledon with all the lovely ladies in their flowing floral frocks and all those fine gentleman in their proper, pinstripe jackets and ties, and flawless trousers, you pass a stout American wearing a Chicago Cubs shirt and cap, a St. Louis Cardinal’s fan in bright red, and, of course, fans wearing Yankee hats, which can be spotted in every corner of the world.
TIAFOE’S CONFESSION: There’s still a buzz about the French Open’s epic Carlos Alcaraz vs. Jannik Sinner finale. Some claim it was the best final in Roland Garros history. Others say it made clear that there’s a whole new generation of tennis stars. Enthusiasts even gushed that Alcaraz’s and Sinner’s level of play was higher than that of the Big 3. But what impressed Frances Tiafoe most about the 5:29 marathon was that neither of the players took a comfort break. Tiafoe conceded, “There’s no way I could do that!”
FAMILY NEWS: Two former Slam champs, Ash Barty and Angie Kerber, recently gave birth. Daria Kasatkina, who’s now an Australian national, and her long time partner, Natalia Zabilako, have become engaged.
Also reporting: Lucia Hoffman
