The Curse of Carlos Strikes Again

Bill Simons

In 1919, the Boston Red Sox traded a portly pitcher named Babe Ruth to New York. And poof, the Yankees promptly became a dynasty, winning 27 World Series titles.

It took the Red Sox 85 years to finally claim a crown. No wonder they call it the Curse of the Bambino.

Tennis is now enduring its own sporting jinx.

The game’s most appealing warrior, Carlos Alcaraz, hurt his wrist in April. We all knew he was a magician. But none of us knew he would unleash the Curse of Carlos.

How else can you explain all the tennis carnage that has left Roland Garros in tatters?

The dominant No. 1, Jannik Sinner, who had a 70% chance of winning, was sent packing by the second best player in Argentina’s Cerúndolo family.

Novak Djokovic had a golden chance to win his twenty-fifth Slam. Then he didn’t.

Players collapsed, rookies roared, unknown wannabes ruled. An arrogant kid shoved a ball girl – or did he? Grueling marathons and from-the-grave comebacks were the order of the day.

We came to know well the wonders of a Czech man named Mensik and a Polish qualifier familiar only to tennis nerds in Warsaw.

Helter-skelter on steroids, right?

When Serena announced she was coming back, we just sighed, “Welcome to the circus.” It was just another oddity among all the chaos.

Still, for those who craved a refuge on a safe island of normalcy, there was the reassurance that Aryna Sabalenka would probably cruise to the woman’s title. After all, defending champ Coco Gauff, four-time winner Iga Swiatek, Aussie winner Elena Rybakina and the surging Elina Svitolina had all crashed out.

No wonder Aryna was gleeful. She giggled, she danced, she moonwalked, flashed her diamonds and revealed details about her upcoming wedding. All the noise about that nasty war in Ukraine was just a whisper to the Belarusian. The girl with the powerful shoulders and the tiger tattoo didn’t have a worry in the world.

Surely the dominant No. 1, who’d prevailed at the US Open and won the Sunshine Double, would reach her sixth straight Slam semi and then collect her first major on a natural surface.

Under the lights, she’d dismissed Naomi Osaka as if it were just another day in the office. All the fearsome Aryna had to do to reach the semis was to down a lefty scrambler who was most known for her distinctive bandana, her emergence out of the North Carolina State Wolfpack and her teflon ability to dismiss any stigma for being a Russian.

Plus, the more mature than ever Sabalenka was no longer just a power blaster. She’d added nuance to her game – slices and a devastatingly effective drop shot. And her infamous mental fragility (how many double faults will she suffer? when will she implode?) was now said to be just a bad memory. Now ascendent, in her mid-career glory, Aryna was tough and resilient, or so they said. And today she was again on cruise control as she marched to a 6-3, 4-1 lead, two games from victory.

Then again, Shnaider is no sluggard. The 22-year-old knows of Paris glory. With Mirra Andreeva, she claimed the Olympic doubles silver medal at Roland Garros. The No. 25 seed reached the fourth round of the 2024 US Open, has won titles on every surface, and this week in the fourth round, saved two match points against another powerful foe – Madison Keys.

Today, as the wind began to stir, so did the 5’ 6” dynamo. The boxer’s daughter knows how to counter punch. She jabbed and found a rhythm. She made extra balls, created angles and unleashed topspin forehands and effective wide serves.

Sabalenka couldn’t rebuff Diana’s punches and slumped in frustration. We know Aryna’s agony well. Once again we saw a baffling sense of terror overwhelm her. Her panic was clear: “Oh, no, not again!” Few reveal dread more vividly than Aryna. Like Sinner last week, a No. 1 was suffering a sudden, inexplicable collapse. Sabalenka seemed hapless.

Later the Belarusian, who unbelievably lost the last ten games in a row, would complain that in tough weather conditions the French Open closes its roof for men, but not for women.

But playing in wind is a key tennis skill. Just ask Billie Jean King or anyone who’s played the blustery Miami Open and survived.

Today, Sabalenka didn’t survive. As in last year’s final against Coco, she fell 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 to a crafty, athletic foe enacting a David and Goliath narrative.

After her loss Aryna was blunt. “No emotion, no thoughts. Just want to quit tennis right now…Hopefully I will get back on track…Mentally I got into a deep, deep place…It was very dirty tennis. I don’t know how people could sit there and watch me play.”

She added, “I’m so tired of losing…because I am emotional…I have to figure out the little things that aren’t working.” Then she reasoned, “what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. You know those little rooms where you go and smash everything. Probably I’ll spend the whole day their tomorrow.”

In contrast, tomorrow Shnaider will face another improbable winner. Ranked just No. 114, Maja Chwalinska is only the third best player in Poland. The appealing qualifier, who almost quit tennis a while ago, downed Russian Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-3 in a quarterfinal that no one on this Earth imagined.

But all of this was just fine for a certain, extremely powerful magician. After all, we suspect somewhere in Spain young Senor Alcaraz is smiling. The Curse of Carlos continues to weave its compelling spell.