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      At Indian Wells, Ukrainian Tennis Stars Take Their Fight to the Court

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      Playing through fear of the war, Marta Kostyuk said that she must show “what it’s like having a Ukrainian heart” and that it “hurts” to see Russian players at the tournament.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — The Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk and the Belgian veteran Maryna Zanevska played for more than three hours in the sun and a swirling wind.They played through pain and concern about issues much larger than tennis, and when they met on the same side of the net after Kostyuk’s victory, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 7-5, in the opening round on Thursday, they shared a long, tearful embrace and a similar message.“I told her that everything is going to be all right,” Zanevska said.“I told her that everything is going to be OK, that our parents are going to be OK,” Kostyuk said.Indian Wells is a 10-hour time change and more than 6,000 miles away from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where Kostyuk was born, and from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, where Zanevska was born before immigrating to Belgium in her teens and leaving her relatives behind.But Ukraine’s war with Russia, now into its third week, still feels inescapably close to the Ukrainian players competing at the BNP Paribas Open.“It’s just terrifying,” said Kostyuk, 19, one of tennis’s brightest young talents. “Especially in the beginning, the first couple days, my whole family was there. They were all in one house, so if anything was about to happen, I would lose the whole family. So, thinking of it is just you go to sleep and you don’t know if you wake up the next morning having the family.”She continued: “I’m coping the way I’ve been coping. Everyone is different. I chose to fight. I came here. At the beginning, I was feeling guilty that I’m not there. You know, the whole family is there but not me. I was feeling guilty that I’m playing tennis, that I have the sky above me that is blue and bright and very calm and mixed feelings. But you can’t be in this position, because everyone is fighting how they can fight, and my job is to play tennis, and this is the biggest way I can help in the current situation.”Daniil Medvedev of Russia, left, with another Russian player, Karen Khachanov, at Indian Wells this week.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesRussian players are in Indian Wells, too, but while Kostyuk played with Ukraine next to her name in the draw and on the scoreboard, the Russians and the Belarusian athletes, whose country has cooperated with Russia’s attack on Ukraine, are playing without national symbols or identification, as mandated by the men’s and women’s tours.Ukraine’s biggest tennis star, Elina Svitolina, lobbied successfully for that policy before she agreed to play Russia’s Anastasia Potapova in a match at the tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, earlier this month. But Kostyuk believes Russian players should be barred from competing on tour altogether, even as individuals.“I don’t agree with the action that has been taken,” she said. “Look at the other sports. Look at the big sports, what they did.”Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from the Paralympics in Beijing, and Russian national teams and clubs have been banned from major global sports like soccer and basketball. But though Russian and Belarusian track and field athletes have been barred from major competitions like this year’s world outdoor championships in Eugene, Ore., individual Russian athletes are still allowed to compete internationally for their non-Russian clubs in, for example, European soccer leagues and the N.H.L.Daniil Medvedev, the Russian men’s star who recently displaced Novak Djokovic atop the rankings, acknowledged that “there is always a possibility” that Russian tennis players could be banned altogether.“We never know,” Medvedev said in Indian Wells on Wednesday. “The way the situation is evolving in other sports, some sports made this decision, especially the team sports.”But for now, tennis has taken a comparatively moderate approach, although this year’s men’s and women’s tour events in Moscow have been canceled and Russian teams have been barred from the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup.“I do feel really sorry that the Russian players have to go through this, but the Ukrainian people are going through much worse things,” Maryna Zanevska said.Clive Brunskill/Getty Images“It’s a very tricky thing because I see that all other sports are removing Russians from their competitions,” Zanevska said. “And in the tennis community they did a few steps like removing the flag, and I can imagine it’s tough for the Russian players as well. But really unfortunately, Ukraine needs support as much as possible from all over the world, all the communities, all the types of sports. It counts. I do feel really sorry that the Russian players have to go through this, but the Ukrainian people are going through much worse things.”The Russian star Andrey Rublev wrote “No war please” on the camera in Dubai last month, and others like Medvedev and the Belarusian women’s stars Victoria Azarenka and Aryna Sabalenka have called for “peace.” But Kostyuk, whose yellow-and-blue tennis outfit here matches the colors of Ukraine’s flag, said she did not like such vague appeals.“For me ‘No war’ means a lot of things,” she said. “No war? We can stop the war by giving up, but I know this was never an option.”She added: “These ‘No war’ statements, they hurt me — they hurt me because they have no substance.”Such sentiments are, nonetheless, too strong for the tournament organizers here. On Thursday, as Kostyuk and Zanevska played in Stadium 6, Wilfred Williams and Mary Beth Williams, American fans, held up a homemade banner that featured two Ukrainian flags and two messages written in Russian: the word “war” with a diagonal line through it and “Let’s go!”After the match, a tournament official told the Williamses, who are siblings, that they could not continue to display the banner. The BNP Paribas Open does not allow politically oriented signs, although national flags are permitted, and the tournament, in a show of support, has placed Ukrainian flags in its two main stadiums.“We just love peace and love tennis,” Mary Beth Williams said.Ukraine’s biggest tennis star, Elina Svitolina, at the Monterrey Open last month.Daniel Becerril/ReutersKostyuk said she had been in Kyiv in late 2013 and early 2014 when a series of protests led to the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s pro-Russia president who later fled the country.“I remember how united everyone was and I remember that we changed the government, and the fact that the guy decided that he thought that finally after eight years we would want to join him, I think, is a very big mistake,” Kostyuk said, referring to Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s president.Both Kostyuk and Zanevska, whose parents remain in Odessa, said they were disappointed that Russian players had not expressed regret for the invasion to them directly.Russia-Ukraine War: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 4On the ground. More

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      Zverev’s Swings Merited More Than a Slap on the Wrist

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      After striking the umpire’s chair during an outburst at a tournament in Mexico, Alexander Zverev can avoid a fine and suspension if he does not commit further violations for one year.SAN DIEGO — Somehow, the men’s tennis tour is allowing the German star Alexander Zverev to play on. He will be in the field for the BNP Paribas Open, which begins this week in Indian Wells, Calif., despite his frightening, unacceptable abuse of an official just two weeks ago after a defeat in doubles in Acapulco, Mexico.“The conduct of Zverev was the most egregious example of physical abuse of an official that I have seen in my decades working in and observing men’s professional tennis,” said Richard Ings, a former executive vice president for rules and competition at the ATP Tour.After cursing at the chair umpire Alessandro Germani following a questionable line call, Zverev took four big swings at the umpire’s chair with his racket after the match. The first three blows landed close to Germani, causing him to flinch and shift his feet at one point to avoid being struck. After Zverev took a short break to curse at Germani some more, he returned for one more swing at the chair.He was appropriately defaulted from the tournament after winning his subsequent singles match, fined $40,000 and docked the prize money he would have earned from the event. But though the follow-up investigation by the ATP rightly determined that Zverev, 24, had committed a “major offense,” he received the equivalent of a suspended sentence on Monday.Zverev has been fined an additional $25,000 and given an eight-week suspension, but both the fine, a pittance to a top-10 player like Zverev, and the suspension will not be levied if he avoids further code violations for unsportsmanlike conduct or physical or verbal abuse for one year after the date of his outburst in Mexico.This is, at best, a firm slap on the wrist, and it is hard to think of another major professional sport that would opt for such half-measures if an official were physically threatened to this degree by a player. Tennis does not shrink from suspending players for gambling on matches or for doping. But the sport has been sending inconsistent signals on protecting umpires for too long now, and the recent uptick in players confronting officials may be one of the consequences — see Daniil Medvedev’s and Denis Shapovalov’s outbursts at this year’s Australian Open. With the wider use of electronic line calling, tension between players and umpires should be dropping, not increasing. But Zverev raised the temperature far too high in Acapulco.“Suspended sentences are a good tool when the player has a good conduct history, and I’ve used them, but in this case the misconduct was egregious and physically directed at the official in their place of work,” said Ings, who was in his ATP role from 2001-5. “A line has been crossed, and previous history is irrelevant. I would have imposed a four-week suspension, and I’ve held the exact job that made such decisions for the ATP.”Miro Bratoev, the ATP’s current senior vice president of rules and competition, did not provide an explanation for Monday’s ruling. He is relatively new to the role, which he assumed in 2020, but several factors could have nudged him toward leniency.Although Zverev has broken plenty of rackets, he has committed no major offense violations until now. The ATP investigation into accusations that Zverev abused his former girlfriend, Olga Sharypova, is ongoing, and thus could not play a role in Monday’s penalty.Zverev’s apology after the Acapulco incident also was profuse. “It is difficult to put into words how much I regret my behavior during and after the doubles match yesterday,” he wrote on social media. “I have privately apologized to the chair umpire because my outburst towards him was wrong and unacceptable.”There is also the matter of tennis precedent. Bratoev’s predecessor, Gayle David Bradshaw, favored probation and also chose the suspended-sentence route in 2019 with Nick Kyrgios, the combustible Australian player, after a series of tantrums that included Kyrgios verbally abusing the chair umpire Fergus Murphy and spitting in his direction. Kyrgios was given probation even though he already had been suspended once for a “major offense” after showing a serious lack of effort in a match in Shanghai in 2016 (that suspension was reduced from eight weeks to three after Kyrgios agreed to see a sports psychologist).Other leading players also have struck the umpire’s chair with their rackets in anger without being suspended. Karolina Pliskova, a former world No. 1, smacked the side of the chair after a loss to Maria Sakkari in Rome in 2018 and received only an unspecified four-figure fine from the women’s tour. Medvedev, now the ATP No. 1, struck the chair twice during the 2020 ATP Cup and was given a point penalty and a fine.But though both of those incidents also deserved stiffer penalties, neither Pliskova nor Medvedev came nearly as close to striking the chair umpire or to displaying the same level of fury as Zverev.“If a player breaks his racket on the umpire’s chair, and he is literally a few centimeters away from hitting the umpire’s leg, he should not be allowed to get on a tennis court until he’s gone through some kind of rehab, some kind of time,” said Mats Wilander, a former No. 1-ranked player and a Eurosport analyst, before the ATP ruling was announced. “We need to punish him accordingly and allowing him to come out and play professional tennis the week after — or two weeks after — that is too soon.”Zverev played in the Davis Cup in Brazil last week.Sergio Moraes/ReutersSerena Williams spoke about Zverev’s outburst in an interview with CNN last week, saying there was “absolutely a double standard” and that she “would probably be in jail if I did that — like, literally, no joke.”Monday’s soft punishment of Zverev likely did little to change her view, but its relevant to remember that Williams also avoided suspension in 2009 after a profanity-filled tirade against a lineswoman during her U.S. Open semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters. Williams, despite threatening to shove the ball down the official’s throat, was fined $82,500 and placed on probation for two years.Zverev, ranked No. 3, already has competed since the incident in Acapulco, representing Germany in a Davis Cup match in Brazil last week. The Germans won, but Zverev complained afterward that the crowd had crossed a line by directing personal abuse at his family and support team.Sharypova, a Russian player, has not brought formal charges against Zverev since her accusations of domestic abuse were first reported by Racquet Magazine in November 2020. He has denied abusing her, and the ATP did not announce its investigation until nearly a year later. The inquiry is, according to ATP officials, being conducted by an outside party.It has been a tense time for quite some time for Zverev, but he has managed to produce some brilliant tennis: He won the gold medal in singles at last year’s Summer Olympics, pushed Novak Djokovic to five sets in the semifinals of the 2021 U.S. Open and then defeated Djokovic and Medvedev to win the prestigious season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, in November.But this season has not begun auspiciously for a player who has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament singles title. One of the big favorites at the Australian Open, he was upset in the fourth round by Shapovalov in three error-strewn sets, demolishing a racket in frustration in the second.Then came Acapulco and a much more serious failure to control his temper. It should have cost him more than a default, a middling fine and probation, but the ATP has missed the opportunity to send the right message to its public, to its players and — above all — to its officials.“Umpires need to be protected in their workplace,” Ings said. “Player abuse of officials is growing based on recent incidents, and this soft sanction will do nothing to deter future misconduct.” More

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      Paula Badosa Outlasts Victoria Azarenka to Win Indian Wells

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      Badosa won her first top-tier title on Sunday with a hard-fought 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Azarenka in a final that required three hours and four minutes.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — In its usual March dates, the BNP Paribas Open has been a launching pad for major talent in recent years.Naomi Osaka won the title in 2018 and then won the U.S. Open by upsetting Serena Williams in the final. Bianca Andreescu won the title in 2019 and did the same.Time will tell on the 27th-ranked Paula Badosa, who won her first top-tier championship on Sunday with a 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Victoria Azarenka in a final that required three hours and four minutes of effort and resilience in temperatures approaching 90 degrees.Badosa’s unexpected run through a brutal draw was not the only big surprise in Indian Wells. Cameron Norrie, a British player seeded 21st, also won his first Masters 1000 title, defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia on Sunday in the men’s final.At 23, Badosa is older than either Osaka or Andreescu were when they made their breakthroughs at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. But she was once a teen prodigy herself and is now doing justice to her talent. On Monday, she will break into the top 20 for the first time at No. 13.“I think the first thing that I’ve learned this week is that nothing is impossible,” Badosa said. “If you fight, if you work, after all these years, you can achieve anything. That’s the first message that I see that could happen. And to dream. Sometimes you have tough moments. In my case I have been through tough moments. I never stopped dreaming. That’s what kept me working hard and believing until the last moment.”Badosa was born in New York where her Spanish parents were living and working, but the family soon moved back to Spain where she began playing tennis.She was identified early as someone with the kind of drive and talent to become Spain’s next great women’s player after Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Conchita Martinez and Garbiñe Muguruza.She played her first professional satellite tournament at age 14, won two rounds at the Miami Open as a wild-card entrant at age 17 in 2015 and won the French Open junior title later that year. But she struggled with the expectations and the tour, going through a full-blown depression that left her struggling to get out of bed, much less train for competition.Badosa sought professional help, and found a new coach who helped retool her game and rebuild her confidence, and in January 2019, she qualified for her first Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open.She has chosen to be open about her mental-health issues, recording a video in 2019 that recounted her journey. But her rise into the elite began in earnest after the five-month hiatus of the professional tours forced by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Badosa reached the fourth round of the French Open, which had been delayed from the spring until October, and after strong preparation in the off-season she was ready to do well at this year’s Australian Open only to end up, like Azarenka, in hard quarantine after the charter flight to Melbourne.Both players ended up losing in the first round, but Badosa has gone on to have a breakthrough season: winning her first WTA Tour title in Belgrade in May and then following that with a run to the quarterfinals at the French Open, the fourth round of Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics.At 5-foot-11, she has physical presence and big power on her serve, forehand and two-handed backhand. But she is also a natural mover, capable of counterpunching from the corners and chasing down the drop shots that the crafty Ons Jabeur tried against her in the semifinals on Friday.Victoria Azarenka was two points away from victory but unforced errors cost her the opportunity.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesAzarenka posed a very different challenge. While Jabeur relies on spin and abrupt changes of pace, Azarenka is a straight-line player at her most dangerous when she can take a full cut at a return or step into the court and find a sharp angle with her best shot: her two-handed backhand. She is also highly effective at the net, where she often thrived on Sunday.A former No. 1, Azarenka has not had her finest season in 2021. But she is at her most dangerous on hardcourts, and Indian Wells has long been one of her happiest hunting grounds.There are no major tournaments in Belarus, Azarenka’s home country. But this parched part of the United States is an area that also feels like home. After leaving her home city of Minsk to find better training opportunities, she lived in Arizona as a teenager and later bought a home in Manhattan Beach, Calif., in the Los Angeles area.She won the singles title in Indian Wells in 2012 and 2016, the year in which she looked ready to resume dominating the women’s game. Instead, she became pregnant with her son Leo and left the tour for nearly a year. After her return, she was unable to compete consistently and was unable to leave California at one stage because of a long-running custody battle with her former boyfriend Billy McKeague.But she has still hit some high notes: above all her run to the U.S. Open final last year. And she is still one of the purest ball strikers and best returners in the women’s game.“I was seeing you many times,” Badosa said to the 32-year-old Azarenka in the post-match ceremony on Sunday. “I remember saying to my coach that I hope one day I can play like her.”“Thank you for inspiring me so much,” Badosa added. “I wouldn’t be here without you.”Azarenka was close, very close, on Sunday to becoming the first three-time women’s singles champion in Indian Wells. After losing the marathon first set in one hour and 19 minutes, she roared quickly back to win the second set as Badosa struggled to produce the same consistency from the baseline.Paula Badosa won her second career title. She won her first earlier this year in Belgrade, Serbia.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressAzarenka exuded positive energy throughout the match, pumping her fist and moving purposefully between points. Though Badosa jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the final set, Azarenka did not falter. She fought back to 2-2 and then broke the Spaniard’s serve at 4-4 for the chance to serve for the match.At 30-0, Azarenka was just two points from victory but after nearly three hours of chasing the title, she lost her way, making unforced errors on the next four points to lose her serve and allow Badosa back in the hunt at 5-5.She did not squander the opportunity, taking command of the ensuing tiebreaker by taking a quick 3-0 lead, cracking a forehand winner to extend the lead to 4-1 and then closing out the match on her first championship point with another forehand winner.It was quite a finishing touch on the biggest victory of Badosa’s career, and she immediately dropped her racket, fell to the court and began sobbing, her hands covering her face.“A dream come true,” she said as she thanked her support team and tournament director Tommy Haas after the victory.“I know it’s been very tough times, so I appreciate all you’ve done,” Badosa said to Haas.It has indeed been an unusual and challenging edition of this prestigious tournament, canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic and delayed until October this year. But though women’s stars like Ashleigh Barty, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams were missing and the crowds were significantly smaller than usual, the 2021 BNP Paribas Open did have a final worthy of the event’s hard-earned reputation.If all goes according to plan, no guarantee in the coronavirus era, Badosa will defend her biggest title in just five months time. The 2022 edition is scheduled to be played in its usual window from March 7 to 20. More

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      Paula Badosa, Victoria Azarenka in Surprise Indian Wells Final

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      Many tennis stars have shut down their seasons or pleaded fatigue after a long year, but Azarenka and Badosa have thrived in the California desert.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Victoria Azarenka’s and Paula Badosa’s tennis seasons did not begin on a high note.Both had to go through hard quarantine in their hotel rooms in Melbourne, Australia: 14 days for Azarenka and 21 for Badosa, who also tested positive for the coronavirus.Shortly after their release in February, both lost in the opening round of the Australian Open, and they still wince at the memory of their trip down under.“It was damaging mentally, the end of it,” Azarenka said on Friday of her quarantine. “It was damaging physically the most for me. I’ve never stopped for two weeks not doing anything. In no way that was helpful.”But not for the first time, Azarenka and Badosa have proved resilient, and near the end of a grueling season they will face off on Sunday in a surprise women’s singles final at the BNP Paribas Open.Azarenka, a former No. 1, has fallen back in the rankings with injuries and off-court problems. Badosa, a former teen prodigy from Spain, has openly spoken about experiencing depression and struggling to manage her own and others’ expectations.But while other tennis stars have shut down their seasons or pleaded fatigue in Indian Wells after a year of bubbles, jet lag and virtual news conferences, Azarenka and Badosa have found the energy and the inspiration to thrive in the California desert: defeating a series of higher-ranked players.Azarenka, a 32-year-old from Belarus, has won the title twice in Indian Wells but not since 2016. Badosa, a 23-year-old Spaniard in the midst of a breakthrough season, is playing in the main draw here for the first time in singles.“I’m tired as well,” Badosa told me late Friday night. “I can’t wait to have a few days’ rest, to go home, to be honest. But I love to compete. I love tennis. Every time I’m on court, I’m enjoying, even though I’m suffering, but I know that’s part of the game. I forget everything: that I’m tired, all those things, because I love to be here.”It has been a strange edition of the tournament. Usually staged in March, it was canceled shortly before it was set to begin in 2020 and was then postponed to October this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.With a ban on unvaccinated fans during the tournament, children under 13, who are not yet eligible for Covid vaccine shots, have not been allowed on site, and the crowds have been about half the usual size. Most of the game’s biggest stars skipped or missed the tournament altogether, including the men’s No. 1 Novak Djokovic and the women’s No. 1 Ashleigh Barty. But the favorites who did choose to take part have not prospered.This is the first Masters 1000 event in the 31-year history of the category in which no men’s player ranked in the top 25 was able to reach the semifinals. No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 4 Alexander Zverev were both upset in the quarterfinals in three sets: Tsitsipas by Nikolas Basilashvili and Zverev by Taylor Fritz, an American from nearby San Diego who had to save two match points before securing his most significant victory.“What gave me a lot of success early on in my career was just that fearlessness to trust myself in the big moments,” he said. “It’s just really nice to kind of have that feeling back.”Azarenka and Badosa are both outside the top 25 as well, although not for long. Badosa will break into the top 20 for the first time on Monday, and Azarenka will break back in if she again claims the title.Victoria Azarenka signing balls for fans after defeating Jelena Ostapenko to advance to the women’s final.Mark J. Terrill/Associated PressIt has been, on balance, a frustrating season for Azarenka. A former No. 1, she looked ready to return to dominance in 2016 when she completed the so-called Sunshine Double by winning the tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. But she soon left the tour, pregnant with her son Leo, and then was unable to return to the circuit full time because of a continuing custody battle with Leo’s father.She remains at her best on hardcourts. When she beat her longtime rival Serena Williams in a three-set thriller to reach the 2020 U.S. Open final, it appeared she was in position to return to the fore this year. But she failed to make deep runs at the Grand Slam tournaments in 2021, and Sunday’s match will be her first tour singles final of the season.“I think my season has been tricky,” she said. “There were parts where I physically couldn’t bring that extra level, extra fight, which was very frustrating. Then there were parts where I felt that I was looking for something to add, and I didn’t necessarily know what it was. It was lot of searching.”Persistence was certainly required in her high-velocity, high-intensity semifinal with Jelena Ostapenko, the sturdy and powerful Latvian who can pound a tennis ball like few on the planet and rarely deprives herself of the pleasure. Many of her 45 winners were well beyond the 6-foot Azarenka’s reach. But after dominating the opening set, Ostapenko’s trademark high-risk approach resulted in more errors. Azarenka adjusted to the pace and began capitalizing on Ostapenko’s often-shaky second serve.Azarenka came within two points of defeat late in the third set and had to fight off three break points in the final game: saving the last with a rare and gutsy drop shot that she followed to net, where she read Ostapenko’s passing shot perfectly and hit a lunging volley winner.“Can you be more brave than that?” Azarenka said.She soon closed out her 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory, and Badosa followed her into the final by defeating Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-3 but only after failing to convert her first five match points. When Jabeur’s last shot sailed wide, Badosa dropped to the court, relieved and overwhelmed.Ranked 70th at the end of last season, she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at this year’s French Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon before splitting with Javier Martí, the coach who had helped build the foundation for her strong season.She now works with Jorge Garcia, a Spaniard who coached her in her youth, and as she has proved on the relatively slow hardcourts in Indian Wells, she is a multi-surface threat. She has powerful groundstrokes, full-stretch defensive skills and an ability to come quickly forward to chase down dropshots or finish off exchanges at the net.Her serve remains a flickering flame, but her future looks floodlight bright even if the depth in women’s tennis has made it difficult for any player to go deep in draws consistently.She and Azarenka have never played each other, but despite the gap in their ages, they have traversed common ground: from big expectations after junior success to Aussie quarantine.Both are also open to sharing their vulnerabilities, and Badosa, after securing her spot in the final, gave an on-court interview in which she referred to the “tough events” in her life and her depression, which peaked in 2017 and 2018 and required professional help.“As you can see, other players, they’re passing through this right now, so I’m not the only one,” she said later. “I think it’s important to talk about that, because it’s something very normal. It’s something very tough, because it’s a very tough sport. You pass through a lot of things. When I achieve something like this, the first thing that passes through my head is that: the tough moments. When I was there, I never believed that I could be in a final.”It will be real on Sunday, however, and it could be a great final if she and Azarenka can play with the same conviction and controlled power that they have displayed so far in the desert. More

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      At Indian Wells Leylah Fernandez Wins and Emma Raducanu Loses

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      The teenagers who stunned and delighted fans on their way to the U.S. Open final in September returned to compete at the BNP Paribas Open as headliners.INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Nearly a month after Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez faced off in perhaps the most unexpected Grand Slam singles final, they returned to action as headliners.Neither teenager had played in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden until this year, but they were front and center on Friday, anchoring the night-session schedule in their singles debuts at the BNP Paribas Open.Raducanu, the big-surprise U.S. Open champion, was assigned to Stadium 1, the biggest showplace of the tournament. Fernandez, the Open runner-up, was assigned to Stadium 2, the second biggest showplace of the tournament.Both faced older and more experienced opponents. Both had the crowd behind them from the start, even if there were empty seats galore in both stadiums.Canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic and postponed again this year from its customary dates in March, the event is expected to have fewer spectators than usual this October.The scene still looked and sounded familiar on Friday night. The restaurants on site remain largely the same, including the Nobu outlet inside Stadium 2. The rock band that is led by American doubles stars Mike and Bob Bryan performed, as usual, on the main stage.But the Bryans are now retirees after jointly ending their playing career last year, and other major stars are missing from Indian Wells altogether.Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem are out of the men’s tournament. Serena and Venus Williams, and the No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and the No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka are out of the women’s event.But some of the buzz remained as fans showed their proof of vaccination at the entry gates and walked on site to get a look at Raducanu and Fernandez. Only Fernandez, a left-handed Canadian, made the most of the occasion: mixing full-cut groundstrokes with deft backhand drop shots and well-timed excursions to the net to defeat Alizé Cornet 6-2, 6-3.It was a performance brimming with the sort of big-point resolve and all-court sparkle that Fernandez displayed on her way to the final in New York.Sunset over the Stadium 1 court during Raducanu’s match against Sasnovich.Clive Brunskill/Getty ImagesRaducanu could not make the same smooth transition. Though she won the first six points of her match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, that was no hint of things to come. The sorts of shots that Raducanu routinely hit for winners during the Open — sharply angled quick-strike returns and swing volleys — often struck the tape or landed just long.Though it initially seemed a pity that her much-anticipated return to competition was taking place in the middle of the night in London, perhaps it was for the best.She did not hide her disappointment during her 6-2, 6-4 defeat, gesticulating and twisting away as the unforced errors piled up. Raducanu offered only a brief and subdued wave to the public as she exited the court after playing for one hour and 25 minutes.“Everyone can beat everyone,” the 100th-ranked Sasnovich concluded.It is hard to argue at this stage in women’s tennis. Raducanu did her part to prove it in New York, becoming the first qualifier in tennis history to win a Grand Slam singles title and doing so without losing a set in only her second major tournament appearance.But she dropped two sets rather quickly to Sasnovich, a 27-year-old Belarusian from Minsk who bolstered her thesis about women’s tennis parity by pointing out that she had lost in the first round of this year’s U.S. Open.“So, a little bit different you see,” she said, comparing her result to Raducanu’s.Their last few weeks have been different as well, with Raducanu making two red-carpet appearances and returning to London as a superstar in need of a police escort from the airport to her home. That came only two months after she finished her high school exams and became a full-time tennis professional.In an interview this week, Raducanu said that the last few weeks had been an “out-of-body experience,” as if she were “watching it happen” to herself.She has made some tough calls, choosing last month not to continue working with the coach Andrew Richardson, a surprising move considering her breakthrough in New York. Raducanu has explained that she wants a coach with more experience at the top of the game. One logical candidate is Carlos Rodriguez, who coached the former No. 1s Justine Henin of Belgium and Li Na of China. Li’s longtime agent is Max Eisenbud, who also represents Raducanu.“I think it’s going to take me time to adjust really to what’s going on,” Raducanu said after Friday’s defeat. “I mean, I’m still so new to everything. Like the experiences that I’m going through right now, even though I might not feel 100 percent amazing right now, I know they’re for the greater good.”Raducanu added: “That’s the lesson I think, that you can easily get sucked into being so focused on the result and getting disappointed. I mean, I’m 18 years old. I need to cut myself some slack.”Though disappointed, Raducanu said she would “cut herself some slack.”Ray Acevedo/EPA, via ShutterstockThat seems wise. Friday’s letdown was not a huge surprise. Sasnovich, like many WTA players, is more dangerous than her ranking suggests. Raducanu is just getting started on tour. The playing conditions in Indian Wells are also far different than in New York where the ball bounces lower and winners are generally easier to produce.But Fernandez managed to thrive in both settings. Her heavy spin, particularly on the forehand side, gives her a greater margin of error. She also may have benefited from playing and winning a doubles match with the American teenager Coco Gauff on Thursday that helped Fernandez adjust to the court speed.Unlike Raducanu, Fernandez has not changed her support team since the Open. Her fitness trainer, Duglas Cordero, sat next to her mother in the stands and frequently jumped to his feet when Fernandez won a point, just as he did in New York. Fernandez even kept her outfit the same, while Raducanu arrived on court in a new, predominately white ensemble.Her rituals have not changed either: practice strokes and jogging in place between points; right fist clenched after success.She had plenty on Friday. She was opportunistic and on target against Cornet, a Frenchwoman who has the baseline skills to extend rallies and matches.“It does give me a lot of confidence, because Alizé, she’s a very tough opponent,” Fernandez said. “She fights for every point. I’ve practiced with her, too. We’ve had some tough practice matches. I knew that today was going to be hard.”The third round should be tougher. Fernandez’s next opponent, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, was in fine form on Friday as she dominated the powerful American Madison Keys.But at least Fernandez has more tennis to play in Indian Wells — perhaps much more tennis. Raducanu, after her first visit to the California desert, must now make the long journey back to Europe to play indoor events and continue the adaptation process.Fernandez and Raducanu will long be linked for their all-teenager, out-of-the-blue final in New York. For now, their paths will diverge. More

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      Emma Raducanu, After U.S. Open Win, Keeps Her Feet on the Ground

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      The 18-year-old returns to the court at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., as a headliner, richer and more famous. She still needed a wild card.It is a truth that should be universally acknowledged: Your life will not be the same after you win the U.S. Open as a little-known qualifier at age 18.Emma Raducanu has noticed the changes: a hitting session with the Duchess of Cambridge and red-carpet appearances at the Met Gala and at the premiere of the new James Bond film “No Time to Die” at Royal Albert Hall in London.There are more funds in her bank account (and plenty more on the way). There are wide-eyed looks from people she meets day to day.But not everything has been transformed.“My parents didn’t make a big deal out of it at all,” Raducanu said when we spoke this week. “When I’ve been at home, everything has felt really normal. The Bond premiere, playing tennis with the Duchess and the Gala, I love those experiences, but at the same time I mean when I got back onto the training court, it was like this is where I really wanted to be.”Raducanu will be back on a stadium court on Friday night as she makes her return to competition in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., against a tough opponent in Aliaksandra Sasnovich, an unseeded 27-year-old Belarusian once ranked in the top 30. It will be Raducanu’s debut at Indian Wells and her first match since her fact-beats-fiction run in New York, where on Sept. 12 she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title.More remarkable still, she did not lose a set in 10 matches, proving impervious to the pressure as she limited her social-media use off court and stuck with her aggressive game plan on court by attacking returns and groundstrokes and hitting serves on the lines.Raducanu plays quietly with no grunts, few shouts and smooth footwork. But her shots are explosive, and she now has much of the world’s attention after playing in just two Grand Slam tournaments. She is also without a coach after splitting with Andrew Richardson, who was on a short-term contract when she won the Open.“I feel the good thing is I’ve still got so much room to improve, and I won a Grand Slam,” she said. “It hasn’t really sunk in. I don’t know if it ever will, but I feel like now instead of feeling I’ve got a lot of pressure I feel like free, like loose. Because you play tennis to win a Grand Slam, and I won a Grand Slam so now it’s just a bonus.”Raducanu has a point. Talented players, like the third-ranked Karolina Pliskova, 29, who became an elite professional player in her teens, are still chasing a first major title. That quest brings its own pressures, but quick and unexpected success comes with its own set of challenges.Max Eisenbud, Raducanu’s agent, was also Maria Sharapova’s agent when she became a global star in 2004 by winning Wimbledon at age 17.“The difference between Maria winning Wimbledon and Emma winning the U.S. Open really comes down to social media,” Eisenbud said. “There was no social media in ’04. The social media just made things move so fast this time. It’s just in warp speed.”The response to Raducanu’s victory, be it from the Queen of England or Chinese officials, was global, immediate and quantifiable. Raducanu had about 10,000 Instagram followers in June. She had more than two million after winning the U.S. Open.“Yeah, I know, it’s crazy,” Raducanu said, sounding sheepish. “It doesn’t feel real numbers, but I’m happy and really grateful that anyone wants to actually, like, follow me. I don’t think I’m that interesting, but it’s pretty cool.”Sponsors certainly find her intriguing. Shortly after her victory in New York, she became a global ambassador for Tiffany & Company, the luxury jewelry brand, but Eisenbud said the deal was agreed to before the Open, after her surprise run to the fourth round of Wimbledon in July.Her stock has now soared rather higher. “The iron’s hot,” Eisenbud said. “We’re striking.”Raducanu celebrates with the trophy after winning the U.S. Open in September.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesRaducanu is hardly the first young player to win a Grand Slam tournament in this egalitarian era in women’s tennis. Jelena Ostapenko and Naomi Osaka were 20 when they won their first majors. Bianca Andreescu was 19 when she won the 2019 U.S. Open, and she won it, like Raducanu, in her main-draw debut in New York.Andreescu, a Canadian, has played little since that victory because of injuries and is now ranked 21st as she returns to Indian Wells to defend the title she won in 2019.Andreescu was asked this week what advice she would give to teenagers like Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, the Canadian 19-year-old whom Raducanu beat in that highly unlikely Open final.“The advice I would give is always to remain grateful even if you are having the hugest success, because it can all be taken away from you in a split second,” Andreescu said. “I feel I didn’t savor it as much.” She added, “Just stay humble, remain grateful and continue to work hard because everyone says at least in my experience it’s easy to get to the top but staying at the top is what is the hardest part.”There is no shortage of candidates for the top in women’s tennis, where 14 different players have won major singles titles in the last five seasons. But as a Canadian-born Briton with a mother from China and a father from Romania, Raducanu seems well equipped for global stardom.Eisenbud, who also represents the retired Chinese tennis star Li Na, understands the commercial opportunities for an athlete able to communicate with the Chinese public. Raducanu recorded a video message in Mandarin after winning in New York and recorded another message in Romanian ahead of her scheduled appearance at the Transylvanian Open later this month.Raducanu, who does not consider herself fully fluent in either language, said she often speaks Mandarin with her mother. “I’d say it’s like 50-50,” she said. “Just because sometimes it’s like secret language, and it’s actually very helpful.”She said she does not speak Romanian with her father. “But I have to speak Romanian with my grandma, because she doesn’t speak any English,” Raducanu said.Raducanu will headline a night session this week in Indian Wells, Calif.Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA Today Sports, via ReutersUnlike many tennis stars, who are often home-schooled from an early age, Raducanu attended high school in Britain, completing her final exams this summer before embarking on a full-time professional career.“I hope that part of the story can get out there,” Eisenbud said. “Because there are so many families out there who are taking their kids out of normal school and being home-schooled that have no chance to play pro tennis, and I think it’s pretty sad. It’s everywhere you turn, and I think kids being home-schooled, you lose a lot of the social aspects and all these other things.”Raducanu certainly has an opportunity to influence her peers. While Coco Gauff, the 17-year-old American player, and Osaka have used their platforms to speak out on social justice, Raducanu told me she is more interested at this stage in promoting an active lifestyle than in political activism.“I’m really passionate about helping younger kids get into sport, especially young girls, because I think sport taught me so much and gave me amazing opportunities,” she said. “The confidence I have now, I don’t think I would have if I didn’t play sport.”She recognizes that she and her family are an immigrant success story at a time when immigration is being curtailed in Britain and other developed nations. But she does not want to be a spokesperson on such an issue at this stage.“I think that’s for a later time,” she said. “I feel I’m still quite young. I just want to focus on the things I really feel a strong connection with as of now, but maybe when I grow older, then I’ll develop more different insights.”As of now, her development as a tennis player is simply astounding. She needed a wild card to get into the Indian Wells tournament because the date of entry came before the U.S. Open. Her ranking was too low at that stage, but so much has changed so quickly. She is seeded 17th and will make her debut on the main stadium court as a night session headliner.“That’s crazy, because I was just scraping the qualifying acceptance list,” she said with a laugh. “And to be seeded I just can’t believe it. I never thought my ranking would be this high so soon. It’s just an amazing thing to see, and I’m really proud of myself.”Raducanu has become a celebrity in the aftermath of her U.S. Open win.Clive Brunskill/Getty Images More

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      Pro Tennis Finds New Cities to Play In, but Will It Return?

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      The pandemic caused many tennis events to be canceled or rescheduled. It also created opportunities for U.S. cities to throw one together.SAN DIEGO — The small tennis stadium was packed and in full roar as Daniel Vallverdú watched Casper Ruud and Grigor Dimitrov trade blows and breaks of serve on Saturday.“Five weeks, we did it all in five weeks,” said Vallverdú, the managing director of the inaugural, and perhaps final, San Diego Open.Despite the planes that droned overhead, the new tournament did not have much runway: about a month to secure temporary stands and sponsors and then stage an ATP 250 event. These remain extraordinary times for sports and those who attempt to organize them.The coronavirus pandemic has created upheaval on the tennis tour, canceling tournaments like Wimbledon in 2020 and forcing many events to be rescheduled. But the situation has also generated unexpected opportunity for American cities that would normally have been unable to find a slot on a packed international calendar.Chicago, once a regular stop on the women’s tour, has staged two new WTA events since August. San Diego, a city with a rich tennis culture, made its debut on the ATP Tour.“It was one of those things where we were in the right place at the right time,” said Bill Kellogg, one of the San Diego Open’s organizers. “We happened to be in a spot where we could say yes when they asked if we could do it with the China circuit caving in. I know guys that had been trying to get ATP tournaments for years and years and had no luck whatsoever.”When 2021 tournaments in Asia were canceled because of the pandemic, the men’s tour had vacant space to fill ahead of the BNP Paribas Open tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., a prestigious 12-day event that had been moved from March to October because of the pandemic.Vallverdú, a former player who has coached top players like Andy Murray and Dimitrov, knew there might be an opportunity in nearby San Diego with its nearly perfect weather and no tour-level event.Most ATP tournaments hold “sanctions” that guarantee their spot on the tour and that can be sold, just as N.F.L. franchises can be sold. But the ATP Tour has been offering one-year licenses during the pandemic to make up for lost playing opportunities. Thirteen tournaments have operated on these one-year licenses in 2020 and 2021.Vallverdú contacted his friend Ryan Redondo, the new executive director at the Barnes Tennis Center, a public facility with 25 outdoor courts that is a hub for the junior game.Redondo, once an all-American tennis player at San Diego State, knew the power of big events firsthand. At age 5, when he attended a 1989 Davis Cup match between France and the United States in San Diego, the playful French star Henri Leconte brought Redondo onto the court for a hit when John McEnroe took a bathroom break.“Part of my strategic plan and vision was we should have every level of tournament possible here at the Barnes Center, from red ball events for 3-year-olds to ATP and WTA events,” Redondo said. “We need all of that to inspire the kids.”He spoke with two potential benefactors, Kellogg and Jack McGrory, who thought Redondo had to be talking about 2022, not 2021. But they quickly agreed to become the still-notional tournament’s co-sponsors.“We said yes in 24 hours, and we had no idea what we were getting into,” McGrory said. “It was much more complicated than we expected.”McGrory said they got the initial funding for the tournament with a $100,000 grant and $200,000 loan from the Southern California Tennis Association Foundation, of which Kellogg is president. McGrory said they were able to raise $850,000 in sponsorships and contributions and another $800,000 from tickets and concessions. The ATP contributed the prize money of more than $600,000.“We’re going to be able to pay off the loan and put some money back into the Barnes Center,” McGrory said.The tournament, with its modest stadium court expanded to 2,000 seats, was sold out for its last four days. Above all, there was a fine field with Murray, a former No. 1, and eight top-20 players: a lineup worthy of a higher-level event than an ATP 250. The proximity to Indian Wells was a big factor in the elite players’ participation, and the winner turned out to be the 10th-ranked Ruud, a Norwegian who has won five titles in his breakout season.But it remains uncertain, even unlikely, that Ruud will be able to defend his title in San Diego. A one-year license provides no guarantee that the tournament will return to the city. What it does provide is a chance to showcase a new venue.“I have a lot of titles to defend next year, and I know four of them will be played next year and for this one we will have to see,” Ruud said on Sunday as he cooled down on an exercise bike after his 6-0, 6-2 demolition of Cameron Norrie in the final. “It’s obviously tough. The ATP is hosting over 60 events a year and all over the planet, so it’s not easy to find a week to fit in. This year, San Diego was able to do this in five weeks, so I see no reason why they couldn’t do it again, and I hope they will do it again not just because I won but it was a great city and great weather. These are perfect conditions for us to play in. It’s not too hot, not too humid and great atmosphere.”San Diego has produced some fine tennis players. Maureen Connolly, who was known as Little Mo, dominated the women’s game in the early 1950s, achieving a Grand Slam by winning all four major singles titles in 1953. Karen Susman won the Wimbledon women’s singles title in 1962. Kelly Jones was ranked No. 1 in the world in men’s doubles in 1992. Recently, CoCo Vandeweghe broke into the women’s top 10 in 2018 and Taylor Fritz reached No. 24 in the ATP singles rankings last year, becoming the top-ranked American man. Brandon Nakashima, ranked 79th at age 20, is one of the most promising American men’s prospects.But there has never been a main ATP Tour event in San Diego until now, and there has been no tour-level event in San Diego County since the women’s tournament in Carlsbad moved to China in 2014.The United States, once the mainstay of the men’s and women’s tours, has steadily lost tournaments to Asia and Europe. In recent years, the Indian Wells event has been the only ATP event in California, and none of the biggest West Coast cities have had a regular men’s tour event.The decline of American tennis has played a role, particularly the decline of American men’s tennis, but the shift also reflects the more global nature of the sport and the new economic strength of Asia.The pandemic, however, has canceled most Asian events for the last two years, a particularly big blow to the women’s tour, which had moved its year-end championships and much of its late-season lineup to China. The Shanghai Open, one of the top events on the men’s tour, also was canceled in 2020 and 2021.It remains unclear what approach China will take going forward, just as it remains unclear whether the San Diego Open was a one-off or the first chapter of a long-running tennis story.But the tournament certainly got the ATP’s attention. Ross Hutchins, the ATP’s chief tour officer, was initially intending to travel straight to Indian Wells from Europe. Instead, after hearing about the buzz at the Barnes Center, he moved up his travel plans and came to San Diego to observe and meet with the tournament’s team.“It’s a huge credit to them and the tournament how they not only embraced the concept but how they delivered,” Hutchins said Sunday. “And to do it in five weeks and to have the outcome they delivered is phenomenal.”Potential options for San Diego include buying another tournament’s sanction, persuading the ATP to break longstanding policy and create a new sanction, or negotiating another one-year license.Nothing is guaranteed, but McGrory sounded confident at Sunday’s awards ceremony as he turned to the finalists.“This is not going to be their last time here,” he said. More

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      Indian Wells Tennis Tournament Will Return This Year

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      The BNP Paribas Open, one of the sport’s most prestigious events, is to be staged in October, about seven months later than usual. The 2020 version was canceled because of the pandemic.The BNP Paribas Open, which was the first major American sports event to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, announced its comeback on Thursday.The prestigious tennis tournament, staged annually in Indian Wells, Calif., was not held in 2020 and was postponed this year from its regular dates in March.But after extensive negotiations with professional tennis’s numerous stakeholders, the event will be held in October. The precise dates have not been determined because the men’s and women’s tours are not set to finalize their late-season calendars until June. But Tommy Haas, a former player who directs the tournament, said the BNP Paribas Open would be staged with full prize money. The figures for this year aren’t set, but the 2020 prize money was supposed to be $1.36 million for each singles champion.Many tennis events have reduced prize money during the pandemic because of the loss of ticket and sponsorship revenue. The Miami Open, which was held in March after being canceled in 2020, slashed its compensation. Singles champions earned $1.35 million in 2019 but just $300,000 in 2021. The drastic cuts prompted complaints from John Isner, the 2018 men’s winner, and other players about the transparency of the decision-making process.But Haas said the BNP Paribas Open was committed to maintaining prize money at its customary levels.“I think that’s something the players are going to be really, really happy about,” Haas said in a videoconference call on Thursday. “That’s how it should be. They’ve gone through obviously some hard times. Their schedule has been sort of upside down with travel restrictions and trying to be in one bubble after another. I’m hoping that things will be a little easier come October playing for the prize money that we think they deserve.”The BNP Paribas Open, owned by the American billionaire Larry Ellison, is particularly popular with players because of its desert location, extensive facilities and relaxed atmosphere. It has become the most significant tennis event outside the four Grand Slam tournaments and the season-ending championships for the ATP and the WTA.“As a German-American citizen, I’m going to call it my own little Oktoberfest this year, which is going to be great, especially since Munich already had to cancel,” said Haas, referring to the annual German festival that will not be staged this year.The 2020 BNP Paribas Open was canceled just ahead of the qualifying tournament in March after a coronavirus case was detected in the area and Riverside County, Calif., public health officials declared a state of emergency. Many players, including the Spanish star Rafael Nadal, were already on site. The decision came so swiftly that many players and officials found out through social media.“As soon as we canceled, we went to work the next day to see how we were going to bring this back,” said Philippe Dore, the tournament’s media and marketing director. “I think we’re on our Version 25 of budgets and different scenarios.”More than 450,000 spectators attended the event in 2019, and Haas said he hoped to have a large number of fans again in October. California has been loosening pandemic-related restrictions in certain counties and is aiming to fully reopen its economy next month. Tickets for the BNP Paribas Open are tentatively scheduled to go on sale June 21.“We’re going to follow all the guidelines,” Haas said. “Safety is obviously the highest concern. It comes first, and we want to make sure everyone is very, very comfortable.” More