Bill Simons
NEW YORK
No other 45-year-old WTA player has looked more stunning than Venus Williams in her striking creamy white outfit and matching visor. Ranked just 602, amazingly, the first African American to be No. 1 in the world was playing her 366th Slam match.
But, as she was quickly broken and nearly fell behind 3-0 in the opening set to the No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova, we thought, “What a noble effort. Goodness, she first played here 28 years ago. What a privilege to see this legend one last time. But you can’t turn back the clock.”
But hold on, we forgot – you can never underestimate Serena or Venus, who just a while ago observed, “This old cat still has a lot of tricks up her sleeve.”
Tonight, once again, she did. After dropping the first set, she lit up Ashe Stadium with backhands that seemed as mighty as ever. As she ran Muchova to the corners and powered her way to a second set 6-2 win, we flashed on many of her great moments. Her first final in 1997 against the then ascendent Martina Hingis, her prime-time match against Serena, the iconic “bump” incident during a changeover while playing Romanian Irina Spirlea, and her two wins here.
For a brief moment, Venus turned back the clock. She hit deep, her backhand imposed. Never before had the No. 602 player in the world thrilled so many New Yorkers.
The crowd roared – high fives were shared, elated shrieks rocked Ashe’s house. Miracles can happen – right?
But not tonight. The crafty, athletic and appealing Muchova rallied to win 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
So often, Venus is withdrawn or even sullen in press conferences. But tonight, she offered the most heartfelt press conference since at Wimbledon in 2017, when she bared her soul after being involved in a fatal Florida car accident.
She confided, “I’m very proud of how I played…You know, the lights are very bright out there. I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd that much on my side…Didn’t matter if I was losing…I knew people in this stadium, people in the United States, people around the world, were really rooting for me.”
Williams added that she didn’t want to travel, and wouldn’t be playing any more tourneys this year. One of the most self-possessed American athletes in history then said, “My goal is to do what I want to do. I wanted to be here this summer…You never stop learning. I learned so much. I’m still learning about myself.”
Venus then paused. A legend reflected. The silence was loud. She began to tear up. Then the press handler cut off the press conference. The woman we first saw as a spindly 14-year-old child in Oakland just embarking on her journey to transform a very white, very daunting tennis universe now exited as an icon who had transformed sport. And we wondered, “Will we ever see her on court again?”
A STUNNING SPANIARD: The closely shaven Carlos Alcaraz in his sleeveless purple kit gave us one of the shock transformations in appearance in tennis history. It brought to mind the long-haired Agassi suddenly appearing bald, or James Blake ditching his dreadlocks. Carlos also stunned us at the French Open. Don’t these changes somehow reflect his bold approach to life and sport? Tonight he beat the hard-hitting Reilly Opelka in straight sets.
THE MADNESS OF DANIIL MEDVEDEV: I shouldn’t, but I do. I shouldn’t love Daniil Medvedev, but I can’t resist. Call it a wicked indulgence.
After all, the six-time Slam finalist is a crazed man. In a flash, he’s prone to abusing his rackets, his foes, his coaches, his fans or his sport. Something’s always screwed up: the balls are no good, the court is a joke. The guy is cut from the same unhinged cloth as Ilie “Nasty” Nastase, Johnny Mac and Jeff Tarango.
He makes his fellow Russians Marat Safin (who liked to drop his shorts at the French Open) and Andrey Rublev (who brutally bashed himself repeatedly in the knee) seem like choir boys.
Last night, Meddy had a camera-related freakout. It wasn’t the first time. Years ago, he sprinted into a courtside camera in Cincy. At the Aussie Open he broke a tiny, high-tech camera attached to the net. That only set him back $76,000.
Sunday, after a rookie photographer briefly walked on the edge of the court and the chair ump gave Medvedev’s foe, Benjamin Bonzi, an additional first serve, Daniil pounced on the moment and led an insurrection of sorts: a well lubricated, only-in-New-York, six-minute howl-fest. It was not the first time Medvedev has incited the Louis Armstrong crowd.
He famously infuriated the Armstrong throng in 2019 by sarcastically taunting the fans, saying, “You gave me so much energy to win… Guys, continue to give me this energy – you’re the best!” Then he won everyone’s heart on Ashe Stadium as he fell to Rafa in the final.
Medvedev’s press conferences are great. He’s so candid, his eye contact is great. There’s always a twinkle in his eye. Years ago, he’d share deep-dive comparisons of the English, Russian and French languages. And when a press handler didn’t want me to ask the Russian about his country’s invasion of Ukraine, Daniil jumped in and said, “Come on, let Bill ask his question.”
Medvedev’s hairline is rapidly receding and so is his ranking. I know I should dismiss him as a volatile scoundrel without a shred of self-control. The guy once tossed coins at a Wimbledon ump and last night he was a petulant jerk who disrespected his opponent, and after his loss bashed his Technifibre racket 22 times.
But I can’t help thinking that the former WTA player Kristie Ahn was onto something when she said, “Medvedev’s that guy in the movie who you thought was gonna be the villain, but was one of the good guys all along.”
TENNIS WILL NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF ART SEITZ: I knew one thing. When I was hoping to get a great story – say an interview with a British royal or a breathless comment from a teen phenom – the singular tennis photographer Art Seitz would be there. He passed away in his sleep Friday in Florida at age 82. His images will never pass.
When it came to tennis photographers, there were so many greats. Russ Adams was a pioneer. Michael Baz had style and a keen eye. Cynthia Lum, Carol Newsom, Michael Cole, Tommy Hindley and the considerable husband and wife duo Susan and Fred Mullane are just some who come to mind. The pros at Getty Images astound.
But, noted Mary Carillo, “There’s a reason Art Seitz was a legend. He loved the sport. He understood storytelling. He got players to do things they’d never otherwise do. He captured the essence of the moment.
“There are a fistful of great photographers, but he’s up there at the top of the list. He was bold enough to use his elbows and not afraid to piss people off.”
Art did stir controversy. He once rented a helicopter to fly over Steffi Graf’s home to take shots of her sunbathing topless. Plus, he sued Martina Navratilova for $2 million for ripping the film from his camera under the Open’s old Grandstand court. He won the suit, but was only awarded $50.
As he sprinted to get a shot, his swinging cameras became weapons. Do stand clear. Then again Art’s picture of Yannick Noah hugging his dad after winning the 1983 French Open remains one of tennis’ better images And for many, Art Seitz will long remain one of tennis’ best photographers of all time.
A SHORT, UNVARNISHED HISTORY OF TENNIS PHOTOGRAPHY: Seitz’s passing and yesterday’s incident of a photographer coming on court brings to mind many zany moments in the history of tennis photography.
John McEnroe was poised to win the 1984 French Open against Ivan Lendl, but got distracted by an NBC photographer, threw a fit, and lost the match. If he’d prevailed, he would have claimed a career Grand Slam, and his standings in the tennis pantheon would have been far higher.
One of the greatest ad happenings ever that involved tennis was Canon’s “Image is Everything” campaign featuring Andre Agassi. Too bad that Andre’s girlfriend Brooke Shields was continually shown taking photographs with her Minolta camera.
When security asked Victoria Azarenka for her player’s badge at the Aussie Open, she pointed out her photo on the Wall of Champions.
John McEnroe’s kid told him, “Daddy, stop that man! He’s trying to take my picture!”
Players whose photos were featured in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue included Serena and Venus, Maria Sharapova, Steffi Graf, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Kirilenko, Anna Kournikova, Tatiana Golovin, Caroline Wozniacki and Daniela Hantuchova.
KEYS FALLS: Madison Keys started the 2025 Grand Slam season by winning the Aussie Open. She said she was able to do it because she’d finally stopped fixating on winning or losing.
Today, Keys finished the Grand Slam season by becoming the first top seed to be toppled here in New York. After falling to Mexican Renata Zarazua 6-7(10), 7-6(3), 7-5, Madison confided, “For the first time in a while, my nerves really got the better of me. It…became a little bit paralyzing…I wasn’t seeing things the way I wanted to, which I feel like resulted in a lot of bad decisions and lazy footwork…It kind of sucks.”
Putting her Aussie Open win in perspective, Keys observed, “The difficult part of sports is that you can’t ever recreate a scenario…As this year has gone on and on and on, there hasn’t been a lot of time to actually reset…and just have time where you can get back to life and real balance…It was a lot easier at the beginning of the year.”
FAREWELL: Both Czech Petra Kvitova and France’s Caroline Garcia lost today, and have retired.
QUOTES OF THE DAY: “Karolina Muchova’s strength is that she has no weaknesses.” – Chris Evert
“He’s such a beautiful man. It doesn’t matter what he does.” – An American fan from Baltimore, about Carlos Alcaraz’s new look
– Also reporting: Lucia Hoffman
