Evelyn Reynolds

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    Jabeur and Vondrousova Finesse Way to Wimbledon Final

    Ons Jabeur will try for a third time to become the first Arab woman to win a Grand Slam event. But don’t count out the crafty Marketa Vondrousova.When Thursday afternoon began, the Wimbledon women’s singles final held the possibility of featuring a new mother from Ukraine taking on a player seeking to become the first woman from an Arab country to win a Grand Slam singles title, or her facing a Belarusian in a match that would overflow with wartime tension.When it was over, Elina Svitolina of Ukraine was out, but Ons Jabeur’s dream was still alive after her stirring comeback win over Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Sabalenka would have become the world No. 1 with a win on a hostile Centre Court, but instead, Jabeur, the crafty and athletic Tunisian, showcased her skills and plenty of grit in a 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 victory.For a set and a half, Sabalenka overpowered Jabeur, and she got within two games of advancing to the final and taking the top ranking. But down a set and by 4-2 in the second, Jabeur dug in. She found a way to manage Sabalenka’s rocket serves, took advantage of an increasingly edgy opponent and won 10 of the next 13 games to set up a date in Saturday’s final against an unlikely opponent, Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who earlier in the day ended Svitolina’s improbable run in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.“Crazy match,” said Jabeur, a groundbreaking figure for the Arab world. “One more match to go.”In Vondrousova, Jabeur will face an opponent with a deceptively slim résumé but a penchant for ruining sentimental narratives. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Vondrousova eliminated Naomi Osaka, the national hero and international star who lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony, on her way to winning a silver medal.Against Svitolina, she displayed all of the best skills that make up her varied game — wristy, rolling forehands; drop shots; and a thirst to move toward the net to finish points at every opportunity. Being left-handed also helped. It generally forces opponents to adjust to different spins than they normally face and to switch the direction of their attack in their efforts to get the ball onto her backhand.Marketa Vondrousova ended the surprise run of Elina Svitolina to make her second career major final. She lost the 2019 French Open final to Ashleigh Barty.Mike Hewitt/Getty ImagesBut it’s safe to say not many people considered Vondrousova a potential finalist when this tournament started two weeks ago. A year ago, at Wimbledon, she was in a cast, recovering from wrist surgery and watching her friend and doubles partner, Miriam Kolodziejova, in the singles qualifying tournament before spending a week as a tourist in London.More surprising, Vondrousova, 24, had never made it past the second round at Wimbledon in four tries. She has never fancied herself as much of a grass-court player, though her game, which has some pop when she needs it but doesn’t rely on power, bears a striking similarity to that of Jabeur, who also made last year’s final.“I feel like we’re the same in some things,” Vondrousova said of Jabeur. “We’re playing drop shots. We’re playing slice.”And now she is playing Jabeur.When Wimbledon began, there was plenty of chatter about the women’s game having a new Big Three in Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek, the winners of the last four Grand Slam tournaments. All three are tall and powerful, and they often blow their opponents off the court.The last two women standing, though, are Vondrousova and Jabeur, who beat Rybakina on Wednesday before toppling Sabalenka. Jabeur turned Thursday’s match late in the second set with two breaks of Sabalenka’s serve when she desperately needed them. On set point to even the match, Jabeur banged a backhand down the line off Sabalenka’s second serve and jogged to her chair with her finger to her ear, as if the crowd could scream any louder for her. Then she took that finger and wagged it in the air as Sabalenka walked closer and closer to her.Jabeur, 28, came within a set of winning this tournament last year, and she received a hero’s welcome at the airport when she returned to Tunisia. She is the highest-ranked African or Arab player, male or female, in tennis history, and she has made no secret that a Wimbledon title is her dream.Last year, a photograph of the women’s singles trophy was the background of her phone display. She has said there is a trophy on that screen once again this year, but she has not publicly said which one.Sports psychologists can debate whether Jabeur is focusing too much on results rather than the process and on accepting that anything can happen on any given day but good things will come from hard work and dedication.Jabeur enjoyed the crowd’s support during her semifinal match with Aryna Sabalenka, who was among those barred from playing Wimbledon last year because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Tolga Akmen/EPA, via ShutterstockJabeur, whose nickname is the Minister of Happiness because her almost always cheery demeanor and optimistic outlook can feel unique in an era when so many players struggle with their mental health, said looking at a trophy works for her.“I like to know exactly what I want,” she said. “I know if I want that thing so bad, I will get it.”That, giving her all and playing with much emotion and joy, she said, is what keeps her motivated.“It comes with pressure, yes, I understand that, but it’s something that I want so bad,” she said of the trophy picture. “I believe that I can do it as long as I’m giving everything that I can, as long as I know where I’m going. I think it will help me a lot.”The crowd probably will, too. The fans were with her from the first moments Thursday, and especially against Sabalenka, who, like all Russians and Belarusians, was prohibited from playing Wimbledon last year because of her country’s support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In recent days, as Sabalenka crept closer to the final, concerns rose over whether Catherine, Princess of Wales, who traditionally presents the trophy to the singles winner, would be forced to give it to Sabalenka.Jabeur saved the monarchy from that uncomfortable outcome. She has knocked off four Grand Slam winners on the way to the final, surviving one of the toughest draws in the tournament and three three-set matches.Now she will try to win one more match and the most important title in the sport against a player who has beaten her twice this year.“I’m going for my revenge,” she said with a smile.Vondrousova is one of a flurry of Czech talents. Last month, Karolina Muchova, 26, a friend of Vondrousova’s, fell two games short of winning the French Open. The country of 10.7 million people has eight women in the top 50.Vondrousova is seventh among them at 42nd. She was ranked No. 1 in the world as a junior and reached the French Open final in 2019, but hadn’t made a Grand Slam quarterfinal since. She may have been the longest shot among them to make the final.Early on, she beat two solid players, Veronika Kudermetova and Donna Vekic, who have had success on grass. After that she thought she might be able to have some success, but still, the final?“It’s really crazy this is happening,” she said. “But I think anything can happen in tennis.” More

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    Marketa Vondrousova Ends Elina Svitolina’s Wimbledon Run

    Vondrousova beat Svitolina, the Ukrainian tennis star who had won the hearts of fans, in straight sets to advance to the women’s singles final.Elina Svitolina’s storybook run at Wimbledon came to an agonizing end on Thursday as she lost her semifinal match against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in straight sets.Svitolina, a new mother from Ukraine who has become a symbol of defiance since the Russian invasion in February 2022 — especially so during her runs at the French Open and Wimbledon — fell to Vondrousova, 6-3, 6-3, on an error-filled afternoon under the roof on Centre Court.For 10 days, Svitolina, who needed a wild card to get into the tournament, had played tennis with a combination of freedom and defiance that thrilled the British crowd, especially during her win over 19th-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the fourth round, when she prevailed in a final set tiebreaker after Azarenka appeared to have the match all but won. Two days later, Svitolina toppled Iga Swiatek of Poland, the world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion, in another tense and emotional three-set triumph.She spoke of how the war and being a new mother had changed her and her approach to tennis, even making her better because she had a new perspective on the sport.“I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster,” she said. “There are worse things in life. I’m just more calmer.”But then she ran into Vondrousova, a talented and tricky left-handed player who may not have anything close to the résumé of Swiatek and Azarenka — or Sofia Kenin or Venus Williams, two of Svitolina’s other victims at this tournament — but she played as if she did.Vondrousova, who was a ranked No. 1 in the world as a junior and reached the French Open final in 2019, is developing a habit of playing the spoiler. At the Tokyo Olympics, she eliminated Naomi Osaka of Japan, the national hero and international star who had lit the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony, and went on to win a silver medal.Against Svitolina, she displayed every bit of the skill that she has shown in her best matches, showing off a varied attack that includes rolling forehands, drop shots and a penchant for going to the net to finish points at every opportunity. Being left-handed also helps. It forces opponents to adjust to different spins than they normally face and to switch the direction of their attack if they want to get the ball onto her backhand.She had plenty of help from Svitolina, who during the first hour of the match looked as if she had lost the ethereal feel for the ball that had characterized her play throughout so much of the tournament. Swiatek has spoken about how this version of Svitolina, who spent so much of her maternity leave raising money for war relief in Ukraine, was so different.“She played with more freedom and more guts,” Swiatek said. “Sometimes she really just let go of her hand and she played really, really fast.”That version of Svitolina appeared only briefly. In the second set, down a set and 4-0, she broke Vondrousova’s serve twice to gain a chance to even the set.The crowd, which had wanted so badly to help swing the match in her favor, came alive as Svitolina let out a scream and a fist pump and skipped toward her chair for the changeover. But as soon as she seized the momentum, she gave it right back. More

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    Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and the Power of Vulnerability

    Alcaraz and Medvedev rarely shy away from discussing their frailties, reflecting a shift in tennis culture. Now, they’ll face off in a Wimbledon semifinal.Carlos Alcaraz is nearly always a killer on the court, suffocating opponents with relentless aggressiveness.He did it once more on Wednesday, beating his childhood rival, Holger Rune of Denmark, in straight sets to land a spot in a Wimbledon semifinal for the first time. Alcaraz brims with confidence and never hesitates to answer when asked about his goal.“To win the tournament,” he said more than a week ago.So it always comes as a surprise when, sometimes in the next sentence, Alcaraz, the 20-year-old Spanish star, reveals one of his insecurities. Perhaps it’s his lack of experience on grass courts, or his fear of Wimbledon’s hallowed Centre Court, or even the stress-induced panic that, combined with exhaustion, caused his entire body to cramp during the French Open semifinal last month against Novak Djokovic.“I was really, really nervous,” he said of his emotions before his 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Rune.So maybe it’s fitting then that his opponent Friday will be Daniil Medvedev, another player who, though he is third in the world and has been ranked No. 1, has no problem seeing himself as the goof who has crashed the party at the top of elite tennis.For a long while in his five-set quarterfinal against the American Chris Eubanks, the suddenly hot, sixth-year overnight sensation, things were not going well for Medvedev. At one moment, a ball kid bounced a ball over to him. He dropped it onto his foot, and the ball rolled away.“Nice job,” he said to himself out loud, as he fetched it.Such is the essence of Medvedev, who won the match.“When I go on the court, I always try to be myself,” Medvedev, a 27-year-old Russian, said early in the tournament. “If you tell the truth, it’s easier.”Before this year, Daniil Medvedev’s best result at Wimbledon was a fourth-round appearance in 2021. He beat Alcaraz on his way there.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTennis and sports psychology have come a long way. Not so long ago, the idea of admitting to nerves or weakness was seen as a surefire recipe for defeat. In recent years, sports psychologists and wiser veterans have been encouraging their clients and protégés to understand the value of embracing their frailties.“So many of us, and especially athletes, wear this mask, like it’s a piece of armor,” said Ben Crowe, who spent years working with the former world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, who retired last year at 25. “We think it makes us safe. But we need vulnerability.”Billie Jean King, one of tennis’s greats and a trailblazer for equal rights, chimed in on the subject just before Wimbledon, discussing how concerned she had become over watching so many players struggle with their mental health because they try to achieve the impossible.“Boys are taught they always have to act brave, and girls are taught they are supposed to be perfect,” King said at a ceremony earlier this month celebrating the 50th anniversary of the WTA Tour’s founding. “Well, boys can’t always be courageous, and no one can be perfect, so I think we all ought to stop trying.”King does not have to worry about Alcaraz or Medvedev. Neither man has any problem talking about being scared or uncomfortable, or sharing whatever thoughts are running through his head, no matter the thousands of people watching in stadiums and the millions more watching on television.And neither player is the worse off for wearing insecurities on his sleeve. Among men, Alcaraz and Medvedev are the only players younger than 29 to have won a Grand Slam singles title: a reflection of how dominant Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been during the past decade, too.Alcaraz has been wearing a bucket hat around the All England Club for much of the past two weeks, as though he is headed to an outdoor music festival with his buddies rather than playing in the world’s most important tennis tournament.“Smiling for me, as I said a few times, is the key of everything,” Alcaraz said.Alastair Grant/Associated Press“Lucky hat,” Alcaraz said Wednesday night, as he walked into his postmatch news conference.He then proceeded to talk about the nerves he was experiencing during the tight first set with Rune on Centre Court, the stage that he said last week rattles him every time he walks onto it — especially so on Wednesday.“I couldn’t control it at all,” he said of the tension with which he played on a day when Queen Camilla watched from the Royal Box.He played tight for 65 minutes, the entirety of the first set. But when he clinched it with a backhand return winner down the line, he finally let it all out, he said, with two, full-body roars and two screams of “Vamos.”Only then, he said, did he start to enjoy the moment, and to smile, which is part of his secret sauce.“Smiling for me, as I said a few times, is the key of everything,” he said.Medvedev doesn’t smile much on the court, and for weeks now Medvedev has told everyone not to expect very much of him at this tournament. He hasn’t done very well at Wimbledon in the past. Until this year, he never exceeded the fourth round. He doesn’t have much of a liking for grass-court tennis, preferring the true, predictable bounces produced by hard courts.And there he was Wednesday afternoon on the No. 1 court against Eubanks, who was blasting serves and following them up with drop volleys that Medvedev would barely run for. As Eubanks surged to a two-sets-to-one lead, Medvedev was struggling to focus, he said, and could not understand what was happening to him.The crowd was firmly in the corner of Eubanks, a massive underdog whom the British fans backed, even though he eliminated their top-ranked player, Cameron Norrie, last week. At one point, Medvedev rolled a perfect running backhand winner past Eubanks and put his finger to his ear, asking for some cheers. When they weren’t loud enough, Medvedev shook his hands in disgust.With the score so lopsided, he thought back to five years ago, long before he broke through as one of the most promising players of his generation. He was not having all that much success then, and he had yet to achieve a lot of the things he never thought would be possible: multiple Grand Slam finals, a U.S. Open title in 2021, some stints as the world No. 1.“That’s when I was like, ‘OK, I need to try to turn this match around and to do like I did many times to win these tough, tough battles at the Grand Slam,’” he said.And that’s just what he did, earning a spot in the semifinals against Alcaraz. Still, Medvedev was not ready to say he was at all comfortable on grass.May the most vulnerable man win. More

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    The Soldiers of Wimbledon

    Abigail Sannoh, a nurse corporal in the Royal Air Force, had tried for years to get a pair of tickets to Wimbledon for herself and her father, Mohamed Sannoh, an avid tennis fan like his daughter. But the effort proved fruitless. So, she found another way into the grounds that enables Sannoh to be at all 14 days of Wimbledon, with a prime view of Centre Court.She applied, and was accepted, to be a service steward, part of a program in which 477 members of Britain’s three military branches work at the world’s most famous tennis tournament as stewards, what Americans call ushers.“My dad got a ticket and was able to see me working here,” Sannoh said last week. “It was such a thrill for both of us.”Since 1946, when soldiers being demobilized from World War II were first given the assignment, noncommissioned officers (mostly corporals and sergeants) have been stationed at the many entrances to each section of Centre Court and Court 1, with strict orders to be helpful, chatty and look smart in their crispy uniforms. It is one of the features that makes Wimbledon such a distinct event, and there are also 250 members of the fire brigade serving as stewards on a handful of the outer courts.Chief James Brooks from the Royal Navy stands guard at Centre Court.Robert Afoh of the Army stands guard at Court No. 1.Jane Stockdale for The New York TimesTheir only weapons are a disarming charm and a polite eagerness to help both the fans and their fellow stewards. There are no snarling dogs, bulletproof vests, boots, camouflage fatigues or any of the intimidating regalia often seen at major sporting events elsewhere. Even though these sailors, soldiers and cadets are working, they are not technically on active military duty.“We’re here to make people happy,” said James Brooks, moments after snapping a photo for two fans in front of Centre Court as he walked inside to take his position.Brooks, who served three tours in Afghanistan and has been all over the world on duty, is among the most prominent of the stewards, with a role that is perhaps the closest anyone comes to policing. During changeovers, he and the other service stewards stand at firm attention on the court, looking back toward the stands, to deter any would-be court invaders.Next to him on Friday was Miriam Charlton, who has spent 37 years in the Navy. She started at a challenging time for military women, who were given little if no consideration when they had children, sometimes transferred from one base to another until they quit. She was sent to the Falklands for six months from 1994 to 1995 after having two children, and was allowed only one phone call a week for three minutes.The closest form of policing the stewards have is deterring any fans who would run onto the court during breaks in play.She stuck with the military and attitudes changed enough that she was asked to form a small parental support unit to help parents in the navy. Charlton said that The Navy now retains over 90 percent of women after they have children, as opposed to 52 percent when she started the program seven years ago. She received an M.B.E. distinction (Member of the Order of the British Empire) from Princess Anne for her work.To be honored like that is fine, but getting to watch Wimbledon up close on Centre Court for 14 straight days?“It doesn’t get any better,” she said. “It’s up there among the top moments of my career.”Each year, about 1,000 members of the military apply for the coveted positions and 40 percent of the stewards are new each year.“I don’t want it to be a club where some people feel they can never get a chance to do it,” said Lt. Cdr. Chris Boucher, the officer in charge of all the stewards. “No one has a special right to be here.”There is no rank at Wimbledon, either, said Boucher, whose job in the Navy is to mobilize personnel for everything from the queen’s funeral to tactical operations around the globe. The stewards address one another with first names in an informal, collegial and respectful atmosphere, other than a few rare instances over the years.“There is no rank unless there needs to be,” he said.The other very visible military stewards, especially on television, are the three stationed in the Royal Box, which is run entirely by the service stewards. They all dress immaculately, as if presenting for inspection. There isn’t one, but it is almost unheard-of for anyone to be seen with spaghetti sauce or coffee stains on their bright white, blue or khaki shirts.A member of the Army guards the Royal Box.A member of the Royal Marines stands guard during the match between Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas.“Millions of eyes are on you,” Boucher said. “Don’t be that person.”Katie Patterson, a corporal in the Royal Air Force police, was stationed at Gangway 6 on Court No. 1 on Sunday, helping spectators find seats and politely asking loud fans in the corridor for “a bit of hush.” Spectators love asking about her R.A.F. duties and make photo requests.One small girl was particularly smitten, so Patterson gave her rank slide (the insignia on her shoulder indicating her rank) to the girl, who was overjoyed. Patterson had a chance to be smitten, too, when Nick Grimshaw, a popular television and radio personality, was waiting in line at Gangway 6. They chatted for several minutes and, like many fans, he wanted to know about her life in the air force.George Fynn Carr of the Navy was working Gangway 6 with Patterson in one of many interservice partnerships that are forged during the tournament. Pairs take turns in their positions, one at the base of the stairs helping people in line, and another at the top, who is able to show fans their seats and then watch the action. They should also be attuned to any lost or unruly fans, or any situation requiring attention.A huge tennis fan, Carr emigrated from Ghana 14 years ago and joined the Navy after attaining British citizenship. Much of his time at Wimbledon is spent posing for photographs in his white and navy blue uniform and hat, and answering questions about all his deployments — Crete, Guam, Kenya, the mainland United States.“Being here is a privilege, even though we are working,” said Suen Simpson, a staff sergeant in the Army.“On a ship, you are on a metal container on the ocean and you have to be a team,” Carr said. “It is the same here at Wimbledon.”As Carr spoke, an Army noncommissioned officer from a different gangway informed him that “two blokes” were hopping over rows of seating, clearly without tickets. Carr immediately left to investigate.To join this elite force, stewards must use their leave, which eats up two weeks of vacation time. But one of the rewards comes on the first Saturday of the tournament each year, when an announcement is made recognizing their contributions. Fans rise to their feet with a sustained ovation in an emotional display of appreciation.“Being here is a privilege, even though we are working,” said Suen Simpson, a staff sergeant in the Army, who would not reveal the locations of her deployments. For these two weeks, though, she is stationed at Gangway 22 on Court No. 1 at one of the biggest sporting events in the world.“It’s a blessing I was selected,” she said. More

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    Elina Svitolina Aims for a Wimbledon Singles Final Against Jabeur or Sabalenka

    Svitolina, the Ukrainian player who has captivated Wimbledon fans, beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek and will play Marketa Vondrousova in a semifinal match Thursday.Ons Jabeur still cannot bring herself to watch last year’s Wimbledon final. Her loss to Elena Rybakina on Centre Court is still too raw, too depressing to offset any tactical value that Jabeur might squeeze out of relieving it all over again.But, she said with a smile, “I can watch today’s match.”Indeed, that will make great binge viewing for Jabeur, who was able to exact a measure of revenge from the third-seeded Rybakina, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, in a quarterfinal on Centre Court Wednesday.She received no trophy for it, but it set up another Wimbledon rematch — this one against No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who beat Jabeur in the quarterfinal stage two years ago in straight sets. But much has changed since then, for both women.On the other side of the draw, Elina Svitolina, a wild-card entrant, will play the unseeded, but highly talented, Marketa Vondrousova for the other chance at the final.Svitolina and Jabeur are the clear audience favorites at Wimbledon. Jabeur, who is from Tunisia, is adored for her warm, engaging personality and for her trailblazing efforts as the first woman from Africa and the first from an Arabic-speaking country to reach a Grand Slam tournament final. She also reached the U.S. Open final later last summer.Svitolina, who beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek in their quarterfinal on Tuesday, has captivated fans around the world for her unflagging efforts to support and play on behalf of her native Ukraine. She also had a baby in October. Even Svitolina’s opponents cannot suppress their admiration for the outspoken Svitolina, who only returned to the tour in April, but has slashed her way through the draw to reach the final four.“She’s a superwoman,” Vondrousova said.Jabeur and Sabalenka together represent the power side of the draw, where, by chance, most of the better grass court players were assembled after the drawing. Rybakina, last year’s champion, said she thought the winner of Thursday’s duel between Sabalenka and Jabeur would eventually take home the trophy, and many would agree. Jabeur, in a moment of candid self-confidence, revealed she was one of them.Aryna Sabalenka defeated Madison Keys in a quarterfinal on Wednesday.Glyn Kirk/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images“I do believe our part is stronger than the other part,” Jabeur said. “But every Grand Slam final is a final, and you can change a lot of things.”It was hardly an affront to Svitolina and Vondrousova, but sometimes players seize upon the most innocuous slights to fuel an angry motivation. Jo Durie, the British former player and now a coach and broadcaster, said that in 1983, at the peak of Martina Navratilova’s power, she had once dared to declare publicly that she had a chance to beat the great champion.Durie made the comment when their Australian Open quarterfinal had been suspended by rain at one set apiece.“Martina was livid,” Durie recalled on Wednesday. “The next day she said to the press, ‘How dare Jo-Jo say that?’ We all have an ego in this sport, and we all have to use it at some point.”Durie said her words had been slightly distorted in news reports the following day. But sometimes the smallest things can be used to seek an advantage, and by Saturday’s final, Svitolina or Vondrousova may seek to uphold the honor of her side of the draw, should she play Jabeur.As popular as Svitolina has become, Durie warned that Vondrousova, the least known player still alive in the draw, could not be overlooked.After Vondrousova became a French Open finalist in 2019, her career was subsequently affected by injuries. But as a well-rounded left-handed player, she can befuddle opponents with her serve and a variety of shots, from soft and dicey to overpowering.“Wow, is she talented,” Durie said.Could this then be the stage where Svitolina’s captivating run comes to an end? Or, if she wins, will she end up facing Sabalenka, a powerful Belarusian player whose nationality makes her an enemy of sorts to Svitolina?Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 with Belarus’s logistical support, Svitolina has helped raise money for relief efforts in Ukraine and has declared that every match she plays is on behalf of her country. She has also said she will not shake hands with any players from Russia or Belarus, even if she likes them personally.Elina Svitolina reached a semifinal by upsetting No. 1 Iga Swiatek.Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThe matter surfaced in the fourth round when Svitolina defeated Victoria Azarenka, who is from Belarus. Azarenka and Svitolina are compatible personally, and Azarenka spoke out against the invasion when it began. Even though there was no handshake after that match, Azarenka gave Svitolina a thumbs-up salute. But fans booed Azarenka off the court — and it stunned her. Some seemingly booed because they misunderstood, blaming Azarenka for the snub. Others perhaps did so because of Azarenka’s nationality.“I think people also need to know what’s going on and why there is no handshake between Ukrainians, Russian and Belarusian players,” Sabalenka said after she had beaten Madison Keys, 6-2, 6-4, on Wednesday. “I really hope that nobody else will face this reaction from the crowd.”More pressing, of course, is her meeting with Jabeur in their power semifinal. Sabalenka understands that Jabeur, while known for her slices, her drop shots and her off-speed game, can also unload from the baseline when necessary. Sabalenka called Jabeur’s game “tricky” and noted that her opponent’s goal, to become the first Arab and African woman to win a Grand Slam event, was providing her with enhanced motivation.But Jabeur has other forces driving her, too, similar to what spurred her on Wednesday against Rybakina. Jabeur did not watch their encounter from last year, but walking onto the court felt eerily similar. So to shake things up, she took the chair on the other side from the one she had sat in last year.In a similar way, she is now out to erase her quarterfinal loss to Sabalenka here in 2021.“I’m going to prepare and take my revenge from two years ago,” Jabeur said, again with a smile. More

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    Elina Svitolina Of Ukraine One Match Away From Wimbledon Final

    Svitolina, a new mother who has said she is playing to give strength to her people back home in Ukraine, is one match away from an improbable and inspiring spot in the Wimbledon final.It is time to consider whether having a child, and spending a year away from the sport to raise money to help her compatriots back home in Ukraine, have made Elina Svitolina an even better tennis player.She says they have, and there is no reason not to believe her.Svitolina’s improbable run at Wimbledon rolled on in grand fashion on Tuesday. Two days after Svitolina, a new mother who needed a wild card to get into the tournament, beat the former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in an emotional and dramatic triumph, Svitolina beat the current world No. 1, Iga Swiatek.Svitolina, playing with pluck, steeliness and a higher purpose, matched the hard-hitting Swiatek shot for shot, and then some, on the most hallowed court in the sport, sending joy through a crowd that had been with her since her first shot of a tournament that she had thought would be over for her by now.When the match was over, Svitolina put a hand over her face, hugged Swiatek from across the net and then raised two arms to the crowd in a shrug of disbelief.“I don’t know what is happening right now,” Svitolina told them moments later.Some things are hard to explain.Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine 18 months ago, Svitolina announced that she was taking a break from professional tennis because she was pregnant with her first child with her husband, Gaël Monfils, the veteran tour pro and tennis showman from France.Tennis was barely a priority then anyway. Her pregnancy was at the top of the list, and so was raising money for war relief efforts in her homeland. Her foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since the start of the war.In October, she and Monfils announced the birth of their daughter, Skai. Not long afterward, Svitolina began training and practicing for her return to the WTA Tour, in March at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.Svitolina, right, beat the current world No. 1, Iga Swiatek, at Wimbledon on Tuesday.Julian Finney/Getty ImagesIt didn’t go well at first, as she lost six of her first seven matches, but Svitolina — a graceful and deceptively powerful player who had been ranked as high as third in the world as recently as 2019 — slowly started to regain her feel for the ball and for the competition.And she made it clear, especially during the French Open in Paris, that tennis was no longer about money or ranking points. It was about trying to bring some joy to the people of Ukraine.She did plenty of that as she surged into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Still, she had made it past the second round there just twice in eight tries and had not competed on grass since 2021 until last month. Her hopes were so low that she bought tickets to a Harry Styles concert last week, assuming she would be free.She wasn’t, and after her win over Swiatek on Tuesday, she said she did not think she was going to take the pop star up on his offer to invite her to a concert anytime soon.“It was very sweet from him,” she said of Styles’s offer. “Hopefully one day I can go.”It will have to wait at least until after her semifinal match on Thursday against Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, who beat Jessica Pegula of the United States in three sets. A win over Vondrousova might very well set up a showdown in the finals with a player from Belarus (Aryna Sabalenka) or with Elena Rybakina, the defending champion, who grew up in Russia but represents Kazakhstan. Sabalenka and Rybakina play their quarterfinal matches Wednesday and are heavy favorites.That is down the road, though, and would surely bring tension similar to that in Svitolina’s fourth-round win over Azarenka. Players from Russia and Belarus were prohibited from playing in the tournament last year, and while they have been mostly warmly received, Svitolina and the other players from Ukraine have refused to shake hands with players from those countries.Azarenka was booed off the court — unfairly so, Svitolina said — after Svitolina had beaten her Sunday, even though Azarenka gave Svitolina a thumbs-up after the final point. Last year, Azarenka offered to play in a charity fund-raiser to benefit war relief efforts, though players from Ukraine told her not to. But the boos still rained down.Svitolina announced that she was taking a break from professional tennis in 2022 because she was pregnant with her first child with her husband, Gaël Monfils.Pool photo by Daniel ColeSwiatek, who is from Poland and is a staunch critic of the invasion, has done more than any player not from Ukraine to help war relief efforts.But there was no shortage of healthy tension in Tuesday’s match. Swiatek, a four-time Grand Slam tournament champion, appeared to be in control early and even served for the first set at 5-4. She then missed on a series of tentative and wild forehands and first serves. Svitolina kept making her shots on tight wires, clearing the net by mere inches, time and again for the rest of the afternoon.She won 16 of the final 18 points in the first set. As the roof closed with rain on the way, a panicked Swiatek headed to the corner of the court, begging her team for answers.“I felt like I’m making pretty much the same mistakes,” Swiatek said. “I wanted some tip, what they think I should actually focus on. Sometimes when something is not working, it’s hard to find a reason because there are maybe a few reasons.”The biggest reason of all was Svitolina, who said later that she had been playing with a different sort of inspiration. She had spent parts of the last two days watching videos of her child in Ukraine watching her matches on a phone. She knows what her victories mean and where they fit in the grand scheme of things.All of that has a power.“War made me stronger and also made me mentally stronger,” she said. “I don’t take difficult situations as like a disaster, you know? There are worse things in life. I’m just more calmer.”Have no doubt: She desperately wants to win, but her experience of the pressure has changed.“I look at the things a bit differently,” she said.After she walked off the court, she placed a call over FaceTime to Monfils, who — along with her mother and his — is taking care of their daughter at one of their homes. She said Skai hadn’t talked to her much. She was distracted by a serving of ice cream.Can she win this tournament and the biggest prize of all?She insisted, as she had after the Azarenka match, that she wasn’t meant to go this far. She isn’t letting her husband come, because he has not been here yet, and she is not messing with her routine now. Who needs him anyway, when she has another purpose and another power, especially against those opponents from Russia and Belarus?“Each time I play against them, it’s big motivation, big responsibility,” she said. “Right now it’s very, very far. It seems very close, but it’s very far from this.” More

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    Jessica Pegula Draws Inspiration From Her Mother’s Healing. It’s Mutual.

    For more than a year, Kim Pegula has been recovering from cardiac arrest. Her daughter Jessica’s climb in the tennis rankings reflects the strength the two find in each other.It was already Tuesday in Sydney, Australia, but Jessica Pegula was watching “Monday Night Football” on her phone on Jan. 3 as she waited to go onto the court at the United Cup. Suddenly, she felt the same sickening fear many football fans had that day, but perhaps with more resonance.On her small device, she witnessed Damar Hamlin, a safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapsing on the turf and saw the frantic moments as paramedics attempted to revive him and bundled him into an ambulance after his heart stopped beating.She knew how critical each one of those seconds was for Hamlin, who eventually made a remarkable recovery. Her mother, Kim Pegula, who is the president and an owner of the Bills, along with her husband, Terry Pegula, went into cardiac arrest in her sleep a little over a year ago. Kim Pegula’s recovery has been a slow, difficult process, made more challenging by the loss of oxygen when it happened.Jessica Pegula was so shaken that she considered not playing in the United Cup, but she eventually did. Days later, at the Australian Open, she wore a No. 3 patch on her outfit to honor Hamlin. Coincidentally, No. 3 was her singles ranking at the time, an astonishing achievement considering everything she had been through in the previous six months.The family sat vigil at Kim Pegula’s hospital bedside for days last June. Jessica left to play at Wimbledon with a jumble of emotions but also with the knowledge that it was what her mother wanted. Riddled with worry, worn down from the previous weeks and saddled with a sinus infection, she lost in the third round.At the Australian Open, Pegula wore a No. 3 patch in honor of Damar Hamlin, a Buffalo Bills football player who went into cardiac arrest during a game in January.Hannah Mckay/ReutersBut somehow, as her mother made steady progress, Pegula continued to play the best tennis of her career at age 28 (she turned 29 in February). She reached a semifinal of the Canadian Open and, for the first time, a quarterfinal of the U.S. Open — her third major quarterfinal of the year. She won the Guadalajara, Mexico, event last October and, in January, reached another quarterfinal at the Australian Open. At No. 4 in the world, she is the top-ranked American woman.On Sunday, she checked off another quarterfinal appearance when she demolished Lesia Tsurenko, in straight sets. She has now reached the quarterfinal stage at each of the four major tournaments. But for the sixth time in six tries, her pursuit of her first Grand Slam semifinal was blocked. She fell two games short, as Marketa Vondrousova came back from a 1-4 deficit in the third set to beat Pegula, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, on Tuesday.It was as close as Pegula has come to making a major semifinal and, considering how close she was, it was crushing. But it was just tennis, and later she took comfort in reflecting on how different she felt at this Wimbledon compared with last year’s, which came just a few weeks after her mother fell ill.“A year ago when I came here, I didn’t have any warm up,” she said. “My mom basically almost died. I think a year coming around to make quarters, to see that she’s able to watch my match, was a huge success for myself and for my family.”Still, it has been difficult traveling during these last 12 months and being away from her mother, who urges Pegula to fight on, just as she has.Pegula explained how her mother, who with Terry Pegula also owns the N.H.L.’s Buffalo Sabres, helped shape her tennis career without being overbearing. She said her mother had mostly left the tennis to others but had helped brainstorm ideas to help her get better and to navigate the complex and unforgiving world of professional tennis. She always took inspiration from her mother’s example of hard work and independent strength. Now, she says, her mother is taking inspiration from watching her on the court.Kim Pegula, one of the principal owners of the Bills, went into cardiac arrest in 2022.Michael Ainsworth/Associated PressIn an article in The Players’ Tribune in February, Pegula first revealed the events surrounding her mother’s illness and recovery, and outlined how she was playing on for her. On Sunday, after her fourth-round win, she spoke of the strength and motivation each was drawing from the other.“She wants to watch me on TV,” Jessica Pegula said Sunday. “I think that inspires her in her recovery, as well, to see me out there still playing.”And, despite Tuesday’s loss, playing well. Now healthy after injuries disrupted her progression through the ranks, Pegula has cashed in on consistency, her current No. 4 ranking tucking her in just behind the newly crowned Big Three of No. 1 Iga Swiatek, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Elena Rybakina.Pegula expresses no outward resentment that she is not included in their ranks, but she makes it clear that she is striving to shake up the perception that the top of the women’s tour is a triad.“I would definitely love to crash the Big Three party, if possible,” she said. “That would definitely be a goal. I mean, those girls have been playing really well.”All of those women are at least four years younger than Pegula. She was asked if experience had led to her recent success, but she insisted that health had been more important. Her career has been stalled by a knee injury and hip surgery, and being in the gym rehabilitating is an experience that differs from on-court matches.Jessica Pegula reached the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in 2022.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesShe also said her consistency was no accident. When she reached her first major quarterfinal, at the Australian Open in 2021, she was determined not to leave it all to waste in the subsequent tournament in Doha, Qatar. She was ranked 44th at the time and had to win three qualifying rounds to enter that event, and ended up capturing six consecutive matches before falling in the final to No. 4 Petra Kvitova.“I don’t want to be that person that made the quarters of a Slam and then loses first round,” she said, and added, “I took a lot of confidence from that.”She has now reached the quarterfinals in five of the last seven Grand Slam events and is only the fifth American to reach the quarters at all four majors in the last 25 years, joining Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, who made a quarterfinal on Monday by beating the 16-year-old Russian phenomenon Mirra Andreeva in three sets. Keys is scheduled to face Sabalenka on Wednesday.But the semifinal stage remains elusive for Pegula, and she could not say why.“I was one game away today, almost,” she said. “I don’t really know what the answer is. I keep putting myself in good positions. But I guess it’s not enough.”A few hours after her loss to Vondrousova, Pegula lost again in her doubles match. She and Coco Gauff fell to Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva, making it a perfectly miserable day. But she will return to the United States and, if time allows, see her mother. Soon enough, with the hardcourt season underway, she will be playing again, with Kim Pegula watching from home, and that is a great victory.“She wouldn’t want me doing anything else,” Pegula said of her mother. “I think she would want me to keep winning and to keep competing and putting myself out there.” More

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    At Wimbledon, Is It Time for Hawk-Eye Live to Replace the Line Judges?

    Line judges made incorrect calls in the first week that changed the trajectory of matches for Andy Murray, Bianca Andreescu and Venus Williams, among others. Is it time to give computers the job?Andy Murray was a victim.Bianca Andreescu was too.Jiri Lehecka had to play a fifth set and essentially win his third-round match twice.Hawk-Eye Live, an electronic line calling system, could have saved the players their set, even their match, but Wimbledon doesn’t use it to its full extent, preferring a more traditional approach. The rest of the year on the professional tours, many tournaments rely exclusively on the technology, allowing players to know with near certainty whether their ball lands in or out because the computer always makes the call.But when players come to the All England Club for what is widely regarded as the most important tournament of the year, their fates are largely determined by line judges relying on their eyesight. Even more frustrating, because Wimbledon and its television partners have access to the technology, which players can use to challenge a limited number of calls each match, everyone watching the broadcast sees in real time if a ball is in or out. The people for whom the information is most important — the players and the chair umpire, who oversees the match — must rely on the line judge.When the human eye is judging serves traveling around 120 m.p.h. and forehand rallies faster than 80 m.p.h., errors are bound to happen.“When mistakes are getting made in important moments, then obviously as a player you don’t want that,” said Murray, who could have won his second-round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth set, if computers had been making the line calls. Murray’s backhand return was called out, even though replays showed the ball was in. He ended up losing in five sets.No tennis tournament clings to its traditions the way Wimbledon does. Grass court tennis. Matches on Centre Court beginning later than everywhere else, and after those in the Royal Box have had their lunch. No lights for outdoor tennis. A queue with an hourslong wait for last-minute tickets.Those traditions do not have an effect on the outcome of matches from one point to the next. But keeping line judges on the court, after technology has proved to be more reliable, has been affecting — perhaps even turning — key matches seemingly every other day.To understand why that is happening, it’s important to understand how tennis has ended up with different rules for judging across its tournaments.Before the early 2000s, tennis — like baseball, basketball, hockey and other sports — relied on human officials to make calls, many of which were wrong, according to John McEnroe (and pretty much every other tennis player). McEnroe’s most infamous meltdown happened at Wimbledon in 1981, prompted by an incorrect line call.“I would have loved to have had Hawk-Eye,” said Mats Wilander, the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion and a star in the 1980s.But then tennis began experimenting with the Hawk-Eye Live judging system. Cameras capture the bounce of every ball from multiple angles and computers analyze the images to depict the ball’s trajectory and impact points with only a microscopic margin for error. Line judges remained as a backup, but players received three opportunities each set to challenge a line call, and an extra challenge when a set went to a tiebreaker.That forced players to try to figure out when to risk using a challenge they might need on a more crucial point later in the set.“It’s too much,” Wilander said. “I can’t imagine making that calculation, standing there, thinking about whether a shot felt good, how many challenges I have left, how late is it in the set.”Even Roger Federer, who was good at nearly every aspect of tennis, was famously terrible at making successful challenges.Hawk-Eye Live cameras along the outer courts at the U.S. Open in 2020.Jason Szenes/EPA, via ShutterstockBefore long, tennis officials began considering a fully electronic line calling system. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, tournaments were looking for ways to limit the number of people on the tennis court.Craig Tiley, the chief executive of Tennis Australia, said adopting electronic calling in 2021 was also a part of the Australian Open’s “culture of innovation.” Players liked it. So did fans, Tiley said, because matches moved more quickly.Last year, the U.S. Open switched to fully electronic line calling. There is an ongoing debate about whether the raised lines on clay courts would prevent the technology from providing the same precision as on grass and hardcourts. At the French Open and other clay court tournaments, the ball leaves a mark that umpires often inspect.In 2022, the men’s ATP Tour featured 21 tournaments with fully electronic line calling, including stops in Indian Wells, Calif.; Miami Gardens, Fla.; Canada; and Washington, D.C. All of those sites have women’s WTA tournaments as well. Every ATP tournament will use it beginning in 2025.“The question is not whether it’s 100 percent right but whether it is better than a human, and it is definitely better than a human,” said Mark Ein, who owns the Citi Open in Washington, D.C.A spokesman for the All England Club said Sunday that Wimbledon has no plans to remove its line judges.“After the tournament we look at everything we do, but at this moment, we have no plans to change the system,” Dominic Foster said.Line judges at Wimbledon are responsible for ruling the ball in or out.Julian Finney/Getty ImagesOn Saturday, Andreescu became a casualty of human error. The 2019 U.S. Open champion from Canada, Andreescu has been going deeper into Grand Slam tournaments after years of injuries.With the finish of her match against Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in sight, Andreescu resisted asking for electronic intervention on a crucial shot the line judge had called out. From across the net Jabeur, who had been close to the ball as it landed, advised Andreescu not to waste one of her three challenges for the set, saying the ball was indeed out. The match continued, though not before television viewers saw the computerized replay that showed the ball landing on the line.“I trust Ons,” Andreescu said after Jabeur came back to beat her in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.Andreescu explained that she was thinking of her previous match, a three-set marathon decided by a final-set tiebreaker, during which she said she “wasted” several challenges.Against Jabeur, she thought, “I’m going to save it, just in case.”Bad idea. Jabeur won that game, and the set, and then the match.Over on Court No. 12, the challenge system was causing another kind of confusion. Lehecka had match point against Tommy Paul when he raised his hand to challenge a call after returning a shot from Paul that had landed on the line. His request for a challenge came just as Paul hit the next shot into the net.The point was replayed. Paul won it, and then the set moments later, forcing a deciding set. Lehecka won, but had to run around for another half-hour. Venus Williams lost match point in her first-round match on another complicated sequence involving a challenge.Leylah Fernandez, a two-time Grand Slam finalist from Canada, said she likes the tradition of line judges at Wimbledon as the world cedes more to technology.Then again, she added, if “it did cost me a match, it would have been probably a different answer.”Andy Murray learned after his loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas that his shot, called out by a line judge, was in and could have changed the outcome of the match.Sebastien Bozon/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesThat is where Murray, the two-time Wimbledon champion, found himself after his loss Friday afternoon. By the time he arrived at his news conference, he had learned that his slow and sharply angled backhand return of serve that landed just a few yards from the umpire had nicked the line.The point would have given him two chances to break Tsitsipas’s serve and serve out the match. When he was told the shot was in, his eyes opened with a startle, then fell toward the floor.Murray now knew what everyone else had seen.The ball had landed under the nose of the umpire, who confirmed the call, Murray said. He could not imagine how anyone could have missed it. He actually likes having the line judges, he added. Perhaps it was his fault for not using a challenge.“Ultimately,” he said, “the umpire made a poor call that’s right in front of her.” More