Evelyn Reynolds

More stories

  • 100 Shares159 Views

    in Tennis

    A Grand Slam Streak Without (Yet) a Quarterfinal

    Since 2007, Alizé Cornet of France hasn’t missed a single Grand Slam main draw.MELBOURNE, Australia — In an era of women’s tennis defined by volatility at the top, Alizé Cornet has been a constant.Starting as a qualifier at the 2007 Australian Open, Cornet has not missed the main draw of any Grand Slam since. She is on track this year to break the women’s record for consecutive Grand Slams played. This year’s U.S. Open would be her record 63rd Grand Slam main draw, surpassing Ai Sugiyama’s record of 62 straight appearances.That target has become a possible finish line for Cornet.“After that I think it will be a good time for me to retire,” said Cornet, 32, of France. “I’m not sure. I don’t want to say it’s going to happen this way. I’m not closing any door to keep going. But I gave so much to this game and to this tennis life, yeah, I feel I’m pretty much ready for the next chapter. At least by the end of the year, I think I’ll be ready.”Cornet’s story isn’t done at this Australian Open, however; she reached the fourth round here with a comeback win over the 29th-seeded Tamara Zidansek on Saturday. Zidansek, who reached the French Open semifinals last year, led 6-4, 4-1, 30-0 before Cornet was able to swing the match in her direction.“I just kept fighting, kept trying my best, and the match turned around,” said Cornet, who won 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.Cornet, who first reached the fourth round here in 2009 when she came within points of beating third-seeded Dinara Safina, said that winning felt much like it always had.“Maybe I have a little more distance with it because I’ve played so many years and I’ve faced so many different situations,” she said. “But it feels very sweet. It still feels amazing. I think that’s why we all keep playing and keep pushing ourselves, because we’re so addicted to these feelings, this joy right after the match point.”Cornet’s love of the battle has won her matches, as well as the respect of her peers.“I think I wish that I could say I had that kind of record,” said Madison Keys, who reached the quarterfinals with a win Sunday over the eighth-seeded Paula Badosa. “But to see that she’s been able to enjoy it — I mean, she still competes at the highest level and you can tell that every single point, she wants to win it — it’s very, very impressive to watch.”The second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka said she believes that Cornet’s longevity is down to her being a “big fighter.”“Every match she’s putting everything she has,” Sabalenka said of Cornet. “I think you just have to believe in yourself and to fight for everything no matter what. She’s doing it on each match.”Cornet has had highs at Grand Slam events, including a win at this tournament in the second round over third-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza, and a win at Wimbledon in 2014 over top-seeded Serena Williams. But those highlights have come solely in the first week of such events.Cornet holds the record among active players, by far, for the most Grand Slam main singles draws played without ever reaching a quarterfinal, with 63 in total (this year’s Australian Open is her 60th in a row). Monica Niculescu, with a total of 48, is in second place among active players.Cornet, who plays against 14th-seeded Simona Halep on Monday with hopes of reaching her first quarterfinal, said she was trying not to become fixated on that goal as she plays the last 16 of a Grand Slam event for the sixth time.“I don’t want it to be an obsession; I’m enjoying so much my run here so far,” she said. “I had a really great time on the court again with the crowd supporting me; it’s just an amazing feeling. I want to fill my heart with all this energy without thinking I might finally get my quarterfinal that I’m looking for, for the past 15 years.”“We’ll see how it goes,” she added. “I will keep doing my best on the court. If it happens, great. If not, I mean, it’s still amazing what I’m living every day here.”Cornet’s joie de vivre can prove contagious. As she left the court after her win over Zidansek, Cornet realized that the on-court interviewer had forgotten to mention the most important part of the occasion: “I forgot, I was so emotional,” Cornet said as she commandeered the on-court announcer’s microphone. “But today is my birthday, guys.”Cornet conducted the crowd as they sang for her with considerable gusto, soaking in every note. More

  • 125 Shares199 Views

    in Tennis

    Jessica Pegula Cheers on Buffalo Bills From the Australian Open

    When Buffalo plays Kansas City in their N.F.L. divisional playoff game, Jessica Pegula, whose parents own the Bills, hopes both she and the football team keep winning.MELBOURNE, Australia — As a Pittsburgh Steelers fan whose parents ended up buying the N.F.L.’s Buffalo Bills, Jessica Pegula has had to adapt. But she is in deep now, extolling the leadership virtues of quarterback Josh Allen even as she competes in the Australian Open tennis tournament, and taking the court in an outfit whose red, white and blue hues summon the Bills’ colors, thanks to her sponsor thinking ahead.“It was so random, but I’m like this is perfect,” Pegula said.She even signed the camera lens after her third-round singles victory with a tidy note that read: “Bills you’re next.”“I’m like come on, I backed myself up, now you guys got to get the win,” Pegula said with a chuckle ahead of the Bills’ divisional playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.Stacking up wins would be an outcome to savor for the Pegula family, and Jessica has provided another strong run down under.It was in Australia that she launched her breakthrough season in 2021 by reaching the quarterfinals. At 27, she is on the verge of leaping back into the top 20 whether she wins or loses in her fourth round rematch with Maria Sakkari, who saved six match points before beating Pegula in the round of 16 at the Miami Open last year in a memorable topsy-turvy duel.But Pegula has bounced back from worse. A child of privilege by her own admission, she has shown perseverance and pluck in her quest to become a Grand Slam contender. Yes, she had access to private coaching and abundant support from her family: her 70-year-old father Terry is a billionaire businessman who made his $5.7 billion fortune primarily in natural gas and in real-estate development.Pegula, in Bills red, white and blue, cooled down during her third-round match in Melbourne.Simon Baker/Associated PressBut Pegula had to overcome major knee and hip surgery in her late teens and early 20s that required extensive rehabilitation before she finally broke into the elite.“She was on her way up twice and had to start over again,” said Michael Joyce, who coached her for six years, beginning in 2011 after coaching Maria Sharapova. “Jessie could easily have thrown in the towel obviously with her family and her situation, and the fact that she kept coming back was special. A lot of people would have said, ‘Screw this, I’m done,’ especially in her position.”Tennis, with significant coaching and travel costs, is an expensive sport to master at a high level, but top ranked stars from ultra rich backgrounds are rare on the tour. Pegula is perhaps the first on the women’s tour since Carling Bassett, daughter of Canadian brewery executive John Bassett, broke into the top 10 in the 1980s.“I know a lot of people from very wealthy families who are pretty good, good enough to play in college or something, but they usually fizzle out,” Joyce said.Pegula said she has sometimes felt self-conscious about her family’s wealth, concerned it might make others uncomfortable. Joyce said she was often hesitant to organize training sessions with outsiders at the family’s luxurious home in Boca Raton, Fla., with its two tennis courts — clay and hardcourt.“I was maybe kind of trying to hide it a little bit,” Pegula said. “Then I think I kind of embraced it a little bit, not like over the top, but I think once I became more comfortable and I knew I was doing the hard work and all that I was, like, hey I do have a different story but maybe it’s kind of a cool story. Maybe it’s OK if I embrace the Bills and the teams a little bit more and stuff like that.”She added: “But I’ve always been kind of low key. I don’t like to flaunt, and I think that’s why I’ve been able to be successful, too.”The Pegula family, from left to right: Jessica, Matthew, Terry, Kelly, Laura and Kim, at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Oct. 10, 2014, when Terry and Kim were introduced as the new owners of the Bills.Gary Wiepert/Associated PressTerry and his wife, Kim Pegula, who was born in Seoul and grew up in Fairport, N.Y. near Rochester, bought the N.H.L.’s Buffalo Sabres in 2011 when Jessica was turning 17. They purchased the Bills in 2014 for $1.4 billion.It was not until then that Pegula said she became acutely aware of her family’s fortune, but it did not change how she felt about tennis.“I’ve always been super driven, before the Bills and the money and all that stuff,” she said.“This is always what I wanted. So, when all this stuff happened to me later on in my life, people would ask me, ‘Why are you doing this?’ And I’d be like, ‘I don’t understand. This hasn’t changed since I was 6 or 7 years old. Why would it change now?’”Pegula said she has come to believe that she has a responsibility to do justice to her advantages.“I’m given this amazing opportunity. Why would I want to sabotage that if I really love what I do?” she said. “I don’t shy away from the fact that people don’t get as many opportunities, and I think people are more realizing that giving everyone equal opportunities is important. But I didn’t choose the life I was supposed to have. You are kind of born into it, and I think everyone is dealt a different hand. It’s how you deal with it, and I’m glad that I was able to do it justice and not take it for granted. To me, it would be selfish to do a disservice to that.”Pegula has exceptional timing and her even temperament is an enormous advantage in matches.Jason O’Brien/EPA, via ShutterstockPegula said she has learned to “embrace the grind” — the fitness training, practice sessions and preventive work now required to keep her healthy after the injuries that could have ended her career.At 5-foot-7, she is not the most imposing athlete on a women’s tour increasingly inhabited by taller players with explosive power and movement. But she has exquisite timing, excellent fundamentals, a fine grasp of tactics and an even temperament.“It used to drive me nuts,” Joyce said. “She could go through a whole tournament without one fist pump.”Equanimity can be useful in a brutally competitive sport where success is precarious. One of Pegula’s closest friends, Jennifer Brady, was an Australian Open finalist last year but has now missed the last two majors with a chronic foot condition.It can all seem fragile, all the more so given the coronavirus pandemic. Pegula married her longtime boyfriend, Taylor Gahagen, in October at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., but her coach, David Witt, tested positive for the coronavirus and she, as a close contact, withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup team event.The next day she tested positive. So did her husband. “We had a Covid honeymoon basically,” Pegula said. “We were in our house for two weeks.”Pegula with her dog Maddie, one of three, after defeating Camila Giorgi to win the women’s singles final at the Citi Open in 2019.Erik S Lesser/EPA, via ShutterstockThough Pegula said it took her “a few weeks” to recover, she enjoyed the extended off-season and the chance to spend time with her three dogs in Boca Raton: Maddie, a miniature Australian shepherd; Dexter, a German shepherd; and Tucker, a chocolate Labrador.“A lot of different personalities,” Pegula said. “Like three kids I guess. But you have to adapt.”Consider that her catchphrase. In earlier days, she had a dog named for Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey star. The Pittsburgh connection was real: Her father is from Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State. Though Jessica was born in Buffalo, the Pegulas lived in Pittsburgh when she was young.“We were really not Bills fans to be honest, but that’s obviously flipped,” she said, preparing to check the time difference carefully from Australia and watch Sunday’s big game. More

  • 138 Shares179 Views

    in Tennis

    For Nadal and His Contemporaries, It Is About Winning, and Quickly

    At 35 years old, getting through the first week dropping only one set gives the 20-time Grand Slam champion “energy in my pocket.” Aging tennis stars take note.Rafael Nadal knew something had to change.It was nearing midnight in Australia on Friday, and his match against Karen Khachanov of Russia was heading into its third hour. Nadal still had a comfortable lead, but the 25-year-old Khachanov was gaining strength and closing in on the third set. Nadal, a decade older, and just back from a nearly six-month rehabilitation from a chronic foot injury, needed to do whatever he could to avoid one of his classic battles of attrition. Nadal has often won those battles, and could still, but possibly at a significant cost.At this point in Nadal’s career, how he might win is as important as winning itself.And so for the final moments of the third set and then to start the fourth, Nadal crept a few steps closer to the baseline. He aimed his serves at the lines, and every time he saw a glimmer of an opening he went for it, instead of relying on his signature strategy of hitting eight shots to set up a winner on the ninth.“If I am able to have the break back, fantastic,” Nadal said later, describing his return to the strategy that had allowed him to gain the early upper hand on Khachanov. “If not, on the fourth I’m going to start playing more aggressive again. Let’s see if it works.”Nadal played a backhand against Khachanov.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesThe results of the experiment came fast, with Nadal breaking Khachanov’s serve in the second game of the fourth set. Nadal blasted a service return for a winner, smacked an untouchable, cross-court forehand from what is supposed to be the backhand corner of the court for him, then sealed the break with a running backhand up the line. Then he crouched and pumped his fist four times, the finish line now just four games away.“You need to be quick on making the right decisions,” he said.There has always been an urgency to Nadal’s game. He ends every changeover with a sprint back onto the court. But what has become apparent for him and his aging contemporaries in Australia over the past week is how important taking care of business on the court quickly has become.Nadal, who said he could barely play for more than a half-hour without his foot causing him pain just six weeks ago, has won nine of 10 sets in three matches at the Australian Open. In his warm-up tournament, he won all six of the sets he played in three matches on his way to the title.Gaël Monfils, the 35-year-old Frenchman now playing some of the best tennis of his career, is on a similar efficiency tear. Monfils has not dropped a set in three matches and also won a tuneup event in Australia earlier this month.Gaël Monfils returned against Cristian Garin.Aaron Francis/Agence France-Presse Via Getty ImagesHe came awfully close to losing a set Friday afternoon against Cristian Garin of Chile, who had what appeared to be a commanding 4-1 lead in the first-set tiebreaker. But then Monfils found a way to do his Monfils thing, throwing those long arms and legs and his lusty movement into every shot. A few big serves and then a perfect backhand down the line gave Monfils the set and from there he was in cruise control, chattering with his wife, Elina Svitolina, who had lost earlier in the day, as she watched from the stands.“Very lucky and fortunate to win this breaker, and I just think I was solid enough to win in straight sets,” Monfils said.Monfils, who faces Miromir Kecmanovic of Serbia in the fourth round, and Nadal, who will play Adrian Mannarino of France, do not have to look far for the cautionary tale.The week did not work out the way Andy Murray had wanted or hoped or thought it would, especially after his travels to Australia started on such a high note.Last week, as Novak Djokovic sucked up most of the tennis oxygen, Murray stormed under the radar into the final of a tuneup tournament in Sydney, with wins over the much higher-ranked David Goffin, Reilly Opelka, and Nikoloz Basilashvili. He dropped the final to Aslan Karatsev, but that seemed almost beside the point.Murray’s forever comeback from hip resurfacing surgery seemed to be rounding into form, especially after he prevailed in his first round match over Basilashvili, a five-set marathon that thrilled but also likely doomed the rest of the tournament for Murray. Murray smothered Basilashvili, the hard-hitting and freewheeling Georgian, in the first set and looked like he was going to have a short afternoon. There he was, defending in the corners, landing flashy angled winners and displaying the creative arsenal that made him the world’s top player five years ago.“Really disappointed,” Andy Murray said of his second-round loss to Taro Daniel.Dave Hunt/EPA, via ShutterstockBut three hours later he was still battling, and after the win, he spoke like a player who understood well that success on the court now was as much about how he wins as it is about whether he wins.Murray said he has been talking about this with his team for some time, which makes sense. His Grand Slam appearances since the start of the pandemic have included either an epic win followed by a quick loss or just a loss in an epic.Murray and his crew have batted around the idea of playing more aggressively, trying to end points more quickly with more aggressive shots. But that, he said, carries the risk of losing more games, resulting in longer matches, especially now, when he is playing what he characterized as “top 20 level tennis,” as opposed to top five or top two. They decided the fastest route to victories is to play better rather than different.“Playing my game style but playing it at a higher level,” he said. “When I look back at a lot of my matches in like 2015, 2016, like I was quite sort of efficient and clinical, like when I had opportunities and when I was, you know, ahead of guys, I’d finish them off quickly.”The price for not finishing them off is plain. Two days after the marathon win against Basilashvili, Murray came out flat and allowed Taro Daniel of Japan, a 28-year-old journeyman ranked 120th, who has never been ranked higher than 64th, to dispatch him in three sets. Murray could not recall ever losing in a Grand Slam to someone ranked outside the top 100.“Really disappointed,” he said of a result that had him questioning whether he would play another Australian Open, especially if his results at Grand Slams do not improve. “Making second rounds of slams is not something I find particularly motivating.”Murray, of course, would like once more to be playing in the second week of the most important tournaments, something Nadal did not realize was going to be possible this quickly, and at a time when figuring out how to win quickly has never been more important, with Friday’s win serving as the latest evidence.“I made the right decisions,” he said. More

  • 138 Shares169 Views

    in Tennis

    Sabalenka Struggles, Then Prevails as Top Women Fall at Australian Open

    The No. 2 seed looked shaky in her opening service game in the second round but pushed through, indicative of the women’s game: unpredictable and deep in talent.MELBOURNE, Australia — Thursday was another rough day for the leading women at a major tennis tournament. Garbiñe Muguruza, the No. 3 seed, and Anett Kontaveit, the No. 6 seed, lost within five minutes of each other in their second-round matches at the Australian Open after playing in the championship match of the WTA Finals in Mexico in November.Thursday’s setbacks were hardly surprising in the spinning roulette wheel that is the women’s game, which is so unpredictable and deep in talent that Emma Raducanu, as a little-known 19-year-old British qualifier, managed to win last year’s U.S. Open title without dropping a set in only her second appearance in a Grand Slam tournament.Raducanu was seeded 17th in Melbourne, and as if to prove the point she made in New York again, she was beaten in the second round on Thursday, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, by 98th-ranked Danka Kovinic.The prospects were not looking much better for second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka. She has more cabinet-rattling power than anyone in the women’s game, but she also has developed the yips on her second serve: a sudden inability to rely on the muscle memory that she had acquired throughout many years of pounding tennis balls and opponents into submission.On Thursday, in a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory against 20-year-old Wang Xinyu of China, Sabalenka was not just missing second serves, she was missing some of them by 15 feet or more as they landed closer to the baseline than the service box.In her opening service game alone, she made six double faults and finished the first set with 12, losing the set, 6-1. Some in the crowd began closing or covering their eyes as if not to intrude on her grief. A double fault gets personal. True, it counts no more or less than a groundstroke that lands long, a misjudged volley that is parried wide or a drop shot that lacks the steam to make it past the net.But the serve remains the only shot in tennis over which a player has total control, from the toss to contact, and when it goes off, or, worse yet, completely off, the psychology gets tricky, particularly when the serve is the cornerstone of one’s game. (See the strapping Sabalenka, who is nearly 6 feet and can rain down aces.)“If you see me serving on the practice court, it’s perfect; it’s an amazing serve,” she said this week.“I just. I think it’s all about in here,” she said, pointing to her head.Double faults have been a recurring problem for her despite her rise in the rankings, and there were signs of bigger trouble in November at the WTA Finals near Guadalajara, Mexico, where she hit 19 double faults in a round-robin loss to Maria Sakkari.Sabalenka after she lost to Maria Sakkari of Greece in the women’s title game of the 2021 WTA Finals.Ulises Ruiz/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesBut the off-season clearly did not help her resolve the issue, and she has been double-faulting at an unsettling clip since arriving in Australia. There were two lead-in tournaments in Adelaide, and she lost in the first round of both to opponents ranked far below her: hitting 18 double faults against Kaja Juvan and 21 against Rebecca Peterson.Mark Philippoussis, an imposing and big-serving Australian who lost to Roger Federer in the 2003 Wimbledon final, felt for Sabalenka and sent her a text after her second defeat, offering to help as soon as he had finished his television commentary duties.They went on court that night.“We served a lot, and he gave me some tips about what I should focus on during the game when I’m like struggling with my serve,” she said. “And my coach was there. They had a nice conversation. We had a nice conversation.”In fact, Sabalenka said they talked much more than they served. “Maybe a few hours,” she said in Melbourne. “But I was really worried going here about my serve, what was going to happen in the match. But I just tried to stay positive during this practice week.”A combustible competitor even in better times, she said she has also done her best to stay positive with the Australian Open underway. Her service problems are not behind her, but she rallied to defeat Storm Sanders in three sets in the opening round on Tuesday despite 12 double faults, most of which came early.“I was thinking a lot on my serve,” she said. “I tried to control everything, and that’s not how it works. I have muscle memory, and I just have to trust myself, and that’s what I did in the middle of the second set.”But the problem quickly resurfaced against Wang, and she had to pull off a greater escape: 19 double faults is the equivalent of giving away nearly five service games.“There’s just so much overthinking going on,” said Roger Rasheed, a veteran Australian coach who has worked with Lleyton Hewitt, Grigor Dimitrov and Gaël Monfils. “She is technically fine, but the moment she misses her first serve, she is already in trouble as the mind is controlling her in a negative way.”The Australian Open has certainly seen worse in the second round from a star. In 1999, Anna Kournikova, a 17-year-old Russian who was seeded No. 12, served 31 double faults against Miho Saeki of Japan.“I’m really frustrated about it, like everybody who’s watching,” Sabalenka said. “When I practice, I have no problem, but when I come to the line, something happens. I’m just going to have to fight through it.”She finished the match by putting a towel over her head in her chair — not the usual Kournikova approach — but she had won in three high-wire sets.Wang in action during her second-round match.James Gourley/ReutersConsider that foreshadowing for Sabalenka, who powered through her problem to a degree by hitting her second serves as hard as she typically hits her first. She also tried to focus on her strengths, not her weaknesses, and, in truth, played some phenomenal, acrobatic offense and defense from the baseline once the ball was in play.“I’ve already had a lot of experience with playing without the serve, and I kept telling myself you have enough other shots to win the game even without the serve,” Sabalenka said with a shrug.But this does not seem like a sustainable approach for winning her first Grand Slam singles title at this Australian Open. “It just puts unwanted pressure on the rest of her weapons: no room to breathe,” Rasheed said.Kournikova, after all, did not make it past Round 4 when she had the yips. Next up for Sabalenka: Marketa Vondrousova, a French Open finalist and Olympic silver medalist who is seeded 31st this year. More

  • 88 Shares179 Views

    in Tennis

    Australia Releases Judges’ Reasoning on Djokovic Expulsion

    In ruling in favor of the Australian government’s decision to revoke the visa of Novak Djokovic, the panel of three judges who oversaw the case reasserted the broad authority of the country’s immigration minister and found that he had acted in a way that was both reasonable and rational, according to the ruling released on Thursday.The court’s decision, which extinguished Mr. Djokovic’s chance of winning a record 21st men’s Grand Slam title in Melbourne this year, concluded a volatile saga that prompted debate over immigration law, celebrity entitlement and vaccinations.The ruling, released by the Federal Court of Australia, was the first public statement of the court’s reasoning.“An iconic world tennis star may influence people of all ages, young or old, but perhaps especially the young and the impressionable, to emulate him,” the panel of three judges found. “This is not fanciful; it does not need evidence.”The court noted the broad authority of the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, to control entry into the country and found he was well within his rights to cancel Mr. Djokovic’s visa on the grounds of “health and good order.”The legal question, the judges said, was not whether Mr. Djokovic actually posed a risk to health, safety and good order to the country, but whether Mr. Hawke was “satisfied” that his presence in the country might amount to one.Once held up as an example of how nations could keep Covid cases low, Australia is now tackling its most severe surge since the pandemic began.Ultimately, Mr. Hawke’s reasons for revoking the visa — in part, that Mr. Djokovic’s position as a sporting role model who chose to remain unvaccinated against Covid-19 could “foster anti-vaccination sentiment” — were not “irrational or illogical or not based on relevant material,” the three judges said.Though Mr. Hawke did not have to provide his reasons for canceling Mr. Djokovic’s visa, the judgment said they were “carefully drafted,” and showed that he had exercised the discretionary power lawfully.“Another person in the position of the minister may have not canceled Mr. Djokovic’s visa,” the judges wrote. “The minister did.” More

  • 113 Shares99 Views

    in Tennis

    Carlos Alcaraz Plays Matteo Berrettini at the Australian Open

    Alcaraz is one of the most exciting next-generation talents in sports, and is the youngest player in the men’s draw at the Australian Open. He faces Matteo Berrettini in the third round.VILLENA, Spain — The rowdy tennis academy Christmas party was underway in the adjoining room. But Carlos Alcaraz was sitting calmly at a table surrounded by trophies and talking about the beauty of training in this place that was remote, relaxed and “tranquilo.”It was hard not to detect a metaphor as the dance music pounded through the wall.Alcaraz, a dynamic and genial Spaniard who is one of the most exciting next-generation talents in sports, will have to keep blocking out a great deal of commotion to fulfill his justifiably big dreams.At 18, he is drawing comparisons to Rafael Nadal, his compatriot, at the same age, even if their styles are dissimilar and Alcaraz has a photo of Roger Federer, not Nadal, in his room. But like Nadal back in the day, Alcaraz is a genuine prodigy: already ranked 31st on the tour and seeded at that spot at the Australian Open, where he has advanced to the third round despite contracting the coronavirus in November and skipping all the lead-in tournaments.“I think he’s got greatness written all over him,” said Paul Annacone, who coached Pete Sampras and Federer, now works with the top-ranked American Taylor Fritz, and is generally wary of praising players too soon.There is a photograph of Alcaraz standing with Roger Federer on a shelf in his bedroom.But Alcaraz, the youngest player in the men’s draw in Melbourne, can certainly carry you away with his airborne, all-court brand of tennis.At 6-foot-1, he is the same height as Federer and Nadal yet considerably shorter than the leaders of the new wave — Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini — all of whom are 6-foot-4 or taller. But on the court, he does not look like an under-leveraged underdog.His game is a bewitching blend of quick-strike power, abrupt changes of pace, and quicksilver movement resembling that of a gymnast as he slides into splits in the corners and maintains his body control even in extreme positions.“His game is electric,” Annacone said. “It’s a bit like lightning in a bottle. He’s got that fast racket, like Andre Agassi did, and he’s got the fast feet like Rafa does. He can play up on the baseline, and he can back up when he needs to. So, he has a lot of things so naturally already at 18 and he’s already 30 in the world, so I just can’t imagine how good he’s going to be in two years if he stays healthy.”Alcaraz is coached by Juan Carlos Ferrero, a self-contained Spaniard and former world No. 1 whose calm gaze seems well-suited to the stark, long-horizon landscape near Villena in southeastern Spain full of medieval fortresses and open space. Ferrero grew up near here and now is one of the owners of the JC Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy, where Alcaraz boards and trains.Alcaraz is able to maintain control of his body even in extreme positions.Jason O’Brien/EPA, via Shutterstock“The key this year is to keep working well and not think for a moment that the hard work is already done,” Ferrero said. “But knowing Carlos and the values he and his family have, I’d be very surprised if he lets success go to his head.”Alcaraz was born into a tennis family in El Palmar, a suburb of Murcia, about an hour’s drive from Villena. Alcaraz’s paternal grandfather, also named Carlos, helped transform a hunting club in El Palmar into a club with tennis courts and a swimming pool. Alcaraz’s father, also named Carlos, learned to play the game, inspired by the achievements of Manuel Santana, Spain’s first men’s Wimbledon champion, who died in December.A night time view of El Palmar, a little town outside Murcia where Alcaraz was born.But despite becoming one of the best players in Spain, Alcaraz’s father lacked the money to pursue a professional career for long: stopping at age 20 and becoming a tennis coach and administrator at the club. Alcaraz, the second of four sons, has taken the family passion to the next level.At age 3, he was already hitting balls against the wall at the club in El Palmar with a small racket.“There was no way to get him away from there,” his father explained. “I was already tired and ready to go home after working all day and Carlos would be pleading with me: ‘Play with me, here on the wall!’ It would be after 9 o’clock, and I’d say. “OK but only 20 minutes.’ And after 20 minutes, we’d go an extra 30 minutes, and he would want more and more. And I’d be the one to say, ‘This can’t go on, dinner’s ready and we have to go home.’ And he’d start crying again.”The father soon realized that his son was a quick study, and he made sure that Alcaraz acquired a full tennis tool kit, including the drop shot that Alcaraz put to such effective use Wednesday in his second-round victory over Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.Alcaraz’s family could not afford to support his travel and training, but they received backing from the Murcian businessman Alfonso Lopez Rueda, a family friend who provided the approximately 2,000 euros Alcaraz needed to travel to a junior tournament in Croatia when he was 10 years old. Alcaraz’s father, Carlos, was also a tennis player, having been inspired by Manuel Santana.After Alcaraz lost in the final and returned to El Palmar, Lopez Rueda said he would be delighted to continue providing financial assistance.“Carlos and our family are forever grateful to him,” Alcaraz’s father said.With Alcaraz’s talent and junior results, other benefactors eventually arrived, including I.M.G., the global management agency that has long had a major presence in tennis.Albert Molina, Alcaraz’s agent with I.M.G., worked with David Ferrer, the retired Spanish star, and with Ferrero, which is how the coaching connection was made in 2018 after Ferrero had split with Zverev on acrimonious terms.Alcaraz spends weekdays at the academy and returns to El Palmar on weekends. “I once planned to remain at home, but it was hard to find practice partners,” he said. “I think if I would have stayed in Murcia, it would have taken longer for me to rise. In Murcia, there are more distractions. Lots of friends. Going out at night. Here in the academy I don’t have that.”Ferrero appreciates that Alcaraz’s father does not interfere with his coaching. Ferrero, nearly as lean at age 41 as he was in his prime, won the French Open and reached No. 1 in 2003 before Federer and Nadal took command. He has been where Alcaraz wants to get.“I’m still quite young, and I’m going through a period where everything is new for me, and Juan Carlos already has lived through this, and he can really bring me that experience that other coaches cannot,” Alcaraz said. “He lived it from the inside.”Juan Carlos Ferrero, Alcaraz’s coach, won the French Open and reached No. 1 in 2003.And what tip from Ferrero has proved the most helpful so far?“Above all, he told me not to be in a hurry,” Alcaraz said. “That I’m going to get the experience and play the tournaments and learn the ropes, and that there’s no need to get ahead of the process. I need to live all these moments and not be in a hurry for the results right away because I’m going up against the best in the world for the first time in all these tournaments that I’m playing for the first time. And I need to enjoy it and respect it and acquire the experience I need to have a clear vision of it all.”That has not stopped coach and pupil from announcing lofty goals for 2022 that include securing a spot in the top 15. Alcaraz made clear on Monday that he would prefer making the top eight and qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.What is obvious as Alcaraz prepares to face the No. 7 seed Berrettini in the third round on Friday in Melbourne is that the best players in the world are already nervous. He might not have a driver’s license but he does have game.A late-night training session in the gym at Juan Carlos Ferrero Equelite Sport Academy in Villena, Alicante, in southeast Spain.Just ask Tsitsipas, whom Alcaraz beat at the 2021 U.S. Open in a fast-twitch, third-round thriller that ended in a fifth-set tiebreaker and overflowed with audacious shotmaking.“Ball speed was incredible,” Tsitsipas said. “I’ve never seen someone hit the ball so hard. Took time to adjust.”Alcaraz reached the quarterfinals in New York, where he retired for the first time on the main tour, stopping in the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime because of a thigh injury.“That was really unfortunate,” Alcaraz said. “I don’t like to retire from anything, but the pain was so bad that I was worried I was going to do something more serious if I kept playing.”But the Tsitsipas match has stayed with him. It was, in his view, the best example so far of how he wants to perform. He played positive, attacking tennis with full intensity — “Beastly,” Alcaraz said with a chuckle — but also enough enjoyment in the moment to keep from getting tense. There were smiles under duress.“I’m a kid who needs to be happy and lively on the court,” Alcaraz said. “When I’m dead serious the whole time, it’s not a good sign for me. It makes me more nervous.”“I’m going through a period where everything is new for me,” Alcaraz said. “Juan Carlos already has lived through this”.What caught Ferrero’s attention was how Alcaraz reacted to the big stage of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis-specific stadium in the world with its 23,771 seats. Off the court, Alcaraz is cheerful and easygoing. Ferrero uses words like “cercana” (close) and “abierta” (open) and “fiel” (loyal).But with the ball in play, he is fierce and intense.“On court, he’s a fighter,” Ferrero said. “The best players have character, a lot of it. To be in the U.S. Open and play Tsitsipas on the largest court in the world, if you don’t have character you shrink. Carlos is quite the contrary. He seems to get bigger, and that to me is a very good sign.”Getting stronger is also part of the plan. Alcaraz spent much of this off-season the same way he spent much of last off-season: doing strength and conditioning work to prepare himself for best-of-five-set tennis and a busy schedule. Going sleeveless in Melbourne was partly a link to Spanish tennis stars past (like Nadal and Carlos Moya) but also an expression of confidence in his more muscular build.“We know that this year I’m going to have to play some long matches, and so it’s important to feel strong physically,” Alcaraz said. “Knowing that you can hold up is very important.”Ferrero likes the comparison of Alcaraz to a car with a powerful motor that requires a chassis that is sturdy enough to support it.“You can have great shots at 17 or 18 but if you don’t have the physical level, too, it’s not sustainable,” Ferrero said. “It’s essential work, but it has to be done right. You can’t go too fast.”“I’m a kid who needs to be happy and lively on the court,” Alcaraz said. “When I’m dead serious the whole time, it’s not a good sign for me. It makes me more nervous.”The academy in Villena was founded by Antonio Martinez Cascales, Ferrero’s longtime coach. There were just two red clay courts when Ferrero arrived at age 15, but it has 20 courts now and has grown into one of the leading academies in Spain. There are hardcourts, including an indoor hardcourt, and an artificial grass court as well as a pool, cabins and a sprawling clubhouse decorated primarily with memorabilia from Ferrero’s career.One clay court is named in honor of David Ferrer; another in honor of Pablo Carreño Busta, the 30-year-old who remains, at No. 21, the highest-ranked player based at the academy even if Alcaraz has become the focal point for the news media. “People focus on me because I’m young and doing very well, and people are always interested when you do things at a young age,” Alcaraz said. “But I am really not trying to focus on that.”He acknowledged that it was flattering but wildly premature to be compared with Nadal in light of Nadal’s 20 Grand Slam tournament singles titles and long run at the forefront of global sport.“I don’t want people to know me as a mini-Nadal or second Nadal,” he said. “I just want to be Carlos Alcaraz.”And who might that be?As the dance music continued next door, Alcaraz did not hesitate.“He is a young, humble guy who knows what he needs to do,” he answered. “A kid who wants to make his dreams come true and is working for that, training for that every day. I think I’m on the right path with my team here at the academy, and I hope in 10 years if we meet again in this room, I will have made my dreams reality.”Samuel Aranda More

  • 150 Shares169 Views

    in Tennis

    After Australia, Djokovic Is Likely to Meet Problems in France and U.S.

    With Novak Djokovic back in his native Serbia, unable to compete in the Australian Open because he is not vaccinated against the coronavirus, a big question mark looms over what comes next for the world’s top male tennis player.The French authorities said this week that players must be vaccinated to compete in the French Open — the next of the four Grand Slam tournaments, scheduled for May.If Mr. Djokovic refuses to get vaccinated, he is likely to miss a second major tournament in a row, reflecting a major shift in how public officials approach Covid requirements and potential exemptions. As emblematic as Australia’s refusal to give Mr. Djokovic special treatment has been, it might just be the beginning.The authorities in Spain, where Mr. Djokovic owns a house, have urged him to “lead by example” and get vaccinated. In Monte Carlo, where Mr. Djokovic also has a house, the organizers of a tournament that he has previously won said they were awaiting guidelines from the French government for the 2022 edition in April.Mr. Djokovic might be able to compete in Wimbledon in June, but under current guidelines he could be barred from competing in the U.S. Open a few months later, since foreign travelers must be vaccinated to enter the United States, with very limited exceptions.After France adopted a Covid pass law on Sunday requiring people to be vaccinated to enter restaurants, cinemas and sporting arenas, the country’s Sports Ministry said that no exemption would be made for athletes.“Who would understand if we asked our citizens to make an effort and respect the rules if we authorize some to get out of them?” Stanislas Guerini, the leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s party, said on French radio this week. He called Mr. Djokovic’s behavior in remaining unvaccinated “irresponsible.”The French Open is scheduled to begin on May 22, and Mr. Djokovic is chasing a record 21st Grand Slam title. He, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have each won 20.Mr. Djokovic is one of only three top-100 men’s players to be unvaccinated, and some of his rivals welcomed the French decision.“At least they’re saying, ‘OK, no unvaccinated players are allowed to play in the French Open,’” said Alexander Zverev, who is currently world No. 3 in men’s tennis. “We know that now in advance, and I can imagine there’s not going to be any exemptions, and that’s OK.” More

  • 100 Shares119 Views

    in Tennis

    Emma Raducanu Defeats Sloane Stephens at Australian Open

    Despite being a Grand Slam champion herself, Raducanu had never faced one until she played and defeated Stephens in the first round of the Australian Open.MELBOURNE, Australia — Emma Raducanu wasted no time in announcing her presence in her first Grand Slam match since her stunning run to last year’s U.S. Open title.After hitting a forehand winner down the line past Sloane Stephens — the 2017 U.S. Open champion — Raducanu shouted a loud “Come on,” punctuating the first point of the match.From there, Raducanu was off and running, sprinting through the first set in 17 minutes with the loss of just four points. Though Stephens found her footing in the second set and was able to prolong rallies with her foot speed and counterpunching, Raducanu regained control in the final frame to close out the match 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 on Tuesday night in Margaret Court Arena.A Melbourne moment to remember ✨🇬🇧 @EmmaRaducanu opens her account at the #AusOpen with a first round victory over Sloane Stephens, 6-0 2-6 6-1.🎥: @wwos • @espn • @Eurosport • @wowowtennis #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/UeUbmdRy18— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 18, 2022
    When a backhand half-volley from Stephens hit the net to end the match, Raducanu dropped her racket and covered her face with her hands, a reaction rarely seen from a top player after a first-round win. Then again, rarely has a player reached the top after having skipped so many rungs on the ladder. Seeded 17th, this is Raducanu’s first appearance in the women’s competition at the Australian Open, and only her third Grand Slam event over all. During last year’s Australian Open, Raducanu was ranked 348th, opting to stay home and study for high school exams rather than traveling to Australia.Tuesday’s match, only the second night match of Raducanu’s career, was also the first time she had played a third set at a Grand Slam: Her run to the U.S. Open title last year, which began in qualifying, entailed winning 20 straight sets across her 10 matches.“I think 2022 is all about learning for me,” Raducanu said. “Being in those situations — winning a set and then having to fight in a decider — is definitely all just accumulating into a bank of experience that I can tap into later on down the line. Yeah, very happy that today I can add to that.”Despite being a Grand Slam champion herself, Raducanu had never faced one before Stephens.Tuesday’s match was the first time Raducanu had to play a third set at a Grand Slam tournament.Clive Brunskill/Getty Images“When Sloane was fighting back in the second set, I definitely accepted that,” Raducanu said. “I was almost expecting it, because she is a champion and you don’t just become one by rolling over.”Raducanu will play her second-round match on Thursday against the Montenegrin Danka Kovinic, another early steppingstone for a player who has already shot to superstardom in her home country. Raducanu’s U.S. Open win propelled her to the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award, and she was named an M.B.E. — Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire — on the Queen’s New Year’s honors list. Shortly after her triumph in New York, a congratulatory message to Raducanu appeared on the Royal Mail’s postmarked envelopes across Britain for four days.Stephens, 28, admitted that while both she and Raducanu had won in Flushing Meadows, their titles had little in common. “We won the U.S. Open, but our situations are very different,” Stephens said. “I think she is carrying a whole country, and that’s quite different than my win at the U.S. Open.”Despite her swift success, Raducanu has received blowback from members of the British media, who have suggested that she has not focused enough on her tennis after her results dipped following a windfall of endorsements. In Nike’s first video advertisement featuring the 19-year-old, the company dramatized those criticisms, showing Raducanu playing as phrases like “fluke” and “one-hit wonder” flashed behind her in capital letters.For those who had wanted to make uncharitable assessments, there had been some reason for concern: Raducanu had lost four of the six matches she had played since winning the U.S. Open, including a brutal 6-0, 6-1 loss to Elena Rybakina last week in Sydney.Raducanu, whose training before the match in Sydney had been limited by a recent case of the coronavirus, said she was “very happy to have turned it around so quickly” after that stark defeat.“The last week I put some great work in,” she said. “Sydney for me, wasn’t a deal breaker. I was still feeling positive; I just knew where I was at that point.”Stephens, who noted the “massive scream” Raducanu let out after the first point of the match, said that she could sense Raducanu’s readiness to silence doubters.“I think the hardest part is trying to prove that you are good enough to be where you are or good enough to stay where you are,” Stephens said. “The more you try to do that, I think, the more emotion shows and the more things are probably out of character than normally you would do, because you’re trying so hard to show and prove that you’re this person, or this ranking.”Raducanu said she also has had to learn to deal with self-criticism.“The biggest challenge is to be patient,” Raducanu said in her pretournament news conference. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Whether that’s practice, whether that’s off the court, I want to be the best I can all the time; sometimes it’s just not very viable.”She added: “I need to just relax. As long as the trend is trending upward, just a matter of small fluctuations, I think I can be proud. Whatever challenge that is, I feel kind of ready to face it now.”Sloane Stephens after losing a point to Raducanu.Tertius Pickard/Associated PressWhile Raducanu’s career continues to trend upward, Stephens said that her accomplishments have come in a “very backward” sequence.“It’s hard to manage,” Stephens said of Raducanu’s uncharted trajectory. “But I think if you have the right people in your corner guiding you, they will know when to take breaks. They will know when to push her harder, and they will know when she’s up for it.”Stephens had been expecting to be on a break of her own during this tournament. She married her longtime boyfriend, the soccer player Jozy Altidore, on New Year’s Day, and said she planned the wedding for January because she had “fully planned on skipping” the Australian part of this season. She said she had not wanted to take the risk of having to quarantine and of having to retread upon the pain she felt here a year ago: While enduring the mandatory hotel quarantine before last year’s Australian Open, Stephens attended the funerals of her grandparents via Zoom.“Last year, I had a very traumatizing experience in quarantine, and I just wanted to completely remove myself from that,” Stephens said on Tuesday. “No matter what, even if it was like two days, I didn’t want to do it.”Stephens, who said she had completed full-fledged off-season training, said people close to her were caught off guard when she decided to make the unexpected trip Down Under.“I think everyone was a little bit surprised,” she said. “But, yeah, I just was like: ‘I’m ready.’”Her opponent, Raducanu, proved that she was even more ready. More